What it is

What it is

PICO_BattleBuilder is a reliable shortcut for assembling battle encounters in RPG Maker MZ. Instead of preparing dozens of troops in the editor, you pick the enemies, choose a simple formation, and start the fight with a command. It’s fast, straightforward, and made for everyday development.

Why use it

• Real agility: stop repeating database work. Spawn battles when the story calls for them.

• Organized visuals: formations keep enemies well spaced and easy to read on screen.

• More control: pick from ready-made models (boss, ambush, horde) or craft your own composition.

• No headaches: plays nicely with MZ’s battle flow and avoids common troop-event errors.

How it works in practice

You tell it which enemies you want and how you’d like to position them (line, group, scattered, circle, or “smart”). You can also start with advantage/surprise and use presets to cover typical encounters. Everything in a few steps — ideal for scenes, quests, and contextual events.

Who it’s for

• Devs who need dynamic encounters (ambushes, hordes, contextual bosses).

• Projects that value production speed and don’t want to bloat the Troop Editor.

• Games with map events that change based on player choices.

What you get

• Less repetitive work and more time for design and storytelling.

• Clear, attractive battles without crowded sprites.

• A simple flow: choose, form, start — then keep creating.

Compatibility & support

Works in side-view and front-view. The plugin includes instructions and examples to get you started quickly. If you need help or want to suggest improvements, leave a comment on the page — the goal is to grow alongside your project.

PICO_BattleBuilderEX 

A natural next step: if PICO_BattleBuilder makes encounters easy to assemble, BattleBuilderEX makes them emerge from the world. Instead of spawning arbitrary troops, you scan what’s actually around the player or inside a territory and turn that into a battle — with clean formations and sensible defaults.

What it adds

• Proximity encounters: scan a radius around the player for events tagged as enemies and build the fight from what the map provides.

• Territory zones: mark rectangular areas as “danger zones” that generate battles when the player steps in.

• Meaningful outcomes: on victory, set a self switch on defeated events so the map reflects what just happened.

• Multi-wave support: stage battles in escalating waves for patrols, hordes, or scripted set pieces.

• Smarter composition: optional grouping of similar enemies, presets (boss/ambush/horde) and simple difficulty scaling.

Why it matters

Your game feels more alive when encounters come from the scene the player is already reading — not from an invisible list. You save time (no bloated Troop Editor), keep encounters visually tidy, and let exploration drive combat in a way that’s easy to maintain.

How it flows

Pick a radius or a zone → the extension scans nearby events with enemy tags → it assembles the battle using the same clear formations from BattleBuilder (line, group, circle, scattered, or “smart”) → you optionally name the encounter, set advantage/surprise, and start. On victory, the world updates.

Good fits

• Exploration with reactive threats (forests, ruins, roads, dungeons).

• Missions with patrols, alarms, or faction territories.

• Projects that want fast iteration without clogging the database.

Requirements & setup

• Requires PICO_BattleBuilder v2.0.0+.

• Load order: place PICO_BattleBuilderEX.js below PICO_BattleBuilder.js in the Plugin Manager.

• Works in side-view and front-view.

Support

The page includes short instructions and examples. If you need help or want to suggest improvements, leave a comment — the goal is to keep this extension growing alongside your project.