Quest(ions) about quest creation

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Quest(ions) about quest creation

Postby stork...err on 09 Feb 2011 03:53

Got some ideas about new quests but first need to figure out what the quest system is capable of...

1) Newly created npcs - can they be made to be 'parents' (that's the term for the quest giver right?) for quests? If so, is there any special method to do this?

2) Can there be several 'parents' of quests - ie 2 different npcs are created in different gulags, for instance escape and garbage. Each npc gives the same quests and realize when certain quests of the other npc have been completed (and thus unavailable to repeat). Both npcs can give rewards for finishing quests no matter which of them gave the quest in the first place. Basically these two npcs serve as one person in terms of how their quests are handled.
By doing this it makes backtracking less of an issue, also means I can put the npcs in more dangerous areas without too much worry that they will be killed or not as there are backups. The thing is, I don't remember any quests in SOC that mirror this behaviour so I was unsure if this was possible. Is it as simple as just copy and pasting the quest/dialog tree into each gulag's xml?

3) Can you create, for example, three quests making them all available at the same time but as soon as one of the quests is chosen the other quests disappear forever and cannot be completed? Once the quest is completed a new set of three quests appear and the process repeats itself. eg: of the three quests - 1st kill wolf, 2nd protect wolf, 3rd get wolf a big gun. you choose 2nd protect wolf, the next three quests in the quest tree are 1st get wolf a vodka 2nd get wolf a soft drink 3rd get wolf a med kit. The two other choices in the first example: kill wolf and get wolf a big gun, disappear forever. BUT if I had chosen 3rd get wolf a big gun then a whole different set of three quests would appear instead: 1st get an artifact for wolf 2nd kill pack of blind dogs...etc?
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Re: Quest(ions) about quest creation

Postby Nightwatch on 10 Feb 2011 18:16

Game already works like that. Missions are set to conditions, many with multiple checks, and many mods enhance this even further. If you are a modder, let alone new NPCs, you can make even the dogs give missions - but why would anyone want to do that anyway?

And, no, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you can't just copy/paste anything into the gulags to create missions. Things are not that straightforward as copy-pasting, let alone gulags are possibly the last files that'd be needed for it.
Creating missions involve many files to be worked on. And any entry to any file, whether duplicating/rewriting or new stuff must work flawlessly within that file; it's a computer language, and a comma, even a misalignment can (and in most cases, will) cause the game to crash.

You are quite enthusiastic in modding, that's very good :mozilla_smile:, please check the links that I had pointed in my earlier post, there's a wealth of documentation there which could undoubtedly answer and guide your questions. I would recommend, if you seriously want to delve into this business, to start from some basic things, grabbing the ropes first which will soon lead to pulling heavier things. :mozilla_smile:
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Re: Quest(ions) about quest creation

Postby stork...err on 14 Feb 2011 03:39

Sorry if my posts are a little simplistic. Don't wanna clutter this forum.

Uhh just forgeting for the moment what I just said...onto another post...and just to make things even worse, this is not really about quests even...but while I've got you here (thanks for all the help so far NW - just think of this as a way of avoiding me posting another thread)

](*,) < this is Nightwatch

I was poking around in the game files in SOC and got all the 'hidden' weapons (beretta, hpsa etc.) and was messing around with them and the game crashed...
It happened when I dropped them from my inventory and tried to pick them up again with the use key, got three crashes. BUT then I restarted my comp (what I should have done after the first crash, I know) tried it again and no problem...Are these weapons safe to use and those crashes I had just a normal SOC crash? Or is it better for stability to just ignore them completely? Also same topic: the 'hidden' creatures, (cat, burer etc) are they all safe to use as long as you get the ui_npc_monster.dds, xr_statistic.script and junk set up properly? Just wondered if the programing team left them all out for a reason but maybe it was just the old 'get the game out NOW' story, making them leave out some of the stuff they planned to use...

Feel free to ignore my followup and just get medieval on me...I know I deserve it... :-ss < this is me
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Re: Quest(ions) about quest creation

Postby Nightwatch on 15 Feb 2011 13:20

What you are dealing with "Computer Programming Language," it surely cannot be handled as "messing around", this is quite different than editing a word document. (you can't add a new weapon into the game just by associating it with a dds file, etc) . Just read those documents I pointed to, they do not offer one-minute-answer approach, but reading them proves to be useful at the end. All answers you are seeking already given all those links. Then when you are more able to deal with things and then stumble upon some obstacles on your work, on specific aspects we would be able to offer more help
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Re: Quest(ions) about quest creation

Postby VINTAR on 15 Feb 2011 14:24

Most probably, when you dropped one of the "hidden" weapons, another NPC tried to pick it up and could not evaluate it.

You would need to add the weapon section to mp_ranks. But like NW said, the documents have all the answers :)
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Re: Quest(ions) about quest creation

Postby stork...err on 17 Feb 2011 05:34

Thanks VINTAR I'll try that out tonight, I think I read about the mp_ranks thing somewhere else on the forum but it was related to whether NPCs equipped the weapon or not so it didn't click that I would need to do it for just entering it into the game. #-o
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