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Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #12
quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

And WHY is this not covered in the docs?
Hehe... in Jeff's defense, docs are hard, boring work and don't (directly) pay the bills. In Jeff's prosecution, the editor docs do seem to leave out quite a number of things that it would be nice to know. :)

Maybe we should start a thread and list stuff like this that should have been documented as we discover it? That doesn't help those of us who are the pioneers much, but might be useful for those who follow behind us. And if we make it easy for JV to find it all in one place, maybe we can twist his arm into visiting the thread and making those doc changes before releasing any new versions. :)

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #12
quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

And WHY is this not covered in the docs?
Hehe... in Jeff's defense, docs are hard, boring work and don't (directly) pay the bills. In Jeff's prosecution, the editor docs do seem to leave out quite a number of things that it would be nice to know. :)

Maybe we should start a thread and list stuff like this that should have been documented as we discover it? That doesn't help those of us who are the pioneers much, but might be useful for those who follow behind us. And if we make it easy for JV to find it all in one place, maybe we can twist his arm into visiting the thread and making those doc changes before releasing any new versions. :)

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #10
Umm... begin_talk_mode() is the call you ALWAYS use to initiate dialog, even from within a creature's script. If there's any other way to start a conversation, I don't know what it is.

Are you saying that if you initiate dialog from, say, a special encounter (or other means that's not within the creature's script) it doesn't have the Done button? I haven't tried that, so it might well be the case. But even if the creature is the one initiating the dialog, if he does it from within his own script, you get the Done button. (I just tested it with my messenger script where the NPC initiates dialog as soon as he is within x range of the party, by calling begin_talk_mode(), to make sure.)

As for forcing the party to step onto the bed... yeah, that looks like it might be what I have to resort to, then. Not really what I wanted, though...

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #10
Umm... begin_talk_mode() is the call you ALWAYS use to initiate dialog, even from within a creature's script. If there's any other way to start a conversation, I don't know what it is.

Are you saying that if you initiate dialog from, say, a special encounter (or other means that's not within the creature's script) it doesn't have the Done button? I haven't tried that, so it might well be the case. But even if the creature is the one initiating the dialog, if he does it from within his own script, you get the Done button. (I just tested it with my messenger script where the NPC initiates dialog as soon as he is within x range of the party, by calling begin_talk_mode(), to make sure.)

As for forcing the party to step onto the bed... yeah, that looks like it might be what I have to resort to, then. Not really what I wanted, though...

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #7
Hmm... how are you pulling that one off? With run_scenario_state() in the code of the dialog node?

I ask because my own need for this sort of cutscene will be a dream sequence following an inn dialog node. That's what I was thinking to try when I came to it...

EDIT: I either didn't mean what I said or say what I meant... take your pick. :)

[ Monday, April 19, 2004 13:05: Message edited by: spyderbytes ]

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #7
Hmm... how are you pulling that one off? With run_scenario_state() in the code of the dialog node?

I ask because my own need for this sort of cutscene will be a dream sequence following an inn dialog node. That's what I was thinking to try when I came to it...

EDIT: I either didn't mean what I said or say what I meant... take your pick. :)

[ Monday, April 19, 2004 13:05: Message edited by: spyderbytes ]

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
How do you make YOUR Scenarios? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #5
I do things differently from the norm, it seems (no surprise to me or those who know me ;) ). As with just about any creative endeavor, I figure out where I want to end up (the big finale) and a general idea of how I'm going to get there. Then I start in just as the player will... in this case, by creating the first town. From there, I create items, creatures, terrain, etc. as I come to them and need them. Makes for some nice variety instead of doing too much of one thing all at once. :)

That causes a bit of "back and forthing" (e.g., leaving "holes" in an NPCs dialog in the first town because you know he's going to have to talk about something you haven't really figured out yet); but overall, it's the way that works best for me. Otherwise, I tend to get entirely too formulaic.

One caveat: you have to really trust yourself and have a firm handle on your creative process to do things this way. You run the danger of either painting yourself into a corner or running afoul of the dread bloat beast (I don't know what should happen here, so instead I'll add this...). But those are easier to avoid, for me, than the staleness it seems I always get if I try to plan every little detail up front.

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
How do you make YOUR Scenarios? in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #5
I do things differently from the norm, it seems (no surprise to me or those who know me ;) ). As with just about any creative endeavor, I figure out where I want to end up (the big finale) and a general idea of how I'm going to get there. Then I start in just as the player will... in this case, by creating the first town. From there, I create items, creatures, terrain, etc. as I come to them and need them. Makes for some nice variety instead of doing too much of one thing all at once. :)

That causes a bit of "back and forthing" (e.g., leaving "holes" in an NPCs dialog in the first town because you know he's going to have to talk about something you haven't really figured out yet); but overall, it's the way that works best for me. Otherwise, I tend to get entirely too formulaic.

One caveat: you have to really trust yourself and have a firm handle on your creative process to do things this way. You run the danger of either painting yourself into a corner or running afoul of the dread bloat beast (I don't know what should happen here, so instead I'll add this...). But those are easier to avoid, for me, than the staleness it seems I always get if I try to plan every little detail up front.

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #4
Hmm... I'm going to be surprised if that ends up working. Let us know, though, if it does. I've got a spot where I'd like to use one of these types of cutscenes, if we can work out a way to make it work.

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #4
Hmm... I'm going to be surprised if that ends up working. Let us know, though, if it does. I've got a spot where I'd like to use one of these types of cutscenes, if we can work out a way to make it work.

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
You dont have to read this Because It's just me being an Idiot in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #48
As in:

All of the i's's dots were happy faces? :D

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
BoA editor 1.0.1 pdf doc up to date? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #6
Then how about at least having Word convert to an .html from the .doc when you modify it? (says he who really, really hates Word) Or heck, just dump the text into a BBEdit file. Anything but Word format.

Hmm... guess I DO have both AppleWorks and Mariner Write, looking in my Applications folder, that can read a .doc (in addition to Word itself, for that matter--though I refuse to even launch it if I can help it). Just being my usual "grumpy old man" self, I guess... :D

Still, I really prefer PDFs for documentation. Isn't it just a matter of "printing" it (to a file) to make the PDF? Docs don't have to be "pretty"...

EDIT: You can grab a "down'n'dirty" conversion of the 1.1 docs to PDF from my iDisk. No bookmarks, and some of the pictures don't line up all pretty-like. If someone wants to spend the time to do a "proper" conversion, I'll let you upload them to my iDisk (which is just a trial account I set up expressly for this purpose, anyway :) ).

This is just for folks like me who are just searching the docs 99.9% of the time, anyway.

[ Sunday, April 18, 2004 19:58: Message edited by: spyderbytes ]

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
BoA editor 1.0.1 pdf doc up to date? in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #6
Then how about at least having Word convert to an .html from the .doc when you modify it? (says he who really, really hates Word) Or heck, just dump the text into a BBEdit file. Anything but Word format.

Hmm... guess I DO have both AppleWorks and Mariner Write, looking in my Applications folder, that can read a .doc (in addition to Word itself, for that matter--though I refuse to even launch it if I can help it). Just being my usual "grumpy old man" self, I guess... :D

Still, I really prefer PDFs for documentation. Isn't it just a matter of "printing" it (to a file) to make the PDF? Docs don't have to be "pretty"...

EDIT: You can grab a "down'n'dirty" conversion of the 1.1 docs to PDF from my iDisk. No bookmarks, and some of the pictures don't line up all pretty-like. If someone wants to spend the time to do a "proper" conversion, I'll let you upload them to my iDisk (which is just a trial account I set up expressly for this purpose, anyway :) ).

This is just for folks like me who are just searching the docs 99.9% of the time, anyway.

[ Sunday, April 18, 2004 19:58: Message edited by: spyderbytes ]

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #44
0 is the first char in the party. When you start placing NPCs in a new town, the editor makes the first one char number 6. So 0-5 are really the only numbers that could be used for party members (and the ones that ARE used).

Jeff could (theoretically) change the starting number for NPCs placed in towns to add more potential party members, but it would break all existing (and half-written) scenarios--including Jeff's own scenarios that come with the game. IOW, not at all likely to happen at this point.

In my own experience, a party of more than 6 at any given time becomes quite unwieldy anyway. You spend more time futzing with party members than actually playing the game. YMMV, but it's a good limit IMO. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #44
0 is the first char in the party. When you start placing NPCs in a new town, the editor makes the first one char number 6. So 0-5 are really the only numbers that could be used for party members (and the ones that ARE used).

Jeff could (theoretically) change the starting number for NPCs placed in towns to add more potential party members, but it would break all existing (and half-written) scenarios--including Jeff's own scenarios that come with the game. IOW, not at all likely to happen at this point.

In my own experience, a party of more than 6 at any given time becomes quite unwieldy anyway. You spend more time futzing with party members than actually playing the game. YMMV, but it's a good limit IMO. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
BoA editor 1.0.1 pdf doc up to date? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #3
Hmm... I can't tell you what it was, now, but I specifically remember seeing something that changed in the PDF from what was provided with the 1.0 editor. I believe it was a call that was removed, now that I think about it. Based on that, I assumed the PDF was up to date except for version number.

Regardless, I have no convenient way to use Word DOCs (and hate them anyway), so I'll be sticking to the PDF and continue pointing out when it's wrong. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
BoA editor 1.0.1 pdf doc up to date? in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #3
Hmm... I can't tell you what it was, now, but I specifically remember seeing something that changed in the PDF from what was provided with the 1.0 editor. I believe it was a call that was removed, now that I think about it. Based on that, I assumed the PDF was up to date except for version number.

Regardless, I have no convenient way to use Word DOCs (and hate them anyway), so I'll be sticking to the PDF and continue pointing out when it's wrong. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
You dont have to read this Because It's just me being an Idiot in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #46
Plurals of individual letters are also special cases. As 'as' is a word and 'is' is too... but "a's" and "i's" are not. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Article - Items: Balance and Cool Stuff in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #11
And bear in mind that average damage is the most important stat, in comparing weapons, followed by minimum (as you can never do LESS damage than that on a hit), and then max (as it will be rare that you actually do that much).

IOW, placing a weapon that has a higher max damage but comparable (or even lower) average is not really overpowering. In fact, if the player isn't savvy, he may brag about the phat lewt you gave him without realizing it's really not any better than what he was already using--if even as good. :)

Drakey (or someone)... I want to see an article (or series?) with pointers on how to make sure a dungeon is challenging for a party of the recommended level. That's what I'm having the most problem with. Especially since I'm not much of a tactician--I most often play these types of games on Easy (sad but true!). So right now I'm kinda just figuring if a dungeon has about a 50/50 chance of besting my party or my party besting it, on Normal, I've balanced it OK. :D

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Article - Items: Balance and Cool Stuff in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #11
And bear in mind that average damage is the most important stat, in comparing weapons, followed by minimum (as you can never do LESS damage than that on a hit), and then max (as it will be rare that you actually do that much).

IOW, placing a weapon that has a higher max damage but comparable (or even lower) average is not really overpowering. In fact, if the player isn't savvy, he may brag about the phat lewt you gave him without realizing it's really not any better than what he was already using--if even as good. :)

Drakey (or someone)... I want to see an article (or series?) with pointers on how to make sure a dungeon is challenging for a party of the recommended level. That's what I'm having the most problem with. Especially since I'm not much of a tactician--I most often play these types of games on Easy (sad but true!). So right now I'm kinda just figuring if a dungeon has about a 50/50 chance of besting my party or my party besting it, on Normal, I've balanced it OK. :D

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #1
So, either a flashback or dream sequence type thing? I had to do something somewhat similar for a particular town, and a set_state_continue() at the end of INIT_STATE let me run a cutscene and then teleport the party to a different location (same town though) at the end of it. So the first thing I'd try (if you haven't) is to see whether a set_state_continue() gives you enough "separation" from the INIT_STATE to be able to move_to_new_town().

If that doesn't work, then at the end of the cutscene I guess you'll need to let control fall back to the player, but leave him placed so that all he can really do is move into a square with a special encounter that moves him back to his starting town.

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
Cross-Town Cutscenes in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #1
So, either a flashback or dream sequence type thing? I had to do something somewhat similar for a particular town, and a set_state_continue() at the end of INIT_STATE let me run a cutscene and then teleport the party to a different location (same town though) at the end of it. So the first thing I'd try (if you haven't) is to see whether a set_state_continue() gives you enough "separation" from the INIT_STATE to be able to move_to_new_town().

If that doesn't work, then at the end of the cutscene I guess you'll need to let control fall back to the player, but leave him placed so that all he can really do is move into a square with a special encounter that moves him back to his starting town.

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
More than 2 NPC joining the party? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #1
1. Not possible. Two NPCs at once in party is the maximum. You could have other NPCs that just follow the party everywhere they go (by scripting them to do so), but no more than two of them can actually be "in" the party at once.

2. Sorry... I don't understand what you're asking. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
More than 2 NPC joining the party? in Blades of Avernum
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #1
1. Not possible. Two NPCs at once in party is the maximum. You could have other NPCs that just follow the party everywhere they go (by scripting them to do so), but no more than two of them can actually be "in" the party at once.

2. Sorry... I don't understand what you're asking. :)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00
BoA editor 1.0.1 pdf doc up to date? in Blades of Avernum Editor
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
Profile #1
I'm reasonably certain the version number just wasn't changed on the PDF (though the PDF itself was). At any rate, I use the PDF exclusively and gripe at Jeff if it doesn't match up to reality. ;)

-spyderbytes

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-spyderbytes
Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00

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