137 replies to this topic

[Azkyroth]

That would be quite yummy.

But is it really believable that someone who even sounded like Johnny Depp would ever need to resort to prostitutes?

Also, I've written some more Keldorn banter (I should have him in my party more often. If he's half as fun playing as he's writing for, I'm missing out...). I'm actually even more unsure about this one, earlier compliments aside, since I'm not sure Keldorn's world view is flexible enough to make the sort of point he does here. Anyhow... give me your opinions.

~Have you put any thought on what we discussed earlier, Cason?~
DO ~SetGlobal("CasKelTalk","GLOBAL",2)~
== FtCasonB ~I have, oh knight in oh-so-shining armor. Honor is clinging to my mind like a beggar to a steak.~
== BKELDOR ~And? Have you perhaps reconsidered the value of honor? It's never to late to become a better man.~
== FtCasonB ~But it's always too early to die just because you just had to kill someone with honor. I'd rather have the gods curse every step I take then shackle myself with honor.~
== BKELDOR ~So you claim, pirate. And yet, we found you giving money to a courtesan to gain her... affection.~
== FtCasonB ~In the eyes of what god is buying harlots a sign of honor? (This one is loosing his mind I think...)~
== BKELDOR ~I am not saying it is honorable, it's a despicable act. And yet... someone completely without honor and decency could have forced himself upon a woman and then killed her.~
== FtCasonB ~Eh, sure. I could've done that.~
== BKELDOR ~Have you ever done such a deed?~
== FtCasonB ~No, but... I...~
== FtCasonB ~Damn it.~
== BKELDOR ~I do believe there is hope for you yet, pirate.~
== FtCasonB ~Bah.~
EXIT

The contraction seems a bit out of place, but this seems to work for Keldorn. I've maintained for a while that the way Bioware wrote him defending his beliefs seems entirely out of place given his age, level of experience, and mental/social attribute scores.

More in a minute.

[Lykainon]

Either post them as text (script like, or not in code tags) or post them correctly!

Thanks for your help and I probably should've posted them as pure text (I'm a little lazy sometimes...). I just cut out the pure code parts since I wanted people to focus on the dialogue. I'll keep the code out of things entirely next time.
EDIT: Except for the multisay-part, I wasn't entirely sure how to handle that.

The contraction seems a bit out of place, but this seems to work for Keldorn.

You're entirely correct. I've tried to keep them out but I seem to have slipped up on occasion. Thanks for pointing it out.

Edited by Lykainon, 02 December 2008 - 11:30 AM.

[Icendoan]

Multisay is easy. It just means you don't have to redefine the speaker.

You know what CHAIN is, right? CHAIN is simply a shortcut from this:

APPEND z
IF ~InParty("x") !StateCheck("x",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ THEN BEGIN 1
SAY ~x~
IF ~~ THEN DO ~SetGlobal("xbanter","GLOBAL",1) EXTERN x 2
END

IF ~~ THEN BEGIN 3
SAY ~qwerty~
IF ~~ THEN EXIT
END

END

APPEND x
IF ~~ THEN BEGIN 2
SAY ~asdf~
IF ~~ THEN EXTERN z 3
END
END

Now, shortcut. That would be:

CHAIN IF ~InParty("x") !StateCheck("x",CD_STATE_NOTVALID)~ THEN z 1
~x~
DO ~SetGlobal("xbanter","GLOBAL",1)~
== x ~asdf~
== z ~qwerty~ EXIT

Which is quite a shortcut, even though they perform identically.

Now, should you chain have

== FtCasonB ~qwerty~
== FtCasonB ~asdf~

In it, you would get this:

APPEND FtCasonB
IF ~~ THEN BEGIN 1
SAY ~qwerty~
IF ~~ THEN EXTERN FtCasonB 2
END

IF ~~ THEN BEGIN 2
SAY ~asdf~
IF ~~ THEN EXIT
END
END

Now, as EXTERN has to go to a DIFFERENT dialogue file, this is A Bad Thing™, as you get an EXTERN to the same dialogue. (Also, CHAIN really is just a shorter way of saying it, if you use WeiDU to decompile a dialogue which is based on a CHAIN system, you will get a long list of EXTERN blocks.)

Icen

[Lykainon]

Ah, you misunderstood me. I get the whole CHAIN thing (well, I get it well enough for it to work at least ) and after the altered dialogues you posted, I even understand multisay. Yay!

[Lykainon]

Since this thread has already reached page four and you folks haven't even got a closer look at Cason, I figure it's about time to show some of the details (and, as always, hear what others think of it). So, here it is. (Work-in-progress, open to change, yadayadayada).

Name: Cason
Race: Human
Class: Swashbuckler
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Stats:
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 14
(Might be a bit on the upper side of things but since the intelligence and charisma only show in his banters I don't think he's very over-powered).

Personality:
On the surface Cason seems rather simple to grasp. Ruthless, shameless, greedy and egotistical he seems like a rather typical pirate. While he is all of this, there are also aspects of his personality that are rather unexpected in a pirate. Although he would never say so himself, he has something of a philosophical side and interest in the motivation of others. Despite his many flaws and vices (which include such colorful things as drinking, fighting, prostitutes and a complete disrespect for any authorities) he gets along suprisingly well with most people. The ferocity with which he hold onto the image of himself as the ruthless, unredeemable pirate hints to some degree of unwillingness to think about who and what he has become.
An outlaw to the bone, Cason thrives in chaos and believes that any attempts to create some sort of order and balance are futile and one might as well enjoy the chaos.

Bio:
When asked about his past, CASON chuckles and starts by explaining that he is a bastard not only in the figurative sense but in a literal one as well. He never knew his father and was raised by only his mother, who worked as a courtesan in Brynnlaw but quit before he was born and took up the trade of a seamstress instead. They lacked money and food most of the time, something Cason despised, and before he even started to shave regularly he joined a crew of pirates. Unlike many of his comrades, Cason survived and also developed quite the taste for the life of a pirate. He gained a reputation for himself and claims to have served as captain on several different ships. When it comes to the reasons for leaving his last ship, Cason immediately changes the subject and suddenly look unusually worried.

What I actually have done so far:
- Created a basic .CRE for him.
- Created a .tp2 to actually get him into the game.
- Written a first version of his joining/leaving/rejoining dialogues.
- Begun writing banters. So far some banters exist for Keldorn, Viconia, Imoen, Anomen and Cernd (some examples are posted in this thread).

What I plan on doing fairly soon:
- Write lots of more banters for all NPCs and CHARNAME.
- Write interjections at fitting points in the story. Suggestions are accepted and appreciated.

What I hope to be doing in a more-or-less distant future:
- Creating some custom pirate-y items for Cason and possible a pirate-themed store/fence with similar items.
- Creating a Cason-centered quest. There's a reason a fairly skilled pirate is broke and out of work, y'know.

Edited by Lykainon, 04 December 2008 - 12:00 PM.

[witya]

The ferocity with which he hold onto the image of himself as the ruthless, unredeemable pirate hints to some degree of unwillingness to think about who and what he has become.

I like this part of him. ^^ And it showed perfectly in that banter with Keldy.

[Lykainon]

Yeah, I like that bit too. It allows me to add some depth to him without compromising my initial idea for his personality. Not to mention that I've always been a sucker for morally grey characters (granted, Cason is a fairly dark shade of grey ).

[Lykainon]

Since I ran out of banter-inspiration for the moment I tried employing my somewhat non-existant graphical skills to get Cason a face. Seeing as this is only a not exactly perfect photoshopping, it's likely to change (or be completely replaced ) down the road but for now, this is is Cason's portrait.

Attached Files

•  casonM.bmp   55.17K   567 downloads

Edited by Lykainon, 03 December 2008 - 02:41 PM.

[witya]

It's not that bad.^^ Though the "Jolly Rasta" feeling is a bit strange. xD The hair could change, imo.

[Lykainon]

It's not that bad.^^ Though the "Jolly Rasta" feeling is a bit strange. xD The hair could change, imo.

Thanks. I kinda like the hair myself though. I thought dreadlocks would fit a pirate who probably doesn't have a whole lot of time and interest to brush and wash his hair regulary. And I think he looks a little too pissed to be described as jolly.

[vilkacis]

Jolly Rasta FTW. There will be no dissing of the hair, else I'll have to keelhaul the lot of you.

[witya]

Thanks. I kinda like the hair myself though. I thought dreadlocks would fit a pirate who probably doesn't have a whole lot of time and interest to brush and wash his hair regulary. And I think he looks a little too pissed to be described as jolly.

Hm. Maybe Jan could piss him off even more with mocking him this way. xD

Jolly Rasta FTW. There will be no dissing of the hair, else I'll have to keelhaul the lot of you.

Calm down, calm down. Aren't you interested in some trade? I'm selling these fine leather jackets. xD (MI FTW ^^)

[berelinde]

I love the Keldorn banter. It doesn't sound much like Keldorn, really, but the concept is sound. I can so see him tricking someone into admitting that he's done something vaguely honorable. And I love the fact that Keldorn gets the upper hand over the mod NPC. That doesn't happen much.

[Lykainon]

Hm. Maybe Jan could piss him off even more with mocking him this way. xD´

Not a bad idea. I haven't thought of any Jan banters yet and this could work. Maybe Cason mocks him back for his... reclining hairline.

I can so see him tricking someone into admitting that he's done something vaguely honorable. And I love the fact that Keldorn gets the upper hand over the mod NPC. That doesn't happen much.

Thanks. Like I said earlier I tried to keep things balanced in the banters regarding who "wins". (Although I have a unfinished banter each for Anomen and Cernd since I haven't been able to give them the upper hand in the discussion, or even portray them as somewhat intelligent, without making Cason completely moronic.)

Edited by Lykainon, 04 December 2008 - 04:19 AM.

[berelinde]

I think the best you can manage with Anomen is just to let it be a draw. Have them come to an agreement on an issue, or maybe even just allow Cason to compliment him on his fighting form or something. Anomen is tough because in some ways, he was written to be a joke. I love him to itty bitty pieces, but I know what he is: a frequently foolish, loud-mouthed guy with a lot of insecurities who really wants to do the right thing, but who needs a little help figuring out what that is.

As for Cernd, you'll have to look for somebody who likes him better than I do (which is just about everybody, really) to give you some suggestions.

[Lykainon]

I think the best you can manage with Anomen is just to let it be a draw. Have them come to an agreement on an issue, or maybe even just allow Cason to compliment him on his fighting form or something.

It's possible but I doubt that Anomen would agree with a filthy pirate about pretty much anything. Although I suppose that after one or two banters where they just snipe at each other they could come to a suprising agreement over something. Don't know what that might be though...

On another topic, I just had a fairly minor but annoying realization. When the party first confront Irenicus at Spellhold he is able to put them to sleep instantly because either Yoshimo or Seamon slipped something into their food on the journey to Brynnlaw, correct? Well, since Cason is recruited in Brynnlaw he shouldn't have eaten any "spiced" food. Since altering the entire scene would be a pain in the ass (not to mention far beyond my abilities at the moment) and I don't want to move Cason somewhere else over something this minor, I'm out of ideas.

[Icendoan]

How about Cason got completely rat-arsed and just slept anyway.

Icen

[Lykainon]

How about Cason got completely rat-arsed and just slept anyway.

Maybe the harlot he was with slipped him something?

Both are possible sollutions with their own pros and drawbacks. I'll probably ignore the issue for now and get back to it when I'm closer to a working beta-version.

Also, I've made an edited version of the portrait in an attempt to get closer to the look of existing NPCs.

Attached Files

•  cason2M.bmp   55.17K   483 downloads

[Lykainon]

Since this thread hasn't been so active lately (okay, I've gotten spoiled but Cason is jealous of Esiriak for all the activity in that thread ) I've decided to show of one of my new banters and, hopefully, get some feedback on it.

JAN: "Tell me, Cason... how do you get your hair like that?"
CASON: "Well, I..."
JAN: "You see, it reminds me of my uncle Billobs. 'Stinking Billo' they called him. Never took a bath in his life, that one. Awful smell, really, but an amazing juggler..."
CASON: "Eh, is there a point to this not-quite-fascinating story, Jan?"
JAN: "But of course! Uncle Billobs fondness for barbers was only slightly higher then his fondness for water. Afraid they would cut of his head instead of his hair. Personally, I think he got them confused with barbarians but..."
CASON: "Still not seeing any point at the horizon."
JAN: "Right. Anyway... ol' Billobs combined reluctance for bathing and grooming led to his hair looking just like yours. Of course, no one would confuse you two, not with that huge nose of his. I remember..."
CASON: "I keep my hair because I like it that way. And I don't stink, I bathe annually."
JAN: "I wouldn't dream of insulting a pirate. Not after what happened to my nephew, Faddo Jansen. But your aroma seem to be on the nostril stimulating side of things lately."
CASON: "Bah, if I had a keel I would haul you under it for that comment, Jansen."
JAN: "Then I praise Garl Glittergold for the astonishing lack of keels around here."

Other finished banters include such highlights as Cason actually trying to appologize for something but failing due to inexperience and self-image, Imoen getting a peak at the truth behind all those romantic stories about pirates the bards in Candlekeep told her and Cernd preaching balance to someone who'd rather kick the scales over board then make them balanced. (Sale pitches aren't really my thing, so sue me. ).

Edited by Lykainon, 06 December 2008 - 09:50 AM.