Help installing DMJ addon pack explained.

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Kelly
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Help installing DMJ addon pack explained.

Post by Kelly »

How do I use these new modifications:-

Take a look at the menu system for the single switch mechanism in the editor. As you can see, the switches have been seperated for easier use.
The Greenwall Buttons are for Germanny's green wall set, the Germanny Black Buttons are for Germanny's dark grey/black wallset and the Grey Button are for Cows wall set.

For each wallset you use, you can now have it's own lever, switch or wall decoration to suit each mapset. Just select the appropiate image from the menu system.
The multiple wall switch and wall decoration menus work the same way, each being seperated by the appropiate names.

The multiple wall switch and door menu systems works similar to the above. All doors coded are now breakable, included the EOB doors and 5 custom slots to create your own. To use the crates, barrel and stones doors, be sure to select an alternative "maps" folder and use the blank images for the "opennorm" and "doorframe" graphics. This will give the illusion that these are obstacles in your partys' way, and does not display the door surround or frame.
To use the archways, be sure to select "is broken" within the editor. You can use the archways without this selected, but your party will not be able to walk through them. Either way they can still be made to be breakable, the option is available to do so.



CREDIT:-

Original graphics were created by Germanny and Cowsmanaut respectively, and so please be sure to give credit to them if these images are used for anything other than DMJ and/or are altered in any way.

Alan Berfield - for this excellent clone.
Solito - for his original code modifications.
Ian-Scho - Beta-tester.
Kelly - myself, for the code and graphical modifications.

I would also like to thank the Dungeon-Master Forum, for being a great place to ask questions, post my work, and just for being nice!

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Happy dungeoneering! Enjoy.

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As for implementing the two-wall method, I have seperated the alcove class files from each other. This means that any custom alcove can be used per level, but please bear in mind that the alcove cannot be used again on the same level in question.

For example, you want an outside dungeon that leads into an inside theme. An outside wallset can become the 4-sided alcove and the main inside wallset remains the same. The one-sided alcove can then be used as an "normal" alcove, holding items or activating swicthes.
The 4-sided alcove can also work the same as an one-sided alcove, it depends on the kinda theme one wishes to create. This option has been made available for the more advanced DMJ user. If you want to use this method, rename the files appropiately - eg.. wall12 would be alcove12 and so on...

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Everything else works like it did before. Extra maps folders are there to give the player the options of changing each wallset as the party moves through the dungeon, for example the "town" theme and extra graphics to use along the way.

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Another question that has come up, which I have tried to answer briefly was the event mechanism.

Here's a piccie of the event for the riddle room.
http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/5994/piccie4rn2.jpg

As you can see there is no buttons highlighted. Now this can be done one of two ways (probably more).

Okay first things first:-
For every choice there must be an action - For every action there must be a choice.
Create your event, link all triggers from this event in the correct order. If you want to end the event, be sure that all triggers have been activated fiirst. If you end the event prematurely, not all triggers would have been activated.
Link the end event onto another trigger - for example the riddle wall has two triggers. One for the wrong answer and one for the right answer. Each trigger has been activated to end the event, so whatever the party chooses as their answer the event ends. Just link the trigger to "end event" and it will work.

Like I said before, make sure that all firing triggers have been used before ending the event - you might deactivate the actual trigger that ends the event in question if you don't set it up correctly. :lol:

This event square can also be linked onto a multiple wall switch hidden from the partys' view. A time delay can be activated - a cycle of what would be a few seconds before the trigger will fire.
This can be used to control the event square as well, but will require a good working knowledge of the editor.
So for example, the event square as been activated, which in turn activates the mulitple wall switch, which in turn does something that the party must interact with. In turn, it can also be used to deactivate the event square, leaving the party to carry on with their designated tasks.

I hope my blabbing clears up any issues, but my explanations, so I have been told, often confuses the issue more! :lol:
Last edited by Kelly on Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:01 pm, edited 9 times in total.
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ian_scho
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Post by ian_scho »

I'm still to implement your event 'process', but it sounds good to me!
I'll creep round Ian for the PDF file.
Eh? You want me to search out and resend you what we've put together so far?
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Milna
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Thanks!

Post by Milna »

Thanks for the help. Kelly. FYI there are still 2 folders of class files in your add-on pack. I'm assuming they're both the same!
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Kelly
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Post by Kelly »

No, the two folders are not the same. Only use the "class files" folder, and copy that over the existing DMJ class files.
Not sure why I put the two folders there, it must have been a backup for myself, so please just ignore the other folder. It contains no added features.
Last edited by Kelly on Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Milna
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Door Wizard

Post by Milna »

Kelly, Ian,

I've got everything up and running and its working great! Thanks for all your help with the add-ons! This looks like a ridiculous amount of work and I don't want to seem ungrateful at all, but I was wondering if there was a way to code the door-wizard class files to allow custom door images to be breakable. I've been making door_brk files for some of the old EOB doors from Germanny's site, but I didn't want to overwrite the default doors in order to use them.

I do realize I could make a new map source folder with all of the new doors having the default names, so if there is no way to do it or if it would be a boat load of effort, don't worry about it! I just though I'd ask if there was a way!

Thanks again!

-Milna
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ian_scho
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Post by ian_scho »

Yeah, Milna... That was the FIRST question I posed to Kelly too!! :P

Kelly's ideas in his document have kind of got around the problem, though as you said. A new map directory looking at a different door picture with the same name.

To do what you ask would mean changing the code and changing the way the dungeon is serialised (saved) to disk, We'd have a new true/false value, indicating whether the door is breakable or not. Changing this 'may' cause incompat problems with other dungeons out there...

Correct me Kelly!
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Milna
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Post by Milna »

Thanks Kelly! That's going to have to be the way as, much to my chagrin, I've found that individual door files are not overridden in the other map folders...

As long as you're in there, I'm trying to find a way to use the weapon and armour shop decors that you included in your additional map files. I don't think wall decors can be overridden either, or else I would just change the file names in the map folders. Is there an easier way to do this without treating them as alcoves? Could they be coded as "custom" wall decors for use in the wizard as well?
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Kelly
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Post by Kelly »

No, unfortunately, we can't create "custom" deco but we can add to the code.

If you're willin' to get a little creative, they can actually be used via the custom door method. You'll have to run them through an art program and design a quick "door" to resemble the wall behind. It looks like the actual deco is in a small recess in the wall, and the effects one can create are pretty cool. Maybe I should create custom doors in this fashion to represent wall deco? That way, the user can choose.

Either way, if you choose to use them through the wall deco feature by renaming them, the coordinates will be wrong regarding centralization.
The only reason I didn't use the wall deco feature in the first place, was to keep the list short. Most of these modifications have proven difficult for the beginner to sort out at best, and wanted to simplfy the "buy/shop" mechanism.
The actual shop mechanism was never completed because of this - the triggers needed to complete a payment and item in exchange was long windowed at best. That's where the events came into it. The alcoves seemed to be the easiest way.

I can always improve on this for the next addon pack - maybe give the user more options to mix and match.

Keep those questions comin' - it helps to understand how and what might need improvements in the future. :wink:
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