MessageBox Tutorial/Quest Scripts

From The Elder Scrolls Construction Set Wiki

[edit] Some background

Quest scripts are very similar to the activator script. However, just like the activator script the quest script will require a bit of extra coding.

The disadvantage of quests lies in their lack of a clear start. That is, there are no blocks that a quest runs only a single time when it first starts. Instead, the entire script is run every frame. For instance, if we put the onActivate block into the GameMode block:

begin GameMode
  set Choosing to -1
  if (Choosing == -1)
...

then the first menu will be displayed continuously.

To fix this, we need to add another variable:

begin GameMode
  if (Working == 1)
    set Choosing to -1
    set Working to 0
  endif
...

[edit] Setup

1. Create a new quest: Open the quest dialog. Select a quest on the left. Right-click it and select new. Name it accordingly (YourMenu in this tutorial).
2. Write the script:

scn YourMenuScript
Short Choosing
Short Choice
Short Working
Float fQuestDelayTime



Begin GameMode
  If (Working == 1)
    Set Choosing to -1
    Set Working to 0
  Endif


  If (Choosing == 0) ;meaning it shouldn't be running
    StopQuest YourMenuScript
    ;Add anything that needs to be re-initialized
    Return

  Elseif (Choosing == -1) ;Display your menu
    Messagebox "Which option?" "First Option" "Second Option" ... "Tenth Option"
    Set Choosing to 1
    Set Choice to -1
  Elseif (Choosing == 1) ;Catch the player's decision
    If (Choice == -1) ;No choice yet
      Set Choice to GetButtonPressed
    Elseif (Choice == 0) ;First Option
      ;run your code for the first decision
      Set Choosing to 0 ;to finish up
    Elseif (Choice == 1) ;Second Option
      ;run your code for the second decision
      Set Choosing to 0 ;to finish up
;...
;   Elseif (Choice == 9) ;Tenth Option
      ;run your code for the tenth decision
;     Set Choosing to 0 ;to finish up

    Endif
  Endif
End

1. Make sure to save the script as a Quest Script.
2. Attach the script to the quest.
3. You can start your menus from any script with

set YourMenu.fQuestDelayTime to .01
set YourMenu.Working to 1
StartQuest YourMenu

[edit] Notes on using StartQuest/StopQuest

The above uses StopQuest and StartQuest to control when the quest is running. This will prevent the extra if lines from running when they doesn't need to be. [StartQuest#Notes|Be careful when using StartQuest and make sure you don't start it when it's already running.]

The other option is to let the script run all the time. Use the same scripts as above but get rid of the StartQuest and StopQuest lines and set the quest to Start Game Enabled.