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BoA Editor Cookbook in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Thursday, April 8 2004 15:25 Profile #11
First of all, :) to everyone for the kind words.

Now in response to various people's comments:

It's usually spelled 'dialogue'. Dialog boxes are boxes that pop up with options for you to choose.

Good point. I'll fix that -- thanks!

I can write some stuff if you want, probably about moving the party between towns, creating monsters, etc.

Thanks, Drakefyre, that'd be great. The first task is to figure out what sorts of recipes people want, and then write them -- we don't need everything, just the most common sorts of things people want to know when creating scenarios. By the way, haven't I've already mentioned moving the party between towns in the section called "Entering and Leaving Towns"? Creating monsters, though, would be a great idea.

What other topics would people like to see?

A major error in the file that I noticed:

"Create the dialog script, and place the following at the start of the file:

begindialogscript; "

It should be begintalkscript (unless I am very much mistaken).

Oops! I'll fix that in the next version of the cookbook...

I absolutely hate PDF whatever the contents...Learn HTML or something. It'll make it 75% more accessable.

Actually, I do know HTML (as well as Latex and about half a dozen other markup languages). I chose PDF because, as others have pointed out, it's possible to print out the resulting file. The original document is actually written using MS Word (I decided to keep it simple so that other can edit the file if they want), and I then generate the PDF file from the word document. I'm more than happy to make the original ".doc" file available, if people want that, and of course you can export MS Word documents to HTML, so that's possible as well. My only problem is that I'm using my company's web site to host the cookbook, and they don't have much spare space as they're using a hosted web site. If anyone wants to host the cookbook, please let me know and I'll pass it on.

I actually considered making the cookbook a "wiki" (a collaborative web site) so that lots of people can contribute, but figured it'd be easier for people to have a file to download and refer to when creating their scenarios. All suggestions, though, are most welcome.

Happy Easter!
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
BoA Editor Cookbook in Blades of Avernum Editor
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Monday, April 5 2004 19:02 Profile #0
Hi guys,

I've started working on a "cookbook" describing how to use the BoA editor to achieve the various things you typically want to put into a scenario. So far, I've covered things like traps, locked doors, shops, etc.

There's nothing new as such -- just information gleaned from the BoA manual, the appendices, and a bit of fiddling about to see what works and what doesn't, all packaged up to be easier to find and read than the existing docs. I'm not saying it's perfect (I'm learning, so I've almost certainly made a few mistakes here and there), and it's definitely not complete, but hopefully some of you will find this concept useful, both in learning how to use the scenario editor, and to refer back to when creating your own scenarios.

If you're interested, you can grab a copy of the cookbook here.

Please note that this is definitely a work in progress -- if you have any suggestions for new recipes, or can see any glaring (or not-so-glaring) mistakes, please let me know!

Cheers,

- Erik.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
BoA Editor Cookbook in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Monday, April 5 2004 19:02 Profile #0
Hi guys,

I've started working on a "cookbook" describing how to use the BoA editor to achieve the various things you typically want to put into a scenario. So far, I've covered things like traps, locked doors, shops, etc.

There's nothing new as such -- just information gleaned from the BoA manual, the appendices, and a bit of fiddling about to see what works and what doesn't, all packaged up to be easier to find and read than the existing docs. I'm not saying it's perfect (I'm learning, so I've almost certainly made a few mistakes here and there), and it's definitely not complete, but hopefully some of you will find this concept useful, both in learning how to use the scenario editor, and to refer back to when creating your own scenarios.

If you're interested, you can grab a copy of the cookbook here.

Please note that this is definitely a work in progress -- if you have any suggestions for new recipes, or can see any glaring (or not-so-glaring) mistakes, please let me know!

Cheers,

- Erik.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
BoA Update 4-5-04 in Blades of Avernum Editor
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Monday, April 5 2004 18:06 Profile #5
While you're making changes to the editor...can I possibly put in a (hopefully) quick request?

In all the places where you can type in a number (eg, the "set special encounter" dialog box, where you're prompted to enter the number of the special node to be called), the editor puts the current value (or zero) into the field, but the text in the field is not selected for you. This means that you have to use the mouse to select the text before you can replace it with the desired value, which slows things down a lot.

Any chance you could have the dialog box building block automatically select the text of the field, so that the user can simply type in the new value, without than having to select the existing text first? Hopefully this would be a simple change to the underlying dialog box engine, rather than having to do it for each dialog box in turn...

Cheers,

- Erik.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
BoA Update 4-5-04 in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Monday, April 5 2004 18:06 Profile #5
While you're making changes to the editor...can I possibly put in a (hopefully) quick request?

In all the places where you can type in a number (eg, the "set special encounter" dialog box, where you're prompted to enter the number of the special node to be called), the editor puts the current value (or zero) into the field, but the text in the field is not selected for you. This means that you have to use the mouse to select the text before you can replace it with the desired value, which slows things down a lot.

Any chance you could have the dialog box building block automatically select the text of the field, so that the user can simply type in the new value, without than having to select the existing text first? Hopefully this would be a simple change to the underlying dialog box engine, rather than having to do it for each dialog box in turn...

Cheers,

- Erik.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Special Encounter to Leave Town? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Sunday, April 4 2004 13:01 Profile #2
quote:
There might be a better way, but I see change_outdoor_location(). The manual says that's for long distance, though; I haven't seen another one.
Alas, I've already tried that. I'm not sure what change_outdoor_location() does exactly, but when I tried calling it from within a special encounter within a town the party didn't move at all.

Thanks for the suggestion, though...
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Special Encounter to Leave Town? in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Sunday, April 4 2004 13:01 Profile #2
quote:
There might be a better way, but I see change_outdoor_location(). The manual says that's for long distance, though; I haven't seen another one.
Alas, I've already tried that. I'm not sure what change_outdoor_location() does exactly, but when I tried calling it from within a special encounter within a town the party didn't move at all.

Thanks for the suggestion, though...
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Special Encounter to Leave Town? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Sunday, April 4 2004 11:47 Profile #0
Maybe I'm just being blind, but I can't for the life of me find a script command to make the party leave the current town. The manual says that it can be done, but I can't figure it out. Any ideas?

Thanks,

- Erik.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Special Encounter to Leave Town? in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Sunday, April 4 2004 11:47 Profile #0
Maybe I'm just being blind, but I can't for the life of me find a script command to make the party leave the current town. The manual says that it can be done, but I can't figure it out. Any ideas?

Thanks,

- Erik.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Edit and Playtest at same time? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Saturday, March 27 2004 13:21 Profile #3
quote:
Yes, you need to be outside of the town.
Ah, so this is a mistake in the BoA editor manual -- it clearly says that just reloading a saved game will cause your changes to be visible.

Thanks for your help; I've figured out how to do this now...
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Edit and Playtest at same time? in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Saturday, March 27 2004 13:21 Profile #3
quote:
Yes, you need to be outside of the town.
Ah, so this is a mistake in the BoA editor manual -- it clearly says that just reloading a saved game will cause your changes to be visible.

Thanks for your help; I've figured out how to do this now...
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Edit and Playtest at same time? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Friday, March 26 2004 17:39 Profile #0
Hi,

I'm the first to admit that I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to using the Scenario Editor, so please excuse my rather basic question...

What's the recommended way of making changes to, say, a town, and being able to quickly test out those changes? The BoA editor manual says (page 109):

quote:
You can edit a scenario while playing through it. It is often convenient to keep the editor open while playing through a new town, so you can make fixes immediately. Just bear in mind that changes made to a town or outdoor section won't be visible in the game until they town or section is reloaded (by loading a save file or leaving and reentering the area).
To my way of thinking, this means that you ought to be able to:

1. Create a saved game with a dummy party inside your town.

2. Run both BoA and the BoA editor at the same time.

3. Load your scenario into the editor, and make some changes to the town.

4. Save the scenario in the editor.

5. Switch back to BoA and load in your previously saved game.

6. See the changes you've made in your reloaded game.

Alas, this doesn't work, as the loaded game still shows the old version of the town before any changes were made. So what's the recommended way of quickly making changes to a town and being able to see those changes in BoA itself?

Thanks,

- Erik.

[ Friday, March 26, 2004 17:42: Message edited by: Erik Westra ]
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Edit and Playtest at same time? in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Friday, March 26 2004 17:39 Profile #0
Hi,

I'm the first to admit that I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to using the Scenario Editor, so please excuse my rather basic question...

What's the recommended way of making changes to, say, a town, and being able to quickly test out those changes? The BoA editor manual says (page 109):

quote:
You can edit a scenario while playing through it. It is often convenient to keep the editor open while playing through a new town, so you can make fixes immediately. Just bear in mind that changes made to a town or outdoor section won't be visible in the game until they town or section is reloaded (by loading a save file or leaving and reentering the area).
To my way of thinking, this means that you ought to be able to:

1. Create a saved game with a dummy party inside your town.

2. Run both BoA and the BoA editor at the same time.

3. Load your scenario into the editor, and make some changes to the town.

4. Save the scenario in the editor.

5. Switch back to BoA and load in your previously saved game.

6. See the changes you've made in your reloaded game.

Alas, this doesn't work, as the loaded game still shows the old version of the town before any changes were made. So what's the recommended way of quickly making changes to a town and being able to see those changes in BoA itself?

Thanks,

- Erik.

[ Friday, March 26, 2004 17:42: Message edited by: Erik Westra ]
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Minor Bugs in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Wednesday, March 24 2004 02:39 Profile #2
Hi Drakefyre,

1) BoA is not the only program with this problem. My suggestion is to not change the resolution.

Fair enough -- though it's annoying when you normally use 800x600 resolution (my eyesight's not what it used to be!) and so can't avoid this bug...

2) Well, if he's terrified he wants to run away. And if he's not terrified, and you move him to that space because you want him to try and open the door, and the dialog box doesn't come up, would you be mad?

Have you seen this problem? It's extremely confusing and annoying for the player to be confronted by the "do you want to unlock this door?" dialog five times in a single round, when you *know* that you don't want your terrified character to leave the room. My suggestion for Jeff is to add a check to see if the character was moved because they were terrified (as opposed to moved explicitly by the user) and suppress the dialog box if the character moved because he/she was terrified. That way, if the character isn't terrified, the dialog box would still show up -- it's only in the case of terrified characters that the dialog box becomes a nuisance.

3) The designers can implement this if they want.

True. I was just pointing out a weirdness in the gameplay from a user's point of view.

By the way, how hard would it be to incorporate this type of behaviour in a scenario? Would you need two versions of a single town, one for day and another for night, or can you simply have the characters not show up if it's night-time? Just curious...

Oh, one other bug/quirk while I remember it: in many of the outdoor encounters, you walk up to the encounter and get a dialog box saying something like "you've stumbled on a nest of hydras" or whatever. When you click on "OK", you go into combat mode -- but once you've defeated the monsters, you don't actually get the reward (eg, "in the nest you find a wand") until you walk away from the encounter and walk back again. In BoE you got the reward as soon as you defeated the monster, now you have to walk away and come back -- which is a bit confusing.

Cheers,

- Erik.

PS: Please don't think I'm complaining about BoA -- I've been waiting literally years for it, and it's fantastic. I'm only pointing out these bugs and quirks so that Jeff is aware of them, and can fix the ones he thinks are worth fixing in a future release of the game...if there's a better way of passing on bug reports to Jeff and the others at Spiderweb, please let me know.

[ Wednesday, March 24, 2004 02:42: Message edited by: Erik Westra ]
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00
Minor Bugs in Blades of Avernum
Erik Westra
Apprentice
Member # 385
 written Tuesday, March 23 2004 10:33 Profile #0
I think I've found some minor bugs in the BOA game:

Firstly, if I'm running in full-screen mode at the recommended 800x600 screen resolution, I sometimes use cmd-tab to switch back to the Finder. When I press cmd-tab again, the game's screen is pushed down by the height of the window's title bar, making it hard to see the buttons at the bottom. The only way I've discovered to restore the screen is to type cmd-P to bring up the Preferences dialog, then hit OK. That brings the window back to it's normal position again (with the title bar hidden)

Anyone else seen this?

Secondly, in A Small Rebellion, I've noticed in one encounter (the hidden empire outpost you attack when you change sides and go with the rebels) that when you're in an enclosed space with locked doors and have Terror cast on one of your characters, the character rushes about activating the "do you want to unlock?" dialog multiple times per round. It's rather annoying having a hasted character bring up this dialog box five times in a single round!

I'm pretty sure the same thing would happen with any special node (or whatever they're called in BoA) if a character is terrified in an enclosed space.

Is there any way of disabling these dialogs from triggering when a character moves while terrified?

Finally, not really a bug, but a quirk of the scenarios that come with BoA: the game engine supports the idea of day and night, but in towns you can still go shopping in the middle of the night. Don't the shopkeepers ever sleep? I'm sure it'd be possible to set up the scenarios so that the shopkeepers aren't there at night (and all the doors are locked). It's just odd to walk into a town in the middle of the night and see the shopkeepers all standing around waiting to sell you something...

Cheers,

- Erik.

PS: keep up the great work, Jeff -- even in the first release BoA is fantastic!
Posts: 33 | Registered: Thursday, December 13 2001 08:00

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