[FOT] Portraits & Mission names

[Misza]

Hello there!

I've got 2 questions which seem simple, but I can't find any obvious solution:

: 1. In the entity editor, how can you set up the little green portrait for an NPC (so that you see who are you talking to) or your squaddies (so that they appear on the bottom of the screen/in the recruit roster)?
Even the "Make" button in the editor, which brings up a regular character creation screen doesn't allow me to choose a portrait (there's nothing to choose from).

: 2. How to set up a mission's name as seen in the world map?
It's neither the "World name" entered when creating a new map, nor any of the edit boxes in the "Select" mode of the level editor.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JJ86]

Hello there!
I've got 2 questions which seem simple, but I can't find any obvious solution:

Welcome! I'll try to help, I assume that you are asking questions based on creating a new campaign?

: 1. In the entity editor, how can you set up the little green portrait for an NPC (so that you see who are you talking to) or your squaddies (so that they appear on the bottom of the screen/in the recruit roster)?
Even the "Make" button in the editor, which brings up a regular character creation screen doesn't allow me to choose a portrait (there's nothing to choose from).

You have to make sure you have extracted all the files from the bos files first. If you haven't done that I can show you how. Then you will have portraits to choose from in the core/gui/char folder. These will all be in the zar format which is viewable with Redviewer! So choose the one you like and then note the file name. Then follow this method:

How do you give certain actors (prefabs, recruits) display portraits?

The name of the .zar file (in core\gui\char) needs to match exactly (it's case sensitive) to the display name of the entity.

For example Farsight's display name is 'CORE_rec_hf03' and her zar filename is 'CORE_rec_hf03.zar'.

: 2. How to set up a mission's name as seen in the world map?
It's neither the "World name" entered when creating a new map, nor any of the edit boxes in the "Select" mode of the level editor.

Thanks in advance!

This is only important if you are making a campaign and for that you will need to open the campaign editor. Let's say your mission name is "Mission1.mis". You will need a campaign.txt file and in there you will have to add the mission's name. Follow the format in the existing campaign.txt file but make sure you back it up before making changes to the original. If you need further help with that I will post a description later.

 

[Misza]

Yup - you got it. I'm just setting my first steps in the campaign making.

Thanks about the portraits - it works.

But about the mission names, it still won't.

For now, my MyCamp_campaign.txt file has only two entries:

cores = {
	  "campaigns/missions/core/MyCamp_mission01.mis;mission01;37;visited;false",
	  "campaigns/missions/core/MyCamp_bunker01.mis;bunker01;25;uncovered;true",
}

The file MyCamp_bunker01.mis doesn't yet exist, so the campaign editor writes "Unknown" beneath - that's ok.
But the first mission is currently being made, but the editor doesn't display anything (neither MyCamp_mission01 nor mission01) - just the plain circle.

What's the problem then: In the original campaign.txt file, there's no mission names btw. - I just did a search for "Brahmin Wood" and the string was not found, so it must be hidden somewhere else.

 

[JJ86]

Hmm, not completely sure but there are other text files that define the names which also must be added into the *.cam file. Check the other text files in the same directory as campaign.txt. I will also look into it.

 

[requiem_for_a_starfury]

The actual mission name that shows up on the world map is stored in locale\game\generic_mission.txt and follows this format:

// CORE MISSION NAMES
mission_name_01 = {Brahmin Wood}

so change "campaigns/missions/core/MyCamp_mission01.mis;mission01;37;visited;false",

to

"campaigns/missions/core/MyCamp_mission01.mis;mission_name_01;37;visited;false",

and then just change the name, in the brackets, in the generic mission file.

 

[Misza]

Thanks - all works now. I didn't think about searching in other .txt files.

I have another two questions now, however (maybe I should create a new topic?):

One thing is about spawn points. Which ones to use? The original missions seem to use SpawnSiglePlayer entities, but in my case, the game ignores them and puts me nowhere, i.e. black screen and no squaddies to control.
Instead, it uses SpawnGeneric or SpawnTeam (the game prefers the latter one). It also ignores SpawnRevisited when I reenter the map putting me on SpawnTeam instead.

The other thing is also about revisiting. In my first mission, another recruit (a robot) is put near the spawn point to assist the main char.
However, when I leave the mission and return back, it's generated again, so I have 2 of 'em (besides the main char). When I leave and reenter again, however, no more are created. Also, any enemies killed when first entered are recreated once (but also only once).
WTF?

 

[requiem_for_a_starfury]

Did you remember to set the spawn point to player index 1?

Sounds like you've used a trigger to give the player a follower? I know that if you use the always condition for some triggers you can reset parts of a map, are the dead guys set to wander around all the time or do the start deactivated and then get spawned by triggers?

Check all your triggers, especially the campaign and those that deal with revisting, also try ticking the option 'remove on exit' under entity edit, this will get rid of the bodies when you revisit.

 

[Misza]

OK - the spawn points are now set to PlayerIndex 1 and these work as expected.

Now the rest...
There are yet no triggers on the map. Both the accompanying char and the raiders (there's yet only two of 'em sleeping in nearby tents) are just put as regular entities. Everyone has the "Remove on exit" checkbox ticked (without it, nothing changes btw).
So maybe it's something with the global map settings (it's type is set to "Custom").
Or maybe it's time to introduce some triggers :

 

[requiem_for_a_starfury]

The setting 'custom' is correct for single player. Not sure what's happening, is this your starting map? If not then you might want to set it up so that the entity starts on another team and once you've talked to it (or done some other condition) it joins your squad. You can set up some campaign variables and triggers so that the map is different each time you visit.