Animated CMS Frequently Asked Questions

IMPORTANT

This  FAQ only covers issues specific to the Animated Custom Menu System. For more general issues, please refer to the general FAQ.

Customization issues

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Can I develop my own theme for ACMS? How difficult is it?

Abolutely, that's its very purpose - I didn't make it so that so many customization options are available for nothing. Making your own custom theme is as difficult as making your own graphics and putting them in the appropriate folders instead of the ones that come with the download package. You might also want to edit the Animations using the database editor - so there's nothing out of the ordinary there. Finally, you'd have to edit a few constants in the script editor, but it's nothing too big, besides all options are documented individually so you know exactly what you're doing.

Need my custom pictures be the exact same size as the original ones to be positioned properly?

Absolutely not. The script takes in account the size of your pictures to determine where to place them on the screen. Possible limites are purely aesthetical (for example, if you make pictures too big, the sprites may overlap/not fit in the screen). Also, if changing a picture's size makes things funny, check whether there's an option set for this very purpose (for example actor portraits' left padding on status sprites).


I don't like the windows layout/party member's info layout/type of info displayed at the bottom of the main menu, can this be changed?

Of course. This only requires basic scripting skills, so I won't cover those issues personally. If you really can't do it by yourself, there are many communities around with member who will be glad to help you on this. Please understand that I can't keep on rewriting my scripts to fit everyone's whims, especially provided I'm always working very hard to maximize the customization options.

Functional issues

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About the Party selection feature - can I disable the menu to restrict the player from choosing unavailable actors?

You cannot disable the Party menu as such, however you can make actors unavailable for selection by simply using the "Remove actor from party" event command. Likewise, adding a party member this way also makes it available for selection, even if the party is full at the moment.

About the Biography feature - can I display other information than the basic age/sex/race?

Absolutely. Try and edit the bio setup, it's like a blank sheet of paper. Actors need event not have the exact same features, or they may be listed in a different order.

Compatibility issues

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I use my own custom title screen. Can I use ACMS's menus, but not its title screen, to retain mine?

Yes. Just ignore ACMS's Scene_Title entry while copying the script to your project. Same goes for any other unwanted scenes, by the way, since they're all independant from each other.

I've tried to use another script which modified the behavior of a menu scene along with ACMS - the scene works fine, but there's a black screen fade-in/out, and the background graphics don't appear. How can I fix that?

First off, you have to convert your scene to a Scene_Base subclass if it isn't already the case (see there). Then, you have to make your scene recognized as a specific ACMS-menu. In order to do this, just write the following line right after the declaration of the class (class Your_Scene < Scene_Base):

  Scene_Base.type_menu << self

Right after, put that another line to include ACMS specific commands to your scene:

  include Scene_Menu_Base

Then you have to call Scene_Menu_Base's menubase_setup from your scene's setup method, right before anything else:

  def setup
    super
    menubase_setup
    ... (original code)
  end

As a final edit, call Scene_Menu_Base's menubase_update from your scene's update methode, also at the beginning. The "return unless" part makes your scene wait for fade-in/fade-out to terminate before doing anything else.

  def update
    super
    return unless menubase_update
    ... (original code)
  end

Then, you might want to read the following topic.

I've tried to use another script which modified the behavior of a menu scene along with ACMS - the scene works fine, but it appears bluntly without windows moving in. How can I fix that?

First, you need to convert your scene to ACMS's specific architecture using the previous topic. Once this is done, you have to set each window's movement. At the end of the scene's setup method, write a line like the following for each of window:

  @window_variable.set_move_from(start_x, start_y)

Replace @window_variable with the appropriate variable name, and start_x/start_y with the window's desired postion before transition.

Graphical issues

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Battle-specific options (Attack/Defend) are still written in plain font, while Items/Skills have a picture. Can I also make a picture for those options?

Of course. You can do a picture for virtually any text, wherever it may appear in the game. Just make a picture you name "Attack.png" and put it in the Graphics/ACMS/Texts folder.

There are no numbers beside HP/SP bars in battle scenes, can this be modified?

Yes. Numbers display was disabled by default for mere space issues. If you want number display enabled by default, search the script's Window_Base entry for the following (line 52):

  def draw_actor_hp(actor, x, y, width = 144, text = false)

Replace text = false with text = true. Do the same with (line 83):

  def draw_actor_sp(actor, x, y, width = 144, text = false)

And you're all set.