Missions and NPC Interaction - Revision history

Zonkmachine: /* Creating characters */ Update permalink

2025-01-15T11:18:50Z

‎Creating characters: Update permalink

Zonkmachine: /* Using character attributes */ Typo

2022-12-13T23:14:53Z

‎Using character attributes: Typo

Zonkmachine: /* Persistent characters */ Some comma fixes

2022-12-13T21:18:23Z

‎Persistent characters: Some comma fixes

Zonkmachine: /* Selecting characters that already exist */ Randomness when using Character.Find()

2021-11-15T18:45:52Z

‎Selecting characters that already exist: Randomness when using Character.Find()

Zonkmachine: Assigning attributes and values to a character

2021-11-15T18:23:59Z

Assigning attributes and values to a character

Zonkmachine: /* De-persisting a character */ Fixup

2021-11-15T14:59:25Z

‎De-persisting a character: Fixup

Zonkmachine: PersistentCharacters has been moved to Character.persistent

2021-11-15T14:58:31Z

PersistentCharacters has been moved to Character.persistent

Zonkmachine: Undo revision 4269 by Zonkmachine (talk)

2021-11-04T17:53:14Z

Undo revision 4269 by Zonkmachine (talk)

Zonkmachine: Page updated. Remove 'Outdated' Banner

2021-11-02T18:40:20Z

Page updated. Remove 'Outdated' Banner

Zonkmachine: /* Creating characters */ RollNew()...

2021-11-01T17:39:36Z

‎Creating characters: RollNew()...

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
   person:RollNew(true)
-This is how it's done in the [https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pioneer/blob/master/data/modules/CrewContracts/CrewContracts.lua#L395:L397 CrewContracts] module.
+This is how it's done in the [https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pioneer/blob/646f13acb76ab6ff3e407258c598e9e4012f5008/data/modules/CrewContracts/CrewContracts.lua#L396-L398 CrewContracts] module.
   local hopefulCrew = Character.New()

@@ Line 158: / Line 158: @@
 == Using character attributes ==
-These attributes are numeric, and are designed to be used in a similar way to the atrtibutes on a table-top role-playing game character sheet. The '''Character''' class has methods for testing these attributes against simulated dice rolls.
+These attributes are numeric, and are designed to be used in a similar way to the attributes on a table-top role-playing game character sheet. The '''Character''' class has methods for testing these attributes against simulated dice rolls.
 The '''DiceRoll()''' method rolls four virtual sixteen-sided dice, and returns the sum of their results. [https://gist.github.com/1315972 Here's a probability table.]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 == Persistent characters ==
-Missions have always used characters, to a certain degree. Bulletin board missions always display a face and a name, and that name will often be recorded on the current mission list. Traditionally, though, there has been no mechanism by which a character can be stored, and retrieved by a later mission, perhaps one that is not related at all.
+Missions have always used characters to a certain degree. Bulletin board missions always display a face and a name, and that name will often be recorded on the current mission list. Traditionally, though, there has been no mechanism by which a character can be stored, and retrieved by a later mission, perhaps one that is not related at all.
-NPCs defined using the '''Character''' class retain their name, gender, physical appearance and so forth. They can be used during the course of a mission script, and when they are no longer required they can be saved into a pool of reusable characters.
+NPCs defined using the '''Character''' class retain their name, gender, physical appearance, and so forth. They can be used during the course of a mission script, and when they are no longer required they can be saved into a pool of reusable characters.
 Stored in the character's object are several values. By default, the character has five personality attributes, and four skills attributes. More can be added to any character at any time by a script.

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 SelectedPerson = SelectedPerson or Character.New({navigation=51})</pre>
 Of course, Selector could be arbitrarily complex, and can be re-used as often as necessary. Each character has details of the last time that a script finished using it, as well as the location where that event took place. These are stored in the '''lastSavedTime''' and '''lastSavedSystemPath''' attributes. These can come in very useful for selecting characters in a realistic fashion.
 === Using the character ===

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
   -- Roll new stats, with a 1/3 chance that they're utterly inexperienced
   hopefulCrew:RollNew(Engine.rand:Integer(0, 2) > 0)
 === Selecting characters that already exist ===

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 === De-persisting a character ===
-If a character is to be retired for any reason (perhaps unused characters need to be pruned, or one just suffered death at the hands of the plot) then it can be removed from the '''Character.persistent''' array using the '''UnSave()''' method.
+If a character is to be retired for any reason (perhaps unused characters need to be pruned, or one just suffered death at the hands of the plot) then it can be removed from '''Character.persistent''' using the '''UnSave()''' method.
 <pre>DeadPerson:UnSave()</pre>

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 === Selecting characters that already exist ===
-Of course, the whole point of persistent characters is that they are reusable. All reusable characters are stored in a global array, named '''PersistentCharacters'''. The '''Character''' class provides two methods for searching for characters to use, as well as plenty of information to help a mission script decide between the various characters that might be on offer. The most useful of these is '''available''', which is a simple boolean flag indicating that the character is not currently being used by another mission.
+Of course, the whole point of persistent characters is that they are reusable. All reusable characters are stored in a global array, named '''Character.persistent'''. The '''Character''' class provides two methods for searching for characters to use, as well as plenty of information to help a mission script decide between the various characters that might be on offer. The most useful of these is '''available''', which is a simple boolean flag indicating that the character is not currently being used by another mission.
-The simplest method for finding characters is '''Character.FindAvailable()'''. This method returns an iterator function, suitable for use in a Lua '''for''' loop. It returns each character in '''PersistentCharacters''' where '''available''' has been set to '''true'''. In this example, we look through all the available characters, and find the first one whose navigation skill is above 50; otherwise, we create a new character with the desired attribute.
+The simplest method for finding characters is '''Character.FindAvailable()'''. This method returns an iterator function, suitable for use in a Lua '''for''' loop. It returns each character in '''Character.persistent''' where '''available''' has been set to '''true'''. In this example, we look through all the available characters, and find the first one whose navigation skill is above 50; otherwise, we create a new character with the desired attribute.
 <pre>local SelectedPerson
@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 <pre>SelectedPerson:Save()
 SelectedPerson = nil -- Free up this variable; the character is safely stored</pre>
-'''Save()''' checks the '''PersistentCharacters''' array for the presence of this character, and if it isn't there, it inserts the character into that array. It then sets '''available''' to '''true''', and updates the '''lastSavedTime''' and '''lastSavedSystemPath''' attributes.
+'''Save()''' checks the '''Character.persistent''' array for the presence of this character, and if it isn't there, it inserts the character into that array. It then sets '''available''' to '''true''', and updates the '''lastSavedTime''' and '''lastSavedSystemPath''' attributes.
 === De-persisting a character ===
-If a character is to be retired for any reason (perhaps unused characters need to be pruned, or one just suffered death at the hands of the plot) then it can be removed from the '''PersistentCharacters''' array using the '''UnSave()''' method.
+If a character is to be retired for any reason (perhaps unused characters need to be pruned, or one just suffered death at the hands of the plot) then it can be removed from the '''Character.persistent''' array using the '''UnSave()''' method.
 <pre>DeadPerson:UnSave()</pre>

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 <pre>local SelectedPerson
 for PotentialPerson in Character.FindAvailable() do
-  if PotentialPerson.navigation &gt; 50 then
+    if PotentialPerson.navigation &gt; 50 then
-    SelectedPerson = PotentialPerson
+        SelectedPerson = PotentialPerson
-    break
+        break
-  end
+    end
 end
 SelectedPerson = SelectedPerson or Character.New({navigation=51})</pre>
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 <pre>local Selector = function (character)
-  return character.available and (character.navigation &gt; 50)
+    return character.available and (character.navigation &gt; 50)
 end
 local SelectedPerson
 for PotentialPerson in Character.Find(Selector) do
-  SelectedPerson = PotentialPerson
+    SelectedPerson = PotentialPerson
-  break
+    break
 end
 SelectedPerson = SelectedPerson or Character.New({navigation=51})</pre>
@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 <pre>local SelectedPerson
 for PotentialPerson in Character.FindAvailable() do
-  if PotentialPerson.navigation &gt; 50 and PotentialPerson:CheckOut() then
+    if PotentialPerson.navigation &gt; 50 and PotentialPerson:CheckOut() then
-    -- This character is ours now!
+        -- This character is ours now!
-    SelectedPerson = PotentialPerson
+        SelectedPerson = PotentialPerson
-    break
+        break
-  end
+    end
 end
 SelectedPerson = SelectedPerson or Character.New({navigation=51})</pre>
@@ Line 150: / Line 150: @@
 <pre>if PotentialCrewmember:TestRoll('lawfulness') then
-  UI.Message('Sorry, I just don't feel comfortable joining your crew')
+    UI.Message('Sorry, I just don't feel comfortable joining your crew')
-  -- Update the time and place, and release this character
+    -- Update the time and place, and release this character
-  PotentialCrewmember:Save()
+    PotentialCrewmember:Save()
 else
-  UI.Message('I would love to join your crew!')
+    UI.Message('I would love to join your crew!')
-  table.insert(crew,PotentialCrewMember)
+    table.insert(crew,PotentialCrewMember)
 end</pre>
 If, for some reason, you really do not wish to modify the attribute, then there is also a '''SafeRoll()''' method, which acts almost exactly the same, except that it has no critical success or failure system.
@@ Line 167: / Line 167: @@
 if not c:TestRoll('juggling') then
-  UI.Message(c.name .. &quot; dropped a ball&quot;)
+    UI.Message(c.name .. &quot; dropped a ball&quot;)
 end</pre>
 Perhaps there isn't much requirement for juggling or sewing on board a ship in Pioneer, but it does serve to illustrate that there are no limitations.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:40, 2 November 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	~~{{outdated}}~~
	Non-player characters can be defined and stored easily using the Character class. Character provides an object which represents a simple character sheet, along with a set of methods with which to operate on it.		Non-player characters can be defined and stored easily using the Character class. Character provides an object which represents a simple character sheet, along with a set of methods with which to operate on it.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
   person = Character.New()
-  person:NewRoll()
+  person:RollNew()
 This will randomize the default attributes but not touch the skills. '''Character.RollNew()''' takes a boolean argument, '''crew'''. If you roll a possible crew member you need to pass '''true''' to also roll for the default crew skills.
   person = Character.New()
-  person:NewRoll(true)
+  person:RollNew(true)
 This is how it's done in the [https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pioneer/blob/master/data/modules/CrewContracts/CrewContracts.lua#L395:L397 CrewContracts] module.