Player/Monster Summoning Minion help!

[Eetio]

Before you think a summon such as bahamut for example from Final Fantasy I don't mean that kind of summon, I want to know how to create a spell (mainly for monsters such as necromancers) to be able to summon their own minions, would make some fights I have planned out alot more interesting.
I just don't even know where to start with a spell like this, can't find any tutorials at all on this either, can find the typical summon tutorials everywhere though lol.
Using RPG maker 2003.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Prpl_Mage]

Ah the "call for reinforcements" skill.

RPGM2k3 got something called battle events. The command you're looking for is "Show hidden monster".
No that might not have made perfect sense. Let me explain.

When you create your monster group you add a bunch of monsters and line them up neatly. By right-clicking on one of the monsters you'll get the choice "invisible". Make a whole bunch of skeletons (7 is max if you have one monster already) or whatever  invisible in that monster group.

Now you need a skill that activates a switch(Switch type). Call it "Raise dead" or anything else suitable. And call the switch it turns on something equally suitable. Give this skill to the necromancer and fix the usage so that it fits what you're looking for (like once every 3 turns or something)

Next up we go back to the battle group and take a look at the bottom right part. Create a new battle event where the precondition is that the switch is ON.
Go down a few centimetres and add the following commands:

Turn your switch OFF (so it doesn't repeat itself)
Oh right, you might not want all of them summoned at once. Well let's throw in a variable then.
If VAR is 0:
show hidden monster (1)
play battle animation Skeleton rising at monster (1)
If VAR is 1:
show hidden monster (2)
play battle animation Skeleton rising at monster (2)
If VAR is 2:
show hidden monster (3)
play battle animation Skeleton rising at monster (3)
If VAR is 3:
show hidden monster (4)
play battle animation Skeleton rising at monster (4)
END
Variable + 1
---------------------------------
Let's explain that as well.
First of all we turn the switch off so that the game don't freeze.
Next up we create a pack of branches that decides which monster appears first.
In this we show a monster and make a flashy animation at it.
The variable increases by 1 each time the event is done so that next time a new monster will appear. Make sure to turn the switch OFF and the variable to 0 after the battle so that the next battle doesn't bug though.

Good luck and let me know if something doesn't make sense.

[Meiscool]

Very nicely done.

[Eetio]

This is what I've done so far (note I'm new to variables and it's still very confusing to me)

Under monster spells
Raise dead, Action Turns Switch ON, 0001:Necromancer
- Turns Elapsed [3x], Priority 100

Under Monster Groups
Trigger: Switch [0001:Necromancer] ON
<>Switch Operation: [0001:Necromancer] OFF
<>Branch if Var [0001] is 1
    <>Show Battle Animation: Dark Magic S 3, 2:Skeleton
    <>Show Hidden Monster: 2:Skeleton
    <>
: End
<>Branch if Var [0001] is 2
    <>Show Battle Animation: Dark Magic S 3, 3:Skeleton
    <>Show Hidden Monster: 3:Skeleton
    <>
: End
<>Variable Oper: [0001] + , 1
<>

Like this at the moment the necromancer attacks twice then has a very long break for his 3rd attack so I guess something is wrong because he won't even use Raise dead at the moment, I had at one point where he wouldn't stop using it but now he doesn't at all.
Maybe it's the trigger I need to change? I'm not sure.

Thanks so much so far though didn't even think this was possible in RPG maker

[Prpl_Mage]

I gave it a go and got it to work, just had the animation repeated thrice since I copied the stuff from the first summon for the others and didn't realize they were actually copied.
Anyway.
My first mistake was to make the switch-skill a "field" type skill that couldn't be used in battle.
My next mistake was that I told him to summon it if the hero was alone and not the other way around.
In the end it worked, when there is only 1 monster in my necromancers monster party he goes summon skeletons at 100 priority.
My battle event looks pretty much exactly like yours, I remembered that you can play battle animations at hidden monsters even when they aren't hidden.

The one thing I can think of is that you don't start your condition with "If var is 0" which would be the very first value for an untouched variable.
A variable starts at 0 and caps at 999 I think. So you'd have to start at 0 and not 1.
Another possible thing is that you'd need a branch when the value is above 2(granted 2 is the max used) that simply ends the event directly.

If variable [0001] is X or greater
End event processing.

The only problem I find using a monster skill to do this is that the guy will keep trying to raise skeletons when all the skeletons have been used up. I quick-fix solution to this is to make the skill cost 1 mana and set the monster max mana to the same number of minions possibly summonable. In my test with three minions there was only 3 mana to be used up, the skill took 1 mana each time and ergo he could only use it three times. Without the mana cost he would simply try to summon a minion each turn and my manual message "Dude you're alone" would appear.

It would be possible to make the skeletons appear back and forth using a pure battle command and not a battle command issued by a monster. Although that's more useful for bosses and such. Too much work otherwise.

And yes, pretty much anything can be done with RPGM2k3. Question is just how much work a person is willing to put into it.

[Eetio]

I can't even get him to use the spell at the moment it's driving me up the wall, without him using it I can't really 'troubleshoot' the problems, must have messed something up with the spell but I can't see what's wrong.

Gave him 2 MP, the spell costs 1 MP
Still the same preconditions:
- Turns Elapsed
- Priority 100
- Turns elapsed 3 x + 1
- Action Turns Switch: ON [0001:Necromancer]
- Skill - Raise Dead

[Prpl_Mage]

Does he use if it it's the only skill he knows?
Remove the condition for it and all other skills and so he doesn't have much of a choice.
If it doesn't work - make sure that the skill in question is a "battle" skill and not a "field" skill.

Does it work now but not when you change things back?
Try to remove all skills but your skill but keep the precondition. If it doesn't work then you might want to overlook exactly what the condition is.

Did it work in the two aforementioned tests but not when he knows other attacks?
Check if any other skill got a higher priority than your or if any other condition overlaps the one you're using for the summon.

Still problems?
Try a new skill on a new monster in a new group, or send the game to me and I'll check it out.

[Eetio]

Ok got him using it, seems the problem was simple ofcourse... I set the spell to be cast on an ally but ofcourse they arn't there until he summons them so I changed the target to 'self'.
Also I needed the spell to 'do something', such as heal raise defense etc.
Now I've gave him simple attack command and to use Raise dead every 5 turns, that works fine aswell only trouble is the first 2 turns the skeletons appear 1 after the other. Something still isn't right I guess then
I would have thought the trigger as said before when the Necromancer switch is ON THEN the skeletons would appear, not the first 2 possible goes in the fight.
Sorry about this and thanks alot for your help!

[Prpl_Mage]

Ok got him using it, seems the problem was simple ofcourse... I set the spell to be cast on an ally but ofcourse they arn't there until he summons them so I changed the target to 'self'.
Also I needed the spell to 'do something', such as heal raise defense etc.

If you click on "Type" in a skill (which is set as "normal") and swap it for "Switch" it won't require a target or anything. It only activates a switch, cost some mana and can have a sound effect.

Now I've gave him simple attack command and to use Raise dead every 5 turns, that works fine aswell only trouble is the first 2 turns the skeletons appear 1 after the other. Something still isn't right I guess then
I would have thought the trigger as said before when the Necromancer switch is ON THEN the skeletons would appear, not the first 2 possible goes in the fight.
Sorry about this and thanks alot for your help!

Not really sure what you mean here. The trigger of the entire battle event is that the switch is ON correct?

Is the same switch is turned of pretty much the moment the event is triggered?

The first check is if the variable is Equal to 0 right? And the others are also "Equal to" and not "equal to or greater than" or something like that?

You add 1 to the variable at the very bottom of the battle event and not in the middle or something right?

[Eetio]

Nearly done, first thing I found wrong was his typical attack was activating the switch which was summoning the skeletons each turn.

So thats now sorted, I changed the spell to a 'switch' type like you said, something new again that I've learnt so thanks for that but last problem of all!

I let him do his first 5 moves, goes great he uses raise dead on the 5th and the skeleton appears, but then the next move after just instantly summons the next. I have a feeling this is to do with the variables?

Tried adding another switch operation to turn it off at the end encase it still adds the variables once it's been turned on but then he doesn't even cast the spell so thats not the right way lol. I've checked the skeleton's spells don't affect the switch either, the commands I have in at the moment are just as I posted earlyer (how you told me to do it).

The switch is off and the variables are set to 0 when I try this fight.

[Prpl_Mage]

That's interesting. Is it after the 5th skeleton or after the 5th monster turn? Is there anything different with the 5th part of commands perhaps?
Another possibility perhaps is if you still have that skill usage activates the switch as well even now when the skill is of the switch type?

Amazing that so many things can go wrong with these things.

[Eetio]

It's after the first skeleton is spawned then after the necromancers next go the next 1 gets spawned, I feel like once he's used the switch spell it starts to loop the event every turn he takes... This is 1 theory I have anyway, but it has a switch operation to turn it off at the start so AHH I have no idea now, was all going so well now it's just making me grumpy lol.

Edit: Changed the variable for the second skeleton to spawn to 5 and he won't spawn at all now so it mustn't be looping and constantly adding 1 per turn.

[Prpl_Mage]

Curious indeed. Let me know how it goes.

[Eetio]

Going to stop with this, at the end of the day I've learnt alot about events in a battle and trying to get him to spawn them 1 after the other is driving me insane!

I will probably end up using more turn based / monster health % to trigger extra monsters to spawn for bosses etc anyway.

Thanks alot for the guidance, no doubt I'll have another problem occuring somewhere in the forum soon lol, should probably make a start on my game aswell... Seem to be doing nothing but planning at the moment