Dracky Stylized Messages | RPG Maker MZ Plugin

Inspired by the stylish dialogue boxes of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Stylized Messages replaces the default RPG Maker MZ message window with three fully animated variants. Each one comes with its own animated border, scrolling tile background, typewriter text reveal, and per-style sound effects.

Key Features

🎨 Three Visual Variants

• Neutral. Dark rounded box with a scrolling tile texture and a soft glowing border. Clean and versatile.
• Light. Animated golden liquid border with a warm specular sheen. Great for important or uplifting moments.
• Dark. Deep dark background with animated purple wispy tentacles crawling along the border. Built for villains, curses, and dread.

🎬 Animated Entry and Exit

• Fade and slide. The window eases in from below and fades out on close. Duration and slide distance are both configurable.
• Typewriter effect. Text reveals one character at a time at a configurable speed. Skip it instantly with the confirm button.
• Per-style beep sounds. Each variant can play its own SE per character, with a configurable interval so it never gets too noisy.

💬 Smart Layout

• Vertical text centering. Text is centered inside the box automatically, no matter how many lines there are.
• Custom name display. Speaker names float above the message box as italic text, without using the default namebox window.
• Styled choice lists. Choice prompts appear as dark rounded pills. The selected option gets a glowing border that matches the active variant color.

⚙️ Full Control at Runtime

• Switch styles mid-game. Call Set Message Style from any event to change the look on the fly.
• Enable or disable. Toggle the plugin on or off at runtime. When disabled, the default MZ window takes over.
• Persistent state. Style and enabled state are saved with the game and survive save and load.

Plugin Parameters

Behaviour

• Default Style (Neutral / Light / Dark) and Plugin Enabled toggle for startup state.

Layout

• Window Width (default: 740px), Window Height (default: 160px), Corner Radius (default: 40px)
• Font Size, Typewriter Speed, Entry/Exit Duration, Slide Distance, Vertical Centering toggle, Screen Edge Margin, Text Horizontal Margin

Per Variant (Neutral / Light / Dark)

• Each variant has its own tile image, tile scroll speed, tile opacity, background opacity, glow color, and glow intensity.
• Neutral adds border color and border opacity. Light adds liquid band width and specular highlight opacity. Dark adds tentacle color, count, length, width, opacity, animation speed, and blend mode.
• Each variant also has its own beep sound file and beep interval.

Plugin Commands

Set Message Style

• Switches to Neutral, Light, or Dark for all future messages in the session.

Enable / Disable Plugin

• Toggles the stylized window on or off. Useful for cutscenes that need the default window.

Reset Style to Default

• Reverts to whichever style was set in the Default Style plugin parameter.

How to Use

Drop the plugin in, set your preferred Default Style in the parameters, and it works immediately. Use Set Message Style in events to switch variants for specific scenes. Provide a seamless 64x64 PNG in img/system as the tile image for the best results (a crosshatch or diamond weave pattern works well).

Bonus

You'll also receive two patterns to use as animated backgrounds to the Message Boxes:

Technical Notes

• Built on PIXI.js directly for the animated borders. The liquid band uses Canvas 2D radial gradients; tentacles are filled polygons computed per-frame with irrational phase offsets so no two share the same rhythm.
• The default MZ namebox window is suppressed entirely. Speaker names are drawn as PIXI.Text above the message window instead.
• The closing animation always completes before the next message opens, preventing mid-fade interruptions on chained messages.
• Style and enabled state are stored on $gameSystem and persist through saves.
• Compatible with all standard RPG Maker MZ message codes.