PDA: Is there a way to auto-start a chapter _without_ the player needing to press a button?

Discussion in 'Scenarios' started by Needleship, Jul 22, 2019.

  1. Needleship

    Needleship Master of Custom Terrain

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    Hi there!

    Any PDA wizards or witches out there, that can help me?

    ... Trying to build an alternative EGS tutorial.
    (The current one seems to garner not-so-friendly EGS steam reviews. :/ )

    Is there a way to 'silently' start a chapter without that movement-preventing, in-your-face 'Let's go' button?
    'NoSkip: False' does only that...

    And leaving the Message text empty as "" will give an 'Confirm mission activation?',
    with only a 'Let's go' button as an answer- -
    ...Which doesn't even make sense. :(
     
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  2. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    I also want to know this, the tool I was using for the PDA stopped working since version 10 and I can't seem to continue building my story...:(
     
    #2
  3. Taelyn

    Taelyn Guest

    AutoActivateOnGameStart: True

    Is the only way
    What you can do is this:

    ActivateChapterOnCompletion: NAME OF NEXT CHAPTER

    The tool your refering too @Bollen isnt maintained anymore
     
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  4. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    That's exactly what I have but it don't work....:(
    Auto Activate.PNG
     
    #4
  5. Taelyn

    Taelyn Guest

    It only works on the first time a player joins the server or start a new SP game

    Works fine, just tried it
     
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  6. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    No, it still doesn't start for me... I attach the scenario in case you want to try it. Any ideas what might be wrong?
     

    Attached Files:

    #6
  7. Taelyn

    Taelyn Guest

    Your mission isnt even showing up in the PDA log. Write it by hand clean its abit of a mess :)
     
    #7
  8. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    Oh dear! You right, I hadn't actually tested it properly since 10 came around. I made this with the now obsolete PDATool. I don't think I'm capable of writing it by hand without a more comprehensive tutorial...:(
     
    #8
  9. ravien_ff

    ravien_ff Rear Admiral

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    Copy and paste from a different mission and just change the things you want. :D
     
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  10. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    Trust me, that's the first thing I did... But you also have to configure the .csv file and that's just too much...:confused:
     
    #10
  11. Needleship

    Needleship Master of Custom Terrain

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    Yesssssssss:

    Self-Activation.jpg


    Code:
    Chapters:
    
      - ChapterTitle: "Testing Self-activation!"
        Category: SoloMission
    
        Visibility: ChapterActivation
       
        # CAN BE COMMENTED OUT
        # NoSkip: True
        # Visibility: Always
        # HideTasks: true
        # Activatable: Always
        # Description: "Testing stuff!! Self activation!"
       
    
        ChapterActivation:    
    
          - ActivationType: NearPoi    # One of: NearPOI, NearUnit, NearResource, Signal, PlayfieldEntered, PlayfieldTypeEntered
                                       # NearUnit: Triggers at a distance. With 'Names' use only ONE POIName, and ONE UnitName, like this: [ PoiName, UnitName ]
                                       # Signal: Needs to be named with a '*' in the POI, e.g. *DoorSensorSig
                                       # PlayfieldEntered: The name of the playfield, as defined in sector.yaml
                                       # PlayfieldTypeEntered: Use only with custom playfield templates or at game start.
    
            Names: [ "JunkT1" , "DroneBaseT1" ]    # Uses GroupName, EntityName (Blueprint file name not yet supported)
            ListVisibility: False         # Sets if mission is visible in the PDA. 'True' = Is hidden until chapter activation is triggered
    
            ActivationMessageType: None  # Auto, None, Info, MessageBox
                                         # Auto: Automatically deactivates any current mission and activates this mission immediately. Confirmation message box is shown in middle of screen
                                         # None: No Message, just activates this chapter and the first task & action
                                         # Info: Shows only 'NotifyMessage' text, with 'MessageTime' duration. DOES NOT activate this chapter, but could make it accessible!
                                         # MessageBox: Displays NotifyMessage in box with Accept/decline buttons
           
            NotifyMessage: "Self activated Chapter!! AWESOME!!" # Message in the PDA notification window (Small window just above Toolbar) Works with localisation (different languages)
            MessageTime: 20               # Display time of message in seconds. Default is 10s.
            HighPrio: True                # If true, displays as a red-border message with blaring siren. Default is False.
           
           
            # ActivationType: NearUnit   # Test this
            # Names: [POIName, UnitName] # Test this
            # Distance: 300              # Distance from the entity to trigger (Only used when 'ActivationType: NearUnit'?). NearPOI triggers at 80m Distance?
    
           
        Tasks:
          - TaskTitle: "Self-Activation!"
            StartDelay: 0
            Actions:
              - ActionTitle: "Open PDA [4cd22e](F1)[-]"
                Description: "--"
                Check: WindowOpened
                Names: [ Pda ]
                AllowManualCompletion: true
                CompletedMessage: "norm;30|Totally awesome!!!!"

    Thanks @Hummel-o-War !!!!
     
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  12. ravien_ff

    ravien_ff Rear Admiral

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    So if I'm reading this right... I could set it up so if a player approaches an abandoned ship in orbit, it will pop up this message? This is pretty sweet! :D
     
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  13. Needleship

    Needleship Master of Custom Terrain

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    ... and it seems, it can be all hidden out of sight.
    So, with sensors, you could even do situational POI commentary. :)
     
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  14. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    Yessss indeed! Did you also have to edit the .csv file?
     
    #14
  15. Taelyn

    Taelyn Guest

    No since he wrote everything in the yaml it self
     
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  16. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    I might be stupid here, but I copied this code onto the Yaml and I got multiple errors and it didn't even show up...:(. It looks quite different from the original so I'm not sure how to go about it...
     
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  17. Needleship

    Needleship Master of Custom Terrain

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    Hi @Bollen!

    Since yamls are so 'sensitive'... e.g. an errant extra space somewhere resulting in CoQ - -
    Can you check, which lines produce the error?
    (Open in-game console and compare error lines shown to the PDA lines)

    Or include a truncated PDA.yaml?
    When copying in stuff, often the first line gets an unwanted extra space character.

    ...
    The attached file should work, with a world that has a 'JunkT1' POI, or a 'DroneBaseT1' POI:
     

    Attached Files:

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  18. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    Sigh...! Finally, thank you so much! Finally after years of trying to build this scenario I think I finally have a chance...

    Any ideas where I can find a list of action with their codes? Like for example you have Open PDA [4cd22e](F1)[-]
     
    #18
  19. Needleship

    Needleship Master of Custom Terrain

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    There's no 'official' list there, yet... I started with writing down the actions from the standard scenarios. Most of the actions are included there.
    The rest I tried to guess from the list of the C# 'actions' (Classes?).
    The self-activation was a tip from Hummel-o-War .

    My own 'actions' list is sadly too much cluttered atm... Personal stuff all in there, needs much work, and a translation to english to be legible :/
     
    #19
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2019
  20. Bollen

    Bollen Captain

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    Yeah, it's a real shame the devs haven't fleshed this out. There's so much potential here in terms of possible scenarios, stories, etc.

    I'm afraid to ask but have you been able to trigger the preamble window?
     
    #20

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