fnv Advice on creating a "fetch" quest

[MrPebbles1961]

I've looked several places online and in the game and in other mods, to figure out how to create a very short "fetch" quest for my player home, but nothing I found addressed the way in which I wanted the quest to proceed.

Essentially the process is:

1. Player finds the entrance to an abandoned home that requires a keycard to access.
2. There's a holodisk placed outside the entrance.
3. Player takes holodisk (and hopefully reads it) for clues.
4. Quest starts.
5. Stage 10: Sends player to "X" to search for clues as to the location of the keycard.
6. Player goes to "X" and finds the keycard in the inventory of a dead NPC.
7. Stage 20: Sends the player back to the home to unlock the entrance.
8. Player returns to the entrance and unlocks the home.
9. Stage 30: Welcomes player to their new home.
10. Quest ends.

Both of the tutorials I looked at relied on dialog with NPCs, which doesn't work for me here, but gave me a somewhat better understanding of how the process is done. What I'm confused by is whether or not I need a separate script for something this simple, or can it be done entirely using Conditions and Result Scripts in the Quest window?

So far I've got bits and pieces of it here:

1. Player takes holodisk. This triggers quest Stage 10:

      GetPlayerHasNote GVHVaultHomeMsgHolodisk == 1    ; Use condition for this?
      SetStage GVHFindBunkerKeycardQUEST  20

2. Player takes keycard from dead NPC. This triggers quest Stage 20:

      if Player.GetItemCount GVHVaultHomeMsgHolodisk == 1   ;Condition?
      SetStage GVHFindBunkerKeycardQUEST  20

3. Player unlocks entrance to home. This triggers quest Stage 30/completes quest:

      if door GVHExteriorAccessHatch is in state "unlocked"    ;is there something that can determine this?
      SetStage GVHFindBunkerKeycardQUEST  30

Am I on the right track here? Any advice on the conditions/result scripts I need to make this work?

[madmongo]

Add a script to the holodisk with an OnAdd block that sets the quest stage. Give the keycard a similar script.

For the door, use an OnActivate script and check GetLocked==0 to set the final quest stage.

Make sure that the final quest stage completes the quest.

If you make the holodisk and the keycard quest items then you don't need to worry about the player dropping them and picking them up again which would re-trigger the OnAdd script to set the quest stages. Alternately, you can check and set variables in your quest to prevent the quest stages from being re-triggered.

[laclongquan]

Misc item with that onADD block to add (same name) NOTE thus set quest stage. Also, misc item will be destroyed upon entering your inventory (reference how the box of primer did it). THAT way the misc item is nearly unique and you dont have to fear dropping it, then picking it up again.

Edited October 26 by laclongquan

[MrPebbles1961]

Thank you both. Most of this makes sense and should help me get this done right. I might have some follow-up later if I make progress.

[Pellape]

Directtions in the tab Quest Objective, fourth tab. Go to the cave cell

1. Right click in the Objective index and make a new, set it to the same as your queststage, well 20.
2. Click index 20 and type: Locate the Brotherhood Knight
3. Go inside the cave where the bodies is located, well now you must set them Persistent, which you check in the reference window of the body, under the coordinates for the ref, also name the reference as that is something that not many do really, which irritates me some, specially when Bethesda do not name any of their persistent references, well a few, and I do think about X and map markers here, which all should be named.
4. Click at the box Select reference in Render Window. The Cross you get, is red as long as the target is NOT persistent and when it turns white, double click at the target, your dead body.
5. You can also make a new Quest Objective for the stage 30 where the player will get back to the Vault, which always is nice, even if they now know where it is.

As you already know, the dead bodies did disappear before I entered the cave last night, because they where not persistent. The reason was the new spawns of dogs I guess?  Who knows?   It is just a simple checkbox to click, not much work, hard  or advanced in any way.

 

 

[Pellape]

@MrPebbles1961I did forget to write what the Quest Objectives do, well they add the marker in the compass and at the maps. To avoid several markers, do set a condition at the objective, like Getstage <QuestID> <StageID>

To see the objectives at all, you also need to add them at in a script, well it is easiest to use the Result of the Queststage and type:

ShowQuestObjective  <QuestID> <StageID> 1

 

And at the next stage result, you type:

SetObjectiveCompleted <QuestID> <StageID> 1
ShowQuestObjective  <QuestID> <StageID> 1

Examples:

; Stage 20
ShowQuestObjective GVHFindBunkerKeycardQUEST 20 1

;Stage 30
SetObjectiveCompleted GVHFindBunkerKeycardQUEST 20 1 
ShowQuestObjective  GVHFindBunkerKeycardQUEST 30 1 

I do not think conditions is nescesary when you complete the stage 20 at the result for stage 30 really but I use both. If I make a bug, well then that is harder to find it if there is more than one way of doing the same thing in the same quest and stage. 

@MrPebbles1961Keep us updated about your progress in your threads please,  so we do not get monologues, but dialogues instead, but that is of course up to you.    Not all like to type a lot of nonsense like I do but I do like to know how it is going for you really, specially if you decide to keep that noise or not as now we are 2 that got disturbed by it or make a switch for it or an option or whatever.    I can help with that too, I guess.

Edited October 28 by Pellape

[Pellape]

I did forgot to add ShowQuestObjective now in one of my quests I am making and nothing did pop up in the pip-boy, just the dialogues from my quest giver, so that command is more vital than I could imagine.

Also if you make any dialogues, the addtopic <dialogue> must be executed to see them, and I usually do it in the result of the first quest stage, or at the proper quest stage.

[MrPebbles1961]

UPDATE

Okay, this is finally beginning to work. Since the holodisk was a note, I couldn't attach a script to it, so I created a holodisk activator, replaced the note with it, then edited the activator script to place the NOTE into the player's inventory. I tested this much in the game and it worked. Now on to attaching the quest to it. 

[Pellape]

@MrPebbles1961Well done. I did contact the author of the Underground Hideout, asking him about where he did find the cool display cases he is using with a PM. I will keep you informed if I get a reply if you want to use them, also mannequins would have been nice as well, well a complete display and store room and less noises.    Do take a peek at that mod as it is the best there is for Fallout NV and Fallout 3 and it has a similar design as your vault has, just a bit darker, but if you manage to do this and get rid of the sound, I might move from the Hideout into your house and stay there as I love what I saw there.

Maybe I create my own base later, when I have published my current project as well, with lots of tools and scripts as if I get an idea, I usually solve how to implement it as well and I have not failed yet. The thing is, then I need to make 2 houses, as I play both NV and 3 but I can also edit the hideout for my own purposes and I did ask him about permissions to edit it as well, if I want to publish it.

Edited October 30 by Pellape

[laclongquan]

Note: try not to use bodies of NPC or creatures as containers of your quest-set items.

Reason: The corpses might be despawned by game engine if some obscure conditions are met. Mostly, if it's too many active creatures/NPCs and they died, the new corpses might need game engine to clear the old corpses so they can be created.

+++ Obscure because there's never a set of confirmed conditions to trigger this despawning process. A few known facts is this: A cell with too many assets will trigger this process sooner than a similar size cell with less assets. But a cell with larger size might trigger it later. If you have too many active critters, then the process happen sooner, and vice versa.

If it's items like notes, you might think about it lying on the chest of corpse, and a throwingspear/knive, stabbing through that to the corpses, into the ground. THat's an attention getter, and it lessen troubles if the corpses despawned.

Edited October 31 by laclongquan