Eirik's Joining Dialog

[Kitana]

I understand this for a bioware NPC. A polite refusal makes more sense for a custom NPC, than does response 2 or even "Yeah, it's off to the west - can't stop to chat,..." response. Someone would actually go to the trouble of installing, just for the opportunity to be rude or steal the NPC's possessions?

 

Whenever I play Baldur's Gate, I usually play two to three games on that install. This includes whatever new mods have been released that I think I'd like to play someday. If I don't think a character would travel with an NPC that I'd installed, then sure, the PC won't bring them along. Still, I might or might not take them in another game. I install NPCs whether I want them to join or not at first so that I have more options whenever I really need a new party member for whatever reason.

 

I hate being forced into quests. I usually feel completely overwhelmed with all the stuff I have to do at the beginning of the game- save the circus, kill some slavers, all the stronghold quests... And then NPCs have their own agenda and it just feels like I have to do everything at once... But if a quest has a -real- sense of urgency, like, say, Jan's quest, or often Nalia's, I will drop everything and anything to run off and do the quest.

 

Sure, quests are all well and good- but if somebody shoved someone in my face and my only two options were to help them at once or to rob them... Well, I wouldn't have much of a choice there.

[Miloch]

Miloch has 2 points. One regarding PC dialog, one regarding NPC dialog.

Thanks... I've been out of town and unable to respond. That pretty much summed it up.

I understand why NPC voice consistency is sometimes sub optimal. NPC dialog is usually spread across several files, which can lead to continuity hiccups. In my mind, it's akin to watching the scar on Frodo's cheek flip sides as he and Sam trudge across Mordor in Return of the King: annoying, but not tragic.

Heh. I've never even noticed that and I've seen it several times. I could point out a ton of other inconsistencies though, mainly with the books.

Someone would actually go to the trouble of installing, just for the opportunity to be rude or steal the NPC's possessions?

Hells yes! *whistles innocently* Why? Because it's fun! Actually the character I usually play is pretty snarky and a definite pickpocket but usually not downright rude or a highway robber. But it's good to have as many options as possible. When you first meet Finch for example, she has about six different options, ranging from quite polite to pretty rude. I haven't played all of them but some are pretty funny. Maybe they influence whether she helps you in the battle when you next meet her or something, I dunno. Then again, maybe for this particular character, she would help either way. So the point is, although your NPC's responses may be fairly consistent (or not, as the case may be), the PC's potential responses should encompass quite a range.

[EiriktheScald]

Point taken.

[Miloch]

a la Dynaheir trying to speak 'Olde English' and failing miserably

Oh, gods, no, Dynaheir does *not* speak Old English. If she did, it would have been completely uncomprehensible to all but two language majors in the audience. She speaks a stylized speak coined out by her first Czarina with occasional inverses. It tries to be internally consistent, and some three or four people read the files in sucession to make sure she uses the pronouns more or less properly. But it's no secret that she is Common-Second-Language. She was in the original game. She is understandable, she is exotic, so yep, that's Dynaheir.

I didn't mean Old English, as in whatever Nythrun was quoting (not something I can read ) I meant "Olde English" as in the language of Chaucer or perhaps Shakespeare. It would make sense, if Common or whatever isn't her first language, that Dynaheir doesn't speak it properly. But if she's using an antiquated version of it (also plausible), being an educated person, she should get it right or consistent most of the time at least. I can't give any concrete examples since it's been a while since I've played the mod, but that means "thou hast" not "thee hast" and "I thank thee" not "I thank thou." Maybe it's just a personal petty pet peeve (uck... English really is an abominable language, isn't it? ) but misplaced constructions like that really bother me.

 

Now Minsc I might believe it from, since he's not right in the head (though he annoys me for other reasons, yet amuses me at times too).

 

(Sorry to derail your thread, Eirik but we seem to have concluded the previous discussion and this occurred to me in a separate PM with berelinde so I thought I'd respond to it in the thread in which it came up. If this goes on at any length, someone feel free to move it to BG1 NPC. )

[EiriktheScald]

It is always thoughtful to give the PC as many dialog options as possible. According to Domi, it is a good idea to write PC responses using several PC "voices." She means that you might want to try to anticipate the types of PC Eirik might encounter, and give them appropriate reply options.

 

I've been working on Eirik's join dialog at length; here's the opening dialog:

 

IF ~NumTimesTalkedTo(0)~ THEN BEGIN Chat1.0
SAY ~The days grow more dangerous and the creatures of this wood seem restless. Who are you, and what are you doing on this barren road?~

IF ~~ THEN REPLY ~Our names and our business are our own, and this does not seem a good place to discuss them.~ GOTO Chat1.1

IF ~~ THEN REPLY ~I am called <CHARNAME>. I came by the west road and make my way to the Friendly Arm Inn.~ GOTO Chat1.2

IF ~~ THEN REPLY ~We have been warned of the dangers lurking in the wood. Who are you?~ GOTO Chat1.6

IF ~~ THEN REPLY ~If there be danger lurking in the wood, I assure you that we are more than able to handle it.~ GOTO Chat1.9
END

[Kaeloree]

Can I suggest:

 

IF ~~ THEN REPLY ~Get lost - I've no need for damned simpering singswords who use words as well as weapons.~

 

Or something similar - need an evil option!

[Miloch]

And also:

IF ~~ THEN REPLY ~These are dangerous times indeed, friend.  My name is <CHARNAME> and I tread these roads in search of hapless fools to relieve of their belongings. You'd best be handing over that fancy runed wolfsticker before you fumble it and stab your foot. We wouldn't want any accidents to happen to you.~

Though, to make it more complicated, if Eirik actually took that response as a joke, we might become best buds.

[EiriktheScald]

Heh, I was hoping for comments versus my first draft, not taking requests.

 

@Kaeloree: An evil person may not necessarily be offensive. Consider Xzar's dialog, he appears at first sympathetic. Conversely, a neutral-aligned, or even good-aligned, may be in a foul mood at times. Alright I'll include something a little more brash.

 

@Miloch: And a humorous reply would be a good comeback.