The final step in preparing the ABS( As of version 0.5.0.b, is to at the very least, INITIALIZE, skill AND item data! This can be done by opening the “Edit Item Extras” and choosing “save” this will force the tool to create the necessary data required for items to function properly in the ABS. You will have to do the same thing for skills as well. While here, you can also quickly and easily edit the settings for EACH skill and item as well! Upon opening the skill/item editor, you will be greeted with the following window.
The first thing to do, is choose an item/skill from the list on the left, then configure each item/skill’s settings to suit your needs! I will go over each new setting for skills/items one by one.
General Settings:
Motion:
After defining motions for your characters, you can change what motion an item or skill uses here. By default Items will use the “item” motion, and skills will use the “skill” motion. However you can designate a custom motion for each skill if it is required! One more thing to note, if the skill a character uses is set to their Attack skill in the RPG maker MV/MZ database, the skill will AUTOMATICALLY default to using the “attack” motion, regardless of what is specified here!
Type:
This defines HOW the action is executed, for now, there is only 3 types[ melee, direct, and self]. Melee skills are physical attacks, that use the hitbox/hurtbox system from the character motions plugin. Direct attacks, are things that are used at a distance, that instantly affect the target In example, the player casting a magic spell “lightning”, where lighting strikes the enemy from above. Lastly, the “self” type, will force a skill to select the user. this can be useful for self buffs or self heal skills.
Force Use( Item Only ):
When this is turned on, and you have items set to drop to the map, the item will NOT be picked up, and instead will be used immediately on the player! In example, if you set this value to be on for potions, the player will NOT pick up the potion, and instead, the potion will heal the player as soon as he touches the potion dropped from an enemy!
Effects:
Flinch:
If Flinch Enabled is turned on, then whenever the flinch “pressure” is greater than the flinch tolerance, of the character being HIT with this item/skill, the target will perform the “hurt” animation. When the “hurt” animation is applied, if the target is in the middle of attacking, it will interrupt his attack( This does NOT apply to the target if they are in the middle of “casting” or “chanting” ).
Interrupt:
When this setting is enabled, and a target is “casting” or “chanting” when hit with this skill/item, the targets “chanting” will be cancelled!
Knockback:
If “Knockback Enabled” is checked, AND the “Knockback Pressure” is GREATER than or equal to, the “Knockback Tolerance” of the target of this skill/item, then the target will be Knocked away from the user of the skill/item, by the “Knockback Distance” specified( distance is handled in tiles, not pixels. I.E. 0.5 is 1 tile, 2, is 2 tiles ). The time it takes for the target to REACH that distance, is specified by “Knockback Duration”( specified in frames per second 60 = 1 second ). An example, would be, if you set the distance to 1, and the duration is set to 30, the target hit, will be knocked back 1 full tile, in the time span of roughly half a second!
Timing Settings:
Cooldown:
Cooldowns are specified in frames per second( 60 = 1 second ), when specified, after a skill is used, the cooldown time will be applied, and the same skill cannot be used again, until the cooldown time has ended.
Enemy Delay( Enemy Only ):
Enemy delay is another type of cooldown, that ONLY affects enemies, however this does not delay the use of the skill, instead, it delays the enemy from doing anything at all until this delay timer expires. This can be useful for perhaps an enemy that has a super powerful attack, but it leaves him “exhausted” for a few seconds after, leaving an opening for the player to attack!
Cast Time:
When a cast time is specified, the character will perform the “Chant” animation BEFORE executing the skill, this can leave the enemy open to attacks for a brief time before casting the spell. Spells with cast time can ALSO be interrupted when the caster, is hit with a skill that has “Interrupt enabled”, checked, casted skills CANNOT be interrupted by JUST the flinch enabled!