In this new series, I’m going to discuss parallel events in Smile Game Builder: how they work and their relationships with other events on the maps.

What Is A Parallel Event?

A parallel event is any of the three automatic triggers in an event’s Event Details.

These run in the background until one or more conditions becomes true to trigger the sequence of events. Each one is used for different purposes and to launch events at certain times when certain conditions are true.

Each event trigger is codependent on its additional Event Sheet Conditions. If none are set, then the event triggers as soon as the player enters the map.

In this article, I’ll go through the functionality of each one and how they’re used and will continue exploring them in future parts.

Automatically Start (Synchronize and Run Repeatedly)

This is a "true" parallel event in the sense that, as it states, it automatically starts on the map and runs continuously in the background, checking the state of its conditions.

One notable use is to check if the player has a certain item and, if so, then trigger something like a message or another event. For reference, I did something like this in Tutorial #5: Working with Conditions (Part 2).

Another use is to check and update variable values, such as modulo operations or player coordinates.

As a general rule, the Automatically Start (Synchronize and Run Repeatedly) doesn’t usually have conditions to trigger it, so as soon as the player enters a new map, it auto-starts and runs in the background until its conditions become false, depending on what it’s used for.

This can be activated with conditions, such as turning a Switch ON, but I’ll cover that in the next part.

Triggered Automatically (1 Time Only)

As self-explanatory as it sounds, this triggers an event on the map once only. If it has no Event Sheet Conditions, then it won’t trigger again while you’re on that map, but will recur the next time you visit the map.

One possible use is to trigger a once-only event to display a message giving details on surroundings, personal thoughts or furthering the story line.

If you want the event to trigger just once, without it repeating on subsequent visits to the map, you can toggle it with either a normal Switch or a Local Switch. On a second sheet, its Event Sheet Conditions would have the switch turned ON and with the contents blank.

I’d recommend always using the Local Switch for this, however, as each event can have its own independent Local Switch that doesn’t affect other events. And this way, you can keep normal Switches free for other things.

Triggered Automatically (Repeated)

With the Triggered Automatically (Repeated) Start Event, the event runs repeatedly in the background, essentially overriding all other triggers until its conditions become false.

This is because it operates as a loop, where you’d need to add conditions to disable it. While it’s activated, the auto-repeat trigger will halt other events, including player movement.

One notable use for it is to display information, such as the map name or more of the story line, and then use a Switch (normal or local) to disable it after a set amount of time and re-enable other events and player control.

In Part Two

In Part 2 of this article, I’ll expand on the Automatically Start (Synchronize and Run Repeatedly) trigger and go into more detail on how to use it effectively.

And in subsequent parts, I’ll similarly go more in-depth with the other Start Event triggers and their uses.

For Part 5 of the Tips & Tricks Smile Game Builder tutorial series, I delve more into the advanced variables and show what else you can do with them.

Video Tutorial

The topics covered in this tutorial are:

This is a simple fix for the oversight bug from the Skyrim Styled Book-Reading tutorial, which I only noticed after the video was uploaded.

The bug occurs where pages of the first book in the multiple book choices showed right before transitioning to the second book.

I was going to put this in another video, but since it’s so short I figured it didn’t merit one, so here’s the fix:

Bug Fix

In the Check Cancel Reset event, simply add the following event command:

   Add Variable box #33 Book # = 0.

The final result should look like this:

And that’s it! Whichever book you choose now displays the pages correctly.

This week’s Smile Game Builder tutorial, #34: Skyrim Styled Book-Reading, is online.

I show how to create a Skyrim styled book-reading system, where you can press the left and right keys to flip through the pages, and the cancel key to close the book.

Video Tutorial

Glitch

There is a glitch – more an oversight – in this video where the pages of the first book shows before the second book’s pages show.

The solution is here.

Next Tutorials

The schedule for the next few tutorials is continuing the Crafting System with either mining or fishing (probably the latter). And then another Tips & Tricks video. I’d like to try and alternate the Crafting System, where every other weekend is a different part of crafting, evolving it into a comprehensive system.

This is just a short post to show an experimental technique I’ve been working on, a Skyrim styled book-reading routine I recently put on Facebook.

The idea is to flip through the pages using the LEFT and RIGHT arrows to read the book’s contents, and then close the book with the CANCEL key.

There are two styles you can use:

The tutorial for this will be uploaded some time this month!

This week’s tutorial revisits the previous Cooking Tutorial (#24), adding a Cooking Level and Cooking XP.

This system is flexible so that it can be adapted for other crafting areas (or other systems) as well.

Video Tutorial

Next Tutorials

I’ll continue with the Crafting System for a while, unless inspiration dictates otherwise, so next week’s will likely either be mining or fishing.

This is a continuation tutorial of my previous Tips & Tricks (#29) video on Chests.

Tutorial Video

Some of these techniques are simple and straightforward, but (as I mentioned in Part 1) this is intended as a comprehensive guide, based mostly on the Complete Chests Tutorial I did for RPG Maker.

The subjects covered are:

I’m taking a break from the Chests Tutorial for a while, but will revisit it in the future. For next week’s update, I may return to the Crafting system, but it depends on several factors, including SGB updates and whatever inspiration strikes between now and then.

This Tips & Tricks video is a multi-part tutorial on treasure chests.

The aim of this tutorial is to be as comprehensive as possible with as many methods as possible to add some dimension to your games.

Video Tutorial

It’s mostly based on the Complete Chests Tutorial I did for RPG Maker, converted for Smile Game Builder. Some methods from RPG Maker aren’t viable in SGB, but I’ve included them for consistency.

The sections covered in Part 1 are:

Part 2 will continue in next week’s tutorial, including evading/disarming traps and defeating all monsters before the chest appears.

In this tutorial for Smile Game Builder, I round up some of the requests and how-to’s I received. These are drawn from various sources (YouTube comments, Steam, Facebook and Messenger) and will continue being a theme for future Tips & Tricks tutorials.

Tutorial Video

Topics Covered

The topics covered in this tutorial are:

Jackson Meira’s Sci-Fi Pack

Also mentioned in the video is Jackson Meira’s Sci-Fi Pack, which is well worth purchasing and adding to your resources collection.

Daniel Rottinger is creating some awesome tutorials on his channel SmileGameBuilding.

Video Tutorial

One of them is using Agility as a method to display an overhead map from an item.

This is a very cool way of doing it. I wouldn’t have thought to use stats this way, but the characters and stats is an area I haven’t touched yet.

Hence, I’d like to give him a shout. Be sure to visit his channel for more videos. I’m sure there will be plenty more!