Cutscenes

[Othello]

I'm having trouble with a cutscene, for some reason, the text bubbles above a character do not appear. Do I have to force terrain redraw or something?

Everything works except for the bubbles, including camara coordinates and animations.

[Archmagus Micael]

For the text bubbles, you need to make them blank before the next talk bubble.

 

Eg:

 

Code:

 i = random_party_member();		text_bubble_on_char(72,"");		text_bubble_on_char(i,"Okay, moved. Can you see better?");		force_instant_terrain_redraw();		pause(15);				text_bubble_on_char(i,"");		text_bubble_on_char(72,"Yes, thank you.");		force_instant_terrain_redraw();		pause(15); 

After person A (char_72) speaks, there's a blank bubble of him before your PC (character_i) speaks. I don't know if this will help or not, but...

[Othello]

I did do that.

But maybe it didn't work because I didn't put blank before I'll test it...

 

EDIT:

Okay, I put a blank before, and I forced terrain redraw. In the appendices of the editor docs it is not really clear on this: it says that the purpose of terrain redraw is to redraw the terrain after someone moved. But I used it after each bubble, and it works.

[Archmagus Micael]

You need to put a force_instant_terrain_redraw call in every block.

 

Like I did with mine.

 

- Archmagus Micael

[Othello]

Urmm it works now (see edit) Thanks!

[Archmagus Micael]

Like this:

 

Code:

 beginstate 10;	if (get_flag(1,2) == 250)		end();set_total_visibility(1);force_view_center(25,38);force_instant_terrain_redraw();	pause(10);	text_bubble_on_char(8,"Friends! This is a time of oppression!");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");foce_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"The Elves have poisoned our lives,");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"They have destroyed our dreams,");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"They have dictated our lives!,");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"Now is our time to fight back!");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"This city is a symbol of our pain;");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"Only with Dark Alliegance can we");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"Destroy it.");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);text_bubble_on_char(8,"Go now, and take revenge!");run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(15);text_bubble_on_char(8,"");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);set_character_facing(8,2);force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(10);set_character_pose(8,1);run_animation();force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5);force_view_center(22,38);force_instant_terrain_redraw();put_effect_on_space(22,38,11,8,2);run_animation();set_terrain(22,38,268);pause(10);set_character_pose(8,1);run_animation();while (x <= 24) {		set_attitude(x,10);x = (x+1);		}	set_flag(1,2,250);place_monster(21,38,1);put_effect_on_space(21,38,11,8,2);run_animation();	break; 

- Archmagus Micael

[Archmagus Micael]

Also, do you really want huge blank pauses of nobody saying anything. You can set char_x to "" in the same block as setting char_y to "The World is mine! HAHAHAH!"

 

- Archmagus Micael

[Othello]

Yeah my code is messy, but the pauses are short, and they work to help the reader absorb the stuff. Also, its realistic; a comma signifies a pause and all except one of my lines has a coma at the end. Also, it's only 1/2 second wait.

 

Oh by the way, I have a mistake in the last lines with parameters in the spawn creature call it should be:

Code:

 place_monster(21,38,236,1); 

I screwed up. I was wondering why it wasn't spawning a creature...

[Archmagus Micael]

I suppose...

 

Anyway, what's this mystery scenario called?

 

- Archmagus Micael

[Othello]

Well, it's a little pet project of mine called 'Tales of the Leviathan." It's that dreaded scenario- an epic.

In other words, it has a huge outdoors, but I'm going slowly. Also everything is spread out not like some scenarios where everything is cramped into 1 outdoor section. Oh and it takes place in another universe (not Avernum) as you can tell by the mention of Elves.

In this scenario you're supposed to end up with a choice, either to be evil and fight the elves with some other rebels and the Supreme Evil Bad Guy (working name), or you can be all happy happy nice nice and join the Elves. I use a SDF to have a rating - "Elf Friendliness," and it shows how nice you are to elves. Some stores will check this and decide whether to sell you stuff.

Anyway, it's a long complicated scenario (or will be I just started it and scenario making at the same time).

As that good enough?

 

EDIT: Off topic but does anyone know a good screenshot capturer program for mac OSX? (Avernum screenies).

[Drakefyre]

Just use Command-Shift-4 and Command-Shift-3 and then Graphic Converter to edit them.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Warning: Big empty outdoors with nothing in them besides trees and wandering monsters quickly bore players. If you're going to have towns and dungeons spread far apart, at least make sure you make the outdoors sections interesting.

[Othello]

I plan on making the outdoors interesting with many special encounters and such. Don't worry, anyone who plays this will be kept occupied.

[Kelandon]

Quote:

Originally written by Lord Nicodemus:
It's that dreaded scenario- an epic.

Of course, the standard warnings for a beginner epic apply: you're extremely unlikely to finish this scenario, and in that case, you would end up with nothing to show for all the hard work you've done. If you make a small scenario to start out and then afterwards make that epic, at the very least you'll have the small scenario to show for your work.

Just passing along the conventional wisdom.

[Thralni]

i was wondering about the cutscenes: what is a standard pause length? My pauses are 15-20, but i think it far too long. What is better?

[Kelandon]

Standard for a text bubble is 15, but it's probably better is to do what Canopy and Bahs have done and allow the player to change the length of the pauses. Bahs's system works based on having an SDF be set to a number between 1 and 3, and then each pause after a text bubble pauses for five times that SDF's value.

 

More detail on that if you want it.

[Othello]

Well, I'd rather work on this than some random scenario, but maybe I might do some small thing on the side...

 

Okay next question:

I'm trying to load custom graphics into the game for an Intro graphic. I am using Mac OSX, and I have trouble copying my Photoshop Elements PICT file into ResEdit. I somehow managed to do it (Still don't know how), but whenever it appears in the Intro it is too small and super-pixilated (I reduced the size to 400x400 like reccomended in the Docs). Is there any easier way to do this?

 

EDIT:

Is there any call or script that removes a party from a horse?

[Thralni]

Thanks kelandon, maybe you could send me an explanation of how the ability works? my email adress is:

 

B.J.van.Soldt (AT) inter.nl.net

 

As for the questions, I can tell you that there's no call or script or whatever for removing the party from ahorse. The bst thing you can do is ti try to make a custom graphic, which you eventually replace with the party.

 

Maybe you can tell me a bit more about the custom graphics problem? Like how are you trying to copy the graphic from Photoshop to Resedit (I myself use Appleworks, BTW). And what do you mean by "super-pixilated"? (I son't really know all these computer terms).

[Kelandon]

Super-pixellated just means blurry.

 

I use Photoshop, too, but I save everything in png format and then open with Preview and copy and Paste from there. For some reason, this works slightly better than just going directly from Photoshop.

 

Intro pics are typically 450 by 450 pixels. 400 by 400 will look a little small. Technically, you can have something slightly larger than that, but you'd have to play around with it to see what works.

 

Thralni: in Bahs, this is how it works.

 

First, init the ability in the LOAD_SCEN_STATE.

Code:

 init_special_abil(0,"Set Cut Scene Speed",16); 

Then give the party the ability in the START_SCEN_STATE.

Code:

 i = 0;while (i <= 3) {     change_custom_abil_uses(i,0,1);     i = i + 1;     } 

Then actually run the ability in state 16. (Bahs has an option to skip the cut scenes that I'm omitting here.)

Code:

 change_custom_abil_uses(who_used_custom_abil(),0,1); // makes the ability reusable          reset_dialog();     add_dialog_str(0,"How fast would you like the cut scenes to go?",0);     add_dialog_choice(0,"Slow speed.");     add_dialog_choice(1,"Normal speed.");     add_dialog_choice(2,"Faster!");     choice = run_dialog(1);     if (choice == 1)          set_flag(250,8,4);     if (choice == 2)          set_flag(250,8,3);     if (choice != 3)          end();          reset_dialog();     add_dialog_str(0,"How fast would you like the cut scenes to go?",0);     add_dialog_choice(0,"High speed.");     add_dialog_choice(1,"Very high speed.");     choice = run_dialog(1);     if (choice == 1)          set_flag(250,8,2);     if (choice == 2)          set_flag(250,8,1); 

Then a text bubble in a cut scene looks like this:

Code:

text_bubble_on_char(17,"O mighty Grah-Hoth");force_instant_terrain_redraw();pause(5 * get_flag(250,8)); 

[Othello]

I have 2 problems with the Intro graphics:

1) The bluriness

2) Actually pasting the graphic into ResEdit because ResEdit is in classic and you can't c&p stuff from OSX into Classic.

[Kelandon]

You can copy and paste from one to the other, but sometimes you have to copy it multiple times. Try using Preview as an intermediary — I have no idea why this makes it easier, but it does.

 

Also, is it becoming blurry when you make the transfer, or is it already blurry in Photoshop once you've edited it?

[Drakefyre]

O mighty Grah-Hoth. How can I serve you?

 

Kill. Kill. Kill.

[nikki.]

Quote:

Originally written by Drakefyre:
O mighty Grah-Hoth. How can I serve you?

Kill. Kill. Kill.

Doth my eyes decieve me. Spam?

Ok, Kelandon, I have a question. How do you keep track of where each cutscene is going. For individual one-on-one talking scenes, it's easy, but when lots of characters are on screen at once it's a nightmare.

I tried using some graph paper, and just planning it out before hand, but no cigar. I just got more confused. Do you have any tips?

[Thralni]

I know that question was diected to kelandon, and I'm not kelandon, but what I did while making my outdoor fight cutscene, was indeed to just use graphpaper and a pencil. Averytime I made a new movement of the troops, i made a new drawing. This way you indeed have a lot of drawing to do, but its easy to keep track of things. And if you eventually don't know, or are afraid of loosing the order in drawings you made, I recommend numbering them.

 

Does this make you feel any better?

[Kelandon]

Cluster your calls. In the battle scenes in Bahs, I have one "turn" per call cluster, so if I want to know where a character is at any given time, I look in the previous cluster.

 

Also, it helps to create different group movements at different times, so that if you know that one character is walking one space south every "turn," make that first, and then add calls on top of that.

 

And test, test, test.

[Othello]

The picture is not blurry until I actually see it in ResEdit and the game.

 

EDIT: Also, if you use the call change_spell_level on a creature, can you just use it in the custom data script, or do you have to make a creature script?

[Niemand]

It cannot be used in the data script. It can be used in a creature, town, or scenario script however. Watch out though, because it has a tendency to print a lot of annoying output when used to increase an npc's skill with a spell.

[Othello]

That's fine, I want to take away some annoying summoning spells with sorcerers because it quickly becomes a battle of who can summon the most creatures.