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New Ideas on mutible characters that might work for some people.
I have seen a lot of people trying to get a group of characters to work. The idea is to have NPC(s) set to try to reach you guy. This much works so far for me the only problem is on how to make them atack I think it is posible to change you guy's imige for the NPC's and vice virsa also have your weapons swich that way you play as the NPC and the NPC look like you. This is not the same as having the npc atack also. that I am still working on.
------------------ Magnum gloriam Efeionae est! The forest is calling, how will you answer?
Please excuse me while I worship you.
------------------ Consider. If passion rules our reasoning, and we are ruled by logic, we are all simply unwitting slaves to emotion, pretending to be greater than what we truly are.
Quote
Originally posted by Efeion: **I have seen a lot of people trying to get a group of characters to work. The idea is to have NPC(s) set to try to reach you guy. This much works so far for me the only problem is on how to make them atack I think it is posible to change you guy's imige for the NPC's and vice virsa also have your weapons swich that way you play as the NPC and the NPC look like you. This is not the same as having the npc atack also. that I am still working on.
**
I'm going to worship you too. Your idea sounds good. I hope you can actually do it. And if you figure out how, be sure to post it on the web boards. I'd love to know how to do it. So post instructions for how to do it, because some of us (like me) don't know too much programming
------------------ What stands before us today is a meer foreshadow of tommorow, fight hard or die trying.
(This message has been edited by FF-fanatic (edited 09-29-2002).)
This is Efeion again I had just figured out how to get this version of multiple characters to work so I was rushing, sorry about the spelling. Here is the exact way to set it up.
Start out by creating 2 NPCs and having one the same picture as the hero.
Set both NPCs to try to reach player.
Now have the non-hero picture NPC placed next to where you start on the map
Then in the non-hero picture NPC set it for player contact to open a dialog.
In this dialog have it say some thing like can I fight so that when you click "you fight" an action is called.
Set the action so that it will erase the NPC on the screen and replace it with the NPC that looks like the Hero and change the player portrait to that of non-hero's picture.
Now you will look like the NPC so it seems like he is fighting.
Then do the same to the NPC that looks like the hero so that when you click "you fight" it will call a different action that will switch the player back to normal.
This is jut a example of how to do this with a little tweaking you would be able to have a group of NPC and Fight as each of them them. Again I stress the fact this is not as cool as having the NPC you are with fight with you but at least this is a start. I am looking for a alternative way to have NPC fight each other.
I hope this helps some one out because I know what it is like to not be able make your game do what you want.
(This message has been edited by Efeion (edited 09-29-2002).)
Originally posted by Efeion: **
Yes, this does help.. man if only I knew coding and programming. Anyways, your thing I hope to try soon. And if you do find a way to have the NPC's fight with the hero, then post it. thanks
Here is the next update. This is needed for your characters to leave your maps.
Start by making two global events one named hero and one name what ever your NPC teammate I will go with BOB
These global events will have three numbers, 0=Not with you, 1=with you, 2=Are you.
Now in the main event that starts your game have it set the HERO GBL to 2.
Ok here is the tedious part in every location in your game in the main events have two conditionals one with the Hero gbl and the other for the Bob gbl have both of them looking for the GBLs set to 1.
Next have the conditionals place your teammate bob or hero next to you on the map if his GBL is set to 1
Now in the actions that switch the player with the NPC have it set the hero gbl to 1 and bob gbl to 2.
And in the action that switches the player back have it set bob gbl to1 and the hero to two.
This is required in every map because it will seam that the character is following you along your adventure. It would be easy to have characters join your quest just have the character bring up a dialog that will ask to join you and have bob gbl set to 1. You can also have diversity in your game by being able to have each player have different weapons and speed. This would be easy on the same actions that switch the player and NPCs have it change the items with the item wizard.
Originally posted by Efeion: ~snip~
Mr Efeion,
Yes, this does work to the point that it is semi-reasonable. I utilized a very similar method in a spell called "Magic Mirror" within a plug-in I made. You can see a small movie of this in action at the Spells Expander webpage. Look for the movie at the bottm of the right-hand side.
Basically an NPC is loaded that is set to always reach the player. Thus the NPC constantly follows. As the NPC is set to 0 stamina it will never attack, nor can it be killed. Sometimes it acts as a "dummy" in that aggressive NPCs start attacking the NPC that follows the player, which is nice because it gives the player a little bit of breathing room. But again, the "dummy" can not be hit nor harmed; it simply acts as a decoy.
Anyhow, yes, you do need to then have a global loading program that checks globals and loads the NPC if it is set to be with you. One minor problem with this is that if the player outruns the NPC or if the NPC gets "lost" (it happens, heh), when you enter the next area and the global is checked and loads the NPC, the NPC just "pops in" right next to you, even though it was half a screen away picking flowers a moment ago. Again, a minor annoyance.
It would be easy to have characters join your quest just have the character bring up a dialog that will ask to join you and have bob gbl set to 1.
I would recommend against this method. One of the things I found in my work on my plug-in is that friendly NPCs that follow the player constantly get in your way. Heh. You can't control them and they are trying to continually occupy the space you are in. So they keep running around you in combat trying to get up close and personal with you. This isn't inherently bad, but when you mouse-over on them their blue ring appears. If they are next to you and you use the action-key on your keyboard then many times that NPC's action is called.
The bottom line being is that if the NPC uses a dialog it becomes very easy to call it, and very regular. It will annoy the heck out of anyone really, really fast. Anytime you enter combat that dialog screen is going to be flashing at you constantly as you miss-click or use your action key and the NPC is triggered.
My recommendation would be to create a keydown event instead for every NPC. Have as the first object in the event be a conditional to check if that NPC is present, and if not, end the event(so nothing happens if you hit that key). Then, if you want to speak with the NPC and/or switch with it, you can just hit a key which calls a dialog/switching event. Thus if you accidentally click on the NPC in combat, or are using the action key, you won't be inadvertantly calling up the NPC's dialog events.
(edit) Fixed a bad quote. Woops! (/edit) ------------------ (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/pogwalkthrough.htm")PoG Walkthrough and Compendium(/url) | (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugins/dev_tools.htm")PoG Dev Tools(/url) | (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugins/spells_expander.htm")Spells Expander(/url) (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net")Stark.evula.net(/url) now on (url="http://"http://www.evula.net")EVula.net(/url)
(This message has been edited by Stark Bledfast (edited 09-30-2002).)
I never been called MR Efeion
I agree with you that this is not the greatest idea I just posted this for a optional way of making a game you never know this might help someone out.
It is actually the best party method I have heard of, I might just try it.
------------------ Surely you can't be serious! But I am serious, and don't call me Shirley!
I would guess that there's a fair bit of karma in store* for the first person 'round these parts to progress from merely talking about multi-character and/or turn-based combat systems and actually make and upload a functional demo of such a system.
Karma not guaranteed, as IANAM*. No statement of mine is intended to endorse or encourage doing helpful things purely in hopes of gaining karma.
**I am not a moderator.
------------------ I don't know what I'm talking about. (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/glennfield/ColdstoneBugs.html")Coldstone 1.0.1 Bug List(/url)
Originally posted by Efeion: New Ideas on mutible characters that might work for some people.
I've pondered this a bit, but most of my ideas were far afield of simulating a party. For instance, creating special animations to make NPCs appear to be fighting. This doesn't work so well for a party, but it could be expanded to simulate a battle between "hostiles" and "friendlies." The biggest problem here is player intervention. For instance; if you manage to attract the attention of a "hostile", causing it to change to an NPC that wants very much to knock your block off, the "friendly" that had been engaged with it before will now wander off, or pretend to get killed, or do something else not very believable.
Even more afield, I thought about simulating "The Man of La Mancha." Don Quixote would be one of those self-replacing NPCs, directed to reach specific spot and then change to another NPC with a task at that spot (pretend to be fighting the windmill, etc.) You play Sancho Panza, trying to keep up, engaging in seemingly fruitless dialogue with the crazed NPC as he totters towards some other dangerous adventure...
------------------ "I know the stranger's name." Turandot
It seem that some people like this idea About that NPC in the way try making the impact zone smaller in the NPC's anamation file.
Originally posted by Glenn: *I would guess that there's a fair bit of karma in store for the first person 'round these parts to progress from merely talking about multi-character and/or turn-based combat systems and actually make and upload a functional demo of such a system.
But I am. And I will give the first person to upload a functional turn based system some karma, indeed. It'd be a benefit to us all.... but perhaps on the condition that the 'source' is uploaded, rather than the compiled .dat files. And I agree that I don't just give karma to people who work towards it as a goal. Karma, from me, comes from being genuinely helpful. And a turn based party/combat system would be quite helpful indeed.
-Andiyar
------------------ "Any good that I may do here, let me do now, for I may not pass this way again"
So every one reading this post Tarnฤlion Andiyarus will award karma for the first preson to get a working mutible character sistem working in a game lets see is any one is up to the chalange
Plus any one with difrent way on mutible characters post a reply here only ways that can work plese.
Till then.
I've rigged up a "party" system similar to the one that Efeion is talking about, but unfortunatly for my uses the character you were playing would determine how different NPCs react to you. In comes a Coldstone bug. The players name will not be recalled correctly when it is set as a global variable...this could be worked around by not letting the player choose his/her own name.
Anybody have good a workaround for the name problem?
------------------ (url="http://"http://jankostar.net/sanko")my Page of Garbage(/url)
Originally posted by sanko: Anybody have good a workaround for the name problem?
Mr. Sanko,
Yes, there is a workaround. And I think you will be fairly pleased.
The problem comes in with how &&GlobalEntry; saves responses(all lowercase) and how &&Name; is stored(first letter in caps).
The workaround is quite simple(albeit annoying that you can't just do it forthright): Create a global variable. Set the global variable to be &&Name.; Now you would think that you're done, but remember that there is a bug with checking against the &&GlobalEntry; variable. Therefore, we have to create a 2nd global. Set it to be equal to the &&GlobalEntry; variable. THEN check the value of the first global against the value of the second global and all should be well.
This has worked in my Spells Expander plug-in that I made, so I don't see why it wouldn't work with your stuff.
Good luck.
(edit) Forgot the 2nd half of the equation above, heh. Fixed now. (/edit) ------------------ (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/pogwalkthrough.htm")PoG Walkthrough and Compendium(/url) | (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugins/dev_tools.htm")PoG Dev Tools(/url) | (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugins/spells_expander.htm")Spells Expander(/url) (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net")Stark.evula.net(/url) now on (url="http://"http://www.evula.net")EVula.net(/url)
(This message has been edited by Stark Bledfast (edited 10-01-2002).)
So other people are useing this method im glad I started this post. Does any one have other way of having mutible characters or new uses for the method described above. If so post them here for others to see.
Me again I think there is a way you can set diffrent races of NPC maby then they can fight it is a posibility or maby I wrong. Any one know or have tried.
(This message has been edited by Efeion (edited 10-01-2002).)
A race is set of numerical modifications that determine the characters base statistics/attributes
...not alignment (good,neutral,evil,chaos,at war, at peace) in short no.
------------------ In low ground, climb. In desolate ground, run. In encircled ground, scheme. In Deathground, you fight!"~~~~Sun Tzu