DazedTL/data/help/03-workflow-rpg.md

Workflow: RPG Maker

Open Workflow and select RPG Maker in the engine selector. Use each step's ? button for short in-context help. This page is the overview.

Steps at a glance

Step	What it does
0 Project	Detect MV/MZ/Ace, list JSON, import into files/
1 Pre-process	Optional dazedformat, format plugins.js (MV/MZ), copy gameupdate/
2 Setup	Speaker flags, Parse Speakers, Project Setup → vocab / quirks / game skill
3 TL Phase 1	Phase 0 DB → Phase 1 dialogue → Phase 1b code 111 cache
4 TL Phase 2	Risky codes (122, plugins, etc.) after you audit
5 Export	MV/MZ: plugins.js helpers. Ace: Ruby .rb scripts. Then export / pack
6 Images	Check image setup, then decrypt → AI translate → review → patch (MV/MZ)
7 Playtest	TL Inspector / Forge (MV/MZ; hidden for Ace)

Example: first RPG Maker run

1. Step 0 - select the game root that contains www/ (MV) or data/ (MZ).
2. Import core DB + one small map (for example Map001.json) before importing everything.
3. Step 2 - Parse Speakers, then run Project Setup in Cursor on the game folder.
4. Step 3 - run Phase 0, skim translated/ and log/, then Phase 1 on the small map.
5. Play in-game. If it looks good, import the rest of the maps and continue.

Speaker flags (Step 2)

Enable only what the game uses:

• INLINE401 - name stuck to dialogue on the same line
• FIRSTLINE - first dialogue line is the speaker name
• FACENAME - last resort from face filenames

Project Setup's speakers block recommends ENABLE / SKIP with evidence.

Phase tips

• Keep vocab.txt focused - huge glossaries raise cost and can hurt quality.
• Use Batch mode with Claude Sonnet 4.6 for large map / CommonEvents runs (Anthropic Message Batches, ~50% off).
• On Mistral (free), stay on Normal mode - Batch is Claude-only.
• Use Normal mode when you want live iteration on a handful of files.
• Phase 2 can break games if you translate logic keys - audit with the Plugin Prompt first.

Images (Step 6, MV/MZ)

Step 6 keeps the engine-aware Image Manager on the separate Images page, selects the RPG Maker workflow through auto-detection, and verifies that you are ready to use it:

• Step 0 points to the actual game root containing img/ or www/img/.
• Encrypted projects have a valid key in System.json.
• <game>/vocab.txt exists for the copied AI skill.
• Editable PNGs are under .dazedtl/images/<game-relative>/img/....
• No PNGs were accidentally placed beside that expected img/ tree.

Click Open Images, decrypt the images you want to translate, then click Copy skill in the Image Manager and paste it into Codex, Cursor, Copilot, or a similar coding agent. Review the resulting PNGs before using Patch selected or Patch all.

Do not edit the runtime images directly. The Image Manager maintains editable copies and patches the reviewed results back into the game.

Ace note (Ruby scripts, not plugins.js)

Ace has no plugins.js. UI / menu strings often live in Ruby scripts packed inside Data/Scripts.rvdata2.

1. Unpack - Step 0 runs RV2JSON -c, which writes ace_json/ (JSON data + ace_json/scripts/*.rb).
2. Edit like plugins.js - In Step 5 the Plugins row becomes Scripts. Copy vocab → game, copy the Ace scripts prompt, open ace_json/scripts/ in Cursor/VS Code, and translate only player-visible string literals (same safety rules as plugins.js: never keys, method names, or logic comparisons).
3. Pack - Click Export Active or Export ALL. The tool writes translated JSON into ace_json/, then runs RV2JSON -u, which packs ace_json/ (including the edited .rb scripts) back into Data/*.rvdata2 (including Scripts.rvdata2).

Dialogue/DB files still go through the normal translate pipeline; script UI text is an IDE pass on the .rb files, then Export packs them.