UPDATE (06/01/09): This code has now been updated to work for all NWN2 official campaigns.
A reader to this blog read about my combat auto-pause facility that I have coded for my own module and asked if I could do something similar for SoZ. And so, this evening, I decided to take a look at my scripts and managed to put something together. It is not quite as refined as the one used in my own module, as I did not want to add a tlk file and had to rely on changing only one script within SoZ. However, after testing it, I have found it works fine and so uploaded it to the Vault. It is awaiting approval, but I hope other players (who like my group enjoy turn-based combat), will find it a useful addition. As soon as the Vault has approved its entry, I will add a link to it on my blog sidebar.
Hopefully, my friend and I will be able to make use of the code for our own SoZ gaming experience as well now. ;)
Combat Auto-Pause - SoZ can now be downloaded from here.
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Mass
Mass ... Effect
I managed to order this game for under £10.00 a few weeks ago. I did not want to pay more than this because of the DRM software that limits usage. It still has not turned up yet, but I'm in no hurry. There is so much else to do.
Mass ... & Weight For Gold
I finally managed to get my system in place that means gold now weighs something and takes up a slot in the inventory, in the way of money pouches that carry 500 gold coins each and weigh 10 lb. If a PC carries less than 500 gold coins, then no pouches are created. I believe the system is flexible enough to work in a multi player environment as well, and allows a player to divide the weight of the gold among all his or her PCs. Furthermore, the money pouches that are created work dynamically, meaning the player does not need to do anything with regards to handing over gold. The testing is certainly more complicated than I first thought it would be, but I believe I have a working combination now.
Mass ... of Christ ("Christmass")
Readers may be surprised that my wife and I do not celebrate this time, or Easter for that matter. We are Christians, and it is because of this and through various points of study, that we came to the conclusion that these celebrations do not edify God. Furthermore, they have the potential to mislead others about their faith. Therefore, taken in the light of 1 Corinthians Chapter 8 verse 13, my wife and I do not take part in such. There are also some very good sermons to support this, including a sermon (in three parts) by Greg Price, which can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. (These link to multi-media pages.)
Now, even though we do not celebrate these particular times, I would like to make clear that my wife and I do celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Christ every day of the year, and in this respect, dear reader, you have our warmest welcome and hope you are walking with us along the narrow path that leads to Him in glory. God Bless.
I managed to order this game for under £10.00 a few weeks ago. I did not want to pay more than this because of the DRM software that limits usage. It still has not turned up yet, but I'm in no hurry. There is so much else to do.
Mass ... & Weight For Gold
I finally managed to get my system in place that means gold now weighs something and takes up a slot in the inventory, in the way of money pouches that carry 500 gold coins each and weigh 10 lb. If a PC carries less than 500 gold coins, then no pouches are created. I believe the system is flexible enough to work in a multi player environment as well, and allows a player to divide the weight of the gold among all his or her PCs. Furthermore, the money pouches that are created work dynamically, meaning the player does not need to do anything with regards to handing over gold. The testing is certainly more complicated than I first thought it would be, but I believe I have a working combination now.
Mass ... of Christ ("Christmass")
Readers may be surprised that my wife and I do not celebrate this time, or Easter for that matter. We are Christians, and it is because of this and through various points of study, that we came to the conclusion that these celebrations do not edify God. Furthermore, they have the potential to mislead others about their faith. Therefore, taken in the light of 1 Corinthians Chapter 8 verse 13, my wife and I do not take part in such. There are also some very good sermons to support this, including a sermon (in three parts) by Greg Price, which can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. (These link to multi-media pages.)
Now, even though we do not celebrate these particular times, I would like to make clear that my wife and I do celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Christ every day of the year, and in this respect, dear reader, you have our warmest welcome and hope you are walking with us along the narrow path that leads to Him in glory. God Bless.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
I Think I've Done It! (DLGPartySwap)
I believe I have done it! (See yesterday's post.) I was struggling with one last issue where the PCs of the party would keep swapping back to the main PC during any conversation. Then I had a sudden thought to check the Campaign Editor and voila! I discovered what DLGPartySwap now does. :) It does exactly what I hoped for and when FALSE, it stops the dialogue returning focus to the main PC. Once this was set, it solved all my remaining problems that I have tested to date. Although, I am quietly confident that by doing this I have resolved all my issues.
And so, the bottom line is, I believe I have managed to allow players to add a party at the start (or not, as is their choice) and still have all my systems work OK. Just to reiterate what I had to do to get this to work, in a basic outline was this:
1) Swap the original created PCs for copies with new Tags. (Unspawn originals.)
2) Edit 2da script and attach companion type scripts to them using SetCreatureScriptsToSet. (See Script below.)
3) Set DLGPartySwap to FALSE in the Campaign Editor section.
And so, the bottom line is, I believe I have managed to allow players to add a party at the start (or not, as is their choice) and still have all my systems work OK. Just to reiterate what I had to do to get this to work, in a basic outline was this:
1) Swap the original created PCs for copies with new Tags. (Unspawn originals.)
2) Edit 2da script and attach companion type scripts to them using SetCreatureScriptsToSet. (See Script below.)
3) Set DLGPartySwap to FALSE in the Campaign Editor section.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
SoZ Party Function Incompatible (Now Fixed!)
After spending the last couple of hours trying to work out if I can include the new party function from SoZ to allow players to make a party prior playing my latest module, I have had to come to the conclusion that it is not going to be possible. :( UPDATE: See post dated 18/12/08.
It is easy enough to add the function and allow the player to create a party, but many of my scripts that then work with the "party" (which includes companions as the player finds them) do not work with the Althéa PC Menu, which is a critical part of my module and the way it plays. Part of the problem is any additional PCs created are difficult to work with as objects. In particular, if it is not the "main PC" (first created) that I wish to work with, I have used the Tag of the companion in many of the scripts to ascertain which character is being played. Unfortunately, I cannot alter the Tag to what I need for the additional PCs and so many aspects of my module fail because of this.
I had wondered if I can "copy" the additional PCs, retag them and use the copies in the form of "companion" style access rather than PCs, but I don't think this will work. (I don't think I can copy a player's creature objects.) I will look at this angle a little longer, but I have my doubts. UPDATE: I am able to copy the PC and give it a new Tag. I now think I need to work with the SetCreatureScriptsToSet function, as the PCs need to use companion scripts. I will look at this angle for a while longer and give an update if I solve my issues.
On a positive note, I believe I will still be able to use the new party conversation system alongside my own.
MODULE UPDATES
In other news, I am now at peace with myself regarding a "logical flow" issue for a side-quest I had in mind and so I hope to go ahead writing this soon. The story hook did not feel right to me at first and so I could not get started until I had it all working properly in my mind.
I have also done some more work to the Real Life System, which now checks if an NPC sees a PC trying to work with a chest that does not belong to them. A PC will not be able to work with any chest while an NPC can see them and they have not had permission to do so. Of course, the same system allows the PCs to "do away" with nearby NPCs if they are that way inclined, but there will be consequences to this kind of action in the form of other NPCs coming to the defence of the first if they do. On the back of this, attempting to pick locks on chests that do not belong to the PC will also now affect alignment for the whole party involved. So, a paladin will not be happy with an out of control thief in the same party.
It is easy enough to add the function and allow the player to create a party, but many of my scripts that then work with the "party" (which includes companions as the player finds them) do not work with the Althéa PC Menu, which is a critical part of my module and the way it plays. Part of the problem is any additional PCs created are difficult to work with as objects. In particular, if it is not the "main PC" (first created) that I wish to work with, I have used the Tag of the companion in many of the scripts to ascertain which character is being played. Unfortunately, I cannot alter the Tag to what I need for the additional PCs and so many aspects of my module fail because of this.
I had wondered if I can "copy" the additional PCs, retag them and use the copies in the form of "companion" style access rather than PCs, but I don't think this will work. (I don't think I can copy a player's creature objects.) I will look at this angle a little longer, but I have my doubts. UPDATE: I am able to copy the PC and give it a new Tag. I now think I need to work with the SetCreatureScriptsToSet function, as the PCs need to use companion scripts. I will look at this angle for a while longer and give an update if I solve my issues.
On a positive note, I believe I will still be able to use the new party conversation system alongside my own.
MODULE UPDATES
In other news, I am now at peace with myself regarding a "logical flow" issue for a side-quest I had in mind and so I hope to go ahead writing this soon. The story hook did not feel right to me at first and so I could not get started until I had it all working properly in my mind.
I have also done some more work to the Real Life System, which now checks if an NPC sees a PC trying to work with a chest that does not belong to them. A PC will not be able to work with any chest while an NPC can see them and they have not had permission to do so. Of course, the same system allows the PCs to "do away" with nearby NPCs if they are that way inclined, but there will be consequences to this kind of action in the form of other NPCs coming to the defence of the first if they do. On the back of this, attempting to pick locks on chests that do not belong to the PC will also now affect alignment for the whole party involved. So, a paladin will not be happy with an out of control thief in the same party.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
100th Post - Winter Slow Down
This is my 100th post since starting this blog. Unfortunately, I do not have a great deal to say as I have been very run down again and not been up to using the toolset or anything really. :( More "coughing and sneezing" than "design and creation".
I did manage to code most of the Enhance Life section of the campaign, and as a consequence, I have decided that this ability will also be usable at any level rather than from 4th upwards. Of course, the player will have to discover how this is achieved first and so it may be they won't know how to make use of this until later levels anyway.
I did also manage to write down my first proper side-quest today. Without going into detail, I can say that it's a small mystery that will hopefully grab the imagination of a few detective type players. If I can write it as I hope, it could make an interesting little story itself.
As a side note, I have decided to sell off one of my 20" monitors and upgrade to a 24" one instead. That should arrive in the week, which may help to boost my enthusiasm to do more with the toolset. I also sold my existing printer and upgraded to an All-In-One. Sometimes, having a couple of new things like that help to give me enthusiasm to carry on through the low times. And even if they don't you can rest-assured that I will continue in the future, even if I take a bit of another break.
I did manage to code most of the Enhance Life section of the campaign, and as a consequence, I have decided that this ability will also be usable at any level rather than from 4th upwards. Of course, the player will have to discover how this is achieved first and so it may be they won't know how to make use of this until later levels anyway.
I did also manage to write down my first proper side-quest today. Without going into detail, I can say that it's a small mystery that will hopefully grab the imagination of a few detective type players. If I can write it as I hope, it could make an interesting little story itself.
As a side note, I have decided to sell off one of my 20" monitors and upgrade to a 24" one instead. That should arrive in the week, which may help to boost my enthusiasm to do more with the toolset. I also sold my existing printer and upgraded to an All-In-One. Sometimes, having a couple of new things like that help to give me enthusiasm to carry on through the low times. And even if they don't you can rest-assured that I will continue in the future, even if I take a bit of another break.
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