Some problems (textures, scripts, etc)

[Galejro]

Ok so I've been working on my Clan Tremere Mod and I have come across certain problems. Fortunately they are cosmetic.

 

- I need to know how to make a faction rank icon, could use a short tutorial, link, anything. So far I have assessed that It (as all textures) has to be a dds file, size 128 X 128 32 bpp but no matter where I place it it doesn't seem to appear in the game.

 

- Could anyone give me a short instruction on how to make a person do something when asked ( like "go to sleep" resulting in the NPC going to sleep at a specified reference)

 

- Could anyone give me a scripting tutorial on making a character NPC to be disabled for 2 days and than re-enabled

 

- And finally, I was trying to put unique music at a specified interior location, but I can't seem to make it looping for all the time, so far I succeded in making a trigger box causing music to play only once but than it returns to the public oblivion soundtrack. Yet would It be possible to tell me how to make it repeat itself all the time in that interior cell?

[David Brasher]

When adding rank icons, beware of savegame warpage/savegame memory. When you add your icon and go to play-test, your icon likely won't be there. Your savegame remembers that your faction rank had no icon, or an old icon and sticks with that. It won't display your new one. So you may need a very very clean save. maybe even a new character to test your new icon on. I think you should put your icon in the directory with all the other rank icons. That will give you the highest probability of success.

 

To make a custom sleep AI package, copy an existing on and edit to be the way you like it. For example, go copy and edit "AbhukiSleep" which is like the first one like that on the list. Apply it to your NPC. Change the time of day and duration. Set your bed to persistent. Edit the package location to Location > Location > Near Reference > Select Reference in Render Window. At this point click on your persistent bed. Click OK.

 

For one-time actions such as telling someone to go to sleep once, SetStages work best. Have an AI package with a stage condition. Have the result script advance the stage. For reusable actions, you will need a quest with a quest script with a quest variable. The dialog result scripts change the quest variable. Some sort of trigger may need to reset the quest variable depending on the setup.

 

Timers stink. Oblivion is set up very poorly to deal with timers. You are opening a big can of worms. Are you sure you want to do this? The code I model my timers on is in this quest script:

 

scn SE01DoorScript

short doOnce2
short startday

Begin GameMode

;this section sets a journal to let the player know a door has appeared to the Shivering Isles
if ( GetStageDone MQ01 90 == 1 )
	if ( doOnce2 == 0 )
		set startday to GameDaysPassed
		set doOnce2 to 1
	endif
endif

if ( doOnce2 == 1 )
	if ( GameDaysPassed >= ( startday + 1 ) )
		if ( GetStage SE01Door == 0 )
			SetStage SE01Door 10
		endif
	endif
endif

End

 

(Only the relevant parts of the script shown.)

 

In your script you will be using Enable and Disable on your actor. The time will be 2 days. (The margin of error in oblivion timers is like one or two days, usually erring long rather than short.) So when play-testing, your actor may take two to four days to enable rather than a hard two.

 

This MUST be a quest script. It may not be an object script because those only run when you are near the object.

 

Timers stink. No one ever can figure them out on the first attempt. I wish you luck.

 

I don't really remember the mechanism by which it works, but there is a script that repeats the same music on a loop in this mod: Laser Gun - Attack of the Droids You could rebuild that script to serve your purposes.

[Galejro]

Yeah Timers seem very complex, but I'll give it a try.

 

About Icon, well I never thaught about doing a new game I mean how clean can a save from just exiting the tutorial be. I'll try that.

 

About a custom sleep packege, all you told me I pretty much understand already but what I need is a thing such as this:

 

I tell my servant to go to sleep (whenever that may be) and he does it and continues this endlessly untill I give him a different command like "go take a break" and he will continue thatt brake endlessly as well.

 

I can build a scheduled AI but it remains beyond the players controll (without a console use that is), I did attemted to make a controlled schedule with 3 options using dependancy on quest stages, but just as you said that can result in only telling the character to do A, B, or C and only in a particular order of stages they are marked, I can make NPC do stage 10 than stage 30 but I will not be able to make the NPC return to doing stage 10 even if I make a topic command "setstage QuestID 10" despite the fact that I tick the "Allow repeated quest stages" box.

 

You said something about quest variable, can you elaborate on it cause it may be the key, what is this quest variable and what commands are there at disposal. I remember something like "setquestvariable" but I don't know what it does.

 

Anyways big thanks :)

Edited October 16, 2011 by Galejro

[Galejro]

Hold on a sec Timers seem to be incredibly complex but how about doing a system as such (bare it with me cause it may look complex):

 

There is script on command "gamehour" / So if I set a hidden timer quest say 4 stages long and make a script for it like:

 

scn blablabla

 

begin gamemode

 

if gamehour 6

setstage hiddenquest to 10

endif

 

if getstage hiddenquest == 10

if gamehour 18

setstage hiddenquest to 20

endif

endif

 

therefore I have made a 12 hour timer and if I am to continue it to 4 stages it would have the same effect to 2 days. I havent yet tested it but what do you say. Although such a mechanism would have to be custom to each and every quest usig it.