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Notrium modding questions/answers

B0rsuk 19 years ago

Correct me if I'm wrong:
1. There are certain effects, which support no disabling, or even toggling. Once used, effect is enabled forever.
UNLESS, an this is the only exception, item is wielded. In such case it's possible to disable the effect by unwielding item.

Effects I'm talking about: Set light level addition (goggles) - this caused me lots of grief to set up with salamander

Item/Creature detectors (early salamander used this instead of light addition), unless made as wielded item it works for 1 milisecond. So using "constant" script makes ugly blink.

Player controls creature - unless made as wieldable item, there seems to be no way to transfer control back to player creature. Even with another "single shot" script/effect/whatever.

Creature is picked up - I believe there are only 2 ways to make creature A drop creature B:
a) kill creature A
b) again, wieldable item with this effect.

So I can't turn them on/off without using an item. If I want to do something automatic, I have to set up scripts which use the item, check if it's wielded or not, reuse the item if player disables it (ALWAYS possible, read below). This is messy stuff and requires several frequent-repeat scripts running at the same time. But can be done.

This leads me to another problem:

2 Not quite a bug. Item, which is invisible in inventory, has no quickkeys, no usekeys even, can still be unwielded. Simply by clicking on item slot and then somewhere in inventory. Invisible item can probably be exchanged with other item, too (same way). This is the reason I made Infrared Vision a visible item, to let player reactivate it if he unwields it (it would be reactivated next time when temperature exceeds 20, but this feels more fair).

ZeXLR8er 19 years ago

Player controls creature - unless made as wieldable item, there seems to be no way to transfer control back to player creature. Even with another "single shot" script/effect/whatever.

Yes, there definetly needs to be an 'anti' effect, especially for the above effect.

UberWaffe 19 years ago

"Grim Reaper" said:
Perhaps you could change that BAR you want the value to be added in to 0 and then ADD the value of the BAR you want.

So elegant, simple and yet it eluded me. Thanks a lot, Grim. (But I'll just set it to 1, add the value and lower it with one. Its the health bar so I just want to be on the safe side.)

Thanks again!

Rokan'sharp'claw 19 years ago

I tried maling a few changes to make my mod but all I did was change weapons and some starter scripts but when I put the mod in data Notrium won't start!!

Why?

Plz answer I am a modder in need, these codes are to complicated for my little young head.

ZeXLR8er 19 years ago

Check the debug start file. itshould tell you where the problem is.

B0rsuk 19 years ago

"ZeXLR8er!!" said:
Check the debug start file. itshould tell you where the problem is.

More often than not it's no good for me. No error messages !

I suggest pasting "end_of_file;" in various places of your files, just don't froget (pun semi-intended, I made a typo and realised it's funnier this way) to remove that line later !

Place it above item you recently added, or a creature, or whatever. If Notrium no longer crashes, you got the problem nailed down.

ville 19 years ago

"UberWaffe" said:
1- How many scripts can run before it will slow the game? I am running quite a few timed scripts with around 1000msec (1 sec) delays and it hasn't hampered performance yet. I'm just curious as to how badly it can be pushed. (But my brain tells me that it wouldn't affect the game that badly if at all.)

It should not slow it down. There are literally thousands of similar scripts running in the game itself all the time, adding a few thousand to that will not make a performance hit - unless you use scripts with very slow conditions. Which conditions are slow is not easy to tell, so don't worry your head with it.

UberWaffe 19 years ago

Thanks, ville! That is good to know. I'm pretty well underway towards 500 scripts so I just wanted to check on that.

slyvena 19 years ago

Which things would stuff up weapons.dat

*random letters in some places

*irelevent spaces in places

*to big numbers

Doogsy 19 years ago

Most likely all three, but definatly the first two. The files have a very strict format.

B0rsuk 19 years ago

Is there any way to play sound at constant volume ? Random volume is nice for animals and stuff, but it really, totally, sux for rain.

I after what I done in test version 1.34 topic I do not dare to ask for advanced sound/song playing option. Just a possibility to play a sound
during rain, and stop when raining stops.
Not to mention I had to dramatically increase rain effect interval to 1000, because it was really really bad when you have several rain sounds playing at same time.

So I switched back to normal settings.
I guess I could make all rain durations fixed, and then I could design something to start playing long wav file once at start of rain. But it seems like more work than it's worth. I'll better work on gameplay.

ville 19 years ago

Try effect 14=play sound parameter1 (from sounds.dat) with volume parameter2

B0rsuk 19 years ago

"ville" said:
Try effect 14=play sound parameter1 (from sounds.dat) with volume parameter2

As I've written above, it seems to play at random volume, more less. I can influence volume only to a degree. Rain sounds very bad.

Quanrian 19 years ago

"B0rsuk" said:
"ville" said:
Try effect 14=play sound parameter1 (from sounds.dat) with volume parameter2

As I've written above, it seems to play at random volume, more less. I can influence volume only to a degree. Rain sounds very bad.

The random volume is probably because its source is never the same location. You see if you produce a sound from a creature that is its location, as the creature moves away the sound will be lower, closer and it's higher. It's very much the same which is why the volume is probably fluctuating so much. I doubt this will help you much, but perhaps you can have something like a plot object spawn the sound and having it only do so when the player is close enough so it will always be at a certain volume. This is the best solution I can think of.

MageKing17 19 years ago

"Quanrian" said:
"B0rsuk" said:
"ville" said:
Try effect 14=play sound parameter1 (from sounds.dat) with volume parameter2

As I've written above, it seems to play at random volume, more less. I can influence volume only to a degree. Rain sounds very bad.

The random volume is probably because its source is never the same location. You see if you produce a sound from a creature that is its location, as the creature moves away the sound will be lower, closer and it's higher. It's very much the same which is why the volume is probably fluctuating so much. I doubt this will help you much, but perhaps you can have something like a plot object spawn the sound and having it only do so when the player is close enough so it will always be at a certain volume. This is the best solution I can think of.

Just make the calling location the player, using a script.

UberWaffe 19 years ago

"MageKing17" said:
Just make the calling location the player, using a script.

Will the sound then follow the player? Otherwise you'll end up with the same problem as mentioned above. But even so it could work if you kept the sound short and the script repeating often.

B0rsuk 19 years ago

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Timed effects block for plot_objects can have only one interval, right ?
But it seems like timed block for creatures can have several intervals for several sets of conditions/effects.

So I can't make a plot object which has both timed block, and block used when player clicks on it, right ?
I could possibly make 2 sets of conditions/effects seem to have different intervals by putting condition8 (random) in one con/eff set. But if I want to have a plant which spawns other plants,(timed) AND can be picked up I have to make picking up by some kind of item similar to Mass Token or Consume Rotten from my mod ?

Quanrian 19 years ago

"B0rsuk" said:
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Timed effects block for plot_objects can have only one interval, right ?

Yes, you're limited to one interval. For multiple intervals you'd need multiple plot objects.

"B0rsuk" said:
But it seems like timed block for creatures can have several intervals for several sets of conditions/effects.

So I can't make a plot object which has both timed block, and block used when player clicks on it, right ?

It is a little easier to use timed blocks for creatures of course you are right but it's also more important to use a condition. With a plot object your only trigger could be the player clicking it. So it's really up to what you think better fits what you're trying to do.

"B0rsuk" said:
I could possibly make 2 sets of conditions/effects seem to have different intervals by putting condition8 (random) in one con/eff set. But if I want to have a plant which spawns other plants,(timed) AND can be picked up I have to make picking up by some kind of item similar to Mass Token or Consume Rotten from my mod ?

Be aware that condition 8 can have 'random' results. Often times it either makes something happen way too much or way too little depending on the number you used. I use this condition extensively so I can tell you it definately has its downsides. So you'll probably want to check something else as well because there will be times where it will seem condition 8 is doing nothing. If you're going to have multiple effect blocks executed at the same intervals however it is a good way to create some kind of pathing.

Here's the catch, if you're going to do that you'll also want to set it up so once one path is picked the others can't. If you don't set this safety; changing it to another creature, changing its side, changing a bar; than you'll probably often find all the blocks are being executed together, nearly every time. You can actually create some very intricate branching AI using this technique. Hopefully this helps you out and gives you even more ideas to mess with

[quote="B0rsuk"]Correct me if I'm wrong. Timed effects block for plot_objects can have only one interval, right ?[/quote] Yes, you're limited to one interval. For multiple intervals you'd need multiple plot objects. [quote="B0rsuk"]But it seems like timed block for creatures can have several intervals for several sets of conditions/effects. So I can't make a plot object which has both timed block, and block used when player clicks on it, right ?[/quote] It is a little easier to use timed blocks for creatures of course you are right but it's also more important to use a condition. With a plot object your only trigger could be the player clicking it. So it's really up to what you think better fits what you're trying to do. [quote="B0rsuk"]I could possibly make 2 sets of conditions/effects seem to have different intervals by putting condition8 (random) in one con/eff set. But if I want to have a plant which spawns other plants,(timed) AND can be picked up I have to make picking up by some kind of item similar to Mass Token or Consume Rotten from my mod ?[/quote] Be aware that condition 8 can have 'random' results. Often times it either makes something happen way too much or way too little depending on the number you used. I use this condition extensively so I can tell you it definately has its downsides. So you'll probably want to check something else as well because there will be times where it will seem condition 8 is doing nothing. If you're going to have multiple effect blocks executed at the same intervals however it is a good way to create some kind of pathing. Here's the catch, if you're going to do that you'll also want to set it up so once one path is picked the others can't. If you don't set this safety; changing it to another creature, changing its side, changing a bar; than you'll probably often find all the blocks are being executed together, nearly every time. You can actually create some very intricate branching AI using this technique. Hopefully this helps you out and gives you even more ideas to mess with ;)

B0rsuk 19 years ago

How do I make bulletcreature have a bullet-like trace ? The trace has to last as long as the creature. I can't use normal bullet with trace, period. If I block arrow creature with shield, the bullet will go on.

I tried doing it so arrowcreature shoots tracer bullet of same speed, once. It did, but my shield is not 100% accurate and blocks even arrows which wouldn't exactly hit you. There are occasions where creature will hit you but tracer won't.

I tried doing it by footstep particle. Is there ANY way I can speed up rate of spawning footstep particles ?
No, no forget it. When I override footsteps for snow terrain (I do), the bullet will leave ugly trails. And it'll go under props and plot_objects.

My latest invention is invisible light which spawns particles. So far the best solution. But it doesn't spawn particles fast enough, changing light flash rate doesn't do much.
I may use ugly solution and spawn 2 such "related" arrowcreatures at once.

Hmm, I wonder about timed block and shoot particle effect... but it needs to produce uninterrupted, fading out line. Interval 5 or less ?

Any ideas ? Pleeeeease....

roburky 19 years ago

You can increase the rate of footstep particles with "leg animation speed." A footstep particle is dropped every time the walking animation runs through (or is at least linked to it).

An alternative could be a timed event that runs very fast and fires a particle that doesn't move and gets smaller over time.

Footstep particls get smaller based on the size of the particle, other particles get smaller over a certain length of time. Or at least, that's how it appears to me.

Both are particle-based, so won't be as smooth as a bullet trace.

Quanrian 19 years ago

I wouldn't exactly call invisible lights an invention so much as a revelation

Invisible lights that spawn particles are however the best method I'm aware of to create particle trails. Perhaps someday bullets will be able to have lights as well, allowing for particle trails on bullets finally. On a creature creating a particle trail is as easy as adding the light specialty and using a light that is not visible but still spawns particles. You'll see use of this in the latest version of my mod on the barrier creature, which is basically just used to shove the player back. What you see however are these bubbles that 'appear' to be shoving the player back since no creature is visible.

B0rsuk 19 years ago

Yeah, whatever, it's just a word. I may choose better next time.

I can't make anything visible on radar in my mod. I try with plot_objects, set them to show even without radar, and set the right particle. Or any other particle.
I see nothing on minimap. Of course I don't have subspace radio, but it's supposed to work anyway. Even on Barebones mod, I think.
I started with Barebones mod.

slyvena 19 years ago

Hers a question how easy is it to stuff up notrium, like say i go into the weapons.dat and make the alien claws really cool and rename them to unlitite claws but move the mosue around and may have typed a letter/space or number their, what to i need to look for when i scroll through that page and it's neibouring pages as in where could those thing sgo where they would stuff up the game

roburky 19 years ago

A question about the new effect 63

63=set random value (between parameter1 and parameter2) to bar parameter3, (parameter4, 0=set value, 1=add to bar) (this 

effect caps at bar min & max)

Are the numbers it sets whle numbers? If not, to how many decimal places does it go?

I've been experimenting with it, with three different possible effects, happening according to whether the bar is set to 1, 2 or 3. When the random number generated is between 1 and 1, then effect 1 always happens. If the random number generated is between 1 and 3, then none of them ever happen.

Ok, I have fiddled further, and the effect clearly does not use whole numbers. I can't tell how many decimal places it uses, though. So either I have my effects depend on the number being within a certain range, instead of a specific value, or I wait for Ville's word on this.

Casanova 19 years ago

Try it with conditions 38 amd 39, they are supposed to round down the value of a bar to the nearest whole number. I think.

roburky 19 years ago

I'm using condition 38 at the moment.

Unless they do round as you say, in which case I'm doing something else wrong.

Casanova 19 years ago

The rounding down was added on 1.34 version, but if doesnt work for you then mention it on the bug thread.

ville 19 years ago

Effect 63 gives a decimal value.

roburky 19 years ago

Ah. I'm still using 1.33.

But to what decimal place does it go to, Ville? 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, 0.000001? Or is it some kind of truly random number with infinite decimal places?

I'll have to wait for a stable 1.34 for this feature, I guess.

ville 19 years ago

Inside the game it is a 32 bit number, so it can have quite a lot of decimals. When the game is saved the number is truncated to about 5 decimals. Can't recall exactly how many. Why would you be interested in this?

Feel free to use the preview 1.34 if you need the new conditions, it's not that buggy.

roburky 19 years ago

Well, if I knew the decimal place I could still use the conditions for exact values.

But I'll try 1.34.

ville 19 years ago

You mean you would try to make a script that does something on a bar reaching exactly 5.52114? It would be literally one in a 100000 chance to get the exact figure with five decimals.

roburky 19 years ago

Well, if it is five decimal places, I would have the random number be between 0.00001 and 0.00003, and check for the values 0.00001, 0.00002 and 0.00003.

Which would hopefully make it more likely to work than the random number between 1 and 3, check for 1, 2 or 3. Which is what I was trying to do.

slipfuzzy 19 years ago

ITS FUZZY!

I am trying to create a map. However, when I try to load the map in a normal game, my computer freezes. Is this the game, or just my computer? If the ladder, how can I fix it? Also, Is there anywhere I can learn to do the coding in the files?

BTW please read the below if you are Ville/Marevix/anyone else who wants to read it.

I'm back. First, I wanna say sorry to Ville. I criticized your game, saying it was boring. I know about the IM that Marevix sent you. I realize I was just being an ass. Part of the reason was that I got carried away with other stuff and didn't get to play Notrium much. Notrium is pretty fun once ya find how to kill the Hermit. LOL How newbish of me...

Marevix 19 years ago

Fuzzy tells me on the phone that he's replacing the Ancient Ruins map in the default game. The reason why it does not work is because after you exit the escape pod, it sends you to a specific plot object (I believe this is how it works, not sure). This plot object is not in Fuzzy's new map, so it crashes. I tell Fuzzy to either fix it by figuring out what is wrong with it, or replacing a different map next time. Please disregard any future refrences to this problem, as Fuzzy will figureit out eventually. On a side-topic, Fuzzy was unable to log in so, he decided to make a new one instead.

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