How do I work out what script to trigger in game using Construction Kit

[carltimms001]

Hi Hi folks, I am stuck playing a mod and trying to work out via the console how I can trigger a transition script that moves the story along. I dabble in Construction kit only and am a non-developer so please go easy on me! :)

 

What I would like to do is:

 

1) Is there a way to work out what script moves me on and run it via Construction Set/console? (I don't need dialogue, just to trigger the next scene)

2) Is there anything else I can do in Construction Set or console to just move things along manually?

Any help hugely appreciated! Happy to provide bits of data from data file if it helps query. Please answer in layman's terms! Details on mod and problem below:

Aim:

I need to trigger a conversation with a key NPC and the script for some reason just isn't working - I've gone through walkthrough of this mod and triggered all journal entries but when I return to key NPC I am still not getting the dialogue needed to push the game along. Mod is Children of the Night 2 (a classic) and I'm stuck at a point where my character is on a boat in Seyda Neen. Here's walkthough snippet and my notes in brackets.

On arrival you’ll meet Ariela’s father in the Tradehouse, who knows you from the past. Talk to him [worked fine] and on your way out make sure you talk to the captain of the ship which brought him, Marelius [here was first problem - I speak to him and it looked like a script was loading ie "I'm busy, try again in a moment" but when I talk to him again he has zero dialogue options]

 

 

Follow his instructions to learn something more of what happened in CON1 and obtain Journal Entry 7 [triggered JE7 manually using console]. Afterwards, read his letter [triggering JE7 didn't give me a letter - got ID from Construction Set but even when I try AddItem it does not appear] to learn of an accomplice whom you’ll find outside the building in which Ariela’s father is staying. [Accomplice was already there so just carried on as no journal entries triggered here anyway]

 

 

Well, the detour’s worth it, but remember what your parents always told you about talking to strangers! (The key is where you would expect to find it - on the bed) [Got to a hut, killed some Hungers and a guard all to plan, again no journal entry]. Back on board the ship, as usual first talk to Shayna and then Julius. If it’s too early to leave then “kill” time until dusk and talk to Julius again. At this stage the scene will shift to another part of the journey out at sea. [so this is where I get stuck - I've triggered all journal entries in correct order and completed all actions for this sequence of the walkthrough but I cannot get Shayna (NPC) to talk to me with quest dialogue (just get standard NPC dialogue options), which in turn will trigger the captain's script to then trigger the automatic 'teleport' scene transition]

[abot]

Unless following to the letter a complete console commands list from a competent modder (ideally the mod author), you should not try to solve quests by console if you don't know the whole commands needed to advance the quests correctly (e.g. it may be not only a Journal command, but additem something, forcegreeting, addtopic, any other scripting command, that usually are called from the dialog topic result field).
If you want to try doing it yourself, you need to know how the scripting/dialog in the mod work (takes time and effort, Morrowind Scripting for Dummies should be your main source of technical information) and study it in the Construction Set or similar tools like MWEdit.

[EDIT] not to mention there is still the possibility that a mod conflict is causing the quest to not advance anyway, so it really varies. Sometimes in case of conflicts it helps to use the addtopic "topic that should appear" console command

[EDIT2] also, when you have problems with a specific mod, probably adding a direct download link to the mod may increase your chances someone with the skill to help would take a look at it

Edited December 2, 2019 by abot