Quest dialog stops appearing after changes to quest.

[primem0ver]

PLEASE HELP. I am really getting tired of this problem. This is the second time it has happened and I have no idea why.

 

I am building a rather involved quest. This is the second time I have had to build the quest because the first time, the dialogue just stopped working. (I went back to a save just before the quest started and still had the same problem). New dialogue topics that I added to the quest would not appear even if they have no conditions whatsoever. If I add a new quest with the same dialogue and same (lack of) conditions it works fine.

 

The first time this happened I rebuilt the quest because of this problem. At the time I had not done a whole lot so it was fine. Now the quest is almost done and it stopped working after I added a scene. The only thing I can think of that the first and second situation have in common is the addition and removal of scripts and script properties.

 

So my question is this: what would cause a quest's dialogue to simply stop working at all? To the point that ANY dialogue added without any conditions would not show up?

A more specific question is this: One cannot ordinarily remove script properties using the script properties dialogue. If I remove properties from a quest script manually (by removing the code), will that cause something like this to happen? Or other problems?

Edited September 19, 2015 by primem0ver

[sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE]

If the quest is a Game Start Up then generate a new SEQ file anytime you edit/change the quest dialogue.

 

Sometimes you can mildly edit a dialogue and it work fine, sometimes a minor edit can do what your experiencing.

Generating a SEQ file takes a couple of seconds so it's just as easy to generate a new seq anytime you edit dialogue.

[primem0ver]

Thanks for the bit of info.

 

Unfortunately that did not solve the problem for either version of the quest. I used TesVEdit to create a SEQ file in both cases.

[sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE]

Check where the SEQ is being saved.

If your using a mod manager that adds your mods in a virtual directory (eg: Mod Organizer), then maybe the SEQ isn't being saved in the relevant directory.

 

If it is case your using a mod manager then i can not offer any advice as to the correct paths related to where your mod is or what path the seq would be saved in.

[primem0ver]

I use mod organizer but if the SEQ file is moved, it is moved to the override directory which overwrites any other versions. This is where all significantly modified files get moved too. (I leave the mod itself in the override directory all the time since I am always alternating between testing and working on it). This is not the issue. I have never seen the SEQ file get moved when it is rewritten and even if it was... the newer version would override any older versions and it would still be in the same virtual folder as it was before. (Mod organizer uses virtual folders with an established priority to work the way it does. The override folder ALWAYS has the highest priority) I used to check on this but I have stopped because I am used to this behavior. Nevertheless... I checked again this time to make sure. SEQ is still in the mod folder where it was before.

 

The fact that I add the same dialogue to a NEW quest and make a new SEQ file (because I have a new quest) to get it to work is further evidence that this is not the issue.

Edited September 19, 2015 by primem0ver

[sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE]

Post a brief sample esp of the dialogue (including any related QF, TIF pex/psc fragments) providing it's not dependent on any other mods and is small enough to attach to a post, if you like.
Trying to trouble shoot it without the related hands on material is really not that easy when the obvious has already been covered.

Edited September 19, 2015 by sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE

[primem0ver]

Hmm... are you asking me to post a sample esp? Or examples of things such as code? The problem is that it is dependent on other mods. For one thing it is a Alternate Start mod.

 

EDIT: nevermind my question. I read it more carefully this time. In order to do what you ask I would need to reproduce my problem in another mod. This mod has several dependencies and some other issues that make it difficult to post here. I would be happy to recreate it in a sample mod. The problem is that I have no idea what to do to reproduce the problem because I don't know what is causing it. My only guess is adding/removing properties and moving them between different scripts (as I suggested earlier).

Edited September 19, 2015 by primem0ver

[primem0ver]

I added a few things between the time it worked and the time it stopped working. I added a few new statues found in other mods; and a cell copied from another mod I created previously. I added a scene similar to the wedding scene (i.e. I used the wedding scene as a model). And I added one function to my quest script (along with several properties). The one odd thing I did is move a script property from one script to another.

 

FYI my script did not change much between the time it was working and when it stopped working. This is the only code I added (along with the properties listed in this code. One of those properties: GameDaysPassed was one I originally created in the quest script that is automatically created for each quest). I then moved it to this script code file.

Event OnUpdateGameTime()

	If Math.Floor(GameDaysPassed.GetValue()) == LocalDay && GetStageDone(60) == 0 && GetStage() < 100
 		debug.Notification("summoning local residents for rite")
		SetStage(65)
	EndIf

	If Math.Floor(GameDaysPassed.GetValue()) == RiteDay && GetStageDone(60) == 0 && GetStage() < 100
 		debug.Notification("set up the rite")
		SetStage(70)
	EndIf

	If Math.Floor(GameDaysPassed.GetValue()) == FailDay && GetStageDone(60) == 0 && GetStage() < 100
 		debug.Notification("fail the rite")
		SetStage(500)
	EndIf

EndEvent

Edited September 19, 2015 by primem0ver

[sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE]

Edit: the quest dialogue/topic/Info have any stage conditions set on them?

 

Yep CK can be very dicky when it comes to properties and fragments.

 

Not really related to your problem:

One thing I've learned not to do is to delete a fragment (or any quest/me/obj/etc script) or delete properties from the scripts without first clearing the properties in CK.

Simply removing a script or properties from a quest//TopicInfo/ME/obj/etc without clearing the properties in CK does not remove the property from the esp.

Which in turn can cause havoc when you attach a new script and add properties (mileage varies, but seen some dicky stuff happen).

 

Found that out after checking things out in TES5Edit and seeing umpteen properties that were no longer visible or accessible in CK to try and clear them.

 

One way which sometimes worked to get the old property so I could clear was recreate it and clear it then delete/remove the property/script (sometimes worked, sometimes didn't).

 

But meh.

Edited September 19, 2015 by sLoPpYdOtBiGhOlE

[primem0ver]

Edit: the quest dialogue/topic/Info have any stage conditions set on them?

 

 

Yes but the stage is set correctly. And again... the conditions don't matter. Again: When I create a new topic branch in the same quest it doesn't work even without conditions. Remember that if NO conditions exist on a topic branch/response that any player you click on in the game should have that topic branch (as long as they don't have a preset blocking/exclusion topic). No one has the topic branch on them at all. If I create a NEW quest and add the same condition-less topic branch, it works fine as long as recreate the SEQ file.

 

Ultimately the above fact suggests one thing (at least to me). Something about the quest itself is fried. Not the dialogue... NO dialogue works in the quest at all. If I put the same dialogue in a DIFFERENT quest (new or old), it works fine. IF there are no conditions on the dialogue, ALL players display the option.

 

However, if I remove the conditions from ANY dialogue in the quest in question... it will still not appear. No dialogue from the quest works at all. Hence my conclusion. It is something wrong with the quest. Not the dialogue.

 

Are you sure that the other things you said AREN'T related to my problem? Because honestly that is the only explanation I can think of. I also assumed that might be the case but so far I haven't been able to find the records of the old properties in TesVEdit. (I tried looking before I even started this discussion to see if there was something I could delete that didn't belong).