v21.1 Derxwna's Vs. Transition System (DTS) 1.0.1

Over 10 years ago, I asked myself a very simple question:
"How can I make my Legendary Boss Fights feel more unique"
Vs. Transitions. That was the answer I came to.
I tried to use the default Vs. Transition system that was in Essentials at the time, and it... worked. kinda. But not good enough.
So, despite the fact that I had no real grasp on coding at the time, I sought out a way to recreate the Gen 6-style Vs. Transitions.


This was that attempt. The first itteration of this script.

Over the past ten years, I have worked on iterating this system from what it was to what it would become. Starting as an In-Event, very rough Pre-Battle Sequence that had a lot of bugs I didn't know how to resolve, until it eventually became a Common Event-based system with a bunch of switches and variables to control the facets.


Until, finally, I reached a point where I decided
"Okay, there's only one way I can imptove upon this; it's time to convert it from a common event into an actual animation handler."
I wanted to make it plug and play for a long time, since over the years, people have asked me constantly how I've pulled this off. But, I never really felt comfortable giving this to people in its current state.
I gave it to a few people, but I always told myself "eventually"- eventually I would make this into something I could release to the public.

Finally. After all this time, I have.

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Derxwna's Custom Vs. Transitions System for Essentials Version 21.1
Developed by Derxwna Kapsyla
With heavy assistance from Vendily
This will likely not work properly on V20.1 and backwards without extensive editing of the timings, as this uses V21's new timing system for frame agnostic wait counts.

This comes with an example map! First you will need to create a new map, save your project, get the ID for that map, then copy this plugin's Data Folder to your project's root directory, and rename the "TRANSITION_EXAMPLE_MAP.rxdata" to the ID of the new map you made (You will need to delete the new map you just made OUTSIDE of RPG Maker XP first!)

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This plugin allows users to make more cinematic Vs. Transitions before important battles, in a style vaguely reminiscent of the Gen 6 Pre-Battle Vs. Transitions. This system is fairly easy to use! This file will show off how to use it to its fullest potential.
Supported battle types:

• Trainer Single Battles
• Trainer Double Battles
• Trainer Triple Battles
• Wild Single Battles

Things you can achieve with this system:

• Custom background per trainer/event encounter
  • This can be defined per-event by putting in $game_temp.vs_transition_bg into a script command.
  • If this is not defined, it will default to a "Plains" background, which has been provided with this plugin.
• Custom name definitions per trainer/event encounter
  • There is a three step hierarchy system when it comes to picking the name to display in the Vs. Transition sequence. The hierarchy is as follows:
    • Step 1: The plugin checks for the existence of a file in Transitions/DTS/Nameswith the following names:
      • Trainers: "Name_(TRAINERTYPE)"
      • Pokemon: "Name_(SPECIESNAME)_W"
      • Double Trainer Battles: "Name_(TRAINERTYPE1)_(TRAINERTYPE2)"
      • Triple Trainer Battles: "Name_(TRAINERTYPE1)(TRAINERTYPE2)(TRAINERTYPE3)"
      • For Double and Triple Battles it should be noted that the format listed above is STRICT. If it isn't in that exact format, it will not see the file as existing and proceed to Step 2.
    • Step 2: If a graphic wasn't found, it will then check for the existence of a value stored in "$game_temp.vs_name". This is used to define a custom name.
      • Key example: If you don't want to reveal a trainer's name as Silver, but instead ???.
    • Step 3: If neither a graphic nor a value was found, this will default to the name of the trainer as identified in trainers.txt.
• Different portraits for Pokemon based on their form
  • For Pokemon like Deoxys who have custom forms that they can take in battle, you can have the filename for that Pokemon have the form ID and it will reflect as such in the Vs. Transition. This is achieved by having a portrait in the Transitions/DTS/PTs folder with the following filename format: "Wild_(POKEMON)_(FORMID)". Example, Deoxys Speed would be "Wild_DEOXYS_3".
  • A glossary of accepted filenames will be provided at the end.

This system can definitely have improvements made to it (The support of Double and Triple Wild Battles), but as it is this is a good start for anybody who wants to breathe new life into the Pre-Battle sequence of their games.

A glossary of all the accepted commands and filenames can be found in this section.

• $game_temp.vs_transition_bg= "(Value)" - This is used to set the Background used for the next Vs. Transition. If not defined, it will default to "Plains".
  • Example: $game_temp.vs_transition_bg = "Starlight"
  • Files are stored in the Transitions/DTS/BGs folder, and must be prefixed with "BG" before the background name.
• $game_temp.vs_name= "(Value)" - This is used to set a name to display at the bottom of the Vs. Transition. The game will check for an image first; if not found, it will check if this exists. If this is not defined, it will default to the Trainer or Pokémon's name as defined in their relevant PBS files.
  • Example: [imath][B]game_temp.vs_name = "Captain Ringo" /[/imath]game_temp.vs_name[/B] = "Vs. Arceus (Steel)
  • Files are stored in the Transitions/DTS/Namesfolder, and must be named accordingly:
    • Trainers: "Name_(TRAINERTYPE)"
    • Pokemon: "Name_(SPECIESNAME)_W"
    • Double Trainer Battles: "Name_(TRAINERTYPE1)_(TRAINERTYPE2)"
    • Triple Trainer Battles: "Name_(TRAINERTYPE1)(TRAINERTYPE2)(TRAINERTYPE3)"
      • For Double and Triple Battles it should be noted that the format listed above is STRICT. If it isn't in that exact format, it will not see the file as existing.
• Transitions/DTS/Balls: The folder where the modified overlay_lineup.png file is located. Currently this is all that is here.
• Transitions/DTS/BGs: The folder where all backgrounds are stored for the Vs. Transition system.
• Transitions/DTS/Names: The folder where all custom names are stored for the Vs. Transition system.
• Transitions/DTS/PTs: The folder where all portraits are stored for the Vs. Transition system.
  • "Char_(VALUE)" is used for Trainers
  • "Wild_(VALUE)" is used for Pokemon
  • "Wild_(VALUE)_(ID)" is used for Pokemon with different forms.

I hope you find enjoyment in using this system! People've asked me to release this to the public for a long time, and now I can finally do so. I've had a lot of fun refining this and using it over the years. Just remember to credit myself and Vendily if you use this! Also, some of the assets came from the Gensou Ningyou Enbu Asset Collection Pack- if you use the Arceus Portrait, please credit them as well!

- DerxwnaKapsyla