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Forums > Home› The Foundry for Star Trek Online› The Foundry for Star Trek Online - Discussion & Feedback

Contact behavior

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited December 2010 in The Foundry for Star Trek Online - Discussion & Feedback
Can we script our contacts to perform background functions, such as interact with a console or to tricorder scan?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Telaura wrote: »
    Can we script our contacts to perform background functions, such as interact with a console or to tricorder scan?
    It is certainly a feature Cryptic wishes us to have, but currently I've found the whole set up not very straightforward.

    If I understand things correctly, it involves enabling "Jobs" for the NPC in question. However, I think this NPC cannot be a proper 'Contact', but I may be wrong.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I have not found a direct way of doing it myself: however an indirect way could be to change the costumes of a Neutral NPC group that has one unit(such as a wild targ) to the contact you want, rename it(so you dont have a contact named Targ) and then it will have an animations function. Its just a matter of setting it to do the job you want it to do.

    Just note that I have not tried this yet myself, but it is something I am going to be trying to experiment on in future versions of Foundry- when specific events can be performed- such as a beam out.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I'm fairly certain this is something we want to improve as time goes on with the tool.

    Thanks,

    Stormshade
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    StormShade wrote:
    I'm fairly certain this is something we want to improve as time goes on with the tool.

    Thanks,

    Stormshade

    It would be nice to have better NPC scripting control
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    apt.pupil wrote:
    It would be nice to have better NPC scripting control

    That's partly why it's one of the highest requested features in the Foundry, alongside branching dialogue.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    One behavior that UGC contacts currently have that I would prefer they didn't is the "dead behavior." Both space and ground contacts are capable of dying (exploding ships, aoe weapon fire, etc). Kinda brings the mission to a sudden halt. :(
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Yes, please Cryptic, embed this in your Foundry Editor... all of it please... ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    BorrowedTune wrote:
    One behavior that UGC contacts currently have that I would prefer they didn't is the "dead behavior." Both space and ground contacts are capable of dying (exploding ships, aoe weapon fire, etc). Kinda brings the mission to a sudden halt. :(

    Was quite funny in my mission. I set an NPC ship to be on the scene as a plot point. It's mentioned after you complete the mission. Usually the NPC enemies ignore it and go after you instead. But last night I played and by a fluke the enemy ship exploded next to my NPC contact and it too blew up as a result.

    It's too bad you can give selected NPCs that you want to stay alive "God mode" status. Some of these exist in the main game missions too - like that one where you are helping an enemy ship, but even if they get totally mobbed by enemies and their life goes down to zero they don't die because they are part of the story.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Anyone remember the old Elite Force Scripting?

    That was good control. Not very user friendly but functional.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I would have to label this one as high priority. As it stands, I have rooms full of mannequins, standing idly like stone statues awaiting the PCs. Seriously, r emember that those of us engaging in this toolset are mainly trying to tell good stories. Unless its a story about a crew turned to stone by a gorgon, we're fairly confined.

    in an ideal world we'd have a drop down box beside each contact to select an "Idle Animation." i.e. this is the animation (emote) the NPCs perform when not being engaged by a PC. If a PC interacts with an NPC< they swivel towards the PC and cease any animations. When the interaction is complete, they swivel back to their start position and resume the anim. In this way, an NPC can be working a console, pushing buttons and looking important until a PC interacts with them, wherein they turn and face the PC, leaving their work for now. They have a conversation and, when finished, the NPC turns back to the computer and resumes working. Much more natural and immersive this way.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I had some trouble with NPC contacts getting killed... I changed them to let them fight and move and used pop-up dialogue boxes instead... it works better now... They won't stand there and burn to death in plasma fire, and if they still die the story Continues anyway...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    ademnus wrote: »
    I would have to label this one as high priority. As it stands, I have rooms full of mannequins, standing idly like stone statues awaiting the PCs. Seriously, r emember that those of us engaging in this toolset are mainly trying to tell good stories. Unless its a story about a crew turned to stone by a gorgon, we're fairly confined.

    in an ideal world we'd have a drop down box beside each contact to select an "Idle Animation." i.e. this is the animation (emote) the NPCs perform when not being engaged by a PC. If a PC interacts with an NPC< they swivel towards the PC and cease any animations. When the interaction is complete, they swivel back to their start position and resume the anim. In this way, an NPC can be working a console, pushing buttons and looking important until a PC interacts with them, wherein they turn and face the PC, leaving their work for now. They have a conversation and, when finished, the NPC turns back to the computer and resumes working. Much more natural and immersive this way.

    I must be confused. I thought that this behavior is already in the tool. If you enable chat for the NPC, you can set idle and talk animations. Am I misunderstanding something?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Omega_Glory wrote:
    I must be confused. I thought that this behavior is already in the tool. If you enable chat for the NPC, you can set idle and talk animations. Am I misunderstanding something?

    Yeah, you are misunderstanding. That behaviour stuff is in for NPC groups - the squads that go around fighting - but it is not in for NPC Contacts - the people you can set as talk contacts with information. They just stand and do nothing.
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