StartRadioConversation Doesn't Trigger Topic

[user826]

Hello, everyone! I'm trying to make a jukebox that plays tracks on demand using a non-continuous broadcasting radio station. I thought it would be pretty simple, but for some reason, StartRadioConversation isn't doing the trick.

 

I have a talking activator set up with a broadcast range of "Everywhere", with a unique voice type that the radio quest is referencing, and yet calling "JukeboxSpeakerREF.StartRadioConversation MyTrack01" isn't producing any sound - even though I have the same sound file in all three possible formats (128kbps CBR MP3, 16-bit mono 44.1kHz WAV, 96kbps mono OGG) as insurance. The sounds play fine in the GECK, so I know it's not the formats. I also tried setting up the talking activator as a continuous broadcast, looping two topics of silence which I figured I could then interrupt with the appropriate track, but again, StartRadioConversation does nothing.

 

And it's not like my activator script is overly complicated either:

scn aaaSCPTJukeboxActivator

int InitState

begin OnLoad
	if (InitState == 0)
		Activate
		set InitState to 1
	endif
end

begin OnActivate Player
	JukeboxSpeakerREF.StartRadioConversation MyTrack01
end

Anybody have any ideas as to what's going wrong?

 

EDIT: I've discovered that the problem might be that the talking activator isn't broadcasting through the world activator for whatever reason. As a troubleshooting measure, I tried making the station a Pip-Boy receivable continuous broadcast, and the track plays fine through the Pip-Boy. But, when I use the jukebox activator I made, no joy.

Edited July 15, 2020 by user826

[user826]

It's gotten worse. Now I can't even hear anything through the Pip-Boy. All the base-game and DLC stations work fine, but even though my custom one shows up on the Pip-Boy, selecting it plays silence. I don't know why it stopped working.

 

EDIT: OMFG it works! I don't know what I did or how I fixed it, but it suddenly started working!

Edited July 17, 2020 by user826

[dubiousintent]

Did you tweak the dialog, the sound file format, the quest script, the activator, what?

 

Take a cue from this experience. If you can't reproduce a problem or a solution, then you are doomed to repeat the problem. It is best to methodically work through solutions, making a record of what you have tried and test each "solution" separately. It takes a little more time, but then you have a better idea of what went wrong and how you solved it. Sometimes just reviewing what you have tried will suggest a new approach.

 

Congrats on solving your problem, BTW.

 

-Dubious-

[user826]

Looking back, I *think* the solution was two-fold. First, make sure that the "Continuous Broadcast" tickbox in the talking activator is checked, even though the GECK wiki explicitly says that "StartRadioConversation" will start a conversation on a station that is not currently broadcasting. Secondly, make sure the activator script has a line to activate itself, or else it'll never be "on" to receive the signal. I had originally handled this through an OnLoad block, telling the activator to always be "on", but on a whim, I decided to click on the activator in the console and type "Activate" directly, and it started working.

[dubiousintent]

There you go. I also think you have it correct in that both steps were needed.

 

"Continuous Broadcast" needs to be "on" or the station only plays "static".

 

"OnLoad" blocks "won't run on most disabled objects, because their 3D data isn't loaded." (See all the "notes" on that page for more, important, caveats.) And an "activator" is "a World Object [that] can be used (or activated) by an actor or another activator." In other words, it can't activate itself. (Which is implied in the name.) So "always on" does not mean "always active" but rather "enabled to become active". Because sometimes you might want an activator to only become enabled under certain conditions.

 

-Dubious-

[user826]

The wiki's wording implied to me that StartRadioConversation would "cut through the static" and force the station to broadcast a single topic. I also looked at the only usage of StartRadioConversation that I could find in the base game, where Tabitha begs you not to take Raul away. In that quest, the Black Mountain Radio transmitter has "SetBroadcastState 0" called on it, so I figured since the base game does it that way, it should work for me as well.

 

As for the activator, I was following the example of the base-game radios that start on. They all have a script (VintageRadioStartOnSCRIPT) attached that has an OnLoad block wherein it activates itself using "set MySelf to GetSelf, Activate MySelf" I did the same thing with my OnLoad block, but it didn't work.