[Adonthell-commits] CVS: adonthell/doc/dlgedit dlgedit.dxt,1.7,1.8

[Kai Sterker <address@hidden>]

Update of /cvsroot/adonthell/adonthell/doc/dlgedit
In directory subversions:/tmp/cvs-serv18663

Modified Files:
        dlgedit.dxt 
Log Message:
IMPROVED chapter about dialogue system basics


Index: dlgedit.dxt
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/adonthell/adonthell/doc/dlgedit/dlgedit.dxt,v
retrieving revision 1.7
retrieving revision 1.8
diff -C2 -r1.7 -r1.8
*** dlgedit.dxt 13 Oct 2002 21:39:16 -0000      1.7
--- dlgedit.dxt 23 Oct 2002 21:13:50 -0000      1.8
***************
*** 43,81 ****
  /*! \page page1 Understanding the Dialogue Engine
  
! Before we start designing our first dialogues, it might be
! wise to have a look at the concept of the dialogue engine.
! Once you understand the basic rules, it will help you to
! avoid errors. A dialogue consists of a number of Narrator,
! NPC and Player lines, arranged in a certain order. The rules
! for this are as follows:
! 
! -# The dialogue starts with, at least, either one NPC or Narrator
!    line.
! -# Narrator lines may be followed by 0 or more of either lines.
! -# NPC lines may be followed by 0 or more of either lines.
! -# Player lines may be followed by 0 or more NPC or Narrator
!    lines.
! -# The dialogue ends when no more lines follow.
! 
! This results in a directed graph which later on is traversed
! by the dialogue engine according to the following rules:
! 
! -# Start with those lines that have no predecessor.
! -# Chose randomly between multiple NPC or Narrator lines.
! -# Let the player chose if there are multiple Player lines.
! -# Don't chose lines twice (can be disabled for single lines).
! 
! Apart from that, there are a number of additional features
! that influence how the dialogue appears to the player:
! 
! -# Each line may be based on conditions, meaning they are
!    only available if a certain condition is met.
! -# NPC lines can be attached to different characters, making
!    conversations with/between multiple NPC's possible.
! 
! These 11 points cover most of the Dialogue System's functionality
! and should give you an idea what you can do with it, and
! what you can't. To get you going now, it's time for a brief
! tutorial.
  
  \htmlonly
--- 43,99 ----
  /*! \page page1 Understanding the Dialogue Engine
  
! Before we start designing our first dialogues, lets have a look
! behind the concept of the dialogue engine. Understanding the
! basics will allow you to use the editor more efficiently and
! prevent you from trying to accomplish the impossible.
! 
! First of all, what exactly is a dialogue? In our case, a
! dialogue is the conversation between the player and at least
! one NPC. The NPCs speech is usually followed by a number of
! replies for the player to chose from. The NPC will then
! react according to the choice. After that it is the player's
! turn again, and so on.
! 
! Apart from player and NPC there is a third entity: the Narrator.
! Technically, it behaves like a NPC, but it has a completely
! different role. Usually it will decribe matters that are of
! importance to the player, but cannot be depicted by the game
! engine.
! 
! Now that we've seen who may take part in a dialogue, we'll
! have a look at its organization. It will usually start with
! NPC or Narrator speech, to give the player something to react
! to. However, there is no need for a player reaction. Instead,
! the Narrator and various NPCs could go on and on (in which case
! the dialogue would either degenerate into a monologue or into a
! conversation between different NPCs).
! 
! Player speech however will \b always be followed by either
! NPC or Narrator text, unless it ends the dialogue.
! 
! Dialogues following the scheme above will remain rather
! static. The player may chose from a list of replies whenever
! it is his turn, but other than that everything remains the
! same in all circumstances. Therefore, the dialogue engine
! provides a few mechanisms to make dialogues more dynamic
! and adaptive to different situations.
! 
! For one, NPCs and Narrator can have choises too. Whenever they
! have several options, they will randomly pick one. That may
! liven up the dialogue somewhat, but it also means a total
! loss of control. Therefore, each choice can be combined with
! a condition. Player, NPC and Narrator will only be able to
! chose those alternatives whose conditions evaluated true. As
! practically every aspect of gameworld and characters can be
! queried in a condition, it is possible to create dialogues
! that can adapt to many different situations.
! 
! Such dialogues require lots of writing, of course. Therefore,
! <tt>dlgedit</tt>'s main aim is assisting you with the complex
! structure of dialogues, so you can fully concentrate on the
! actual writing. As it tries to get as little in the way as
! possible, its usage is not always intuitive. However, the
! brief tutorial that follows should make you comfortable with
! most of its controls.                                             
  
  \htmlonly
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*** 923,927 ****
  <hr>
  <center>
! &lt;&lt; <a href="index.html">Adding Python Code</a> &nbsp; 
  <a href="index.html">Contents</a> &nbsp;
  </center>
--- 941,945 ----
  <hr>
  <center>
! &lt;&lt; <a href="page4.html">Adding Python Code</a> &nbsp; 
  <a href="index.html">Contents</a> &nbsp;
  </center>