Creating Optional Objectives, Interactions, and Dialogs

maninblack017

This may sound like a pretty easy question but I've never done this.

How do I create an optional objective? Or optional interaction?

For example:
You are walking down a hallway of a derelict ship and come across a dead body. Is there a way to have an option of "checking the body" to make sure the person is dead even though it's not really part of the main objectives?

Obviously this is just a generic example but I can honestly say I've never put in optional objectives because I don't know how. I think they can add more realism to missions because it gives a player more freedom and choices, giving more of a feeling of an open-world environment.

As always, any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

thegreendragoon1

You can't create optional objectives that appear in the objective window, but you can do all sorts of things through triggers. In your example:

1. Place an invisible box over the body
2. Place a map dialog with the dialog you want to appear after they player checks the body
3. Set the map dialog trigger to become visible on component complete of the invisible object
4. On the invisible object, set the interact text to something like "Inspect Body" and assign an appropriate animation

maninblack017

Thank you. I figured it was something like that but I forgot about the map dialog. Thank you!

starswordc

Another trick is to place enemy mobs on the map but not tie them to a kill objective, thereby giving the player the choice to engage or evade. This is used very successfully in "A Time to Search" and "Syndicate Extraction".

EDIT: You can even tie "Component Completed" triggers to mob groups to create different effects based on whether the player took the stealth option.

maninblack017

Good point. Hadn't thought of that. Thanks!