Some dialogue questions : III - Morrowind

» Fri May 27, 2011 7:04 pm

...introducing a new journal at the same time a new topic is introduced can prevent the topic from being hyperlinked or listed until after the dialog window is refreshed.

Cyrano, could you elaborate on that please?

I am sorry. I was rushing to post before I had to go to work and I did not complete my thought.

I was describing the situation that we have discussed before. A quest topic is introduced in a greeting (or another topic) at the same time the first journal entry for that quest is added. The new (quest) topic is filtered for that journal index. Because the index does not exist at the moment the greeting's dialog is displayed, the text of the new topic is not hyperlinked nor is the topic listed. Only after the dialog window is refreshed (choosing a different topic is sufficient) will the filter condition for the new topic be satisfied so it can be linked and listed.

Example:

Greeting:
No Filter: Hello, %PCName, are willing to help a mer who is down on his luck?
Result:
Journal "cyr_HardLuck" 10
AddTopic "down on his luck"

Topic: down on his luck
Filter [Journal: cyr_HardLuck = 10]: Yes, it seems that ever since I found this old Dwemer bone I have had nothing but bad luck.

It looks like it would work, but the journal condition for the topic needs to be satisfied before the greeting displays. In this case the topic 'down on his luck' will not be hyperlinked. However if the journal is not added until the player chooses the topic and no filter for the topic (as Bethesda regularly did), or if the topic is filtered for Journal: cyr_HardLuck <= 10 the hyperlink will appear at the moment of the initial greeting.

» Sat May 28, 2011 4:14 am

Ah, that's OK then - I misinterpreted your earlier post is all. Thanks for the clarification

PS Sorry to interrupt!

» Fri May 27, 2011 6:07 pm

Oops. I neglected to comment on that fairly useless function. Talked to PC = 0 will only be true for greetings and never topics, and its value is reset by the 72-hour effect so you may get an inappropriate greeting in a later visit with the NPC. If this dialog if for a new NPC, then declare a local short variable on the NPC's script to act as a dialog filter (I use metOnce). Local variables are not reset by the 72-hour effect so it will be completely reliable. If there are topics that you want to make use-once, then you can declare local short variables to filter them as well.

As you already understand journal indices make excellent and convenient dialog filters, although introducing a new journal at the same time a new topic is introduced can prevent the topic from being hyperlinked or listed until after the dialog window is refreshed.

Thanks cyran0 - I always cringe a little when you start talking scripts to me - because I am still so new and naive to them

Once I read this I went back to MWSGFD and started reading up on variables again - sigh

I then went back to look at the script on the chargen captain where he takes your papers or tells you off if you've thrown them in the bin so I've tried to amend that to my needs

Can you tell if this is correct or if I am going in the wrong direction

begin CT_metOnce;use instead of talked to PC = 0short state 		;set to -1 in the dialogue results box, used in greeting 7 if publican or 9 for other classesendifend CT_metOnce

Actually I don't think that is right after looking at the chargen dialogue again but I do want to at least attempt to havea go at this rather than just asking for the right code - though am very happy to get correction now

As a side note I had been thinking of getting around the 72 hr bug by using LCV schedules

» Fri May 27, 2011 9:30 pm

Can you tell if this is correct or if I am going in the wrong direction

Throw out the endif, and it should work.

Excursion: Really simple Script mechanics
A script starts with begin and ends with end. Yours does that. So far, so good.
What can a script do?
A script can be used to declare local variables, for example.
What is a variable?
A variable is a means to store some information. In this case, you'd like to tell that NPC "I have talked to you. Remember that." If I were to use such a variable, I'd give it an obvious name so that I would understand its purpose even years after writing that mod. A pretty obvious name would be WeTalkedBefore. Since Morrowind variables only allow you to store numbers, you'll have to come up with some translation of that information. I propose this translation:
WeTalkedBefore = 0 means that the player has not talked to that NPC before
WeTalkedBefore = 1 means that the player has talked to that NPC before

OK, let's get our hands dirty with some actual code:

begin AddTheScriptNameHereshort WeTalkedBeforeend

That's basically the same script you just posted, except for the variable's name and all of the comments you added to yours (and that endif

).
So what does it do?
It declares the short variable WeTalkedBefore. "Short" means that this variable can store whole numbers (1 or 2 or -3568 or ...) ranging from -32768 to +32767. That's plenty, considering that we only need to set it to 0 or 1. 0 is also any local variable's default value. Since the variable WeTalkedBefore is declared (introduced, made known) in this script, it is known only in this script, and that's why it's called a local variable. No other script knows about this variables existence.
/Excursion

So how do you use it?
First, attach that script to your NPC. That will make the variable known also to your NPC so you can use it in his/her dialogue. Then write your NPC's dialogue. When you've reached the point where you want to tell that NPC "Remember that we have talked to each other," set the variable WeTalkedBefore to 1. You can do that by writing set WeTalkedBefore to 1 into the Dialogue Result Box. After that, you can filter your dialogue for local WeTalkedBefore = 1. That's a more durable substitute for Function "Talked To PC" = 1.

I hope I could help you understand variables a bit better.

B

» Sat May 28, 2011 5:32 am

*snip*
So how do you use it?
First, attach that script to your NPC. That will make the variable known also to your NPC so you can use it in his/her dialogue. Then write your NPC's dialogue. When you've reached the point where you want to tell that NPC "Remember that we have talked to each other," set the variable WeTalkedBefore to 1. You can do that by writing set WeTalkedBefore to 1 into the Dialogue Result Box. After that, you can filter your dialogue for local WeTalkedBefore = 1. That's a more durable substitute for Function "Talked To PC" = 1.

I hope I could help you understand variables a bit better.

B

Thanks BHL - I'm starting to get it - mainly because I can relate it to using choice in dialogue - the bit that I'm unsure on though is this:

I want the NPC to have a unique first time greeting - however I also want to allow them to use the normal naked, vampire responses first - so if for some bizarre reason the player decides to rip all their clothes off before talking to this NPC they would say the usual "Are you mentally deficient" type of comment.

However if the player then puts all their clothes back on and tries to talk to the NPC I want the unique greeting to occur - this greeting contains the cues for adding the topics

I'm not sure i'm reading your description correct - and was pondering this with the chargen captain which uses state = 1 or -1 in the greeting to detemine if you have your papers or not.

Apart from the unique greeting i then want the NPC to revert to the stock random greetings i have made for that faction - all listed under greeting 9

Do I now have to create seperate entries for him on each of those greetings with the variable set to 1? Or is this a do once type operation?

Thanks by the way for taking the time to explain the variables - It was very helpful - for a non-scripter

» Sat May 28, 2011 1:02 am

I want the NPC to have a unique first time greeting - however I also want to allow them to use the normal naked, vampire responses first - so if for some bizarre reason the player decides to rip all their clothes off before talking to this NPC they would say the usual "Are you mentally deficient" type of comment.

However if the player then puts all their clothes back on and tries to talk to the NPC I want the unique greeting to occur - this greeting contains the cues for adding the topics

That's only a matter of sorting your dialogue correctly. Here's an excerpt from http://tommyshideout.net/files/srikandi/DialogueTut/ tutorial:

Greetings 0: NPC is alarmed
Greetings 1: Quests where it doesn't matter if the Player is a vampire, is nvde, is a criminal, is diseased
Greetings 2: Player is a vampire/player is nvde
Greetings 3: Traitors to the Morag Tong
Greetings 4: Crime and disease
Greetings 5: Other quests
Greetings 6: Factions
Greetings 7: Classes, Endgame, Slaves
Greetings 8: Clothes (general greetings concerning how player is dressed)
Greetings 9: Locations

Vampire or nudity related greetings are stored in "Greetings 2". Since Morrowind reads dialogue from top to bottom, and the first line that meets all requirements will be shown, you need to position your greeting somewhere below "Greetings 2". "Greetings 5" (Other quests) would be a good place.

I'm not sure i'm reading your description correct - and was pondering this with the chargen captain which uses state = 1 or -1 in the greeting to detemine if you have your papers or not.

Socucuius Ergalla is an exception in Morrowind: The whole character generation process is not done by dialogue, it is done by script. The state variable is declared and used only in CharGenClassNPC script, not in Socucius Ergalla's dialogue. I have only taken a brief look at it, and judging from what I've seen, that script is too difficult for you at the moment. Basically, it will do something depending on what value the state variable is currently storing and increment the state variable afterwards. There's also a part where the script checks for another NPC's local state variable (same name but different variable). I really suggest that you train with easier scripts for the moment; CharGenClassNPC is for advanced scripters. If you need complex scripts, just ask. We'll be here to assist you.

Apart from the unique greeting i then want the NPC to revert to the stock random greetings i have made for that faction - all listed under greeting 9

Using Greeting 9 is very problematic for anything important, mainly because of Greeting 7. Greeting 7 will be triggered when the player has become Nerevarine. So both Greeting 8 and 9 will never be shown to a player who is Nerevarine.

Do I now have to create seperate entries for him on each of those greetings with the variable set to 1? Or is this a do once type operation?

No on your first question. You'll do it the other way around and filter his special greeting for local WeTalkedBefore = 0. As soon as you have set WeTalkedBefore to 1, that condition obviously isn't true anymore, and his special greeting won't be shown anymore. So this works as a kind of DoOnce operation.

Thanks by the way for taking the time to explain the variables - It was very helpful - for a non-scripter

Glad I could help. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your mod.

B

» Sat May 28, 2011 8:30 am

Thanks bhl - glad to see i was heading in right direction anyway

I have a question about dialogue for notPCclass =

I f I want the response to be for a specific PC Class do I use = 0 or = 1 or does it not work that way - eg I want an NPC to make a remark about scouts and to allow an additional response if the player has picked scout as a class. I can only see the function notPCClass available but having the 'not' is confusing me

Thanks

» Fri May 27, 2011 6:02 pm

I have a question about dialogue for notPCclass =

I f I want the response to be for a specific PC Class do I use = 0 or = 1 or does it not work that way - eg I want an NPC to make a remark about scouts and to allow an additional response if the player has picked scout as a class. I can only see the function notPCClass available but having the 'not' is confusing me

Not Class, Acrobat = 1 Every class will get this dialog except Acrobats.
Not Class, Acrobat = 0 Only Acrobats will get this dialog.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:49 pm

Thanks Pluto

» Sat May 28, 2011 5:39 am

Not Class, Acrobat = 0 Only Acrobats will get this dialog.

Logically what you write is true, but in my experience, a dialog entry filtered Not Class: Acrobat = 0 will only be used by NPCs that are not acrobats. Not ID, Not Faction, Not Cell and Not Race all behave this way. Regardless of whether you specify it to test for true or false, the engine always checks it for true.

Use the Class filter (Class: Acrobat) if you want the dialog to be spoken by acrobats only. Use Not Class: Acrobat = 1 (or 0 - it does not matter), if you want the dialog to be spoken by any class other than acrobats. Similarly you would use ID, Faction, Cell or Race to filter the dialog specifically for NPCs with those characteristics.

» Sat May 28, 2011 5:41 am

Ah, so that's why I was having problems before... :facepalm: Thanks, cyrano.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:24 pm

Use the Class filter (Class: Acrobat) if you want the dialog to be spoken by acrobats only. Use Not Class: Acrobat = 1 (or 0 - it does not matter), if you want the dialog to be spoken by any class other than acrobats. Similarly you would use ID, Faction, Cell or Race to filter the dialog specifically for NPCs with those characteristics.

That's what I was kinda thinking. It seems very odd to have a double negative like that. Not and False... Just too confusing.
There you go, Illuminiel,

try using
PCClass, Acrobat = 1 for narrowing it down to Acrobats only.

» Sat May 28, 2011 8:15 am

Sigh - I'm not sure this will work for me -

The NPC is a commoner

The conversation is about scouts

The NPC says "Lariah is a scout apprentice, she's very pretty, for a scout that is. I don't really know too much about her but at least she isn't a cheat like Torryn."

If the PC has selected scout class I wanted to give them an extra choice: Choice "Tell me about Torryn." 4 "Are you suggesting female scouts are not normally pretty?" 5

Which then causes the NPC to back away nervously.

I always expected to hav 2 entries do I have the top entry set to Not Class/Scout/=/0 for my standard entry

And below it an unfiltered one for the scout option?

» Sat May 28, 2011 1:25 am

It is my understanding that you want to filter dialog for the player's class not the speaker's class. The filters we have been discussing are for the speaker (NPC in conversation with the player) not the player's class. Unless a script extender provides such functions there is no practical way to determine the player's class - there is no Function: Same Class = 1 filter that you could to test for this in a previous dialog encounter with a scout NPC.

If this seems too complicated or impractical, I am afraid that you will have to forego the player's resentment (the likelihood that the player is a female scout makes this a small sacrifice).

» Sat May 28, 2011 2:21 am

It is my understanding that you want to filter dialog for the player's class not the speaker's class. The filters we have been discussing are for the speaker (NPC in conversation with the player) not the player's class. Unless a script extender provides such functions there is no practical way to determine the player's class - there is no Function: Same Class = 1 filter that you could to test for this in a previous dialog encounter with a scout NPC.

If this seems too complicated or impractical, I am afraid that you will have to forego the player's resentment (the likelihood that the player is a female scout makes this a small sacrifice).

:) Thanks cyran0 - I have done the easiest option and refiltered it for 2 entries on same six = 0 or 1.

It seems strange that even though you can get comments on your class in greetings Bethesda didn't allow for filtering on your class in the dialogue - which could of led to some good conversations.

Anyway at least i learnt what I can't do

» Fri May 27, 2011 5:53 pm

If I wanted a single NPC to greet me with a healing spell if my health is low, would it be ok to store that in Greeting 0?

Also, couldnt i just double click on that NPC, then enter its dialogue menu and create this greeting from there. would it not be filtered to just this particular NPC?

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:30 am

anyone? anything will help as i am fairly new to scripting and just started today on dialogue.

» Sat May 28, 2011 4:59 am

If I wanted a single NPC to greet me with a healing spell if my health is low, would it be ok to store that in Greeting 0?

Also, couldnt i just double click on that NPC, then enter its dialogue menu and create this greeting from there. would it not be filtered to just this particular NPC?

Use Greeting 1, or better yet use Greeting 5 so that the NPC still reacts properly if you're naked or diseased.
I find it safer to filter dialog this way...
Just open the main dialog window, write the dialog for the Topic or Greeting, and then under Speaker Conditions filter it to the proper ID.
That's the way I learned to do it, and it works without problem.

I would advise getting a tutorial, since it can be confusing at first, and easy to screw-up your whole game if you do something wrong.
http://www.calislahn.com/elder-scrolls/tutorials/ Even if you don't use the example ESP that it comes with, the text document explains everything you'll need for starting to write dialog.

Also, the CS Forum moves slower than the others. You have to be patient sometimes.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:30 pm

anyone? anything will help as i am fairly new to scripting and just started today on dialogue.

If you're just starting on dialogue you might want to read the how to's to get a basic idea of what to do first

In the http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=24 of this forum there is a very good tutorial list I recommend downloading Srikandi's tutorail which has lots of good info as well as a helpful step by step practical tutorial

I recommend you also do a search for Morrowind Scripting for Dummies version 9 on PES - as it has a very good section on dialogue there as well.

You are looking to add a greeting - best you use the main dialogue entry window for entering in your dialogue rather than try and enter from an NPC's window

Your greeting could cater for your player being naked or a vampire which would go under greeting 1

Greetings 0: NPC is alarmed
Greetings 1: Quests where it doesn't matter if the Player is a vampire, is nvde, is a criminal, is diseased
Greetings 2: Player is a vampire/player is nvde
Greetings 3: Traitors to the Morag Tong
Greetings 4: Crime and disease
Greetings 5: Other quests
Greetings 6: Factions
Greetings 7: Classes, Endgame, Slaves
Greetings 8: Clothes (general greetings concerning how player is dressed)
Greetings 9: Locations

» Fri May 27, 2011 9:12 pm

oh thank you guys very much. i do have the MW scripting for dummies 9 so i was a little familiar with dialogue. ok, now i feel safe testing dialogue. thanks again.

» Sat May 28, 2011 8:53 am

A bit of a scripting problem again

I'd like to have a situation where a player blackouts and time passes out for a day - they are also transferred to another location

Was thinking about using the mechanism for transferring when they touch a door - as in the story they enter the room and collapse - this takes care of the transportation issue - the door will need to have a journal entry checked before activating, or I may enable it from dialogue before using it.

I suspect I need to use fadeto 100 and something like the script below

Short localdaysPassedShort currentDayif ( currentDay != Day );whenever Day changes (presumably increasing)?set currentDay to Dayset localdaysPassed to localdaysPassed + 1;add one to the counterendif

Am a little stuck on how to put it together though.

» Fri May 27, 2011 11:42 pm

I am not certain I understand what you are trying to achieve, but I will try anyway.

If it appropriate for the door to be a teleport door, you could have it teleport the player to the new location by placing (if it won't be a problem for the future) the door marker at the desired location within the new cell.

As for the passage of one day there are a number of ways to do that all of them problematic in some way. Merely setting Day to Day + 1 will make it seem that time has passed, but it could upset other timer scripts, and if it happens at the end of the month, it will not correct itself until the next time Gamehour passes midnight. Checking Day and Month (and Year) only works if you know with certainty whether or not the player is using the calendar fix of the Morrowind Code Patch.

Another approach is to increase TimeScale to run very quickly during the brief period that the screen is faded, but that will upset other mods that alter TimeScale when you restore its value back to its default.

You might try storing GameHour in a local variable and then setting GameHour to 23.999 to allow the game engine to allow the normal passage of time to the next day. In this way, other scripts that update when currentDay != Day or check DaysPassed will function properly. Then after the change of day is detected, set GameHour to the stored value (assuming GameHour will accept variables - I am not certain about that). If it does accept variables then it will be the same time the very next day when the player 'wakes up'.

The teleport part of this problem makes a global script easier so I will recommend two scripts: one on the door to enable it and state the global script, and the global script to teleport the player will all the effects. The code might look like this:

Begin illy_DoorScript; Attached to door illy_door_ID.; Disables/enables door as appropriate.; Upon activation starts global script illy_Blackout.short doOnceif ( doOnce == 1 )   if ( ( GetJournalIndex "illy_Journal" ) == 10 ); edit for actual journal index	  set doOnce to 2	  Enable   endifendifif ( OnActivate == 1 )   if ( ( ScriptRunning "illy_Blackout" ) == 0 ); do not start script more than once	  StartScript "illy_Blackout"   endifendifif ( doOnce == 0 )   set doOnce to 1   DisableendifEnd illy_DoorScript

Begin illy_Blackout; Self-terminating global script started by script (illy_DoorScript).; Blacks-out player for 24 hours and moves player to new location.short statefloat currentHourshort currentDayfloat timerif ( menumode == 1 ); prevents timers running when menu open   returnendifif ( state == 60 )   set state to 0; reset for next time   StopScript "illy_Blackout"   returnendifif ( state == 0 )   set state to 10   set currentHour to GameHour; store time   set currentDay to Day; store day   player->ModCurrentFatigue -1000; player collapses   DisablePlayerControls; prevents player action   FadeOut 1.0; you can adjust timeelseif ( state == 10 )   set timer to ( timer + GetSecondsPassed )   if ( timer < 1.0 ); same time as fade	  return   endif   set timer to 0; reset for next time   set state to 20   set GameHour to 23.999elseif ( state == 20 )   if currentDay == Day; has not passed midnight	  return   endif   set state to 30   player->PositionCell x y z zRot "Cell_ID"elseif ( state == 30 )   set timer to ( timer + GetSecondsPassed )   if ( timer < 0.5 ); delay for cell change	  return   endif   set timer to 0; reset for next time   set state to 40elseif ( state == 40 )   set state to 50   FadeIn 1.0elseif ( state == 50 )   set timer to ( timer + GetSecondsPassed )   if ( timer < 1.0 ); same time as fade	  return   endif   set timer to 0; reset for next time   set state to 60   set GameHour to currentHour; *hope this works*   player->ModCurrentFatigue 1000; player recovers   EnablePlayerControls   Messagebox "You awaken in an unfamiliar location."; optionalendifEnd illy_Blackout

This code has not been tested.

Edit: typo and clarification.

Edit: found another typo. Tested successfully

» Fri May 27, 2011 6:08 pm

Wow thanks Cyrano

I'm looking forward to testing this - I want to use the technique in a couple of situations in my quest so having a seperate balckout script as a global makes sense to me

This is quite an advanced script for me so I'm going to need to reread it a few times before i fully understand it - I really appreciate your help very much - thank you.

» Sat May 28, 2011 8:20 am

I have a situation where I want to use a clone NPC - I'll use enable and disable via dialogue for her appearance

I have a quest where the choices you make will result in her having 2 different sets of clothing - since the choice is made via dialogue I want to equip the clothes on the clone when the choice is made via the results box

But I can't work out the syntax

For instance the CS spits the dummy at this

Additem->CT_Amelia01 "CT_Amelia's_Dress" 01

But not at this

Additem CT_Amelia01 "exquisite_shirt_01" 1

Yet the last one doesn't look quite right to me - is the '->' necessary or is there some other way I should do this - please don't say write a script - I'm sure I can do this via the results box

The quest is quite a way through the mod and I haven't tested it yet.

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:05 am

I have a situation where I want to use a clone NPC - I'll use enable and disable via dialogue for her appearance

I have a quest where the choices you make will result in her having 2 different sets of clothing - since the choice is made via dialogue I want to equip the clothes on the clone when the choice is made via the results box

But I can't work out the syntax

For instance the CS spits the dummy at this

Additem->CT_Amelia01 "CT_Amelia's_Dress" 01

But not at this

Additem CT_Amelia01 "exquisite_shirt_01" 1

Yet the last one doesn't look quite right to me - is the '->' necessary or is there some other way I should do this - please don't say write a script - I'm sure I can do this via the results box

The quest is quite a way through the mod and I haven't tested it yet.

I'm not certain exactly how you want to do this, but... generally if I want to change the clothes an NPC is wearing using dialogue, I start by removing what ever clothes are in the NPC's inventory.

I also generally use the NPC's ID even though you don't have to if the NPC ID is used as a filter, so the script I would use would look something like this:

"NPCID"->RemoveItem "Whatever dress" 1"NPCID"->additem "New Dress" 1

So it's NPCID>Function>itemID>count when it's done.

That forces the NPC to equip the new clothes or run around nvde, which they usually don't if they are provided alternate clothing.