Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

For all talk about quest development - creation, testing, and quest system.
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RH666
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Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by RH666 »

Currently writing a quest that sends the pc to the local _keep_ to talk to a noble. Is it possible to get the npc to spawn in a place that the castle guards wont try to kill you for going? Or create some item that will automatically pacify them?

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Interkarma
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by Interkarma »

You can spawn an NPC to any building with a "quest" marker available. Small palaces should be fine and some of the main quests use them in this way. I don't remember guards being an issue in small palaces during normal daylight hours (when it's not considered breaking & entering).

For larger dungeon palaces (like Wayrest/Sentinel/Daggerfall) the guards are very much a problem the player has to overcome, which is also true for several main quests in classic. There's no easy way to overcome this. They're not linked to the quest system at all so you won't be able to use a quest-based item to pacify them. The usual approach is to use a combination of speed/thieving/combat skills to get around them.

Edit: If you're spawning foes via the quest system however, you should be able to pacify them with an item. That might an interesting mechanic for a quest. I believe one of the quests uses a bell to pacify a tiger this way.

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RH666
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by RH666 »

Yeah, Wayrest was the issue, and I wasn't spawning foes, just a regular npc to talk to. Tried to make it of the Nobles faction.

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Interkarma
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by Interkarma »

Workaround might just be to use one of the smaller palaces instead. They're still a great place for nobles to hang out.

The other option is a secret meeting at a random tavern or "summer home" the noble uses. The cool thing is you can move NPCs around as needed (even escort them) as part of the quest, so it's possible to create multiple set-piece gameplay engagements with them.

Considering how old and occasionally clunky Daggerfall's quest system is, it's a very powerful thing overall.

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RH666
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by RH666 »

Oooh, I like the secret meeting idea. Probably at a tavern. Thanks :)

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RH666
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by RH666 »

Okay, got the quest almost completely working except that "saying 1020" seems to be getting ignored by "clicked npc _student_" So clicking the NPC will advance the quest but not pop up the dialogue box.

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Interkarma
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by Interkarma »

Thanks for letting me know. I'll take a look at this soon.

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RH666
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by RH666 »

Awesome, thanks :)

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Interkarma
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by Interkarma »

This does appear to be implemented but the correct format is:

Code: Select all

clicked npc _symbol_ say nnnn
So "say 1020" on the end should work, but "saying 1020" will just be ignored. Let me know if you still have any troubles with this one. :)

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Hazelnut
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Re: Is it possible to spawn quest NPCs in particular areas.

Post by Hazelnut »

Ah, there were some classic quest scripts that used 'saying' and didn't work. That's one of the fixes Jay had make to fix them.
See my mod code for examples of how to change various aspects of DFU: https://github.com/ajrb/dfunity-mods

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