Difference between revisions of "Basic NPC Creation Tutorial"

Basic NPC Creation Tutorial (edit)

Revision as of 18:11, 4 April 2006

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 *'''Slider''' This slider will be used to edit the features you select.
 *'''Control Type''' Geometry mode will allow you to change the actual shape of the NPC facial structure, while texture will allow you to change the appearance of skin, facial hair, and cosmetics.  For this NPC I lowered her brows, making her look a bit meaner than the random face I had generated.
-*'''Symmetry Type''' Usually you'll want to work in Symmetry mode.  However; Asymmetry mode (only available for geometry control) is very useful for creating interesting imperfections in character faces.  For instance, I've changed the ''Mouth - corners transverse shift'' on this NPC to -8.93, giving her the appearance of a smirk.  Just remember that it's best to be subtle.
+*'''Symmetry Type''' Usually you'll want to work in Symmetry mode.  However; Asymmetry mode (only available for geometry control) is very useful for creating interesting imperfections in character faces.  For instance, I've changed the ''Mouth - corners transverse shift'' on this NPC to -8.93, giving her the appearance of a smirk.  Just remember that it's best to be subtle, though when creating a combat-only NPC such as this, you can go a little bigger than you would with a speaking NPC.
+[[Image:tut3_img3.jpg|Face Advanced Tab|thumb|right]]
+==Editing NPC Inventory & Spells==
+Open the '''Inventory''' tab.  You can do this by using the small left/right arrow icons.  You'll notice a lot of items beginning with ''LL'' in this list.  This is the standard prefix for [[Leveled_Item|Leveled lists]] used when we created the game.  Since we used a template NPC we don't need to add anything to this - her inventory contains all the equipment she needs to provide the player with a challenging battle and rewarding spoils.  However; if you wanted this NPC to carry a special item (notes and keys are especially good examples), you would drag the item into this list from the [[Object Window]].
+Notice also that you can enter a hypothetical player level and press '''Preview Calculated Result'''.  This will open a pop-up window with a list of items that the editor chooses randomly from the list.  Running this test a few times is a good way to test your inventory without having to run the game.
+Next, open the '''SpellList''' tab.  This list is empty, but let's give this boss some basic alteration ability, since she's got a little skill in that school of magic (I determined this from the stats tab).
+From the [[Object Window]], navigate to Magic>LeveledSpell, and drag the ''LL1AlterationMinorLvl100'' spell list into the NPC.  This will prepare her for battle with some alteration spells appropriate for the level of the player.
+==Basic AI & Package Editing==
+Finally, we want to give this NPC a little more than the standard behavior.  Press the "'''AI'''" button to open the AI window.
+We're only concerned with the AI Attributes and AI Package List portions of this window.  The other settings are for vendor and trainer NPCs.
+We can leave the default AI Attributes from the original NPC we opened.  Aggression and confidence of 100 mean she will engage any enemy and never run away.  You can play with these values to get different behavior, such as lowering confidence to give the NPC a tendency to flee from battle.  Energy level and Responsibility tie into some other AI behaviors and can be left alone for this NPC.
+Notice ''aaaCreatureInterior512''' and '''aaaCreatureExterior1500''' packages already in the package list.  '''aaa''' is a naming convention prefix we use to indicate basic packages which can be used on any NPC or creature.  We'll leave these two in, which will just allow the NPC to wander around and interact with the environment if no other packages are chosen.
+[[Image:tut3_img6.jpg|thumb|right|The Character Menu]]
+In your toolbar, open ''Packages...''.  This is a complete list of packages created.  Select the following three and add them to the NPC's package list.
+*aaaEat10x2
+*aaaEat20x2
+*aaaSleep22x8
+These are all standard packages we can use, as indicated by the ''aaa'' prefix.  The naming convention for these three also give time information.  The first number is a time in military time, and the second is a duration.  So our NPC will now Eat for two hours at 10am and 8pm, and sleep for eight hours at 10pm.  This behavior will create a chance that some players may be able to more easily sneak in and loot her and her living area without direct confrontation.
+[[Image:tut3_img4.jpg|thumb|right|The AI window]]
+AI processes the package list from top to bottom, so be sure to keep the wander packages at the bottom.  Because they have no conditions (such as time or duration), the AI will always choose one of them, meaning that the NPC will never eat or sleep if those packages are below either of the wander packages in the list.
+==Saving and Testing==
+Again, be sure to have changed the ID before pressing okay, otherwise you'll overwrite the changes of the pre-existing NPC we used as our template.
+[[Image:tut3_img5.jpg]]
+Now you're ready to drag the NPC into her chamber in CreepyCave02 (or anyplace you prefer).  It's a good idea to keep her near the bed for her sleep package, and you may want to put extra food in the room for her.
+<blockquote>You can also add food to her inventory and set the quantity to -1, meaning she'll never run out of food.  This is helpful when NPC's searching for food in the environment begin to cause bad behavior.</blockquote>
+That's about it!  Now you have a special boss just for your dungeon, and can tweak any of the settings we learned about to tailor your player experience.
 [[Category:Getting Started]]
 [[Category:Tutorials]]