How to change the text in the "Status" window of the RM2K3 DMS
By King Arthur [dalewyn@gmail.com]
Copyright (c) 2007

DISCLAIMER
Sites may not upload and publically exhibit this tutorial without the author's prior written permission. If found to be exhibited without permission, the author reserves the right to take action against the copyright infringers and any third-parties involved. You have been warned.
Linking to this tutorial is encouraged however (unless the hosting site's policies state other wise). Wisdom not shared is a waste after all. ^_~

PROGRAMS & FILES REQUIRED
* A resource editor program, for this tutorial "Resource Hacker" will be used but any will suffice.
* RPG Maker 2003's RPG_RT.exe file.

KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED
* Basic knowledge in the use of Windows and a resource editting program.

NOTE: For the purposes of this tutorial, the RPG_RT.exe file that will be used will be RPG Advocate's translation.

THE TUTORIAL
Now that we got the boring (but you DID read them, right? ^_^) stuff out of the way, let's get to the good stuff.

First, open your resource editor and open your RPG_RT.exe file. If you feel unsecure, feel free to take a backup of it before proceeding.
Done? Good, now, see all those icons with weird names like "XYZ" and "String Table"? We're going to dig ourselves in there. Start by expanding the "String Table" icon and then expanding the "4079" icon that appears (figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1


See a more comprehensible stack of stuff now like in the picture? Good. This, as you may have guessed, are the strings (text) used in the Status window of the RM2K3 DMS. Now, before we go any further, first thing's first, if you see a line in there with the number "65264" at the begining (shown in figure 1.1 as the bottom-most line before the brace), delete that entire line. Don't worry, it won't break anything, just delete that whole line.

Now, you must be screaming at me to explain what each of the strings are, right? No sweat.

Figure 1.2


Let me explain a few things about strings #5 and #6. Those two strings have a maximum visible character limit of 4 characters, anymore than that and they'll be hidden by the other windows in the DMS. Same goes for #1 to #4 on the fact there's a visible character limit, however, there should generally be enough space to accomodate what you want.

Change the strings to what you want, such as "Class" to "Family Name", or "Title" to "Social Status", and then click on the "Compile Script" button, or whatever is the equivilent in your program.

Next, save the file by hitting CTRL+S or going to File -> Save.

Now, copy this new RPG_RT.exe file over your game's current one (skip this if you directly editted your game's RPG_RT.exe file), and then run a test play and check out your Status window. If there's anything wrong, go back and change/fix them. If you did it right, you should have yourself a DMS with custom text. =D

Figure 1.3


Happy editting!
~King Arthur