In my upcoming module, The Wizard's Apprentice 2, I will have at least one party companion. I am making conversations which will pop up along the way between the PC and companions. If the companion is dead or absent for some reason, and are supposed to be in the conversation, then there will be a problem. I am wondering if anyone has developed creative strategies to circumvent this challenge.
Currently my plan is to have two dialogue trees. One will fire if the companion is there and the other will fire if the companion is not there. Of course, this means alot of extra writing and more development time. If anyone has found a better solution that saves time while preserving the game experience, please share. It would be very helpful.
Conversations with party companions, some tips please.
Débuté par
M. Rieder
, janv. 15 2011 06:51
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#2
Posté 15 janvier 2011 - 07:57
PJ156
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It depends on how long this convo is.
If it can be tested off the PC node then you can simply do that and the node and thus the convo will not appear if the companion is not there.
If it is an interjection into an NPC node then I do some thing like this.
NPC line
||
Companion interjection line 1{tested is companion in party}
||
Companion interjection line 2
||
Link NPC line 2
NPC line 2
||
NPC line 3
If the companion is not in the party then the test will fail and the conversation will fall through on the NPC line from line 1 to line 2. If the comp is there then they will say thier part then link back into the NPC line at a convenient spot.
I use this a lot for companion iterjections or comments on companions reactions and would use this in preference to copying blocks of text as, for me, that is twice the typos to hunt down
For convos that start in the wilds I use triggers but these fire a separate convo off an Ipoint. then i can test for the companion within the trigger script.
I have found in my new mod that it has been useful to have an integer which tracks time in the mod. In this mod it is the main plot journal but in the next it will be a separate integer. this allows the NPC to respond in relevant ways when spoken to and not mention things which may have changed or aready happened.
Hope that makes sense.
PJ
If it can be tested off the PC node then you can simply do that and the node and thus the convo will not appear if the companion is not there.
If it is an interjection into an NPC node then I do some thing like this.
NPC line
||
Companion interjection line 1{tested is companion in party}
||
Companion interjection line 2
||
Link NPC line 2
NPC line 2
||
NPC line 3
If the companion is not in the party then the test will fail and the conversation will fall through on the NPC line from line 1 to line 2. If the comp is there then they will say thier part then link back into the NPC line at a convenient spot.
I use this a lot for companion iterjections or comments on companions reactions and would use this in preference to copying blocks of text as, for me, that is twice the typos to hunt down
For convos that start in the wilds I use triggers but these fire a separate convo off an Ipoint. then i can test for the companion within the trigger script.
I have found in my new mod that it has been useful to have an integer which tracks time in the mod. In this mod it is the main plot journal but in the next it will be a separate integer. this allows the NPC to respond in relevant ways when spoken to and not mention things which may have changed or aready happened.
Hope that makes sense.
PJ
Modifié par PJ156, 15 janvier 2011 - 07:59 .
#3
Posté 15 janvier 2011 - 09:36
Kaldor Silverwand
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They solved this problem in the OC by forcing companions into the party and not letting them die. I wouldn't recommend that though.
If the player chooses not to have the companion around, then shouldn't they just miss what the companion would have to say? Isn't that a reasonable side-effect of their choice? I would communicate plot critical things in some other way and only use the companions for fluff comments.
If the player chooses not to have the companion around, then shouldn't they just miss what the companion would have to say? Isn't that a reasonable side-effect of their choice? I would communicate plot critical things in some other way and only use the companions for fluff comments.
#4
Posté 16 janvier 2011 - 08:57
Clyordes
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Kaldor - that's exactly what I was thinking would happen if the companion isn't in the party - wouldn't a trigger for them to speak a line just not fire?
I'm thinking of running through my current project & adding some comments for the companions to say fired by triggers on the ground, and was hoping it was nice & simple, but I haven't tried it yet.
I'm thinking of running through my current project & adding some comments for the companions to say fired by triggers on the ground, and was hoping it was nice & simple, but I haven't tried it yet.
#5
Posté 16 janvier 2011 - 09:11
PJ156
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Clyordes wrote...
I'm thinking of running through my current project & adding some comments for the companions to say fired by triggers on the ground, and was hoping it was nice & simple, but I haven't tried it yet.
It is nice and simple. Have the trigger fire the convo off an Ipoint. each line of the convo needs to be associated with and NPC so if the first line is your companion and they are not there then the convo will simply not fire.
You might want to put other tests in the on enter script to preclude the convo hapening later if it is an area the player may enter later and the conversation is then out of place time wise.
PJ
#6
Posté 17 janvier 2011 - 06:49
Shaughn78
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I do what PJ156 does. If I have a specific interjection based on area or events I have an ipoint start up the conversation.
I either have priority for specific companions talk or have a random companion talk. I have node for each companion with a bit of banter to get the required information to the player. The final node is the PC's observations or skill checks to get the same information. Generally if the player has no companions they get the basic information needed but may miss out on more details. Likewise, certain companions may know more about something or an area and having them in the party at the time of the conversation will give the player bonus information.
Ipoint starts
___companion1
______banter & info + bonus info
___companion2
______banter & info
___companion3
______banter & not as much info
___No companions
______lore check & info
______search check & little less info
______no check very basic information
I either have priority for specific companions talk or have a random companion talk. I have node for each companion with a bit of banter to get the required information to the player. The final node is the PC's observations or skill checks to get the same information. Generally if the player has no companions they get the basic information needed but may miss out on more details. Likewise, certain companions may know more about something or an area and having them in the party at the time of the conversation will give the player bonus information.
Ipoint starts
___companion1
______banter & info + bonus info
___companion2
______banter & info
___companion3
______banter & not as much info
___No companions
______lore check & info
______search check & little less info
______no check very basic information
Modifié par Shaughn78, 17 janvier 2011 - 06:50 .
