Fixing Dusty Dunes...

Dusty Dunes is probably the most buggy module that was ever released. I am just a neophyte in this modding thingie, and I decided that hey, why not try and learn from other modules first before making my own module?

As of now, I'm trying to modify the lost kid's dialogue and the dialogue with the wolf. Since the only way to get the quest is to have an intellegence less than 4, drinking wine would help you in that case. But if the wine's effect expires and you become smart enough again, in comes the problem. The dialogues can only be initiated if you're "stupid". So I added lines for a smart character in order for you to still initiate the dialogues and continue with the quest even if you'd turn smart suddenly when the wine's effect passes away (although you'd still have to be "stupid" or drunk to get the quest).

My problem now is, after you've completed the quest and told the boy that he is already safe, I found out that when talking to him again, he would say his first lines when you met him in the sewer and he wants to be rescued again even though the quest has already been finished. Looking at the dlg file, the line that's supposed to be said is there..

{35}{Hey mister! Wanna pway?}{Hey lady! Wanna pway?}{}{}{}{}

Any ideas as to how can I change his line to this and not to repeat his first lines after the quest has been done?

 

I don't the mod unpacked so I having to guess a bit, but here's what I'd do.

The third set of brackets is the condition ones. I'll call the kid's quest number 1 for convienience. On the kid's initial greeting, add {me 0, qu 1 0}. This means you haven't spoken to the kid before and the quest hasn't been given.

Where you speak to the kid after completing the quest add {me 1, qu 1 2} This'll check to see if the quest has been accepted and should keep the initial dialog from coming up.

 

The third set of brackets? I thought that was the line to be spoken to female characters, right? I mean first, the number second and third the lines to male and female characters respectively. Anyways, I tried doing it in the 4th set of brackets on the kid's initial greeting and the following one. Now the kid doesn't talk to me anymore. Seeing all the other conditions being in the fifth, I tried it on that one, this time the kid talks again, but the problem is still there.

Btw, what does "me 0" and "me 1" mean? I can't seem to find it in the manual.

Oh, and by the way. Thanks for the help. I also see that A:WIP 4 is up. Cheers on that

 

You're right - The ones you want are the FOURTH set of brackets.
(....Teach me to post before I'm fully awake....)

The "me" means " met before". A listing of {me 0} means you have not spoken to that NPC before now, where as {me 1} would mean that you have.

If it's not too much trouble, would you e-mail me a copy of the dlg and scr files? I'll see if I can puzzle this out.

I've got a busy day today or I'd unpack my copy of the mod.

Thank you.

 

I would think it's the other way around with me troubling you for this. :lol:

I've just sent the files. Thanks for the help.

 

I think I may have spotted the trouble.

In the dlg:
{40}{Hey mister! Wanna pway?}{Hey lady! Wanna pway?}{}{}{}{}
{41}{Me play later wit you, otay?}{-4}{}{}{0}{}
{42}{Uh, maybe later kid.}{5}{}{}{0}{}

The intelligence checks are in the wrong place.

Change lines 41 and 42 to read:

{41}{Me play later wit you, otay?}{}{-4}{}{0}{}
{42}{Uh, maybe later kid.}{}{5}{}{0}{}

Give this a try.

 

are there kids in this module!..poor kid.. Hope this module fails. otherwise I think the kid wouldn't make it..

(JK good luck with the fixing part :thumbup: )

 

I just did the intellegence checks, putting them in the 4th set of brackets. But still doesn't work.

Line 1 comes up again after talking to the boy when the whole quest is over.

 

I'm actually almost done with a Dusty Dunes patch I made a few weeks ago, but I haven't released it yet. Yeah, the kid and the well area is one of the buggiest and least detailed areas of DD, perhaps one of the first areas to go in. As with most other areas in DD, most of the condition fields, scripts, and treatment of flags and quests is a total mess.

I'd advise against ever using me0 or me1, however, as it only checks if you've talked to an NPC once. If you leave immediately, you will waste your shot at ever saying what you needed to say, and the game - the Arcnaum mod included - will sometimes think you have already "introduced" yourself and start calling the NPC by name. I'd use a local flag instead, whatever isn't already being used by the dialog.

 

Team a - If you'd be so kind; I'm sure that newborn, me, and a few other people would appreciate some more details on how to correct the kid's dialog.

 

Great. The Patch you'll be making would be good enough for me. But yes, I still would like to know how to work things out with the kid's dialog. For possible future uses.

 

Well, if you compare the files I'll include in the patch with the originals, it might be a helpful teaching tool. Of course, I'll still answer questions about it.

The thing about the kid is that there are a lot of ways of trying to fix it, as this area apparently didn't receive a lot of attention. It can be hard to tell what the designers intended. Compare that to the Stanford quests and dialogs, which - although almost entirely inaccessible in the mod when released - is pretty well-conceived, but just has a whole lot of typos and minor bugs.

About the drunk angle - I agree with you there. Trying to find every single possibility is something I do pretty often in my modding, although you spend a whole lot of time on just one area, and most people will never see that diligence, but I still think it's worth doing. You'll notice that there's one "smart" player line in the lost kid's dialog - I wonder what to make of that.

 

What I was initially planning was that i would be possible to talk to the kid and rescue him even if you become smart suddenly. And then talk again to the wolf/dog too, probably by saying something or showing him the boy just for the sake of finishing the quest. Then you can never speak with the dog or the kid again after having the quest completed unless you become stupid, or drunk..

 

Dog: arf ARF!

smart player: what? what is it boy?

Dog: arf ARF!

smart player: what boy? Jimmmy's traped in the well?

 

I wonder if anyone wants to make an "expansion" for DD? Once it's been patched, it might be worth doing. After all, there is definitely room for more content at the end there, provided you're willing to add more areas. There isn't even a legit emeralds quest. I'm trying not to add new content, but I have been severely tempted a lot of times, especially if I could make things more quality with just a few new dialog lines. However, I am getting a little sick of spending time on DD as of right now.