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Praedator
Reviewer
10 Sep 2009
Location: Winschoten, The Netherlands
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As I am reviewer for interior showcases I come across the same questing quite often:
What do I need to do to apply for a Questing or Scripting Showcase?
I am never sure what to say, else then ask for it yourself. But I would like to be able to provide the info to help them out. Therefor my question is the same to you; What does a member need to do to apply for a Quest and for a Scripting Showcase?
I will use this exact info to help the applying members a step forward. It should run like an oiled machine 
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I know I'm going to sound like a hypocrite for saying this, but this needs *less* rocks - Cathartis
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:56 am
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alex25
TR Modder
21 Jan 2010
Location: Here and There
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The guidelines are in the Guide to modding(must read).
This is the text
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QUESTS -
TESAME: Just like Interiors, you want to clean out anything you didn't change. Here are the most common ways a mod can be dirty.
NPCs:
You will ALWAYS have to add dialogue for a quest, even if it's just journal entries. To get to the dialogue window you have to go through an NPC, or click the red balloon icon next to the pencil icon at the top of the window. If you use a pre-existing NPC, this is likely to mark them as "changed" even if you didn't change anything. Also be aware that adding dialogue to an NPC does not constitute changing the NPC.
Dialogue: Like I said, you will ALWAYS add dialogue for a quest. If you add that dialogue to a pre-existing topic, such as greeting 5, it will mark the dialogue entries above and below the added ones as changed even if you haven't changed them. Clean them out.
Cells: The Construction Set likes to create dirty cell references (refs)- usually about three or four of them - which must be cleaned. Sometimes the only cell-change you make is adding one quest NPC along the road. In such a case it can be difficult to tell which cell you changed, because exterior cells often don't have a name listed in TESAME. What you need to do is double-click on the cell reference in TESAME. The program will display details as to what was changed in that cell. If you don't see something you put in there, it's a dirty cell and should be cleaned out.
Dialogue: Dialogue often has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, especially for spelling & grammar, but here are a few things to watch out for:
- Quests should use greeting 5 unless you have a good reason to do otherwise. The reason for this is to exclude people who are vampires, mass-murderers, afflicted by Corprus, or otherwise unlikely candidates to be asked for a favor. This rule can be broken in the following cases: The NPC is in immediate peril and doesn't care who saves them; the NPC is offering a quest that is *only* available to vampires, mass murderers, etc.; or 'forcegreetings'. In those cases you should use greeting 1. Explain your logic if you don't follow this guideline; there are times when it is appropriate to break it.
- If you give the player the option to refuse a quest, the quest giver should respect that. It's okay to allow the player to change their mind and ask about it again later, but the NPC should not *ask* for help if the player has already refused.
- Use specific dialogue topics whenever possible. Avoid topics like "problem", "little help", etc. because they are more likely to cause conflicts. For example: If you want help finding your friend, don't say "%PCName, I need some help." Say "%PCName, have you seen my friend Zaphod?"
- In some cases you may notice that one of your dialogue topics doesn't turn blue and add itself to the topic list. There are two major reasons for that:
1. You don't have a response for the current conditions. This is especially common right when you start the quest. If the greeting "%PCName, have you seen my friend Zaphod?" triggers journal entry 10, and your first dialogue response occurs if the journal is >= 10, you will not get a blue Zaphod because the journal updates AFTER the quest giver says the line, so it's still 0 by the time the engine checks the word Zaphod.
2. You have used a topic that is similar to an existing topic. The response "%PCName, please don't tell my husband!" will not give you a blue husband because the engine will parse the topic 'my husband' which exists in the game as released by Bethesda, instead of the topic 'husband.' This is less common, but it happens.[] |
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:56 am
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Praedator
Reviewer
10 Sep 2009
Location: Winschoten, The Netherlands
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Thank you for the info alex, but what I really need is a short description of what a member needs to do in order to apply for a Quest or Scripting Showcase.
Something like how long and/or how complicated it should be to apply for it. So that they can make their showcase accordingly, maybe also reading through the info you just provided.
_________________
I know I'm going to sound like a hypocrite for saying this, but this needs *less* rocks - Cathartis
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 9:20 am
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Scamp
Reviewer
21 Nov 2009
Location: The Velothi Mountains
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| MMMowSkwoz in Why's Showcase wrote: |
A short-medium sized quest with at least two possible outcomes: Not just a "go here, fetch this" quest, but something with a little bit more complexity. On the other hand, nothing huge that would take an age for us to test/review. It should only be a single quest, not a full questline or anything like that.
Evidence of intermediate scripting ability:
You need to show you can handle everyday issues like updating journal entries, making items appear/disappear at the appropriate points, using local variables to modify dialogue, making NPCs move, making NPCs fight, using gloabl scripts, etc (I don't mean you need to show all of these, but this kind of thing). Knowledge of how to reference one script from another and how to use (or not use) global variables is also useful.
Knowledge of the dialogue system:
A fair number of dialogue entries, with choices for the player, dialogue results such as journal updates/removal of items, correct and appropriate filters, appropriate use of topics. Good grammar (don't forget American English!) is important, as well as sticking to the feel of the vanilla dialogue.
Evidence that you've thought of all the possible outcomes:
This is very important. You need to have thought of every reasonable action the player could take at any point during the quest, and create contingencies so the quest still makes sense. Often this just means adding in extra dialogue entries in case the player has already found the item/killed the target/etc, but can also mean more complex "backup routes" are required. |
Hope that helps! You could also just ask BC or someone like him.
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"Scamp you are the wonderboy" - Praedator
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:31 pm
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Praedator
Reviewer
10 Sep 2009
Location: Winschoten, The Netherlands
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That is just what I meant, thank you Scamp you are the wonderboy!
_________________
I know I'm going to sound like a hypocrite for saying this, but this needs *less* rocks - Cathartis
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:51 pm
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Scamp
Reviewer
21 Nov 2009
Location: The Velothi Mountains
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You're welcome.
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"Scamp you are the wonderboy" - Praedator
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:18 pm
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