20eyes

So is anyone actually planning on porting this anytime in the not-so-distant future? Possibly? A definite "maybe" would be great.

Knowing this tool is out there has completely robbed me of the willpower required to slog through outdoor sections in 2-D.

Right,

short char_number = 0;

string char_addressed;

are just the ones I chose for the example.

You can call them anything you like.

Very excellent. Great work jaaari, thank you!

Did you read the section in the appendix on string manipulation? It's pretty self-explanatory. Basically the text buffer just gives you a way to do some really nifty things with string variables to customize text output.

For instance, you could do something like this:

code =   if (species_in_party(3) == 1) { // If there's a slith in the player's party      while (get_species(char_number) != 3) { // Cycle through PC's to identify the slith        char_number = char_number + 1;      }      clear_buffer(); // Prep the buffer by emptying it out      append_string("Bob frowns at "); // Add this text into the buffer      append_char_name(char_number); // Tack the slith PC's name onto the end of the text above      append_string(". _And that includes you._"); // Add this text after the PC's name      get_buffer_text(char_addressed); // Assigns all the text we just made to variable char_addressed      message_dialog("_I don't deal with sliths._",char_addressed); // Displays the first text in a dialog, followed by the buffer text we just created   }break;

"I don't deal with sliths." Bob frowns at Ssschah. "And that includes you."

In this example, we've used the text buffer to "build" a custom chunk of text using a literal and a constant, which is something that would be impossible to do without the string manipulation calls and the text buffer.

The sooner this thing goes into feature-lock, the sooner Isaac can release a bug-free v1.0.

Which means (hopefully), the sooner someone can port it to Win32, and the sooner I can put it to use for my own evil... erm... creative purposes.

So obviously, I'm strongly opposed to adding more features.

I'm VERY happy that people are focusing on interesting PC/NPC interactions for their scenarios. I'm trying to do the same with mine, but I haven't found myself even close to hitting the node limit yet. Holy crap.

Yeah, been there done that, GIFTS. My original code still contains the remnants of a few failed add_string attempts that are very similar to your suggestion.

message_dialog("blahblah",x), I believe, is the only call that can output buffer text *while in dialogue mode* (where x = the buffer text). If anyone knows any different, please correct me!

At any rate, my script is humming along nicely now, so it's all good. Now my NPC's can recognize the species of every PC in the player's party and say nifty things like "Aldous, you're a pitiful excuse for a human" and "Trust me, I know a slith fart when I smell one. No more broccoli for you tonight, Ssschah."

The fun never ends.

Thanks Kel, I've managed to beat my poor script into submission using message_dialog() while in dialogue mode. It ain't pretty, but at least now it does what I want it to do.

Long scenarios can be fun, short scenarios can be fun, but long scenarios that *might* be fun if they weren't so damn long cannot.

It's probably not a good idea to bloat up a decent short scenario with tons of filler just for the sake of making it "bigger." Personally, I'd rather play 5 short, really cool scenarios than 1 sprawling but mediocre one.

I have two questions:

First, is there any way to use a string variable inside a dialogue as part of the "answer" text (text1, text2, etc.)?

Specifically, I'm trying to have an NPC say something in reference to a member of the party who is a slith, and have the NPC use the character's name in the text. Here's what I'm trying (probably in vain) to do:

variables;

short char_number = 0;

string char_addressed;

code =        if (species_in_party(3) == 1) {	   while (get_species(char_number) != 3) {	   char_number = char_number + 1;	   }	clear_buffer();	append_string("The mayor glances uneasily at ");	append_char_name(char_number);	append_string(". _No offense intended, of course._");	get_buffer_text(char_addressed);	print_str(char_addressed);   }break;

My second question is related to the first, but far more stupid: How can I output a variable stored with the get_buffer_text call to a plain old dialogue box?

Thanks for any guidance!

Yeesh. Mr. Winkyface apologizes for his rash and denunciatory judgment of you, Shining Lightbulb. Isn't that right, Mr. Winkyface?

You don't play Nethack?! What's WRONG with you?

BAD Mr. Winkyface! Now cut that out!

What Andrea said.

A question for Isaac or one of you other lucky Mac users: Can you switch back and forth between 2D/3D while running the editor, or is the 3D editor a separate app entirely?

Hasn't anyone ported this yet?! What's the hold up?

Oh, I simply must have this shiny new toy. Great job, Isaac! I love you. I also love the person who ports this, they just don't know it yet.

My love for Windows, on the other hand, is at an all-time low right now. And believe me, that's really saying something.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find myself a corner to sulk in for a while.

Cool, I'm switching over to this from EditPad. Great little proggie. If the devs ever document custom scheme creation (like they say they're planning on doing at the site), I might even make a scheme for Avernumscript. I went ahead and downloaded the SDK and compiler in anticipation of this.

The C scheme is handy enough for now, though. Syntax highlighting rocks.

Good find!

On page 72, all three examples for the OR operator are given using AND instead. Specifically, the docs claim:

(0 > 1) && (3 > 2) // true

Oopsie.

Hooray! I was hoping someone would get around to doing something like this. Great time-saver!

Any plans to make script builders like this one for the other custom objects? One for items would be just suuuuuper.

Anyway, thanks for this!

But you see, that's the beauty of erm... 'growing your own' so to speak. Illegal or not, nobody else has to know.

If by 'legal' you mean 'balanced,' then yeah. That spear could probably use a little nerfing.

I'm working on a high level scenario that'll have a few nifty Slith goodies. I'm shooting for a release date of October 2007, so just hang in there. Sigh.

Cool, that's what I figured. I'll just script it into the scenario to get around that problem.

I wonder why BoA doesn't 'ship' with the keg anyhow? I know it's in at least one of the stock scenarios (DwtD I think). Wonder why it didn't make the cut for the core data script?

I've looked through all the terrain sheets and can't find any other terrain features that slipped through the cracks like the poor keg seems to have... Are there any more?

Yeah, I found the barrel by sheer accident. Sometimes I like to load the editor and start clicking on things at random, just to see if anything nifty happens. I think I've learned more by doing that than any amount of reading so far.

Thanks, Vahnatai Barge. The icons were right, but I had to point to the proper sheets. Also had to block move so my PC's couldn't climb all over it.

Anyhoo, here's what I ended up plugging into my scenario's data script to get the keg up and running, if anyone else is interested:

//Add Kegbegindefineterrain 437;	te_name = "Keg";	te_which_sheet = 720;	te_which_icon = 6;	te_ed_which_sheet = 682;	te_ed_which_icon = 96;	te_full_move_block = 1;begindefineterrain 438;		te_which_icon = 7;	te_ed_which_icon = 97;

Where the heck is that stupid keg? How can I design a respectable tavern with no keg? If you answered, 'you can't, silly,' then you're right!

So where's the keg? Maybe I'm just looking too hard. Yeah, that's gotta be it.