[CGMZ] Hidden Objects (Patreon)

Add a simple Hidden Object/Point and Click minigame to your RPG Maker project.

! SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR UPDATES !

Today we have a plugin that I have been working on for quite some time that is pretty different from what RPG Maker typically does. It is a hidden object "minigame" since right now it only supports one hidden object scene at a time - you cannot click the sides or something to move to another part of the scene. Ideally I would like to expand this so that someone could make a full point and click game in RPG Maker, but I thought it was complete enough to release right now into alpha state. I am expecting this will stay in alpha for quite some time.

Current features include supporting up to 100 hidden objects in the scene, saving which ones are found / not found so the player can come back at any time to find more, and turning switches ON/OFF depending on if a specific hidden object scene is completed (all objects found).

Alpha Update April 20, 2023: Hi all, it has been a long time since I worked on this plugin, but today there is an update to add a feature requested by a Patron: a timer! Now you can include a timer on your Hidden Object scenes which, when it reaches 0, will end the scene. Along with this, you can also queue a common event to be ran after the scene ends. Of course, both features (timer and common event) are completely optional. I plan to update this one more frequently than in the past.

This update adds two new plugin commands:- Reset Scene will reset the given Hidden Object scene, allowing your player to replay it.- Check For Object Found will check if an individual object has been found in a scene. One example of how you might use this is to check if the player has found a key hidden object to open a door.

This update adds some more control over the object window in the scene. Objects can now have a different image in the scene and the object window. This should help display large objects in the window, as previously they would not fit very well due to the smaller space there is to display them in the window. Objects can also have separate found and unfound names in the object window, both of which now support text codes.

This also added support for various window settings, such as windowskins, window padding, window background opacity, and window tone. Below is an image of how this can look:

 Notice how the Salamander object is cropped in the window to only include the face and also has custom ??? text for its name instead of the actual object name of "Salamander."

This update also modernizes some plugin parameters. Image parameters now support any folder, so you no longer need all of your images for this plugin in the Pictures folder. This does mean that you will need to reset all of your image parameters when updating. Sound parameters went through a similar update and will also need to be reset when updating.

Finally, this plugin will now warn in the dev tools console when you have a parameter set up incorrectly instead of crash. If you notice weird behavior while using this plugin, please check the dev tools console for these warnings first before reporting a bug as the issue may just be you have set up your parameters incorrectly.

This version added some options for actions that can occur when the player completes a hidden object scene. You can now play a sound effect when the scene is completed. You can also show a toast window when the scene is completed via a new integration with [CGMZ] Toast Manager.

This update also adds some more control over the hidden object window. You can set its background type, height, and also have it use a custom image for a background via an integration with [CGMZ] Window Backgrounds.

This version adds a button that can show and hide the object window, allowing your player to see behind the window in case they want to click behind the window. This means you should no longer need to create the blank space near the bottom of the scene where the window goes, and your scenes can take up the full screen with no issue now. See below gif for how it can look:

I also fixed a slight issue with the object window going slightly off screen in some cases.

This version adds gamepad and keyboard support! You can now set a cursor sprite which keyboard or gamepad players can move around using the standard directional keys. They can press the ok button to simulate a click where the cursor sprite is. See below gif for how it can look:

This update also worked on improving integrations with other {CGMZ] plugins. You can now provide haptic feedback to controller players when they find an object or complete a scene via [CGMZ] Rumble. The Hidden Object window can now have its windowskin, tint, and more controlled via [CGMZ] Window Settings. The [CGMZ] Toast Manager now uses the preset id system. You can still use %name to show the scene name in your toast.

Behind the scenes, this plugin has been almost entirely rewritten to use a spriteset for managing the objects, foreground, background, and cursor sprites. This should not really impact anything right now, but will make it much easier for me to add things to this plugin quicker in the future.

This version focuses on making clicking the hidden objects make more sense to players. Previously, clicking anywhere in the object rectangle would count even if the image was transparent or behind the foreground. Now, there are options provided to you to make this behave differently.

You can now set each individual object to exact, which will make it so clicking within the object rectangle but on a transparent pixel will no longer count as finding the item.

You can also make it so that if the foreground is obscuring the object, clicking on the foreground in front of the object also no longer counts. This is a plugin wide parameter that will affect all scenes.

See below gif for how these new options can look: