This article describes the basics of tilesets, as well as any special features about them in Pokémon Essentials.
Tilesets
Tilesets are used to create maps in RPG Maker XP. A tileset is a tall thin picture made up of squares, or tiles. Each tile is 32x32 pixels. A tileset is exactly 8 tiles wide, and any number of tiles high (there is a limit of about 5000, but this is usually more than enough). Tilesets are kept in the folder "Graphics/Tilesets".
RPG Maker XP can handle up to 999 different tilesets, which should be more than sufficient for even the largest of games.
Editing a tileset is as simple as editing a picture.
Autotiles
RPG Maker XP allows you to include up to 7 autotiles in each tileset. These are added onto the top of the rest of the tileset separately. Each autotile is a separate picture file in the folder "Graphics/Autotiles". Autotiles can show an animation.
The Database
In RPG Maker XP, press F9 to go into the Database, and select the "Tilesets" tab. Here you can edit the contents and properties of tilesets.
The properties of tiles in a tileset are:
- Passage - Whether the player or an NPC can walk over them or not (without any special effects applying).
- Passage (4 dir) - The sides which the player/NPC can pass through.
- Priority - How close to the foreground the tile is displayed. A higher number means it is closer to the foreground. The player will pass behind any tile that has a priority.
- Bush flag - Whether the bottom part of an event on that tile should be transparent, making it look like it is standing in tall grass, shallow water, etc.
- Counter Flag - Whether the player can "reach over" the tile to interact with an event on the other side (i.e. it indicates that the tile is part of a counter or desk).
- Terrain Tag - A number that gives the tile other properties as defined in the scripts. See below.
Terrain tags
Terrain tags allow certain tiles to have special properties, such as being tiles on which wild Pokémon encounterscan occur, or tiles that the player can slide around on.
The existing terrain tags are as follows:
| Terrain tag | Name of tag | More details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ledge | These are tiles which the player will jump over. These tiles should be passable in only one direction (the direction of the top of the ledge). For example, a ledge you jump east to west over should be passable from the east, and not passable from any other direction. |
| 2 | Grass | Wild Pokémon encounters can take place on tiles with this terrain tag.
When walking over a tile of grass, the animation GRASS_ANIMATION_ID will be shown (by the procedure Events.onStepTakenFieldMovement in the script section PokemonField). This animation is of grass rustling. These tiles should also have the Bush flag set (i.e. the bottom part of the player will become transparent). This terrain tag is a "Grass" environment (used to determine battle backdrops and some move effects). |
| 3 | Sand | This terrain tag is a "Sand" environment (used to determine battle backdrops and some move effects). |
| 4 | Rock | This terrain tag is a "Rock" environment (used to determine battle backdrops and some move effects). |
| 5 | DeepWater | The player can only surf on these tiles. The player can also fish on these tiles.
When the move Dive is used on these tiles, the player will dive underwater. See the article Obstacles for more information on diving. This terrain tag is a "MovingWater" environment (used to determine battle backdrops and some move effects). |
| 6 | StillWater | The player can only surf on these tiles. The player can also fish on these tiles.
When an event is on the tile immediately above this tile, this tile will show its reflection. Reflections are handled at the top of the script section Spriteset_Map. However, if the event's name includes "noreflect" (ignoring quote marks), it will not have a reflection. This terrain tag is a "StillWater" environment (used to determine battle backdropsand some move effects). |
| 7 | Water | The player can only surf on these tiles. The player can also fish on these tiles.
This terrain tag is a "MovingWater" environment (used to determine battle backdrops and some move effects). |
| 8 | Waterfall | These tiles mark the main body of a waterfall, except the very top of it.
The player cannot surf normally on these tiles. When the player is facing up at this tile, and they use the move Waterfall, they will automatically surf upwards until they are no longer on a "Waterfall" or "WaterfallCrest" tile. See the article Obstacles for more information on waterfalls. The player will not encounter any Pokémon while moving up or down a waterfall. |
| 9 | WaterfallCrest | These tiles mark the top row of tiles of a waterfall. The player can surf onto these tiles, but as soon as they do, they will automatically surf downwards until they are no longer on a "Waterfall" or "WaterfallCrest" tile. See the article Obstacles for more information on waterfalls.
The player will not encounter any Pokémon while moving up or down a waterfall. |
| 10 | TallGrass | Wild Pokémon encounters can take place on tiles with this terrain tag. The player cannot cycle onto a tile with this terrain tag, nor mount a bicycle while standing on it. The player cannot run on a tile with this terrain tag.
Tall grass typically takes up 2 tiles. The upper tile should have the Bush flag set, a priority of 1 and this terrain tag; the lower tile should have a priority of 0 and a terrain tag of 0. This terrain tag is a "TallGrass" environment (used to determine battle backdropsand some move effects). |
| 11 | UnderwaterGrass | Wild Pokémon encounters can take place on tiles with this terrain tag. There are no other effects.
As the name suggests, this terrain tag is typically used for seaweed underwater (which won't have the Bush flag set). However, it is just another kind of grass tile, and can be used in other ways. |
| 12 | Ice | If the player steps on these tiles, they will slide in the same direction until they hit something they cannot pass through, or until they are no longer on an "Ice" tile. Sliding on ice is handled by the def Kernel.pbSlideOnIce in the script section PokemonField.
The player will not encounter any wild Pokémon while on an ice tile. They will move at running speed, and will be fixed in a "one foot forward" pose while sliding. |
| 13 | Neutral | These tiles have no effects, but because they still have a terrain tag, they are used in cases where you want to be able to walk over other special tiles. |
| 14 | SootGrass | When an event steps on these tiles, they are deleted (revealing the tile beneath). Also, if the player has a Soot Sack and they stepped onto the tile, 1 will be added to the soot count $PokemonGlobal.sootsack.
This occurs before any of the grass-related things (rustling, encounters), so if the tile beneath a "SootGrass" tile is a "Grass" tile, then there will be rustling and possibly an encounter as normal as per the effects of a Grass tile. |
| 15 | Bridge | These tiles are bridge tiles. By default they should have a high priority (i.e. the player passes beneath them), and a passability as if the player was walking over the bridge. This terrain tag is for bridge tiles which the player goes underneath, as well as bridges which the player can go both over and under.
While $PokemonMap.bridge is 0, the passability of these tiles is ignored, and their terrain tag may also be ignored in some cases. At the same time as it is set to 1 or higher, the priority of these tiles are also set to 0 (and back to 4 at the same time $PokemonMap.bridge is set to 0). |
RPG Maker XP's tileset editor in the Database only supports terrain tags up to 7, so tiles that need terrain tags of 8 or higher need to be set elsewhere. The Debug mode and the External Editor have an option called "Edit Terrain Tags", which allows you to assign a tile any terrain tag you want.