is idle chatter really as easy as choosing a topic?

[geekminxen]

Trying to add idle chatter/random barks to a companion...can you really just choose "Add topic - Idle Chatter," put in your dialogue, and the character will voice them as he follows (provided the follow package allows it)? Or does it still require some kind of tracking, prompting, or timing via a script?

[rickerhk]

You add the idle chatter topic on the Conversation tab of the quest. Then you add things to say under that topic. The first info should be silence, with a condition on it so that it is picked a certain percentage of time - like 75%. Without this, your companion will say one of your chatter lines every 45 to 60 seconds. So hopefully, your list should have quite a few things to say, otherwise, make the silence percentage greater.

[geekminxen]

You add the idle chatter topic on the Conversation tab of the quest. Then you add things to say under that topic. The first info should be silence, with a condition on it so that it is picked a certain percentage of time - like 75%. Without this, your companion will say one of your chatter lines every 45 to 60 seconds. So hopefully, your list should have quite a few things to say, otherwise, make the silence percentage greater.

 

Great-- thank you! What sort of condition will cause it to be picked so often?

 

And thanks tons for the info!

[Tefnacht]

Hi.

 

Infos (lines) in a topic are evaluated top to bottom. The first info with matching conditions is chosen.

 

Usually all infos in the idle-chatter topic have the “random” bitflag set. This means all those infos get collected into a list, the game engine rolls the dice and chooses one of them at random. They all have an equal chance to be picked.

 

To stop the constant chattering, add a empty info at the top that does NOT have the random bitflag set and uses those two conditions:

 

GetIsID <Your actor> == 1 AND

GetRandomPercent < 75

 

Since infos are evaluated top to bottom, this info will always be evaluated first if your actor decides a random bark is due. GetRandomPercent returns a random integer number from 0 to 99. This means with conditions set up like this and the random flag NOT set, this info will be chosen 75% of the time ... and since it is empty the actor won't say anything.

 

After this info you add all the “normal” comments you want the actor to say. Those should all have the “random” bitflag set and use only the GetIsID <Your actor> == 1 condition.

25% of the time the first info will not fire, because GetRandomPercent returned a number equal or greater than 75. In this case the other infos below it are evaluated and one is chosen at random.

 

Remember to set the “random end” flag for the very last info in your list. I don't think it is absolutely needed but it is cleaner. IMO. RickerHK will probably have more information to add. :)

 

Good luck.

[llamaRCA]

Those should all have the “random” bitflag set and use only the GetIsID <Your actor> == 1 condition.

 

You will need other conditions sometimes in addition to GetIsID (for instance if you don't want your NPC to chatter while sneaking, or when sleeping, or if you only want the comment said when outside, etc).

[geekminxen]

Thank you both for the further information! Tefnacht, thanks for the very clear and detailed instruction-- it's perfect for a newbie like me. :) And llama, thanks for the reminder-- I hadn't thought to include those conditions.