Basic Sexout Modding [GECK, Scripting ...] Questions and (maybe) Answers.

[sen4mi]

Personally, I like to treat quest stages like they are blocks of code.

 

You can use SetStage to set your quest wherever you like.  And, if you have a script for that stage, it will run right then and there if you were not already on that quest stage on that quest.  So quest stages are almost procedures or subroutines.  (But note that even after you make the quest stage you also have to make the script for that stage before you can save any code for this - this can be annoyingly obscure until you see how to make it work.)

 

Of course, you can also use quest stages to track a player's progress through a story, but DoctaSax was right to point out the limitations of that approach.

 

Also, if you are using quest stages for code, you probably do not want to show messages to the player when the quest stage changes (unless you are debugging your code, maybe, or unless you have found a particular nice set of stage names).

[Swyke]

Personally, I like to treat quest stages like they are blocks of code.

 

You can use SetStage to set your quest wherever you like.  And, if you have a script for that stage, it will run right then and there if you were not already on that quest stage on that quest.  So quest stages are almost procedures or subroutines.  (But note that even after you make the quest stage you also have to make the script for that stage before you can save any code for this - this can be annoyingly obscure until you see how to make it work.)

 

Of course, you can also use quest stages to track a player's progress through a story, but DoctaSax was right to point out the limitations of that approach.

 

Also, if you are using quest stages for code, you probably do not want to show messages to the player when the quest stage changes (unless you are debugging your code, maybe, or unless you have found a particular nice set of stage names).

 

 

Hu! Thats ... amazing. I would never have thought of using quest stages as subroutines or script-packages (with build in debugging messages ). I am sure I will try this!

 

 

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By now I've put my "two people meet and ..."-script as a part into the main quest-script.

(As I am not on my modding computer, I try to describe what I've already done)

 

(Still) the two NPC meet each other via schedulled ai-travel-to-package (as written above).

A quest-variable is set on the end of the travel-pack.

The script in the quest-script checks "if Target reached" and "if PC in Cell"

Now a second variable is set to "Start Animation" and the animations begin (sadly the repeated animations don't run so smoth one after the other as the "repeated animations by accident")

If the PC comes close to the NPCs StartConversation starts the Topic.

At the end of the topic a third variable ("talked to") is set. So the dialogue isn't started again (as i still have the other conditions set.)

Now the NPCs return to their animations ... till the PC leaves the cell ...

 

This works ... partialy.

 

But the whole thing isn't very smart ... in fact it's a big mess.

 

I need three variables and a lot of condition checks. Parts of this scene (and setting of variables) are spilt up in a ai-package, a topic, and a part of the quest script, which checks again and again and again if the actor is in the cell.

That's not what I wanted to do (To make a mod slim and fast).

 And at last the whole thing has a big obvious issue!

The animations still run (obviously!) , as I am leaving the cell. Most times I checked it, one of the actors didn't redress or he stoped working completely. I should end the animations before the PC leaves the cell. OK, I could stop the animation after the dialogue. But that would me only half of the fun, I wanted to create, and what if the PC leaves the cell without comming to close?

 

Maybe I should put this complete "scene" aside, return to the topic lines and try to get my mod to "beta-stage" without scriping little jokes maybe noone will ever see....

[Swyke]

So hello again and here is another stupid newbie question ...

... but I don't figure it out.

 

How can I make some npcs walk through locked doors in another cell. I want to prevent the pc to enter the cell until he gets the key, but the npc should go in there ...

There are some "lock/unlock" tabs in the ai-packages but i am not sure they are the thing I need, beacuse they "lock/unlock all doors in the cell" at the begining or end of the package.

[jaam]

Have the lock owned by a faction the NPC is a member of (but not the player of course)

[Swyke]

Thank you!

 

Will check it as soon I have time to keep on modding ...

 

[EDIT] Great! Sometimes the things in GECK can be so simple ... once again: Thanks alot!

[Swyke]

Am I just too stupid?

 

I've been trying to add a AI-Follow-Package to a creature via AddScriptPagage.

 

I have made a Follow-Package. Reference is the PlayerREF, no start-point, end-point is a marker, where the player has to bring the creature.

No conditions set, no begin script, end script sets a QuestStage. The package is added to the creature via topic end script after a sexout-call. The Pack will be removed in the quest stage script.

 

Doesn't work.

Tried to figure out what I did wrong, and at least I had to recognize, that the script isn't added as long as I have the Sexout-Calls in the topic script, too. Doesn't matter if I put the addScriptPackage before or after the Sexout-Calls. Doesn't matter if I put the Sexout-Calls in the Topic begin script and the addScriptPackage in the topic end script. Only when I remove the Sexout-Calls the AI-Package is added as it should.

 

So I have put the AI-Package back to the creature and start it with a quest-variable again.

Works well ...

 

But I still wonder why the addScriptPackage doesn't work together with the Sexout-Calls. Maybe this issue appeas whith other functions, too? Or did I do something wrong?

 

[Halstrom]

Am I just too stupid?

 

I've been trying to add a AI-Follow-Package to a creature via AddScriptPagage.

 

I have made a Follow-Package. Reference is the PlayerREF, no start-point, end-point is a marker, where the player has to bring the creature.

No conditions set, no begin script, end script sets a QuestStage. The package is added to the creature via topic end script after a sexout-call. The Pack will be removed in the quest stage script.

 

Doesn't work.

Tried to figure out what I did wrong, and at least I had to recognize, that the script isn't added as long as I have the Sexout-Calls in the topic script, too. Doesn't matter if I put the addScriptPackage before or after the Sexout-Calls. Doesn't matter if I put the Sexout-Calls in the Topic begin script and the addScriptPackage in the topic end script. Only when I remove the Sexout-Calls the AI-Package is added as it should.

 

So I have put the AI-Package back to the creature and start it with a quest-variable again.

Works well ...

 

But I still wonder why the addScriptPackage doesn't work together with the Sexout-Calls. Maybe this issue appeas whith other functions, too? Or did I do something wrong?

You may have to call a reset to make a script package swap, have alook on how I did it in SCR Offspring, I had to use a global variable in conditions for the packages and use a reset in the script, but it still seems funky with some creatures.