I hope you're having a blast with rpgmmv! :) And thank you!

Thank you very much!

Thank you. I'm glad this tutorial is helpful! :)

It's a good video for sure, but I do have an issue with it. The tutorial is not very beginner friendly when we are talking about applying the techniques in the video. She doesn't show step by step what tools (inside the paint program) she uses and what settings. If she would go into more detail then it would be easier to grasp the steps she takes to create the end result. People who know what she is talking about can sort of replicate it, but people who are new to parallax mapping or new to using image software only see magic happen without any way of doing/learning it themselves. I hope that you (Starlit Castle) will consider making a new video that shows a shop or tavern and REALLY show step by step how you would enhance the interior. Show the tools, the values, the colors (while you explain why you do/pick that). This allows people to understand the program, it's tools, your workflow and the reason why it's important to get to that end result.

@@Devonaxx She explains at the beginning that it's not a tutorial for how to use an image editing software, and assumes you already have knowledge on image manipulation software. I don't think RPG maker mapping is going to be the first time someone opens up an image editor, and if it is, that person should really think about starting smaller (walk before they run). The video would unironically be more than an hour long if she explained even half of the image editing processes for absolute beginners, or image manipulation concepts that aren't specific to this subject. The reason I think this is a good tutorial is because she explains the concepts of parallax mapping and also fundamentally understands what she is doing. Good demonstration of how image layering works, color theory, etc. Other tutorials explain even less and clearly have little to no understanding of what they are doing. I do have enough knowledge to follow this and see how others do it poorly, but that's because I've used image editing software before and have done some art.

Glad I could help! :)

Thank you very much! 🥺

best of luck with your game making journey!

What got you stuck? Maybe I can point you in a direction :)

Very glad I could help. Have fun!

Hi! Thank you for the feedback. I usually use FSM (First Seed Material) a lot, which is a DLC for RPGM or create my own tiles to go with FSM and the mv rtp. I was thinking about doing some more parallax mapping videos with commentary in the future. I will try to explain why I make certain layout and design choices. If you have any special kind of maps you'd like to see, feel free to let me know and I might add them to my inspiration list for future project. As I create a lot of these maps for YT without a game in mind, as a one off project.

Thank you for watching!

So glad to hear that! If you give it a try, have fun!

aww, thank you!

@@starlitcastle keep doing what you believe 💜

Glad I could help! :)

Thank you!

Thank you so much for your kind words

For the collisions I use a tileset. Since the ground layer is set to 1 on the Z layer it will appear below that and isn't visible. I also created a custom tileset which only shows the collisions, like a red sqaure for totally not passable tile and lines along the borders for those tiles, that block movement only in certain directions, etc. I hope this helps!

@@starlitcastle Awesome, thanks so much for the answer!

Good luck and have fun! :)

If you set up everything correctly it shouldn't be looking like a mess, even if you don't delete ground1 from the parallax field within the map properties. You shouldn't even notice that it has the image in there double... I never had an issue with it. But yes you could just delete it, it's just for visualisation in engine, so you know where to place events, where to place collissions etc.

Yep, that can be useful. But honestly in the time you take to register a tile as a material and mask and fill you probably can also copy it into 4 and copying that next to each other and copy it again and so on like I did here. I think it only starts to be a real time saver if you use the same floor tile for multiple maps. But for those cases having a material is nice. I usually have dirt and grass and such as a material when I work on a game where those are used frequently.

I always paint some of the light and shadow into my ground layer (and parallax layer) and add to that with the shadow and light layers, which will also effect the events.

Thank you! The tileset I use in most of my videos is called FSM (First Seed Material) it's a series with a couple of packs available. In this in particular it's the RPG Maker MV base tiles, that come with the engine. No need for cropping, since they are all created to work with the 48x48px grid that rpgmaker mv/mz uses.

You don't need the community plugin to change the game window size for MZ, as this function is build in. You can set the game window size from within the system window, I think it's under system 1 or system 2. What you will need is a parallax plugin, galv has an MZ version just make sure you follow the instructions, as that asks for a folder called layers (unless you change it in the plugin settings!)

@@starlitcastle Oooh thank you!

The "safe as image" option probably only is a preview feature, if you wanted to share your stuff online or something, no idea why that's how it is. It doesn't save the map in 1:1. If you want to export your map you made in engine to work on it in some other program... there's a plugin for that orange mapshots. You can find it on Hudell's (plugin creator) github page: github.com/Hudell/mv-plugins/blob/master/OrangeMapshot.js

There are a couple good channels on youtube who focus on pixel art. People like AdamCYounis, MortMort come to mind, but I'm sure there's a lot more nowadays. Just search for "pixel art beginner tutorial" and look up some basics, find out which software you'd like to use to create your art and which specs the engine has you are using (for example, RPGM MV has 48px tiles, VXAce has 32px, MZ can use 48px, 32px and 16px tilesets). I'd also look up a lot of games that have pixel art you like and study how they have done theirs... how noisy vs clean is their art, do they use dithering or big clusters, do they use outlines etc. if you want to use a limited color palette you can check lospec they have a lot of color palettes there. But honestly... I wouldn't get toooo crazy about the technical side at the start, just get started and learn along the way. A good thing to learn is what makes pixelart clean, like avoiding jaggies and how to properly make curves. And yet there are popular pixel artists who don't care about that, so it's really up to you :)

​@@starlitcastlewow thanks... i'am asking same question, and got this answer, thank you Ma'am Starlitcastle

Yes it can very much be a plugin conflict... I'd recommend putting the parallax plugin to the bottom of the plugin list and giving it another try... and to find the plugin it conflicts with turn all plugins off and slowly one after another back on to see which one gives you the error. EDIT: Alternativly... I think Visustella have their own parallax plugin for MZ.

@@starlitcastle Thank you, but after hours of research, trial and error, I found out that I am just stupid XD It was because I made too many alterations and needed a new save file. Then I had more issues but found out I was putting everything on an overlay so it obscuring the whole map XD

Regarding your character: Maybe you have set the ground layer of your parallax maps above the player? Make sure the ground layer has a Z sorting value of 0 or 1 (1 places it above the normal ground in-engine tiles but below the player). All the area your character can walk on and is not covered by should be on this layer. par1 is parallax layer 1, so the parts of the map that shall be shown above the player, like tree tops etc. Stuff a player can walk behind. Set that to z sorting of 5 or higher. For the collisions... you can pick the way you like the best, either tileset, yanflys regions restrictions or something like QM+Collission. Or combine something like the tilesets with regions. The regions can have many uses, they are one of the many tools you can use when creating your game... For this... yanfly's region restrictions has some parameters you can set in the plugin settings (after importing), for example which tiles aren't walkable for player and events etc. So the region numbers don't mean anything until you give them meaning through plugins or event code. I hope this covered all your questions! As for support... I have an itchio page with some art assets and games, and most of that is also on steam :) (itchio gives me the higher cut of the money and allows tips on top, but steam is just easier for most people, which I absolutly get!) plueschkatze.itch.io/ store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Plueschkatze store.steampowered.com/app/1687710/Everdine__A_Lost_Girls_Tale/ Thank you very much for considering support!

Hi! You can just multiply the tilecount of your map by the tilesize. For example: The standard tilesize in MV is 48px, so 17 x 48 and 13 x 48 would be the width and height of your canvas in your art program to accuratly represent your map.

@@starlitcastle Ah I see I see, thank you so much for your help!

There's not really an easy way to increate the object size without it loosing a lot of quality. I know that there exist image upscale algorithm programs, but I'm not too familiar with those... they basically use AI to clean the upscaled images. There's also PiXel ScaLer by irokaru on github (and probably similar solutions) that have a smooth upscale option, which will change the look of the artwork quite a bit.

@@starlitcastle I'll check , thank you for your help 🥰

Hi! I checked and for whatever reason youtube does not offer me auto subtitles for this video, I only get the option to fill them in manually. I'm a bit short on time currently, so I can't write them rn D: Sorry!

@@starlitcastle it's okay i completely understand :) always appreciate your stuff!

That's because you don't have a passable tile below the parallax images to walk on. Holding down CTRL just let's you walk through all collisions. In engine you can just fill the map with any floor tile from the normal tileset to the left. And so you can't walk into walls etc you can put a tile which you can't walk into. I'd recommend taking one of the A5 tilesheets into you image editor, deleting all tile images and to turn it into a collision tilesheet and import that later on as a new tileset into the engine. Keep one of the tile spots blank and set it in engine as a passable tile. Make the next one red with a lower the opacity (so you can see your parallax preview in engine below that) and make it so you can't walk on it... and then one for all the 4dir passable tiles, which you could mark with a red line around the edges that you could not pass through. I hope this helps. It's a bit complicated to explain in written form, haha.

Another way would be to use something like yanfly's region restrictions, but with that you use the benefits that the 4dir tileset setting would give you.

@@starlitcastle Thank you so much for the help! Replying 8 months later sorry- Your videos are still super helpful!!!

I do have a seperate tutorial for that.

There is no way to fix that, tint screen always goes above the full screen, as it's a post processing effect. You could use a parallax layer instead of the tint screen and fill that with a fitting color, lower the opacity and either display it below the lights layer and see if that already gives a wished effect or if not also erase the areas were lights are out of that layer with a soft low opacity brush, just to lighten the areas a little more.

@@starlitcastle thank you for answering, that's a lot of helpful info. I tried to give the tint filter as a Layer_S below light Layer_S and worked perfectly. I still can't use a dark image (multiply) with a white spot in the middle because I'm using a big map, so this layer_S won't follow the character but will stuck somewhere, so I have to use a tint sticked on the screen instead, and lights won't work. but there's no problem, your help is enough. By the way, I discovered another method appart from your other video, and it is making the actual map in rpgmaker, then I edit it on photoshop and make all you said in the video. If there's a problem because I can see the actual map behind this "layer_s ground" I simply put below that a png a black image, so I can keep the original collisions.

Read the help file again, mapID is only needed if you use it as a plugin command, not when you use it in the map properties. There are 2 different plugin calls for the different scenarios. And yes it still works. You probably did set it up incorrectly, which happens easily when trying it out the first time.

@@starlitcastle yeah i just know today that you can put the code on note and it actually works

You can set the layer modes to use on the light/shadow layer for your parallax map from the plugin call. I can't remember rn if the option for lights corresponds to screen, normal add or add(glow) with galvs plugin. You can for sure set the layer mode to multiply though. I'd recommend doing a quick test :)

@@starlitcastle Ah kk tysm for responding!

Hm, my first guess would have been some incompatibility, but if you don't have others plugins in there it might be a problem with the setup. make sure you use the MZ plugin version, not the MV one and double check that you didn't make any mistakes with the plugin call. It says it can't match a value of 1 to a something that isn't defined, so it might be an error with the plugin call. An example for the plugin call in the map properties: LAYER_S 1 WitchsHouse_ground 0 0 255 1 0 LAYER_S ID Filename XOffset YOffset OPACITY ZLayer Blendmode Make sure that you match the capitalization, it's often important with code. LAYERS_S should be in caps and also make it match for your image file. (Also make sure the error disappears if you turn off the graphics layers plugin, so you are sure it's really an error from the plugin not another missing file or such.)

Wow thanks for the care, may u have a great christmas and end of the year! @@starlitcastle

@@jackrjtv I hope you can find and solve your problem! And same to you. :)

What gives you trouble? 1. Start a new canvas whichs resolution is a multiple of your tilesize. So, if you use MV or MZ standard tilesets it would be a multiple of 48 and it should be at least bigger than your game resolution, which you can set in MZ in your database > system or in MV using a plugin like yanfly's core plugin. Make sure CSP does create a canvas in pixels (px) not cm or inches or such. (there is a dropdown to the right on the new canvas window) 2. The grid can be found in the top menus under view. There is one for setting the grid size and one to show/hide the grid (for which I have set a custom button in the shortcut preference settings, so I can toggle that on and off without going back to that menu all the time).

I made an additional tutorial for that that's going online in about an hour, but if you need a quick answer, the easiest way is to create a tileset on which you setup your passability.

@@starlitcastle Thanks I created semi-transparent custom map (pink is passable and no color is non-passable).

Do you have the plugin in your plugin folder plus setup under the plugin manager inside the engine? If so, make sure the plugin command is correct, it‘s picky with caps etc

Have fun!

You put them into the map notes. So you if you right click onto one of your map in MZ, there should be an option like properties (the one where you define the map size) which also has a field that's titles notes. That's where the commands go.

Sorry, I've no idea why that could be. Did you google the issue? Maybe someone run into that before and ask for help on the rpgmakerweb forums or so.

Well, you can use the parallax background option that comes with the engine but it's very limited, as it is only one layer (and it's always below the tileset). You can also do a lot with building custom tilesets.

@@starlitcastle ow i see thanls for letting me know maybe i could make the background then place invicible parts of the tileset the pkayer can work on. Perhaps that could work but thank you so much for you input ill try an see more into the plugins aswell

@@peterhamsterhotdog613 That does work, but you'll run into problems whenever you want to walk underneath or behind something. You could copy that part of the background image onto a new tilemap and use that for overlays. Also you might need to start the name of your parallax background with an ! if the parallax acts weird like following you player around. Edit: But a parallax plugin sure makes things easier, haha.

@@starlitcastle do you know if the creator of the Plugin use is okay with it being used ind games that can be put on steam for a price?

@@peterhamsterhotdog613 Most creators have terms of use on their website or in their threads on the rpgmakerweb forums. Here are galvs: galvs-scripts.com/terms-of-use/ except for a few, his plugins are free for commercial use (for you to make money with your game by selling the game). The few that aren't are mainly some minigame plugins they created.

Under View > Grid/Ruler Bar Settings you can setup the grid size. I recommend 48px with either 1 or 2 divisions, depending on what you currently need (it helps with placing stuff half a tile higher). Under view is also the option to toogle the grid on/off.

I'm pretty sure you can do parallax mapping in VX Ace, but I have no experience with it. Sorry! You'd need to look up which plugin is available for that. (And of course work with the 32px tilesize instead of 48 for your maps)

The problem is, there is very little guides for vx ace and it annoys me so i guess i have to learn scripting@@starlitcastle

@@ziluslules1201 have you checked the rpgmakerweb forums? I think there's still a lot of data on there regarding vxace and quite a few people around that may be able to help you figure stuff out.

You need to set up passability. I have a tutorial for that, it's in the pinned comment.

@@starlitcastle thank you!! it's worked now :D

I personally use Clip Studio Paint.

Sorry, I don't. I'm not familiar enough with RPGM2003. I couldn't even tell if parallax mapping is a possibility in that engine. I'm sure you can find out with a bit of searching.

It's in the video. It's Clip Studio Paint (CSP).

I have a tutorial for it. It's the pinned comment on this video.

I'm sorry about the sound bugs D:

Make sure your plugin call is used correctly, without knowing what you're doing it's hard to help. Otherwise if you have a lot of plugins it could be an issue with conflicting plugins. If you want an easier to use plugin check out orange overlay (MV only I think).

Those are RPG Maker MVs standard tileset.

@@starlitcastle png

@@rileytuffreygaming4204 It's not free to use, you have to own RPG Maker MV to use it.

@@starlitcastle okay

If you need help you need to be a bit more specific with your problem, as in what doesn't work? If the graphics don't show up or act weird please make sure you used the plugin commands correctly and that no other plugin creates a conflict. If you can't move but you can see your images, that means you have to setup passability, as in filling your map with a normal tile from the tileset in engine that's walkable so the character has something to actually walk on, I have a seperate tutorial on collission and passabilty.

@@starlitcastle the graphics show bellow the actual map, i want it to show up on top.

@@samchanda you need to set the Z layer. The base tileset layer shows at 0 so you'd need your ground parallax layer to be at 1 or above if you want to hide the tileset stuff, par layer at 5 or above and light and shadow even higher (I usually do 10+).

@starlitcastle so I type in Layer_s id map 00 255 6 0

Yes, this might be more time consuming than just using the map editor, but I think there's nothing wrong with spending some more time to get the results you want. It all highly depends on the person and their goals/priorities :) Thanks for watching!