Some questions related to modding

[Wallit]

Hello everyone,
I am working on my mod and I have faced some problems that I don't know how to resolve or I have some questions:

• I include a management of night (base on hour) and if the character don't go back to his haven it get destroyed, everything is working except the game crash more than half of the time, I use a trigger_hurt but I had also the same behavior with the command vdmg, so I don't know if someone has the same behavior or know how to kill the character without crashing the game?

• I have also a visual problem, I have a fire behind some car stock piled, but from far away, the car don't appear and the fire is appearing (it seems I can't add attachments or picture), if you get closer everything looks fine. I have put an Area Portal but it is not solved or I don't know how to use it properly.

• I also faced a weird things with dialog, I have for now no lips integrated and when I was using the NPC line to set some variables, it took a long time for the code to run, so it was not working with the onDialogEnd, using the PC line and everything is fine. Just for my curiosity, is it due to the lip missing that it takes a lot of time?

• Speaking of lips file, I am using the editor to edit them, but it is taking a lot of time, is there any tutorial about the lip editor, I am totally lost after opening it. I have written dialog and I don't know if it is possible to translate them to lip automatically

I think it is all for now, thanks a lot for your answers.

[argikt]

An extense post... I would try to give you some advice of my experience...
Answering your points:


1- An interesting idea... I won't use a trigger_hurt in the maps, because you would have to change all maps. It's better using a command, but... how do you control the time? I understand the purpose but I think that the game will be more realistic, but also more annoying to players.
2- The visual problem will probably be due to the fading distance of the object... if you use the parameter 0, it never fades.
3- There's no relation between lips sync missing and variables in the lines. Probably you put the variables in the wrong {}, you should use the 5{}, like this:

            1{LINE NUMBER} 2{DLG MALE} 3{DLG FEMALE} 4{#} 5{VARIABLES} ... etc.
4- Lip editor doesn't support automatic import. You must do every line... manually.


By the way... can you explain something about your mod?


Good luck!

[Malkav]

Concerning the trigger_hurt issue, I'd probably try __main__.FindPlayer().TakeDamage(xx). Although I don't know what will happen when you hurt the player till death.

About the dialogs, it is a known problem that commands in npc lines are not executed reliably. Better use the player responses instead.

Do you have sound for your new dialogs? If not you don't need any vcd or lip files.

[Wallit]

Thanks a lot for your reply!And sorry for the late reply.

So I have investigate a bit, my problem and I have the same behavior if I trigger the masquerade change (ie crashing) I guess something is stuck in the code in my map and that trigger this behavior, if I change the map and do the changemasquerade, it won't crash, so it is in my map, and I don't know where, but I might find something to avoid that.I didn't try the TakeDamage, but I will give it a try, if it avoid the changing of all maps that would be great, it leaves only the timer, I was not able to make it work by code only so for now, it is a timer in the map.

1- An interesting idea... I won't use a trigger_hurt in the maps, because you would have to change all maps. It's better using a command, but... how do you control the time? I understand the purpose but I think that the game will be more realistic, but also more annoying to players.

For the time, I allow 1 or 2 hour when a quest is done with a function AdvanceNight() when it reach 10 hour, the timer trigger and the player have 5 mn to go back to his haven otherwise that's death.So as the trigger work half time without crashing, when a player is killed, you go back to the main menu.I don't know if it is a great idea, I don't like the way you are able to chain quest and that erase all the nice stuff they implement like the tv sentence and the newspaper, so I was thinking of a way to implement kind of night timer to at least be able to slow the pace, but I agree that it might be problematic and don't go to the release.It was not big to implement so that's not a big deal if it didn't make it.

2- The visual problem will probably be due to the fading distance of the object... if you use the parameter 0, it never fades.

I will give it a try.
For the problem with the code in the answer of NPC, yes it is really weird as Malkav mention, it is really taking more than a minute sometimes for the code to be executed (I have check as my variable as been set when it is executed), so I prefer at least for now to use the PC answer, that make things more reliable for the development.

For now I don't have sound, but I have spotted some online site where I might generate some basic voice, but that will be at the end on the polishing :) but I find it a bit weird the dialog without any lip move but that's not a big deal, I will see later.

By the way... can you explain something about your mod?

So that's kind a mix of plenty of ideas that I have, the fact that you can continue the game and also to play another vampire that the fledging:You start by picking your side of the story (anarch, camarilla, giovanni, independant, sabbat maybe) and the event of the game are happening at the same time, some of the side quest is available to player and some of the main quest are changed to be used.
You are just  released from your sire after your training period, you are a young vampire and the world is open to you.
The timeline is from the event of bloodline a week or two before it start, until let's say the begining of LA by night show including the second inquisition attack, hecata creation, tremere explosion so some of the V5 background.
You start in a small area in downtown (which will be your domain) and you claim this zone (that's the intro quest) you might after get some money, way to drink easily (not to kill) and change your car from this domain, building allies and contact.And then you will evoluate in LA depending of your side, anarch might join one of the three baron or stay independant, you could also be independant and by yourself as a gangrel, tremere might start as a new comer to the chantry from camarilla or be anarch, nosferatu will be nosferatu :)For the giovanni part, I have write a lot in the hecata mod, Giovanni will replace ventrue and after if there is more need for other story, i will see hopw to implement.
I could write a lot about this because my mind is boiling as I would really make something cool, but we will see.

I am adavancing slowly as the mapping is taking for me a lot of time, but that's advancing, so when I will have a pre alpha release for testing and if some people want to give it a try just let me know, just don't ask me when it will happen because life is life unfortunately.

If people have question don't hesitate.
Again thanks a lot for your answer.

[Wallit]

The visual problem will probably be due to the fading distance of the object... if you use the parameter 0, it never fades.

That worked thanks a lot.

[Wallit]

I'd probably try __main__.FindPlayer().TakeDamage(xx)

That can't work, TakeDamage is not part of character entity :(

But one more weird things, I have tried with the trigger_hurt but in a save game that is more advance in time and I didn't faced the crash, so I guess, it is really something that is happening in the begining of the map that I need to investigate.I will put it and probably I will add a boolean as parameter to allow or not the night management or kill player, or something like this, I will see.