149 replies to this topic

[Choo Choo]

Actually, what happened was that I forgot to begin the dialogue at all.

No wonder it wouldn't compile.

[berelinde]

How do you think I knew what to look for?

[Choo Choo]

Lol, yeah. *grin* Thanks.

[Azkyroth]

CHAIN3 errors are usually because you aren't beginning your file before you start adding to it. You can do this by putting the following at the beginning of the first dialogue file to compile, usually the pre-joining dialogue:

One of the more common ways to produce them seems to be to have a chain extern to a dialogue like "BIMOEM2". x.x

[berelinde]

Yes, that's true. If you are going to extern to a named state (as opposed to a state number), you need to include it in the specific file you're compiling at the time.

Say I were writing a "Stupid Questions" mod, where different NPCs asked each other stupid questions and expected sensible replies. I could save the entire document as one file, called B!StupidQuestions.d. Ordinarily, it would make more sense to do this as a CHAIN, but I'm going to use normal dialogue coding to illustrate my point.

APPEND BANOMEN
IF ~InParty(Myself)
InParty("Minsc")
!StateCheck(Myself,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!StateCheck("Minsc",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
Global("B!Bridge","GLOBAL",0)~ Bridge
SAY~As I was on my way to the Order, I was accosted by a churl in a boat!~
IF ~~ THEN DO ~SetGlobal("B!Bridge","GLOBAL",1) EXTERN BKELDOR WhatDidHeSay
END
END

APPEND BKELDOR
IF ~~ WhatDidHeSay
SAY ~What did he want from you?~
IF ~~ THEN EXTERN BANOMEN GetHelp
END
END

APPEND BANOMEN 
IF ~~ GetHelp
SAY ~He wanted me to summon aid. So I asked if he was stuck.~
IF ~~ THEN EXTERN BKELDOR Punchline
END
END

APPEND BKELDOR
IF ~~ Punchline
SAY ~And let me guess. He said "No, I'm delivering a bridge. This looks like a good spot!"~
= ~And he wanted you to get some people to help him unload his cargo.~
IF ~~ THEN EXIT
END
END

That will work, because all the EXTERNs point to states that are contained in B!StupidQuestions.d. But if I split that file into Anomen and Keldorn sections, keeping all Anomen's lines in B!StupidQuestions_Anomen.d and all Keldorn's lines in B!StupidQuestions_Keldorn.d, it would give me a CHAIN3 error when it was compiling the first one.

[Choo Choo]

Oh, I see - so a state given in one D file can't transfer to another? Like this, it won't work:

//D file 1.

Append CCEmmeB
IF ~InParty("Minsc")
See("Minsc")
!StateCheck("Minsc",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!StateCheck(Myself,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!See([ENEMY])
CombatCounter(0)
Global("CCSilly","GLOBAL",0)~ Sillyface
SAY ~Minsc, your hamster really looks silly.~ DO ~SetGlobal("CCSilly","GLOBAL",1)~
EXTERN BMINSC Sillyhead
END
END

// D File 2.

Append BMINSC
IF ~InParty("CCEmme")
See("CCEmme")
!StateCheck("CCEmme",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!StateCheck(Myself,CD_STATE_NOTVALID)
!See([ENEMY])
CombatCounter(0)
Global("CCSilly","GLOBAL",0)~ Sillyhead
SAY ~Boo is offended by your comment, little elf!~
EXIT
END
END

[berelinde]

That's right. If they're saved in different dialogue files, for example Emme.d and Minsc.d, it won't work. However, there's nothing to prevent you from putting them both in the same file.

[Choo Choo]

*nods* Lovely. For now I'm hunting down minor code problems (yes, a lot of missed quotation marks, but also a couple unnecessary ones) and after that I'll try to compile it.

[Choo Choo]

Aaaaand it compiled! *dances* Finally! Thank you so much for your help, all of you!

Now I'm leaving coding alone, for what little is left of the evening.. I need a break.

[Choo Choo]

Posting just to let people know that yes, still working on her. :3 I'm just about to start writing her first lovetalk!

[Lucia]

Hey! Good luck with this. It sounds like she'd make a fun addition to the party. Keep letting us know how she's turning out -- your progress gives all the rest of us clueless first-time modders hope!

[Choo Choo]

Thank you (and good luck to you as well, with Giselle)!

It's really a bit confusing, since I don't know where to start. But I've got one PC talk written, coded and compiled, and the second one is almost done. And.. let's see.. a lot of banter drafts (Ajantis, Alora, Branwen, Coran, Edwin, Eldoth, Imoen, Jaheira, Kivan, Quayle, Kagain and Minsc so far), two finished Korgan banters (yes, some work on BG2 has slipped in) and one which is semi-finished.. and a few flirts. So it'll definitely be completed one day. :3

[Solar's Harper]

Or not...

Coding has been the major issue, and finding time inbetween projects, but we're moving slowly so yes, expect more previews and updates, soon.

Edit: Forgetful aren't I?

Good luck to you as well with Giselle, Lucia.

Edited by Solar's Harper, 10 November 2007 - 12:43 PM.

[Choo Choo]

LOL, yes, coding is hell. I'm getting better at it, though, and so is Solar, so while it's certainly annoying (wouldn't things be much easier if you didn't have to code it?), it's not that much of a hinder. Boredom and lazyness are the biggest enemies for me.

Edited by Choo Choo, 10 November 2007 - 12:45 PM.

[SConrad]

Oh, I see - so a state given in one D file can't transfer to another? Like this, it won't work:

(A bit late, but...) Links between named states can work if placed in different .d-files; the important thing to remember is that you compile the files at the same time. Your above example would work if you changed your tp2 code from

COMPILE ~path/to/dfile1.d~
COMPILE ~path/to/dfile2.d~

to

COMPILE ~path/to/dfile1.d~
		~path/to/dfile2.d~

This way, the two files will be compiled at the same time, and the labels would work (if not, you might have to use APPEND_EARLY).

(Also, "Append" in those examples should be uppercase. )

[Azkyroth]

Oh, I see - so a state given in one D file can't transfer to another? Like this, it won't work:

(A bit late, but...) Links between named states can work if placed in different .d-files; the important thing to remember is that you compile the files at the same time. Your above example would work if you changed your tp2 code from

COMPILE ~path/to/dfile1.d~
COMPILE ~path/to/dfile2.d~

to

COMPILE ~path/to/dfile1.d~
		~path/to/dfile2.d~

This way, the two files will be compiled at the same time, and the labels would work (if not, you might have to use APPEND_EARLY).

(Also, "Append" in those examples should be uppercase. )

Another note: there's actually no logical reason you can't use one .d file for all your dialogue (or, at least, all that's installed within the same component), it's just a lot harder to keep track of that way. I think BtL uses like 4, for instance. And if you have the dialogues in the same .d file you won't have the same issue with compiling and different state names...

[Choo Choo]

Thank you, SConrad. That kind of made sense, and if it almost makes sense when I am in my current zombie state, it's bound to make sense when I've had some sleep.

Good point, Azkyroth.. I do think I'll have different D files, though, since I tend to be somewhat of an organizer obsessor when it comes to these things.

[SConrad]

Another note: there's actually no logical reason you can't use one .d file for all your dialogue (or, at least, all that's installed within the same component), it's just a lot harder to keep track of that way. I think BtL uses like 4, for instance. And if you have the dialogues in the same .d file you won't have the same issue with compiling and different state names...

But there's no logical reason you can't use more than one .d file, either. Single .d-files with dialogue for a whole mod quickly becomes unwieldy as a mod grows, and your only argument for using one file (the issue with named state linkage) can be solved the way I described in my previous post.

I usually advocate splitting up code in multiple files. There is really no reason why you shouldn't, and there are only advantages to be gained from that approach.

[Choo Choo]

*nods* And since I'm an Infinity Explorer junkie, I usually prefer it when they are split up, since it becomes much easier to find what I want to read - banters in the B file, flirts/interjections in the J file, etc.

[Azkyroth]

Another note: there's actually no logical reason you can't use one .d file for all your dialogue (or, at least, all that's installed within the same component), it's just a lot harder to keep track of that way. I think BtL uses like 4, for instance. And if you have the dialogues in the same .d file you won't have the same issue with compiling and different state names...

But there's no logical reason you can't use more than one .d file, either. Single .d-files with dialogue for a whole mod quickly becomes unwieldy as a mod grows, and your only argument for using one file (the issue with named state linkage) can be solved the way I described in my previous post.

I usually advocate splitting up code in multiple files. There is really no reason why you shouldn't, and there are only advantages to be gained from that approach.

I know. I'm being pedantic. Or something.

*nods* And since I'm an Infinity Explorer junkie, I usually prefer it when they are split up, since it becomes much easier to find what I want to read - banters in the B file, flirts/interjections in the J file, etc.

My point is that if you do the .d file right it will compile into all those other dialogues. IE can't read uncompiled .d to begin with, so...