A growing trend of modern Visual Novels nowadays is including a bust of the characters near the message box. There are many reasons why the developer might want to do this, some examples are:

• The main character can express emotions so the tone of the text clearer would be clearer.
• If a character is too far away or there's a change of POV, they will displayed as busts instead of being on the center of the screen.

Since we're using the default UI, here is how it will look like in-game.

Preparing the Predefined Object Position

Make sure to read Understanding Predefined Object Position first! This tutorial will only skim over the details.

• Go to Database -> System and scroll all the way down to Predefined Object Position

• Since I want Willow's face to Bottom Right, I copied the Bottom Right Formula and created my own entry named, Bust-BottomRight.

return { x: Graphics.width - object.dstRect.width * object.zoom.x, y: Graphics.height - object.dstRect.height * object.zoom.y  }

• I only adjusted the formula's Y parameter. I divided the character height by three (3) so their bust area is the only one visible.

return { x: Graphics.width - object.dstRect.width * object.zoom.x, y: Graphics.height - (object.dstRect.height/3 * object.zoom.y) }

However, there is one problem, as you can see, she's below the message box.

• One way we could avert this is to adjust the Z-Order of the character in Join Scene to 9999. But this isn't efficient because every time this character appears, we would need to adjust their z-order. Instead I added another line of code, just before return.

object.zIndex = 9999; return { x: Graphics.width - object.dstRect.width * object.zoom.x, y: Graphics.height - (object.dstRect.height/3 * object.zoom.y) }

What this line of code does is change the object's Z-Index. Since it's before return, it won't be applied on the coordinate fields of the Join Character command. This saves tremendous amounts of time from repetitive work.

• Make sure to save your progress!

Preparing Text Macro

Next, we will create a Text Macro to clear the character expression. This is for scenes that the character isn't talking.

Make sure to read the Text Macro and Text Codes to have an idea of what we're trying to do!

• Go to Database -> System and scroll all the way down to Text Macro.
• Create a new macro either by Double-clicking <New> or Right-Click -> New Macro.
• We will name it 'clr' and add the following Text Codes:

{W:A}{WE:N}{E:1}

• What this does is the following:
• • Wait for User Input
  • Do not execute the next text code when the message ends
  • Change the assigned character's expression to 1 (also known as None).

It means, unless the player clicks, it will not erase the expression. Otherwise, the character's expression will be erased the moment the message is fully displayed!

• In order to use this macro, we will have to use {M:clr}

Adjusting the Message Window

Now let's move to Scenes and setup our character. Because of the character's position, we have to change the width of the message box whenever they are displayed. Otherwise, this is how it will look like:

This is where Create Message Area and Set Message Target are useful.

• First add the Create Message Area command and put it below the show text that display a long text. Like this:
  
  
• Wait for Live Preview to display the text. Click on the rectangular box that says [0, 0, 300, 100]. If you did it right, it will display like this:
  
  Sometimes the live preview gets reset, so try moving the Create Message Area Command above the Show Message and try again.
  
• Drag the black box as seen on the Top Left and resize and adjust as necessary. You can also Double-click or Right-click the box to show the Cell Properties window and manually input numbers. Like this:
  
  
• Move the Create Message Area command above the Show Message if it's not already.
• Next, add the Set Message Area command. If done correctly, this is how the event commands would look:
  

• If we want to reset the message window, all you need to do is to add the following commands,
• • Erase Message Area, Since we used 0, we'll leave it at that.
  • Set Message Area's Type to Layout-Based with the ID gameMessage_message. Make sure that Clear is set to Yes.
• Before we forget, we should add the macro command, {M:clr}, that we made earlier. Put it at the end of Willow's message.
• By the end, it should look like this:
  

As you might have noticed, it would be inefficient to keep doing this whenever we want our protagonist to talk. Which leads us to...

Common Event Setup

If you are unsure what a Common Event is, make sure to read the tutorial!

• Go to Database -> Common Events
• Create two new Common Events. If you want, put them inside a folder to organize them.
• Name them Set Message Area and Reset Message Area respectively.
• If done correctly, this is how it should like:
  
• Now go back to Scenes and Cut the first batch of commands, Create Message Area and Set Message Area.
• Go back to  Database -> Common Events and put them inside the Set Message Area Common Event.
• Go back to Scenes and Cut the second batch of commands, Erase Message Area and Set Message Area.
• Go back to  Database -> Common Events and put them inside the Reset Message Area Common Event.

Your  Common Events would look something like these:

Scene Content Setup

Phew, we're almost there! Let's go back to Scenes and set up the commands.

• Just above the character's Show Message, add the Call Common Event command and set the Event to Set Message Area.
• After the character's Show Message, add the Call Common Event command and set the Event to Reset Message Area

If done correctly, our final scene should look like this:

.

Now instead of having four commands, we reduced it to two! Now you can use this everywhere you want!