Home » SIRTECH CLASSICS » Jagged Alliance: Unfinished Business » Maps, Mods and Editors » Random RPC/NPC placement override
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| Re: Random RPC/NPC placement override[message #241618]
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Mon, 11 January 2010 17:14  
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| the scorpion |
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Messages:1834
Registered:September 2004
Location: CH |
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very good topic, profound. (i have come to like your recent topics, hehe)
My theory is that:
you can place any npc anywhere on the map using proedit, but:
depending on the actual script of the npc's, your placement might or might not be overridden at a certain point of the game. I know this doesn't answer the important question, sry, but this is as far as i can observe it. I can't look at the code and compare each npc placement script.
for exmple, you can place each npc at a9, and they will most likely be in a9 when you enter it. Hamous, Iggy, Devin, Slay, you name them. I recently tested it with Mike (who normally appears as an enemy somewhere in the later course of the game) and he was there (not hostile, i might add)
Now at a certain point of the game, the npc's script comes into play and moves them. For example Tony will, even if you place him somewhere else, reappear in c5. Father walker will appear in the usual sectors (bar, church) even if you place him elsewhere (see for example renegade republic)
Iggy will, if you don't recruit him in a9, be moved to the san mona bar sector and appear there once the necessary progress has been reached. And mike will become an enemy once the necessary progress is reached.
However, for me it sometimes worked with SLAY. I guess this is because the game (default, unmodified) only places SOME of the terrorists. If slay is not placed with this script, the proedit entry will remain valid and he's where we placed him.
btw Leo is @0 in RR. Same places as hamous would appear. Skyrider also, and most others. Actually, these scripts are one very important reason why it is so hard to have a truly new strategic map. In RR, i went as far as not redesigning the city layout totally, due to so many npc's such scripts (and other reasons)
But what will always work is to have them appear in the starting sector, because their scripts usually don't come into play at the very start of the game but only later. Mike and Iggy you can even tweak them (in 1.13)
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Sergeant Major
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| Re: Random RPC/NPC placement override[message #241636]
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Mon, 11 January 2010 23:22
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 profound |
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Messages:64
Registered:October 2004
Location: Lithuania |
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Fine remarks. Then, as for now I see two ways "@0 type" character is placed:
- First way is when a character is placed randomly in one of few non-random maps. E.g. Hamous and his truck.
- Second way is when a map with a character is placed in a generated random sector. E.g. Skywalker (oh, I wrote Starwalker:D)
The second way seems to be more complex, because it binds particular character and particular map, while in the first group characters are only placed in existing map.
So, I think it's more safer to experiment with characters from first group.
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Well, I thought it's quite easy to check how does Hamous situation resolve itself. Place him in a landing sector, recruit, take his truck and teleport to places where he would normally show. Visit all possible sectors and if after the last sector Hamous/truck is still with me and JA2 did not crash - then it's a green light. However, a problem occured - thanks to useful russian Arulco map overview I've counted 25 places(??) where Hamous could appear. According to the same tool, placement is dependent on progress, too.
So for today's evening I'll skip this "walkthrough".
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Corporal
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| Re: Random RPC/NPC placement override[message #241673]
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Tue, 12 January 2010 11:49
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| the scorpion |
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Messages:1834
Registered:September 2004
Location: CH |
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25 locations for hamous? sounds a bit much.
Anyway, i don't think the two ways you mention are actually much different. The _a maps are just another layer for story purposes in skyrider's case. The generation of these maps is synched with skyrider's placement script but IMHO not part of it.
As to your experiment with hamous, i doubt that he could reappear anywhere or cause any issues at all once he's already on your team. But it's good you test it so i can confirm my feeling 
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Sergeant Major
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) the @0 only means an invalid coordinate. It does nothing on its own. You could probably just as well put P15 as a value for all the @0 characters and get the same results. (unless you enabled P15, but since P15 is on the badsectorlist, i doubt you did, unless you were using teleports)