Duck and Cover

I know how to script events to make something happen in a zone...actions..music..speech etc.

How can you turn a zone off?

Lets say you have a zone where if you go you'll be attacked...( I have that trigger already)
But later after you have done something for said people they will allow you to enter..

Do I set up a trigger with 2 descriptions..( the other trigger for attack and alignment cahnge is already written.)
One ..is the player# had 1 alive at such and such zone..
The other... speech occured ..

Then under actions set the team alignment matrix to nuetral( which they were to start with...unless you entered the zone before you helped them out..which them set team alignment to hostile)

Can the computer tell the difference which trigger is to be a activated?
Is there a simpler way?
Am I on course?

Use a variable.

Have a start trigger that sets up the variable for example;

Condition:
Always

Action:
set variable 'talked to' to false

Then in your trigger for turning people hostile add a second condition;

Condition:
player x has more than 0 alive in zone y
variable 'talked to' is false

Action:
set team alignment matrix (etc etc)

and in the trigger with the speech occured add a new action;

Condition:
Speech z occured

Action:
Set variable 'talked to' to true.

That'll stop them turning hostile if you talk to them first.

Unless you still get the opportunity to talk to them after entering the zone you shouldn't need to have to turn them neutral if they start out that way, perhaps change them to friendly?

Or you can have the variable depend on if they've been in the zone, depending on the plot & layout of your map. In that case instead of making the npcs turn hostile immediately have the variable 'in zone', as before have a trigger to set it to always false and then;

Condition:
player x has more than 0 alive in zone y

Action:
set variable 'in zone' true

Then you can do this several ways, one of which is to have the variable change speech nodes;

Condition:
variable 'in zone' is true

Action:
set click speech for unit A to speechB

Then an alternate speech occured trigger, for the npc to get angry with the player for entering a forbidden zone do the same as your speech occured but have the action make the npc hostile.

You are the man!!



I'll think I'll keep the rest of my questions, for awhile anyway. to this page and just edit.
Since your the only other person on the forum.


I liked Tactics...It wasn't Fallout 3....but it was something to play, and killing supermutants never gets old!


Here's another question.

Can you change the sprite of an entity while playing?

I have this NPC...he's a security bot...good for repairs,( This will be an essential skill!) science( Also necessary) teminals, switches etc...and not too bad with a sub machine gun. ( And becuase it's cool to have a hovering sidekick...you repair him after finding him etc.

Now his name is M4..or Morph ( after one of your other NPCs starts calling him that.) And not because he can morph.
But as i've been slaving away here..I began to wonder if he could morph?

Like become a scurry bot in order to crawl under something?
I'm not talking about Behemoths or even a Lifter...just a scurry bot in battle stage.
Before heavy battle, talk to him and ask him to change into battle form.or maybe just defensive mode as scurrys don't have ranged weapons.


I do have a sequence where M4 seemingly takes over a lifter ( it's just a repair and move to waypoint trigger)
But by doing so..it moves into another room and attacks another lifter!( Since at this point you would have a hard time defeating any robot much less a lifter. It will add to the immersion!)

I may do this more often ...
Like maybe have M4 sneak in and activate a Behemoth , which then causes massive havoc behind the enemy lines...or maybe a tank..cause iI don't want to use a lot of bots in the campaign( I thought the robot levels in the BOS campaign to be kind of boring...I'd rather kill supermutants!
I do want to have a tank on tank map as you besiege the Barons fortress.
Maybe a few tank on behemoths...


That's my problem...
I have the story laid out and all maps sketched...I have 4 maps in various stages with 2 almost done..
Only 14 to go!!

But as I progress.... I find more things to add...

I want this campaign ( it even has a first map tutorial!) to be as Falloutish as I can get, besides the fact there is no SPEECH skill in the game!
I am using barter( which I'll just rename..if I can... to something like Personality)
Which I'll use for bartering prices and some speech dialogues...
Can you set the degree needed like for a science switch?
If you can't then it won't work..
What about just plain Charisma?

I'll go check..
What about the entity sprite change?

This campaign will take about 7 months to do...if I don't keep adding stuff

ogreb wrote:Can you change the sprite of an entity while playing?

Nope, all you can do is make another entity using the scurry bot sprite and set it on a neutral deactivated PI. Then when the actor reaches the target area change the recruit to the deactivate PI and the scurry bot to player index 1. Then when the actor returns to the target area change them back over again. Messy and once entities have been under human control they won't follow waypoints etc, anymore.

ogreb wrote:That's my problem...
I have the story laid out and all maps sketched...I have 4 maps in various stages with 2 almost done..
Only 14 to go!!

I find it easier to do the tiling first since that's the most boring and time consuming part and then go back and populate and script the maps.

ogreb wrote:I do want to have a tank on tank map as you besiege the Barons fortress.

How are you planning on doing this? AI controlled actors don't use vehicles and there aren't any AI controlled vehicles or vehicle actors. Unless this map is for multiplayer?

ogreb wrote:I want this campaign ( it even has a first map tutorial!) to be as Falloutish as I can get, besides the fact there is no SPEECH skill in the game!

Well it is a tactical combat game not an RPG after all, I'm not even bothering, my campaign is pure combat no rpg elements, no perks, no speech and no trading.

ogreb wrote:I am using barter( which I'll just rename..if I can... to something like Personality)
Which I'll use for bartering prices and some speech dialogues...
Can you set the degree needed like for a science switch?
If you can't then it won't work..
What about just plain Charisma?

You can rename any of the skills, stats and traits etc and you can use any skill or stat for a skill check, only trouble is since it's a squad based game it'll count the skill/stat points for your entire party not just the main character.

ogreb wrote:I'll go check..
What about the entity sprite change?

This campaign will take about 7 months to do...if I don't keep adding stuff

Hah, good luck. I'm only doing 7 maps maybe 8 and I've been working on the campaign for over a year now.

ogreb wrote: ... I'll think I'll keep the rest of my questions, for awhile anyway. to this page and just edit.
Since your the only other person on the forum. ...

There are other people on here. Req just answers your questions so quickly and definitively that there's nothing else for anyone to say.

I'm here, but I'm like the new community learner squid. I ask so many questions. The editor confuses me, but like the calculator, I will overcome it by implementing barnaky's brain into it! That is, if I can find his brain again.. I think the dog ate it..

Couldn't you make a tank and turret entity..arm it ( turret inventory) set waypoints ( no peeps inside) set team matrix and let it go?
or won't it move with out a driver?

I'll go check...

Morphing is out...


As far as the RPG thing..
First isn't there a difference in which char. barters ( price wise)?

I guess it's a matter of prefence as far as speech and interaction and other RPG elements..
I plan on adding alot of speech..quests...rewards..NPC interaction( using zones on different maps to force speech or change random speech)
More than is in Tactics but alot less than FO..of course.
There will be several NPCs to choose from....some even add thier own quests.(One will even betray you)
Since your making a campaign without speech or RPG elements and it's taken you over a year...I should finish mine by the time I reach 80.

You have been a great help...and thanks for not laughing at some of my questions.
Now that I have been using the editor for the last 2 months I'm getting the hang of increasing the speed of map construction.
Like I said i have all maps sketched..the story written and most of the dialogue written..4 maps in progress with 2 almost finished( with one being one of the largest map in the campaign...which I will post soon..I'm just finsihing triggers and script changes.

And NO!! there will be no Vault 13 or GECK..I'll not beat a dead horse!

Your just a average shlump who somehow gets involved in a conspiracy that will affect the future of mankind.



Question..is there any more critter entities around?
Like Geckos etc..

I need critters ...

ogreb wrote:Couldn't you make a tank and turret entity..arm it ( turret inventory) set waypoints ( no peeps inside) set team matrix and let it go?
or won't it move with out a driver?

You can use the move unit command to move a vehicle (assuming it's got a tagname) between waypoints but it's a very jerky movement and the vehicle won't be animated. Nor will it turn and attack you (I'm not even sure the tank will generate a turret, that doesn't always happen until someone get's inside). As I said in another thread someone did hex edit some vehicle sprites to use them as entities, but the wheels/tracks move in reverse even while the vehicle moves forward and with the tank I don't think it would have a turret at all if you did that.

ogreb wrote:As far as the RPG thing..
First isn't there a difference in which char. barters ( price wise)?

For bartering yes, but that's automatic not part of the triggers. The conditions count the stats/skills of everyone on a player index unless you use the unit has condition. But then the main dude will need a tagname and that means limiting the player to using a prefab.

ogreb wrote:Since your making a campaign without speech or RPG elements and it's taken you over a year...I should finish mine by the time I reach 80.

Admittably this year has been a rollercoaster ride and if you counted up the actual hours put into my campaign I'd doubt there would be more than a weeks worth.

ogreb wrote:And NO!! there will be no Vault 13 or GECK..I'll not beat a dead horse!

Pity I have two generic vault maps, one clean and one abandoned using Ed the Monkey's vault 15 tileset. They're a little bit different to OTB's vault map as I've sacrificed accuracy (compared to the original rpg maps) for an expanded playing area that's easier to manuever in combat and @+ has done a nice GECK sprite.

ogreb wrote:Question..is there any more critter entities around?
Like Geckos etc..

I need critters ...

Entities or sprites? Nope no more character or critter sprites. Best you can do is change the skin/base colour and the display name of the existing critters and perhaps change their attacks. For instance in at least one custom map the creator exchanged the coackroach spit for a flame attack and make the coackroaches bright red making them fire bugs.

Fire spitting cockroaches? I love it!
I've been using cutom names and colors for almost all entities...
I have ghouls who I've giving black skin and orange hair and been calling them Renderers ( flesh renderers) with only a unarmed claw attack.
They attack in swarms..usually contolled by a Dire Renderer( who is just a buffed up renderer)
I love the fire spitting roaches...roast roaches roasted roast roaches..

Vehicles are out..
My attack will now be 2 tanks( NPC driven) against behemoths and turrets....crap..I didn't really want to use robots!

I'll ask my brother if he can make a tank entity I can use..He's a computer geek whiz!

One last question..
You can adjust flame range? I think it's only 5 range in the game ( which just bites) I'd like a flame thrower with at least double that range..or will the animation not work?

I love the fire roach bit!

This should be it for awhile...

I'll release the first mission in a week or so along with Willow Creek ( which is a mid campaign mission)
And then work to finish the campaign and release it when finished..

this is turning into an obession and labor of love( I think some of my missions look better than most of the official campaign maps)


Thanks Requiem!
You've been a great help..

peace!

ogreb wrote:One last question..
You can adjust flame range? I think it's only 5 range in the game ( which just bites) I'd like a flame thrower with at least double that range..or will the animation not work?

Yeah I've increased the range to 30 and it still works.

ogreb wrote:I love the fire roach bit!

There was a map I started (and scrapped) which had giant mutant cyborg flame ants attacking a town. I used the ubercockroach from Preoria but changed it's sprite to the Behemoth and changed it to dark red. With a flame attack it was quite deadly.

ogreb wrote:Vehicles are out..
My attack will now be 2 tanks( NPC driven) against behemoths and turrets....crap..I didn't really want to use robots!

Why not use the tank bot, it's meant for destroying tanks afterall. The turret on it is large enough to seat a driver so you can call it a vehicle rather than a robot. With the turrets providing the artillery and the tank bots protecting the turrets, that should work out quite interesting.

Requiem could you send me those vault maps you have to my email please?

Sorry no can do.

Windows 98 SE has been corrupted and I can only boot up the pc, they're on, in safe mode and unless someone knows how to enable usb sockets in safe mode I've got no access to the internet or my cd burner or my network from that pc.

damn..

You're in luck, I uploaded them to NMA before my machine went, I've just noticed they're now up. So you can go download them.

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload. ... ile_id=727