How-To: Create simple timers and utilize them for cutscenes and objectives

ninjanerdbgm · May 2013

Hey guys, I just figured out how to make and utilize simple timers for Foundry quests, so I decided to make a how-to video that also shows a few examples.

Here is the link to the video

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have discovered how to make timers, but I couldn't find anything about it via normal searching, so I figured I'd help all future quest makers out.

Thanks, guys! Hope to play your maps soon!

zovya · May 2013

A very good alternative to a method I use.
Foundry Trick: Trigger Timer

tabris82 · May 2013

Both methods are really nice. Thank you for taking the time to share them @ninjanerdbgm and @zovya.
I'll have some use for those timers on my second quest

let's see how i fare ^^

ninjanerdbgm · May 2013

No problem, tabris

.

Zovya - I didn't know about your method! That's a great way to do a timer as well!

zuviele · May 2013

This is genius.

I have a question though:
As the players scale, the mobs scale, and I assume the traps scale. Do they all scale equally though? i.e. will the timers take roughly the same amount of time regardless of what level the player is?

ninjanerdbgm · May 2013

I tried it through with a lvl 20 and a level 40 and it didn't seem to make much of a difference if any. It should be just about the same for any level.

zuviele · May 2013

I tested out your technique, and think it's worth mentioning something you sort of glossed over:

In the video, we can see that you split the encounter into two rooms at opposite ends of the map. The reason you had to do that is because the encounter circle will go to the midpoint between the mobs in the encounter group. If you don't split them (i.e. put the whole group in one place), the encounter circle will automatically move to where the mobs are.

ninjanerdbgm · May 2013

zuviele wrote: »

I tested out your technique, and think it's worth mentioning something you sort of glossed over:

In the video, we can see that you split the encounter into two rooms at opposite ends of the map. The reason you had to do that is because the encounter circle will go to the midpoint between the mobs in the encounter group. If you don't split them (i.e. put the whole group in one place), the encounter circle will automatically move to where the mobs are.

Exactly. I also forgot to mention that the easier the mobs, the shorter the timers, too. Thanks for pointing it out!

EDIT: zuviele - I added that to the video description

nokturnel · May 2013

Awesome, thanks for sharing guys. Going to bookmark this for later.

zuviele · May 2013

Something else you can do with the traps: If you stack spike traps, you can turn a ~30 second timer into a ~15 second one. You can stack traps n deep, so you could divide any encounter into a specific timer.

Also, different trap types do different amounts of damage at different rates. It would be interesting to analyze some common useful trap/mob combinations.

ninjanerdbgm · May 2013

zuviele wrote: »

Something else you can do with the traps: If you stack spike traps, you can turn a ~30 second timer into a ~15 second one. You can stack traps n deep, so you could divide any encounter into a specific timer.

Also, different trap types do different amounts of damage at different rates. It would be interesting to analyze some common useful trap/mob combinations.

Ah, I didn't know that. Good find!

zuviele · May 2013

I have one more question for you. During your cut-scene, did it have quest updates scrolling across the screen for each new animation? i.e. Does each timer have to have a quest update attached to it?

Edit:
I just watched your video again and it looks like you attached "Component Complete" events to each animation. I didn't know encounters could be components... or maybe I still don't understand it. I am going to tinker for a bit

Edit2: After tinkering, yep, encounters can be components. Cool!

This is great stuff. I am totally going to utilize a cutscene now. Also, that invisible wall trick is genius too. I would probably let the back wall be click-to-remove though. Just in case something bugs

Another Update: I found that having any of the walls be interactive makes an interaction box appear on the screen regardless of the direction you're looking. So I guess the walls won't be click-to-remove

zuviele · May 2013

There might be a problem with this technique. I added some timers to a quest. In my Foundry it works great, but when I published it, none of the timers worked.

I noticed that some of the points I set up were slightly off, so I'm guessing the mobs we're not being placed on the traps correctly. I hope this was just an issue with that one publish, and it won't be a problem going forward, but I have little hope. I'll probably have to make another workaround; a workaround for the workaround.

x0y1 · May 2013

zuviele wrote: »

There might be a problem with this technique. I added some timers to a quest. In my Foundry it works great, but when I published it, none of the timers worked.

I noticed that some of the points I set up were slightly off, so I'm guessing the mobs we're not being placed on the traps correctly. I hope this was just an issue with that one publish, and it won't be a problem going forward, but I have little hope. I'll probably have to make another workaround; a workaround for the workaround.

Oh I tested it and it works.

Box in the trigger encounters with walls. If you use normal mobs, try to use 2 stacked traps.

However I run into another problem. NPC hps scale with player lvls and that means the timer breaks at certain lvls if you want to tell a story with it.

Example. Encounter triggers are Lizards (easy) on one trap and Lizards (standard) on 2 stacked traps.

In the foundry with lvl 31-35 chars it works flawless. The easy encounter gives enough time for emotes and the standard encounter gives you time for a patrol node with some "npc talking" at the end point.
Now if you play it on live with a lvl 16 char, everything runs at ~2speed = you will never see the npc speech.
Play it at lvl 60 and now everything is in slow motion mode. NPC talks and talks and talks.

yospeck · May 2013

Only thing I can think of to sort out that balancing is an OOC NPC dialogue at the beginning getting the player to explain their level and then spawn a number of stacked traps depending on their choice, eg.

Initial NPC:

Hail, you look like a capable fighter, I have a possible task if you are interested?

[OOC: Note, this quest has a number of timed triggers whose speed is set at your character level, please select your appropriate level. This WILL NOT change the difficulty of this quest]

1. Aye, I can hold my own in a battle [Level 1 - 20] (spawns 1 trap in mob room)
2. I've seen many battles and I'm quite a seasoned combatant [Level 21 - 40] (spawns 2 traps in mob room)
3. I have known more war than I have peace [Level 41 - 60] (spawns 4 traps in mob room)

The trap dialogue isn't shown to the player, but their choice will determine how quickly or slowly the timer mobs are killed.

How-To: Create simple timers and utilize them for cutscenes and objectives

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