FEATURES
This plugin allows you to use graphics as layers on the map. The layers can appear at different height levels (below the map, below characters, above everything, etc.) and can move in different ways. This was designed to be used for layer mapping (aka parallax mapping) as well as fogs and other effects.
In addition to map layers, layers can also be created in battles, allowing fogs and other effects.
VERSION 2.0 – RPG Maker MV
Download Plugin file
Download Demo
Galv's RPG Maker Scripts & Plugins 
Alright! Thanks, Galv.
YES! :D But you changed the format -_- Sadness lol.
Now I have to figure out how to make a plugin that loads all the maps on startup again.
Haha, yeah people seem to want to use the plugin command. I might write a plugin that executes plugin commands from txt file for that very purpose to go with it. Remind me in a few weeks if I haven’t made it :D
I certainly will! By that time, I’ll most likely be able to completely dive into MV… or at least more than I can right now
I have doubts about the performance.
Say i have 60 parallaxed maps, with numerous images here and a few maps with animated rivers like in a demo. All of that i called with this pluging from the start, (say from “Initialize Map” like in the demo).
Does it mean that loading will be unussaly slow? Will my game require more RAM?
(sorry for my bad english)
All the layers created in the initialize demo map are only layer settings. The actual layer images are only created and updated when the player enters the map.
eg. Player enters map, map looks at settings and makes layers. Player leaves map, those images disappear and it looks at settings for the next map, creating those new layers.
That said, too many layers on the one map might cause lag. And images that are too large in file size will definitely have an effect for people playing on slower devices, mobiles or from a server. I have not tested on those things.
Understood, thanks!
Good stuff. I was just about to make a map with fog, and there’s no such built-in weather effect. Rock on. And please make that Map Position script a plugin! :)
p.s. should have mentioned the need to create a /layer folder under /img, would have saved me a solid 10 mins ;)
Oh haha, thanks – I will update instructions to include that
Galv, i’m having issues with downloading both the demo and the plugin file. The webpage says the download is unavailable.
File hosting might have been having difficulties, please try again and see if it works
I must be doing something wrong, i see nothing
Never mind, i figured it out, you have to set it up on a different map then TP to the map you set it up for.
Blending 1 and 3 look the same, and blending 2 makes things black Blending 0 looks like it should to though.
The blending numbers are from the default plugins, I havent tested them all but they appear to be different methods of blending the image to whatever is under it. 0 should be no blending.
It is. 0 is no blending.. 1 and 3 is positive and 2 makes everything black.
2 is apparently “Blend Multiply”, so it might depend what your layer looks like to why it makes everything black
Turns out 2 is not supported in the current pixi under webgl. That’s why it goes black. Unless it’s not going black for you, if it’s not for you… i don’t know what it is.. i just now i started to use an updated pixi that someone is working on over at RMW, and even though it lags some, 2 actually showed up properly in it.
Ah I see, thanks for letting me know – I’ll do more tests to find out more about it when I can
I found out that the current version of Pixi is the culprit.. even though it SAYS in the script it does multiply, multiply does not work as it should and the creator of the version of pixi the MV uses says he has no plans to correct the issue.
Thanks for looking that up – much appreciated. I guess for now that feature will not work
Yeah only the first 2 actually work. The other 2 don’t sadly.
Or use the “LAYER REFRESH” plugin command if you want to make a layer on the same map
Ah okay! Thanks.. man. i must have missed that somewhere.
Thank you for the plug in.
I’m having fun toying around with it.
I run into one issue though, every file in layer(or regular parallax mapped file’ has a blur.
Even though the same objects added through the editor are crisp.
How do you solve that?
There was some plugin on the RPG maker forum but it is just applied to characters.
Not parallax maps.
I’ve had a few people mention blurry images. I don’t know how to solve this, it appears to be an MV issue or another script. I have yet to replicate the issue myself
I have read a post in the forums that the blurry images are an issue with MV. If your layer graphic (or parallax) is a non-power of 2 pixel size. I think that means if your image’s width or length are not an even number, it will be blurry
Also – added functionality to use map NOTEs to create layers as well – making it easier for layer mapping.
Just got RPGMMV installed, and I’m glad to find your layer graphics plugin already! It is my favorite overlay mapping plugin, just like it was for ACE!
A quick test to understand its working got this result:
Nice, I’m glad people are making use of it :D Thanks for sharing!
By the way, the map notes addition is a must! Great work!
Map notes already added :) I agree, they were needed
Hey Galv, I really like this plugin. But for some reason, it doesn’t work for me consistently. I had tree shade layers and fog layers. Moved some plugins around and made a new map to add a fog layer to it, and then the layers on all the other maps just stopped working.
This could be a bug but I am going to need to see what was done in order to assist.
Is there any specific reason when I put the notetag on the map it doesn’t work? It worked before..
You’ll need to check if another plugin isn’t conflicting. Disable other plugins and test. Also make sure to test starting a new game and not continuing from a saved game.
Sorry about the double post about the same question! I fixed the issue again. I believe it was the order of the plugins I had,
Order of plugins can be important, especially if another plugin isn’t written to be very compatible. Sometimes that’s not possible, but all “core” plugins should go at the top :)
Hey there, Galv. Can I put pictures under animations with your script? Have a nice year. o/
Animations should appear above the layers created by this plugin already. This plugin doesn’t have anything to do with event ‘pictures’
T_T *sob* Well, do you know how to put animations above pictures? I’m reading all project/js/rpg_core.js trying to find it out… But i not really a scripter… I found that:
/* * Z coordinate: *
* 0 : Lower tiles
* 1 : Lower characters
* 3 : Normal characters
* 4 : Upper tiles
* 5 : Upper characters
* 6 : Airship shadow
* 7 : Balloon
* 8 : Animation
* 9 : Destination */
But don’t know if this changes anything…
Still, I can’t make my picture a panorama cause the pic interacts with the player.
Making animations appear over pictures would require a separate plugin to work. Unfortunately the pictures are not part of the z co-ordinates of the tilemap so I don’t think it’s a quick fix to do
Is it possible to add an option to not repeat the layer? It happens when the size of the map is minor to the size of the screen.
Example: http://i.imgur.com/fvBuwwT.png
No, sorry – you need to make the layer image the same size as the screen and put something like black on the graphic where there isn’t anything
Thanks for answering, Galv. You can’t do it because of a technical limitation or because you don’t have time?
Don’t have time
I’ve updated this to 1.6 and added layers that don’t repeat now
Also added battle layers
Galv, I’m using this because its seems easier, and the images are in place when the map loads, unlike some of the other similar plugins out there. I have however noticed that the images have a slight blur to them in this plugin, which is absent (sharp) in the other similar plugins. Any idea how to remove the slight blur and keep the images crisp?
This sounds like an issue Rpgmaker MV has. I recommend googling it to find more info as it has something to do with the image sizes itself not being a power of 2 or something like that.
Probably obvious, but this is incompatible with TerraxLighting.
Not really obvious, the two do different things. “Incompatible” can have a lot of meanings… does it not work at all? Does it crash with an error? Does it work but not display as you expect?
Hey Galv!
Thanks for your awesome plugins! They’re all great!!
In addition, I know that the “multiply” blend mode doesn’t work for this plugin atm, but I REALLY hope you could find a way around it.
Could you help?
-Trying to darken a map with multiply (aka reduce lighting)
-Are there other options to reduce lighting/increase lighting of the map?
-Just an idea, do you know how to induce flickering of lights on the map?
Thanks again man!
Johnny
Sounds like you might be interested in looking for a lighting plugin.
I am hoping the multiply blend mode will work after RPG Maker MV updates to the latest version of PIXI, so we need to wait until then to find out :)
Awww…thanks anyways.
what’s PIXI btw? is it pixels?
It’s the code that controls rendering of the graphics in rpgmaker
Hey Galv! Great plugin – sadly it doesn’t work anymore when I export the Game. Do you expect me to add the /layers folder in the export? Or did something went wrong? :/
If you selected the “exclude unused files” unfortunately at the moment, yes you’ll have to copy the folder into the correct location in the exported files as it doesn’t detect the layer graphics that were made when excluding images
great script but i am having some issues, I get the Type error – Undefined is not a function when i try to transfer to another map .
TypeError: undefined is not a function
at Spriteset_Map.destroyLayers (GALV_LayerGraphics.js:281)
at Scene_Map.terminate (GALV_LayerGraphics.js:276)
at Function.SceneManager.changeScene (rpg_managers.js:1805)
at Function.SceneManager.updateMain (rpg_managers.js:1789)
at Function.SceneManager.update (rpg_managers.js:1714)
Am i doing something wrong ?
Check you have the most recent version of this plugin. Check for plugin conflict. Check the help file and demo again to make sure your code is correct.
Hi galv, i have little problem here,im typing in map notes LAYER_S 1 001Ground 0 0 255 0 0, when my camera scrolling down the parallax is gone, but if i back the parallax appear, if i typing LAYER 1 001Ground 0 0 255 0 0 0 0 it fix but duplicating/loops its make weird, im using RMMV 1.3.3 and your latest MV Layer Graphics.
I’m not exactly sure what you are saying is happening. But here’s a list of things to error trap:
Some thoughts:
1. Latest version of MV is 1.3.5 – I keep all my plugins compatible with latest versions and not older versions. Make sure you update your project files, too, not just MV.
2. Check for plugin conflicts.
3. Try to replicate your issue in the plugin demo.
4. Upload the demo project with the issue for me to take a look at.
here https://www.dropbox.com/s/tbfzgsujt7uo1fi/Layer%20Graphics%20MV%201.9.rar?dl=0
Thanks for this, I can see it happening. Try changing the Z value from 0 to 0.5 and it should work.
I hadn’t set up a map like this before, not yet sure why it happens
I get Type Error Cannot read property 3 of undefined when I try to use this plugin.
Just telling me the error unfortunately doesn’t help. But here’s a checklist of things you can do to error trap your project:
Is Michael’s comment above about Terrax Lighting not working with Layers correct?
I have not tested it and my question to Michael wasn’t answered.
I wonder if there is a way to make it work on RPGBoss, I can’t use RPGMaker and this is exactly what I’m looking for :/ thanks!
I don’t know what RPGBoss is but my code here id for RPG Maker, sorry :)
I understand, don’t worry. RPGBoss is an editor similar to RPGMaker, it’s good, just don’t have the exact option that I need jaja. By the way, you have made a good job expanding the capabilities of RPGMaker with your plugins and scripts.
Hey Galv, Just wanted to say you are very appreciated. Thanks for all you do :} I am having an issue, I want to put an image of a house on my map. But I cant seem to move it to the location I want and also, it appears above the player. I am using the layer s and here is the map note-LAYER_S 1 Building_1 130 0 255 20 0. I have tried different numbers but the image does not move. And the image stays above characters. I am sorry but cant figure it out. Thanks again friend, you are appreciated.
The image stays above characters because it’s set to z value 20.
As for moving it to the location you want, the xy values are in pixels, not tiles. If you are wanting tiles multiply that by your tile size (* 48 if using default).
I am unsure what is happening in your project exactly as I cannot see it but hope that helps.
Galv, thank you. your advice has fixed my problems. Thank you
Is there any way to create a compatibility patch with your Visibility Range Plugin? (I’m having problems when trying to use both),.
Thanks!
Please specify what problems you are having as I have just spent time creating a test project with both of these plugins but found none.
I don’t know why, but with the last update of RpgmakerMV, both of plugins doesn’t work together. (One or another by separate works fine).
I even tried to change the order in the list of plugins but nothing happened, they simply don’t work.
I don’t know what “simply don’t work” means and unfortunately I cannot replicate any issues with the two plugins working together using latest version of the MV files. Make sure your project has MV files updated (just updating RPG Maker MV doesn’t update projects).
Here’s a list of things to try and error trap the problem in your project:
Hi Galv!
I just tested it with Terrax Lighting and it didn’t work at first, but I fixed it. I wanted to add a fog at one map and I succedded. Maybe someone with this problem will notice this comment in the future:
– I changed my layer from “1” to a higher number (like “2”);
– on the map with the fog I wanted to add i refreshed layers.
Works perfectly fine.
I’m really having trouble to understand it, after a lot of time still I never got the parallax working. Just a black picture appear. I correctly used call plugin with LAYER_S 2 1 MoraviaGate_Lower 0 0 255 0 0, and simple no image ever showed. I have no idea how to use it.
Actually I understood what went wrong. I before this plugin, I was using some other parallax plugin that was necessary to load directly on the map when you entered it. This is different, I actually need to load it before entering the map. Indeed its better than my last plugin. Well problem solved.
First thanks for this great plugin, it worked wonders on my project. I just have a small question, it’s possible to create a layer under the layer 0? Like for sample, an moving fog or clouds you can see in outside window? Or like moving clouds bellow floating land where you stand and move?
Thanks again.
Yes, you can use negative numbers
Hey galv your plugin is g.o.a.t. however…..i have my resolution set at 1366 x768 using yanfly core and using your plugin for battle layering it seems like u have a default resolution on the way the layer is placed. when i use yanflys action sequence and zoom the camera out you can see where the layer image breaks on all sides. can you change your plugin to where you can set the resolution for battle layers so i wont see the borders of the layers using my custom resolution for my game?
Layers are placed at 100% size. If you need a bigger layer, you’ll need to edit the graphic to be big enough.
i did but everytime i change the picture size it just changes the size of the actual picture but the picture placement is still the games basic resolution do u see what i mean? yes the picutre size gets bigger or smaller but the actual placement for all around the borders is 816x 624. the picture size works on maps OUTSIDE of battle but in battle when i change the picture size the actual picture gets bigger or smaller but the borders is in the same place so if you can can u make it to where when u change the size of picture it also changes the ingame resolution to whatever the custom res is for that persons game. i never recorded a video before do you want me to post one so u can see what i mean?
It might help, sure – but I am currently away for a week or so and will also have a look when I get back.
this is for you plugin IN BATTLE. it works like a charm outside of battle but in battle even if you change picture size it still has the borders of 816X 624 when my resolution for my game is 1366x 768. when i use yanflys zoom out for action sequences i can seen the borders where the pictures end no matter what i change the size of the picture to. REMEMBER im talking about IN BATTLE LAYERS.
hey how do you post pictures on this site?
You cannot upload images here, you have to upload them somewhere else and then link to them
Thank you, Galv, for this awesomeness. I am experiencing a small issue. When the map loops and your player character crosses over that border the Layers reset and it causes a jump.
Is this something I’m doing wrong?
My plugin commands
LAYER 1 1 Land 0 0 255 -2 5 5 0
LAYER 1 2 Clouds -.25 -.25 255 -1 3 3 0
Unfortunately this plugin wasn’t designed to be used for looping maps. I think static layers work okay but the sliding/moving ones will have that jump effect if you do
Is this a limitation of the RMMV engine or do you think this is could be accomplished with a plugin. I don’t want to go asking around for something that’s impossible to do. If it’s not possible then I can just find a way to deal with this limitation. Thanks.
It’s not a limitation, more how I coded the positioning to be based on the map position and this position shifts when the map loops.
Ok, thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.
When I download this file MV does not recognize it as a plugin? Have something changed from earlier version? I have a previous build of this plugin working just fine. Can it have something to do with the filename?
Put the file directly into your /js/plugins/ folder exactly as it is without changing the filename.
MV should recognise it as a plugin if it’s a ,js file. Make sure you’re putting just a .js file in that folder and not extracting the demo there or something.
If I may send another question, how can I make the water animation bellow all the parallaxes? I tried but always the standard water animation shows above everything.
The water animation as in the ground tiles? You cannot separate that from the normal ground tiles. Layers with z value 0 or greater should display over ground tiles.
So you mean that technically the water animation could never be displayed bellow the parallax layers?
Oh forgive my last comment, I wasn’t paying attention. My Z value was 0, but as soon as I changed it to 1 the water animation showed bellow my parallaxes. Thanks a lot for you patience with me, I should pay more attention to the plugin description.
With this plugin, is it possible to make a layer scroll slower than MV’s normal minimum for parallaxes? I’ve been struggling to find a plugin that allows for this; the default is really limiting.
Yep, you can
Hi Galv,Thank you for this amazing plugin!I wonder if you can make static sprite layers movable too.that’ll be very useful for random clouds or any other effect.
Nice Plugin anyway!
That’s a good idea. Perhaps one day when I get more time I will add that functionality.
Updated to version 2.0
Added ability to make static layers follow characters (events or player). Also added the ability to rotate the static sprite depending on character facing direction
Finally I had time to test this new ability in my project just now.It worked perfect!
Thank you for this awesome update!
Updated to version 2.1 – fixed a bug when trying to remove layers in battle
Hello Galv,I found that if this plugin is used along with YEP Battle Engine Core ,after any skill is used,enemys are forced to be hidden by the background which z position is 2.Can you fix this?
and a question,can I change battlebackground layer during battle?
Waitting for your answer.:)
Before I look at this, please do some more tests to confirm those plugins are the issue. Try also to use a different z value remembering you can use decimal places.
Make sure you have the latest MV update, have updated your project with those MV files properly (updating MV doesn’t update your project) and also have all the latest Yanfly plugins.
With latest yanfly plugins and update in my project,
I’ve tested several cases and they are like:
When use Galv Layer Graphic only:
Z0 BG1 Z1 BG2 Z2 Enemy&Character Z3
(and this is exactly how the plugin should work I think)
When use Galv Layer Graphic and Yep Core Engine:
Z0 Z1 Z2 BG1 BG2 Enemy&Character Z3
When use Galv Layer Graphic and Yep Battle Engine Core:
Before using skill:BG1 BG2 Z0 Z1 Z2 Enemy&Character Z3
After using skill:BG1 BG2 Z0 Z1 Enemy&Character Z2 Z3
When use Galv Layer Graphic ,Yep Core Engine and Yep Battle Engine Core:
Same with above
And I also tried change Z2 to Z1.5,this fixed the error when using skill.
but it seems still not work correctly with Yep Core Engine and Yep Battle Engine Core.
hope these testings can be useful.
Perhaps if you can upload a demo project somewhere with only the plugins that are conflicting and battle set up to replicate the issue, I may be able to investigate.
Hello Galv.
I’ve made several demo project to show how they work together.
You can use the 3rd to see all versions
but for convenience I made projects for all three cases.
Thank you in advance for your work and looking forward to your answer!
https://mega.nz/#!ca5UTDSR!c3hI9ARt2DyhodyVS8qk3iTJ80DWK2XfeIGkDer7Mtw
Heads up. This particular plugin (and it’s demo) has a Trojan attached. I tried downloading it from two different computers and it gave me the same alert. I’m guessing this is a new thing, looking at the comments. If you need more info, let me know!
Thanks for the report – I have gone back to v.2.0 of this plugin now due to this issue. I have just scanned these files again and I am finding only 3 out of 60 different virus scanners detect it as suspicious.
I honestly do not think it contains a virus, it is likely a false positive but I believe latest windows/chrome/other software updates report it as such and therefore won’t let people download them so I have rolled back to earlier version while I find time to investigate.
Is it possible to change the opacity of the layers during an action sequence?
This should be enough in several moments:
eval: $gameScreen.startFadeOut(fade_speed);
eval: $gameScreen.startFadeIn(fade_speed);
but imagine If I want to simulate a summon similar to a Final Fantasy Game.
PS: probably this is the last comment I write on your website, so thanks for helping me with the questions I’ve had
Unless action sequences let you do a plugin command, you’ll have to eval code for the plugin command. I am super busy, I recommend asking in a forum how to do that.
LAYER 003 1 SunRaysCorner1 0 0 255 5 0 0 0 I don’t get it, Ive looked over this so many times and it seems to me this should work, all i want it to do is move with the map but it stays where it is and if you travel up the map a bit you can see another print of it and so on equally spaced, could anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong here?
I’ve noticed a weird bug. I have a ground layer added using
LAYER_S ground-img 0 0 255 0 0
Then I added a river with the normal RPG Maker tiles, so the water is animated. As expected, the image layer is below the tiles, so the animated water covers part of the image. Good. Now, whenever I approach the top area of the map imgame, so the camera catches the map edge, the image layer seems increase its z value, so it suddenly covers the tiles. When I move back down, it jumps below the tiles again.
Decrease the z level. You can use decimals if needed
Ok, if anyone else has this problem, setting the z value to -1 works (I didn’t know it could go lower than 0). I did some additional testing and also tried an alternate plugin with similar functionality. It happens there, too, so this appears to actually be a bug in the engine which they introduced with 1.6.0.
Hey Galv,
First, thanks alot for this awesome plugin!
I have one question though: I am currently trying to make a rather large map with parallaxes. To make this possible, I am going to split one big parallax image into several small ones, which will be loaded when the player gets to certain areas of the map.
For example: The Player starts at position x y and parallax image 1 is loaded as layer 1. When the player moves to position a b, image 2 is loaded as layer 1, replacing image 1.
My question now is: Will the replaced layer image be removed from the cache?, because otherwise i fear heavy lag after a certain amount of time and switching from image to image.
And if not, will the ‘remove layer’ command instead fully delete the images from the cache?
Thanks a lot in advance!
I believe images only get removed from the image cache if they are not used for a certain time and the automatic garbage collection does it.
I don’t recommend using this for huge maps, though. Slower computers may visibly lag when the layers are created
First, thanks alot for the fast answer. I would face the problem of big layers by cutting them into smaller ones to reduce the impact on the performance. My only problem would be to somehow clear specific images out of the cache, which should be possible somehow, I just didn’t find any script calls or something similar yet.
Sorry for the double posting! One more (probably dumb) question: Does the automatic garbage collection even remove the layer graphics used with this script? (given that they aren’t used for a while)
It should – but I RPG Maker MV has always had memory problems for me even after their updates.
First hey Galv! Great plugin you’ve made, keep up the good work!
Now, onto my quandry, and sorry if this has already been asked, (I did scroll through here, and google, to no avail, though I won’t rule out me missing something, anyways…) while the battle layers work beautifully in event triggered fights, I can’t seem to figure out how to make them work in random battles. Shoot me a line on how, or if that’s possible, if you could please?
Okay, update:
I managed to get the dust working in random worldmap battles by calling a common event for turn 0, with the script setup in it for certain troops. It works, but only after like 1 or 2 battles, and then it kicks in for every fight afterwards. Any ideas?
Not designed for random battles, sorry. But if you call it turn 0 you might have to refresh layers.
Sorry to necro post here…
When you transfer onto the map with the random encounters, you can have the transfer even also have a ‘script command’ that “turns on” the battle weather you want.
Ah, no worries then, and I’ll try that. Thanks for the prompt reply. :)
Thank you for making a demo. I’m a visual person. I struggle with reading and understanding things. But I can study the material being used in front of me through a demo to figure things out. You do amazing work Galv. I wish you would be more appreciate.
Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you’ve found my plugins useful
Hey Galv, thanks for that great plugin.
I am having one issue thouh: Whenever I try to create a layer the plugin wants to use the LAYER ID as the image name.
If I leave the Layer ID out everything works fine but it means that I can only have one layer.
For clarification, I used your example code from the Plugin help text:
LAYER 12 1 clouds 1 0 155 5 0 0 0
If I use this command, the plugin tries to load an image called “1.png” instead of “clouds.png”
Do you have any idea what’s going on?
Ah, nevermind. I figured it out.
I think it had to do with the fact that I was using it in the Notetags and not as a plugin command.
Yep, if you notice they are actually slightly different commands. The map notes don’t need the map ID, but in a plugin command it does.
Hello, excuse me, I am looking for alternatives to parallax mapping and I found your plugin, the problems is that the images becomes blurred and the pixels got lost. The only one I’ve used that doesn’t become images blurry is: ¨Bind picture to map¨. But this one is not compatible with Terrax lighting. The question is: Is there any way to make images NO look blurry with your plugin?
Does the blur happen in the demo? (ie. with no other plugins). I ask as I haven’t experienced blur when I use it.
Its happen when use your zoom plugin together… but, I already read that you said there’s no way to quit the blur. :c
Hello
I’m having an issue where the front of my battle layer keeps scrolling on the X-axis but I’d like it to be ‘static’.
This is what I have in my script call event;
Galv.LG.bLayer(1,’Battle_Cave_Front’,0,0,255,3,0);
Did I miss something?
Check in a new project. If it doesn’t happen maybe need to check for plugin conflict. Check that you didn’t create that layer again somewhere else with movement.
would it be possible to display a layer graphic above any/all pictures generated with the “show picture” event?
I think pictures are drawn separately to map graphics, I am not sure. You could do a test.
I can’t figure out how to place images over character (Ex: Roofs when doing parallax mapping)
I recommend downloading the demo as it has examples of how to do that.
Can’t thank you enough for this. 4 years of dealing with TDDP’s crap (cannot read property setDimensions of null BOLOGNA) I finally stumble upon this layers plugin… Not sure I’m out of the woods yet, but take a look here:
Map properties – Note:
LAYER 0 Bottom 0 0 255 -2 0 0 0
LAYER 1 Top 0 0 255 4 0 0 0
Bottom.png – the map’s base image.
Top.png – the tree tops that you walk behind and things in the water with the illusion of being submerged.
So far this works. I even drew water tiles so that it looks animated on top of the bound layer bottom image. I couldn’t be happier. I’m using that same code in each map, just changing the image names in code… Will that be ok?
Yeah, sounds like you’re doing it right. Glad you have it working.
Hi Galv, back for one more issue. On a map, I have event sprites (like a bridge) that toggle above and below player. When the event toggles “above player”, it places the sprite above the plugins layer graphics, even if that layer is placed at #5.
Try different z values. If the layer isn’t above an event and you want it to be, raise the z value higher – it can be any number.
Hey Galv,
First of all, great plugin. It really helps a lot.
I needed some of the other blend modes that Pixi has because of how the parallax map was made so I added them to the code. They worked fine for the Tiling Layers but they don’t work at all for the Static Layers. I found out that none of the blend modes, before and after the edit, work for the static layers. Can you guide me on how to fix this issue?
Blending modes work for me with static layers.
Hi Galv, I tried this plugin and the parallax is working fine, so thank you! I just have one question:
If the player goes behind tall things (for example, buildings) you can’t see the sprite and don’t know where you are. So I want to change the parallax layer so both layers (ground +above) are below the player as long as he is behind tall things. Of course, I can use the plugin command
LAYER_S 6 2 Citygraphic 0 0 255 1 0 0 0 0 0
and it works. But if you have a lot of maps, you have to write this command for, let’s say, 50 maps. I don’t want to write this line over and over for every map. Is there a possibility to use variables or placeholders?
For example:
LAYER_S [mapvariable] 2 [graphicname] 0 0 255 1 0 0 0 0 0
Sorry for bad english, I hope you understand my problem.
Sorry, if it’s not written in the plugin documentation then I did not implement that functionality.
Oh sad :( Anyways, thank you for the really fast answer!
Hey Galv! I’m running into an issue where part of the map I’m overlaying is showing up around the edges.
Strangely enough it’s only part of it and not an entirely second or third room. Is there any particular reason this would be happening?
Not sure – check that your layer is the same pixel size as your map dimensions multiplied by a tile’s pixel size. Also, check for plugin incompatibilities.
We went ahead and checked and oddly enough our tiles are the correct dimensions. We have the room as a 15*16 with 48*48 tile size.
Currently, we are not using any other plugins so we can individually test them per project.
I’ll continue playing around with it but do let me know if you have any ideas…. Thanks so much.
Oh… sounds like your map is smaller than your screen resolution. If you’re using no plugins, then your minimum map size should be 17 tiles wide.
I also offered a short-term solution that could minorly affect the game’s performance.
We added a blank tile column to the side and then changed the grid size width up by 1 and made blocked it off as an unplayable area.
It results in something like this:
Alrighty. Back we are again. I’m running into an issue where the layer disappears after walking a certain distance. Is there a limitation with the width and height of a layer graphic or am I doing something wrong? The dimensions are 11*26 and I have the grid set correctly to fit it.
(this is for a different section not the previous one I posted)
nvm figured it out. I had to adjust the z layer for some odd reason….
Ah, okay – it might have been the z layer equal to the character and passing a certain y point re-arranged the order. Making it a different z value was the right call – remember you can use decimal places, too.
What do you mean disappear? Is your layer too small? If map dimensions are 11*26, you will need to increase that depending on your resolution size. I think by default, smallest map size you should use is 13 tiles wide if you haven’t changed the resolution.
Hey Galv! Is there a way to specify where the image layers move to and back from? I want to have some floating rocks hang around a specific area.
If you call the same static layer settings with different x,y positions, you can move the layer. You could use parallel process. I recommend asking in a forum as it could be a little tricky. Alternatively, you could use events for the floating rocks.
hey, im using your plugin in rpg maker mv, and i have problem that when i load the game it write me: cannot read property (number) of undefined.
Make sure to start a new game after adding.
Here’s some other error-trapping ideas:
These questions may be a bit dumb but this is the first plugin ive downloaded for rpgmv soo..
– Where is the (txt) file explaining how the plugin works (im a bit dumb and cant find it)
– Are plugins free to use? (i can make a game without worrying abt plugins being subject to copyright or smth??)
You’ll have to learn how to use plugins before you can launch into them (my site assumes viewers know how already). Here’s a blog post that might help: https://www.rpgmakerweb.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-plugins-part1
Look for terms and use details for any plugin you use – some are free, some are not. Depends on the author and the plugin.
For my plugins, you can view here:
Hope that helps. I recommend asking advice in a forum for anything you’re not sure about.
Every time I use the plugin it keeps giving me a error saying “Cannot read property ‘7’ of undefined”
Here’s some ideas for error trapping a plugin issue:
Hey, I’ve been using this plugin for making my maps for a while now, I am still very new to plugin commands though.
I have an issue where I need to have a layer showing the street lights to appear only at night, is that possible?
as in can I set a conditional branch that says if it’s night show x layer and if it’s day remove x layer?
either way this plugin is one of my favourites so thank you for this and your other work!
Yeah, that sounds possible using eventing. I recommend asking in a forum for help with that.
Just need to either have both layers active and in the eventing change one layer’s opacity to be invisible and the other to be visible and vice verca when you need to change it.
Hello, I’m sorry again, but I figured out the problem, it was my own fault, and I am writing in hopes you will not publish my previous comment forever immortalizing my embarrassing mistake.
I didn’t realize that you had to click the slots in the plugin manager. I am a fool…
Thank you so much for making this plugin, and thank you for your time. I’m gonna like… Go cry or something. Mayhaps even weep. Embarrassing.
While learning new stuff, you always encounter things like that – no need to call it embarrassing. I did hide your previous comment as requested, though!
Question, Is there a way to layer images on top of in game weather effects?
I had an idea to use the in game weather effects like Rain and Storm, but I wanted them to be seen through a window using the layer graphics.
The scene is indoors with a big open window with transparency that you would be able to see the in engine rain and storm effects.
Is something like this do-able?
Thank you Galv your plugins are amazing!
Does a ‘Show Picture’ event command show above the weather effects? You could use that instead of this plugin for that purpose.
While ‘show picture’ does show above weather effects it wouldn’t work because they show over the player as well. It’s an area of my map where the player is in a mansion and it’s storming outside. I wanted to enhance the atmosphere by being able to walk by the window and see the storm outside for some visual flair.
I’ll look for some more alternatives before giving up this idea entirely.
Thank you again!
Ah, I see – I was thinking of the scene incorrectly. Without modifying how the default weather in rpgmaker works, this plugin can’t do that – but if it were me, I’d make multiple layers with rain and have them appear behind everything so they are visible through the window, moving the layers past to give the effect of rain. Perhaps a parallel event that shows a bright layer of the scene outside when lightning strikes for a moment.
Hi, great plugin, I love it!
Is there a way i can have a layer under ground with a parallax image moving from bottom to top on a certain area of the map only ( says x15 to x20 * y5 to y10) and a different parallax image moving from right to left on the rest of the map?
Thank you
Not easily with this plugin, sorry. The tiled (repeating) parallaxes take up the whole map.
Thank you for your attention. I understand.
Hi Galv. I found out about your work recently and just downloaded this plugin for parallax mapping. I’ve watched a few tutorials and did everything they told me but the plugin just doesn’t seem to work. I created a “layer” folder inside the “image” folder, used the commands – Layer_S 1 ground1 0 0 255 1 0 – for ground layer and – Layer_S 4 par1 0 0 255 5 0 – for the overlay and put them in the Notes section of the Map properties. I’ve also checked if the other plugins were the source of the problem but it wasn’t the case.
What am I missing? I swear it’s making me insane;;
Yeah, it’s definitely not a simple plug-and-play. Did you download the demo and take a look at all the example events to see if you can see what you’re missing?
Hello Galv! First of all, thanks for the amazing plugins! I’m using the Screen_zoom Plugin and when using it in conjunction with the Layer_graphics Plugin, the Layer does not adapt to the new map size when I reduce the zoom below 1! Is there anything that could be changed so that the Layer updates itself and fits the new map size?
Unfortunately, I don’t have time these days to do compatibility fixes, sorry. Hopefully someone can help in the forums.
hi galv sorry if i busy you
anyway i not understand the layer image
could you please send files for the layer
(im indonesian sorry if my english isnt right)
You make the layers yourself. The plugin is for functionality, not for graphics. That said, there is a demo with some examples to help you see how it is set up.
hello!, ive been using this plug in for awhile now and no matter where i look online i cant find any sort of tutorial for how to make a graphic stick to a character like in the showcase video. is there anywhere with an example list of commands of where i can look?
There are no tutorials, sorry. I recommend downloading the demo and examining every event and map notes to work out how it has been done.
I’ve copied and pasted the layer in a demo I saw but I still can’t get the players to walk over that layer. What am I doing wrong?
The layer doesn’t control passability – that works the same, you need to use tiles.
Is there a way to add more function options than the 4 already included?
There’s usually always a way, but I don’t know what you are asking. What are you trying to do?
Hi galv^^
I”ve been playing around with it on rpg maker mz, it works thank god but noticed that I cant use the plugin commands.
Do you plan on releasing an MZ plugin of this?
I have both MV and MZ versions of this plugin,
Oh! Sorry I missed it ^^; Thank you!
Hi Galv!
Sorry for messaging here but it seems the download for this plugin is not working? I get brought to a 404 when I click.
The downloads on this page? They are working for me. Try again, they might have been down temporarily.
Hi Galv!
I created some layers that make my forest map look way better than before. I am also using day and night cycles. Unfortunately during the night the forest is way too dark, so I decided to use another layer as a torch. It works really well except I can’t get the torch “on” and “off”.
I had the idea to use a variable for the opacity and change this variable to 0 when the torch should be “off” and 100 when it should be “on” (parallel common event).
My problem is that I cannot figure out how to refresh the variable used in the layer.
The layer is in the notes section of the map and reads:
LAYER_S 008 torch v34 v35 v294 9 0 0.5 0.5 -1 0
(v34 and v35 are the player X and Y position and v294 is the opacity)
I guess it’s something pretty simple that I overlooked. Can you help me?
You need to run that plugin command whenever you want to refresh it. It only checks and uses the variable when the layer plugin command is used.
I tried without success.Right now my entry in the map notes (for mapID 8) is:LAYER_S 8 3 torch v34 v35 v294 9 0 0.5 0.5 -1 0(I added 3 as layer ID)I’m running a parallel common event that looks like:If Seconds Passed > 465 If Seconds Passed < 676 Control Variable #0294 Torchlight Opacity = 100 Plugin Command LAYER_S 8 3 torch v34 v35 v294 8 0 0.5 0.5 -1 0 :Else Control Variable #0294 Torchlight Opacity = 0 Plugin Command LAYER_S 8 3 torch v34 v35 v294 8 0 :End:Else Control Variable #0294 Torchlight Opacity = 0 Plugin Command LAYER_S 8 3 torch v34 v35 v294 8 0:EndNow whenever I enter this map I’m getting a TypeError (Cannot read property ‘_realX’ of undefined).I also tried replacing the opacity variable (v294) with “real” numbers (100 and 0) with the same result.I’m sure my plugin command is just wrong/missing something, but I cannot figure it out.
Nevermind, I’m dumb. The plugin command wasn’t triggered with 450 seconds on the clock, but with 465 seconds (when the transition to nighttime is completed). During testing I went into the forest (at second 450), saw the torch not lighting up and assumed it didn’t work. I just forgot to wait a few seconds ^^
With a few changes it works perfectly now :)
This is not working for me, and tutorials don’t help at all
The static image I want to use is named “test”, I want it on the second map I made, I tried with every kind of command but nothing works
Will need more information to work out the problem. If it just didn’t work and there was no error, let us know: The exact plugin command text you used and where you used it (eg. on an event on map #2)
This is the command I am using:
LAYER_S 2 1 test1 0 0 255 0 0
I am using a plugin command autorun event in map 2 where the player spawns, it says “Now loading…” then “Loading error – Failed to load: img/layers/1.png”
It is using the second value as the filename by the look of it. Look in your map notes… the layer setting in your map notes doesn’t need you to specify mapId and therefore would use the second value for the filename.
My guess is you have put it in your map notes as well, and that is incorrect.
Yeah, I had it in the notes and as command. I fixed it and it partially works now, I can see the image in the map but only if I run towards the upper left corner of the map, although it’s small and moves around a bit, I want it to fill the entire map, as if the image was the entire playable map. I saved the map as an image, edited it and used it as the layer, so I don’t think resolution is an issue.
This is the command I am using in the map notes:
LAYER_S 2 livingroom1 0 0 255 0 0
You saved the map as an image, did you know that MV saves it at half resolution?
I fixed the resolution, but I still have the other issues, the image only appears if I get closer to the top of the map, and if I move left or right the layer doesn’t stay in place, it shifts alongside the player
Also I must say, this plugin has been made 10 years ago and you’re still replying to comments, thank you Galv, I really appreciate this
No problem. What do you mean the layer shifts alongside the player? Let me know what you are trying to do with the layer.
Do you want it to stay in the same place on the screen all the time? Or do you want it to act as though it was stuck to the map tiles? Did you download the demo and check out the examples to see if you can find anything different to what you’ve done?
Are you trying to get it to display above the map tiles? Try changing the z value to 0.5 instead of 0. By ‘it only appears when you get closer to the top of the screen’, I suspect you might mean the z position being the same as another layer and that would fix that part.
The layer is now visible everywhere but an issue persists, I want it to act as if it was stuck to the map tiles, like it’s the playable map, but instead it slides around if I move, which isn’t what I want, and no, I cannot find out what I am doing wrong compared to the demo
This is the command in the map notes so far:
LAYER_S 2 livingroom1 0 0 255 0.5 0
Your plugin command appears to be correct.
As I am using this plugin in my own project, using static layers for mapping, I believe there is something in your setup that is causing the issue that you will need to find.
Here are some error-trapping ideas:
if none of those things change the issue, I am unsure if I can assist in finding the error without being able to see your project directly, I don’t have time to error-trap individual projects, so I recommend posting in a forum to see if others will.
Hey Galv! Huge fan. I’ve been using your plugin for a project to great success but haven’t been able to actually change/adjust layer settings during gameplay so far. It seems like the plugin is having trouble saving layer information. I can’t successfully create a new layer during gameplay and attempting to change ones that were set via map notes garners this response:
https://imgur.com/a/XlCyAfi
I have other plugins, but have attempted disabling them and still encountered the same issue. Any idea what this could be?
You’re making a mistake in the plugin or script call you are using. I would need more information to help any further. Make sure you are referencing the correct map or layer id. Remember that the note in the map notes is different to the plugin call – the map notes don’t need a map id, but the plugin call does so it will be slightly different.
Hey Galv,
Definitely possible. Here are the calls I’m attempting to make while testing it out. The first one is trying to remove a layer with id ‘4’ from a map with id ‘Bridge’. The second one is trying to create a new layer on the same map. Any idea what might be going haywire?
Have another read over the plugin instructions. The plugin command to add/modify a layer is:
LAYER MAPID ID GRAPHIC XSPEED YSPEED OPACITY Z XSHIFT YSHIFT BLEND
The MAPID is a single number. (don’t put 0 before it).
The ID is a number, the number you assign to the layer.
The plugin command to remove a layer is:
LAYER REMOVE MAPID ID
To remove the layer you put ‘Bridge’ where you should have put the map’s ID number.
To add another layer you put ‘Bridge’ where the Map’s ID number should be.
Another reminder, the MAP NOTE text is different to the PLUGIN COMMAND text.
Hey Galv,
Awesome, seems I was confused about Map IDs. Thanks so much for taking the time to help someone out, I know you’re busy!
Hi, I thought I’d check here for a solution to my issue.
I recently moved my project to a new computer. On the old computer, my map loads with no issues. On the new one, I encounter an error with a black screen and the error readout below. I seem to have pinpointed the problem to be Layer Graphics. The layer loads fine on the old computer, and while it’s the same exact project, plugin command and layer graphic on the new computer, I get black screen and this:
36WebGL: CONTEXT_LOST_WEBGL: loseContext: context lost142WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: bindFramebuffer: object not from this context246WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: bindBuffer: object not from this context70WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: useProgram: object not from this context70WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: uniformMatrix3fv: location is not from current program35WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: uniform1fv: location is not from current program35WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: uniform1f: location not for current program70WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: bindTexture: object not from this contextindex.html:1 [.Offscreen-For-WebGL-0FCE3708] GL_INVALID_OPERATION: Insufficient buffer size.
Do you know what could be causing this? Thanks for your time.
Hi, I thought I’d check here for a solution to my issue.
I recently moved my project to a new computer. On the old computer, my map loads with no issues. On the new one, I encounter an error with a black screen and the error readout below. I seem to have pinpointed the problem to be Layer Graphics. The layer loads fine on the old computer, and while it’s the same exact project, plugin command and layer graphic on the new computer, I get black screen and this:
36WebGL: CONTEXT_LOST_WEBGL: loseContext: context lost
142WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: bindFramebuffer: object not from this context
246WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: bindBuffer: object not from this context
70WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: useProgram: object not from this context
70WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: uniformMatrix3fv: location is not from current program
35WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: uniform1fv: location is not from current program
35WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: uniform1f: location not for current program
70WebGL: INVALID_OPERATION: bindTexture: object not from this context
index.html:1 [.Offscreen-For-WebGL-0FCE3708] GL_INVALID_OPERATION: Insufficient buffer size.
Do you know what could be causing this? Thanks for your time.
I don’t know enough about it, but if your layer is too large, some browsers don’t allocate enough memory to allow it. If you are using huge layers (which I do not recommend you do), that could be one cause.
The maximum size is dependent on the GPU and browser, but a common hardware-supported limit is 4096×4096 pixels.
Hello Galv,
I’m using your plugin to overlay an image over a regular background parallax (the one the map editor provides).
However when I walk around on my map the overlayed image seems to sometimes increase in coordinates by a pixel a few times, its also particularly jittery when walking diagonally. https://imgur.com/a/JAypVZX
I am not sure why that is happening and without being able to replicate it quickly, I don’t know how to help. I recommend making sure there are no plugin conflicts or mistakes in the setup. Here are some error-trapping ideas:
Thanks for the response, I did that yesterday and narrowed it down to being some conflict with Yanfly Core Engine, although why I’m not fully sure.
I tried it with it the Layer plugin both being before and after it and the problem still persisted.
Nevermind, I believe I have figured out what was causing it.
I’m not sure why Core Engine stopped the problem from happening, but it may not have had anything to do with it inherently.
My ground file (grass etc.) was done with the map parallax option in the map settings, as I said earlier, I have now set it as a layer in your plugin in the map notes, and the problem and unalligned characters seems to be fixed.