Step Animations and Ghosts! Follower Control v1.08 for RPG Maker MV

Hey RPG Makers!

We have new features and bug fixes for the Follower Control plugin for RPG Maker MV!

Here is a video showcasing the Follower Control plugin, with a tutorial of how to use the plugin:

Follower Control v1.08 makes it easy to turn follower step animations on and off for cutscenes, a highly requested feature! As a bonus, it also is now easy to do many other cool things, like adding ghosts as followers, as shown in the image below, in which McKathlin’s opacity has been set to a special value.

Download Follower Control Plugin MV

How to Install

1. Download the file, and make sure it is named TYR_FollowerControl.js and is saved as a .js file.
2. Then place the file in your project’s “js” folder, within the “plugins” folder.
3. Open your project in RPG Maker MV, then go to the Tools menu and select Plugin Manager. Use the Plugin Manager to add and activate the plugin.

With the Follower Control plugin, we can change the opacity of followers. Now McKathlin is a ghost!

How to Use

Follower Control allows you to use the following event commands on the party followers: 

• Set Move Route
• Show Balloon Icon
• Show Animation
• Transfer Player

This is  great for cutscenes! In order to use the above on followers, you will need to target the follower using a plugin command. For example: 

• Plugin Command: Follower 1

The above targets the first follower. To reset the target to the leader, use the following: 

• Plugin Command: Follower 0

To indicate whether the followers chase the leader, you can use one of the following: 

• Plugin Command: Follower StopChase
• Plugin Command: Follower Chase

You can also target a follower based on the value of a variable: 

• Plugin Command: Follower Variable

Where is the variable ID of desired variable. For example, “Follower Variable 27” will use the value of variable 27. If variable 27’s value is 3, the third follower will be targeted. If variable 27’s value is 0 or has not been set, then the party leader will be targeted.

Or, you can target a follower based on the associated actor’s ID: 

• Plugin Command: Follower Actor

Where is the actor ID. For example, “Follower Actor 39” will find the follower associated with actor 39. If the formation of the party changes, this still targets the correct follower, based on the actor ID.

Or, you can target a follower based on the associated actor’s name: 

• Plugin Command: Follower

Where is the actor’s name. For example, “Follower Harold” will find the follower associated with the actor named “Harold”.  If the  formation of the party changes, this still targets the correct follower, based on the actor’s name. This is convenient, but if you allow players to change actors’ names, you may wish to use the Follower Actor plugin command instead.

That’s all there is to it!

Tip: You can use Common Events (in the Database) to set up your favorite move route sequences for the followers and leader! Then use the “Common  Event…” command in an event to call the same move route sequences from various places in your game! This way, you can have a collection of cutscene-style sequences that occur during certain events, such as entering or leaving a map, or talking with special NPCs as you prepare for cutscenes, or for sleeping at an inn, etc!

• Note: Using Set Move Route to turn by degrees, you can have the same move route sequence be used when the player is facing various directions!
• Note: You may consider using the Gather Followers event command to bring followers to one location, then use Set Move Route “Turn toward Player” for each follower to make them face the same direction as the party leader. Doing this allows you to have your followers in a predictable location and direction, from which you can then send them out into the desired move route sequence.

Description: Follower Control allows you to control the movement of party followers using the Set Move Route command! Simply use the plugin command “Follower 1” or “Follower 2”, etc., and then use Set Move Route on the player, and the desired follower will move instead of the leader! Use the plugin command “Follower 0” to make Set Move Route work as default, affecting the party leader. You can also use “Follower StopChase” so that leader movement no longer makes followers chase after the leader; this allows you to move the leader and followers around independently for making cool cutscenes! You can then use “Follower Chase” to make the followers chase the leader again.

Update Notes from the Help Documentation

Follower Control MV by Tyruswoo
v1.00 January 17, 2016:
Created the plugin and added the following features:
- Plugin command "Follower" to select followers.
- Set Move Route effect on followers.
- Plugin commands "StopChase" and "Chase" to control followers chasing the leader.
v1.02 January 19, 2016:
Worked on fixing a bug. However, errors still occured. See below.
v1.03 January 20, 2016:
Fixed the bug found on January 19th.
- Previously, the "Follower" plugin command had to be used prior to ever using Set Move Route or other featured commands in your game; If the "Follower" plugin command was not used first, the game would freeze. Now, the plugin no longer requires this! If you never use a "Follower" plugin command, your game will function as it would by default, without errors.
v1.04 January 20, 2016:
Added feature:
- If a follower is on the same tile as the leader, and then Set Move Route is used to "Turn toward Player", then the follower will now turn to face the same direction as the leader!
- So, by using the Gather Followers event command, then using Set Move Route "Turn toward Player", it is possible to make followers be in a predictable position (right where the leader is), from whence the followers can then be sent out in a pre-prepared formation. This allows for ease of creating Common Events for for your various formations of follower movement!
v1.05 Sept. 4, 2018:
Added feature:
- Now, when StopChase is on, and the leader's MoveRoute is caused to jump, the followers will not jump.
v1.06 Dec. 22, 2018:
Added features:
- Now can select follower based on a variable's value, using the Follower Variable plugin command.
- Now can select follower based on their actor's name, using the Follower plugin command.
v1.07 Dec. 31, 2018:
Added feature:
- Now can select follower based on an actor's ID, using the Follower Actor plugin command.
v1.08 Feb. 27, 2019:
Added feature/fixed bug:
- Followers can be set to have unique qualities of the following, using Set Move Route:
-- Opacity
-- Blend Mode
-- Walk Animation On/Off
-- Step Animation On/Off
-- Direction Fix On/Off
-- Transparency On/Off
- For these qualities, followers will retain their individual qualities. However, if StopChase is Off, and one of these qualities is applied to the player, then the same quality will be applied to all followers, as well. Therefore, if you want to apply any of the above qualities to only the leader, StopChase must be On.
- Also, followers will now retain their own Move Speed as long as StopChase is On, even if the followers are moving and the player is moving at the same time. (However, unlike the above qualities, if StopChase is turned back Off, followers will immediately be reset to the player's Move Speed.)

Please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve the plugin! I hope you enjoy!

Your Adventuring Companion,

Tyruswoo