Cutscenes and Talkmode...

[Aran]

I'm a bare beginner at scripting, and there are a a few things that have driven me to utter despair. One of them is this.

 

Here's what I'm trying to do:

 

The party enters a town via teleport. With the first step they take, they get a message played (message_encounter()), telling them that a figure is visible in the distance. When they approach the person, another state automatically enters talk mode. So far, so good.

 

But now, I want one response in the conversation (several, actually) to end talk mode, display a cutscene, and then re-enter talk mode.

 

I've tried to do this with the following code:

 

Code:

begintalknode 17;state = 9;nextstate = 10;question = "...";text1 = "...";action = END_TALK;code =   set_state(16); //The cutscene statebreak;

Unfortunately, this executes the cutscene before leaving talk mode (I can tell by the way the computer pauses for a few seconds before leaving the talk window. Ouch.

 

Next, I try this:

 

Code:

begintalknode 17;state = 9;nextstate = 10;question = "...";text1 = "...";action = END_TALK;code =   end();  set_state(16); //The cutscene statebreak;

Which, of course, leaves talk mode and does nothing else. The code beyond the end() is not read.

 

Currently, I've tried a workaround that simply leaves talkmode, and then, when the player walks a step in any direction, starts the cutscene. But it looks very stupid.

 

The conversation is far too long to use only dialog windows for it (TM has done that in Canopy with conversation between cutscenes, I believe).

 

Is there any other way?

[Donald Hebb]

"But it looks very stupid."

 

*laughs at Bahss*

 

No, really. There's no real way to do this- whatever "dialogue" you need can be done in a Treason/Tarquin fashion: Have the villain spew something (cutscene, dialog box, it's your choice), and then give the party 2-3 responses via dialog box.

[Kelandon]

No, there really isn't another way. Bahssikava does this at one point, and the way I handled it was to end the conversation and begin the cut scene after the party takes a step, just as you describe.

 

We have wanted to request an END_TALK_STATE, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

EDIT: Same time as TM.

[Aran]

Okay, I suppose I'll just do it like that, and make it a little more obvious that the party should just step forward to see.

 

(Incidentally, I went through that cutscene scene in Bahssikava just moments ago. )

 

Edit: Oh, and yes, in this instance, doing it like in Bahssikava does look stupid. It breaks the line of dialog, and I might be better off doing it like the Trahison cutscenes in Canopy. Perhaps I could end talk mode immediately before the node in question, and use a dialog box for that last bit...

[Kelandon]

Quote:

Originally written by To gleam thereon by Elbereth:
(Incidentally, I went through that cutscene scene in Bahssikava just moments ago.

You get a certificate from the Department of Redundancy Department.

[Aran]

 

The Khassper scene in the Undead city, much more than the one where Kass tells you the Slith history, is roughly what I wanted to do. The way the player has to take another step to begin the scene is annoying, but I suppose it's unavoidable then.