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RPG Maker Cook Tool Deluxe

The one stop shop for deploying RPG Maker MV/MZ games · By AceOfAces

Newest version of Cook Tools cannot save project data

A topic by Niniann created Jan 09, 2024 Views: 191 Replies: 13
Viewing posts 1 to 2
(2 edits)

Greetings,

I downloaded the latest version of the tool (5.3.2) but it is unusable because it does not let me save project settings, and thus it always says things are invalid and a build cannot be created. 

For further specifics, when I go to edit project settings, no matter what I change, the Save button is always greyed out. Therefore I cannot fix any errors related to a build because even if I do, they cannot be saved, and so the errors persist.

Hope this can be fixed soon and thank you for your work,

-Niniann

Edit: In attempting to figure out a workaround for this issue (by using an older version of the tool to create a recipe, then loading that recipe in the new version of the tool) I seem to have broken the tool entirely; now it always fails to find the package.json despite creating one with the metadata editor. I'm not sure what's going on exactly but the latest version of the tool just does not work properly for me :(.

Developer

Hello!

I've found the issue: The tool doesn't properly detect the package.json file, even if the file is now present. I'm working on a hotfix for it. Until I upload it, you can work around this by selecting the project again.

Developer

Pushed out the fix.

Awesome! Thank you so much!!!

Greetings,

The newest version unfortunately does not function either. While it can now build a game, the game cannot be booted up. I have tried running the game.exe that used to run things, but that now simply boots to a screen that says NW.JS and nothing else.

If I try to run Dragonhouse.GameBootstrapper, it says it's booting up the game for a second, and then nothing happens.

Would appreciate any assistance that can be offered here.

Thank you in advance,

-Ninnian

Developer (2 edits)

Is the Game present in the Task Manager? If it is, there might be a bug that persisted in newer versions of the tool (since version R5.02 had a typo in the cache settings and it was fixed in version R5.03 Update 1). If possible, reset the default settings and attempt to build a version of the game.

For recipe files, it's an easy fix: Open the Project Settings -> "Compiler and Packer" -> Halva Settings -> Relative cache location. Remove the first / character (it should something like path/to/location, not /path/to/location).

This could also happen if you are using version 0.29.4 of NW.js. That version doesn't seem to work properly with Halva.

(3 edits)

I'll check as soon as I can. Right now after trying to do another build, it just keeps failing due to being unable to find the package.json. Not sure what is going on.

Edit: Tried resetting to default settings on project settings, still cannot find package.json. I'll keep trying to get to the point where it can do a build and reply back if any of the other tips will help.

Edit 2: I don't know what NW.JS version I am using, I have the tool set to auto detect and I clear the cache with each build, as that sometimes seems to help the tool find package.json.

Developer

OK. So it should be at a version that can launch properly. It's weird that a cache makes the tool see the json file. Looking into it.

(1 edit)

Alright so I think I figured out how to make a build perhaps.

What I had to do was change the settings of the NW.JS from Auto Detect to Latest Version, clear the cache, and download the NW.JS again.

From there, the tool was able to find package.json and build a copy of the game.

However, the game still won't boot. There is nothing in the task manager indicating anything is running.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Found the issue: The Cook Tool didn't put the files on the correct folder.

Pushing out a hotfix.

Rgr that! I will grab the new version as soon as it's up.

I really appreciate you working with me to get things going. Very professional and means alot!

(9 edits)

Greetings,

Testing out the latest version, and game still does not boot properly. It launches and you can hear the background audio on the title screen, but all that is displayed is a black screen overlayed over my desktop.

Edit 1: Also, when building, the tool cannot find Package.json 90% of the time. I don't know how exactly I get it to work occasionally, but most of the time it just fails to build because it cannot find Package.json, and deletes the project off of my computer.

Edit 2: I figured out that something in the project settings is causing the package.json to not be discovered. If I reset them, and edit nothing, the game will build 100% of the time. Still working on figuring other things out.

Edit 3: I noticed in the latest version as well, the dragonbones assets folder is not encrypted in a completed build, and the files insides are able to be taken. This did not happen in the version of Cook Tools Deluxe from December. It is also not encrypting the languages or mapshots folders in the project, either.

Edit 4: Okay, I figured out the package.json issue. This is because I am changing the out folder location in project settings. If I leave that blank (which is the default), the game will properly build.

Developer

Hello!

  • At the moment, I can't replicate the issue that would cause the tool to miss the package.json file. There might be an issue with the path to the output folder that could throw off the tool.
  • Huh... The compression option skips the dragonbones folder by mistake. Fixing it now.
  • I can't say for certain what could go wrong with the game not booting properly, since something could have gone wrong. Which version of RPG Maker are you using? What options were you using?

While I'm looking into the issues, please send in the logs that the tool creates. You can use the Migration and Diagnostics Assistant (it's in the Downloads page) and click on Extract Logs. Compress the logs into a zip file and send them to me, either via Discord (aceofaces) or via email (studioace [at] outlook [dot] com [dot] gr).

(1 edit)

Greetings!

Thank you for the replies and assistance. At the moment I am using an older version of the tool because I need the dragonbones folder encrypted and need to focus on getting things properly working for the steam release. But I will return to this thread after things have cooled down and get back to you with this information for the newer version. My apologies for the delay.

As an aside, the last issue I am having is that the Cook Tool does not appear to be fully compatible with the Visustella Core Engine. I am having an issue where the Core Engine's Controller Button Assist window does not work on a build of the game created with the Cook Tool, but does work fully in a playtest or an RPG Maker build.

For further specifics, what should happen is that the button assist window in menus and when called through text code in message windows should display controller buttons while a controller is connected to the computer and the last input from the player was made using a controller. This is all works properly in a playtest.

When a build is created with the Cook Tool, this does not function. The button assist windows and text codes will not return controller inputs properly, they display the inputs of keyboards, regardless of whether or not any input was made with a controller by the player.

I know that the game build is properly recognizing a controller, however, as my own code to check if a controller is plugged in and take certain actions DOES work, so it's specifically an interaction between the Core Engine and the Cook Tool.

Edit: I figured out how to fix this issue. Not sure why, but once built with Cook Tools, the game is not reading my controller as an Xbox gamepad. By setting up to the Plugin Parameters to use button assist windows on a similarity match with "Controller", the build properly switches to controller inputs in game.