Dialog In World Map Random Encounters.

Cross posting this in case Sierra forums crap out. Again.

I would really like to have a random encounter on the world map in my module that results in people the player can enter into a dialog with. Much like the Malochian Hand encounters in Arcanum

I understand how the format of the random encounter file works, so that is no problem.

The trick of course is getting a script, and thereby a dialog attached to someone in a random encounter. When building such a random encounter, you can only specify critters based on their prototype number. In my case, 17156 for a Male Gnome Noble and 17100 for a Male Dwarf Guard.

Of course, these are the basic prototypes, so I will most likely wind up with naked Gnomes and Dwarves without any dialog.

I really want to avoid heading down the dark road of prototype editing, unless there is no other option. Can anyone think of clever way to use the existing prototypes but somehow get a script attached to them when the encounter starts?

The only other option I can see is to use an existing prototype, like the Malochian Hand, and providing my own versions of their scripts and dialogs. One trouble with that is the people in the random encounter won't be the Gnomes and Dwarves that I want.

At this point, I'd hate to have to drop the whole random encounters with dialog. I've been foolishly writing dialogs and quests around this concept for a while without ever verifying that I could make it work.

 

Yes, replying to my own topic here and at Sierra.

OK . . . I think I may have entered panic mode a little too soon. After finally tracking down the developer chat logs, I saw mention of the unqiue.txt, npc.txt and monster.txt.

I think I may be able to get what I need using those files. I'm not quite sure how they work in conjunction with description.mes.

If we're lucky, we'll be able to add entries in gamedesc.mes and a corresponding entry in unique.txt and call it day. I have a feeling it will be a little trickier than that, but at least I think I can dodge the editing prototypes bullet. I'll do some tests this week and let everyone what I find. In the meantime, if anyone has already played around with the unique, npc and moster text files, I'll love to hear any information you might have.