Hm. No, I should delete that post; it'll just seem like I'm bragging about things I won't release...
Short version, this time:
(Don't bother checking your reader; I've learned not to hit post until I'm sure I want something read)
HC mode for companions works, mostly. It's been an uphill battle, but I've got it 98% reliable, and I think I know how to get the other 2%; it just isn't tested yet.
Trouble is, it doesn't work for NCCS.
Modifying script variables of an NPC isn't like moving them, or adding and removing factions. It turns out the engine has to be able to read the variables, or it won't edit them right.
This means that NPCs to be used in HC mode must be explicitly referenced. Which obviously I cannot do for NCCS.
I haven't abandoned the project by any means; and I am at least learning how to make the system work... it's just getting there from here that's the bitch.
I'd ask if anyone had any insight, but I'd be surprised if anyone did. No slight on anyone's intelligence; this is just another of those things that as far as I can tell, no one's done before.
This may be something I have to learn NVSE for; distasteful though it is to me.
I even went and looked through the highly vaunted Willow Companion -- who, judging by endorsements, is approximately fifteen times the companion that mine are -- and found that she doesn't have hunger or thirst, apparently. That or I need to go get my optical prescription updated.
Maybe I should teach the NCCS companions how to cook...
Ah, well; issue for another day.
The other issue is that the HC code and all its accompanying checks and such pushed the scripts that run my girls up over five hundred lines -- and they were originally simpler versions of the NCCS scripts. This would push NCCS up near 550; and I'm not sure the engine will handle it. I remember them running out of space around 500 once before.
So, I suppose at the moment HC-for-companions can be considered to be in neutral; until I figure out a new workaround.
Other planned new features for v1.0 are still on track, though; and I've recently run up a set of "living" AI packages similar to what CM used to make companions appear to live a normal life when not adventuring with you.
The first question that springs to my mind now is: do you have any plans to release any standalone companions using this code?
ReplyDelete"The first question that springs to my mind now is: do you have any plans to release any standalone companions using this code?"
ReplyDeleteYou: out of my head! Or at least take your damned shoes off; you'll track sand in, and do you have any idea how hard that is to get out? You think sand in a tent is a pain in the ass to clean out...
Actually, I spent most of yesterday morning pondering that very thought -- er, running up some stand-alone companions, not you traipsing around inside my head. Doubly so after looking over Willow. Seems to me, standalones get endorsements, where systems get the finger.
Trouble is, I'm not sure what to release. I don't really have any characters in mind.
Why was sand the first thing you thought of?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that pre-made stand-alones do seem to be more popular among the masses (them, and Shojos). I'd definitely be interested to see what you would come up with.
"Why was sand the first thing you thought of?"
ReplyDelete...Because sand is what everyone always complains about tracking in?
In this part of the country it's usually snow or mud. I thought maybe the sand was some sort of feline reference... XD
ReplyDeleteAh, litter box.
ReplyDeleteNo, never even occurred to me -- I've just been living in the desert since 1995.
Despite how bloody simple you have made it to allow someone to create their own companions, especially with your tutorials (RR Vault and NCCS) the majority of the younger players want something right out of the box to play with, so to speak. If they have to put any effort into it themselves, it isn't worth their time.
ReplyDeleteI don't have as much motivation to personalize my companions as much as I'd like to (*cough* Cameron *cough*), but I do find it rather hilarious having my Miranda Lawson NCCS companion complain about how hard the Wasteland is on her hair.