Each of these blocks is closed by an end statement. (How do we know that? Well, the code for a class is contained in the class block, and each def block represents a property or method within that class. It has properties like window_width that define how the gold window is shown, and value and currency_unit that define what the gold window shows. Upon further inspection, this class has methods like initialize, refresh, and open. The Window_Gold class might catch our eye–it sounds exactly like what we’re looking for: Since we have a vague idea of what the class that shows the gold window might be named, we can identify possible classes and skim them to see if they actually affect whether or not it’s shown on the menu screen. Within these groupings, we know we’re probably looking for a class with Gold, Menu or Status in the name (since we’re looking for the gold window on the status menu screen). We know we’re looking for a window, so odds are the code is in a class that starts with Window_ or Scene_ (since scenes often show and hide windows on the screen). It’s intimidating–unless you have both copious programming and RPG Maker experience, it takes some effort to scan through it and figure out what it does.įortunately, we have a few guidelines to help us. Step 1: Where’s the code that affects this?Īs discussed in the last post, there’s a lot of Ruby code in a default RPG Maker project. Our first step is to dive into the Script Editor: The player won’t be distracted by trying to figure out which features are used and which aren’t, and won’t feel like we hacked this together. We could leave this window in, but it’s going to contribute to a tighter experience for the player if we remove unnecessary bits. In this sort of game, we might not have the concept of “gold.” However, because RPG Maker provides a complete JRPG engine, it’s there on our status screen anyway:

Let’s say we’re building a narrative-only game (like To The Moon), or a game where we want to tightly control the player’s progression by giving items or skills at key narrative points (sort of like Legend of Zelda). (Admittedly, this is exactly how I did the LD37 project.) It’s sort of like taking a list of common phrases when traveling to a foreign country.

Note that I’m not formally teaching you how to write Ruby here–I’m just teaching you enough to be able to guess what a particular line of code might do. If you want to create a new project, you should be able to follow along. So, let’s walk through how we’d think through a very simple change. From the comments I got on it, I realized “info dump” is not an exaggeration–it’s literally a bunch of abstract, raw information without any examples, and so it’s confusing if you haven’t messed with it before. My last post was basically an info dump on what I’d learned about RPG Maker Ruby scripting during Ludum Dare 37.

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