What is wrong with this script?

[Rodak]

I posted the following in the Common Script Database yesterday:

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I was doing my "morning debugging" and wound up in an area where having the party visible made things hard to see.

I was still undecided about whether to show the party, or just the leader, most of the time.

Then I thought I'd let the player decide. Here is a script you can set as a system event, put in the success slot of a direct effect, and create an Item I call a Party Hat!

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

Script Branch: Condition: Flag [Party Hat] Off
Party: Gather Speed=Normal
Party: Show Leader
Data: Flag: [Party Hat] On
Script Control: Force Script End
Script Condition End

Script Branch: Condition: Flag [Party Hat] On
Party: Display: Show Party
Data: Flag: [Party Hat] Off
Script Condition End

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

As always, the empty line is just to emphasize structure.

Now people on both sides of this debate can enjoy my game! OK, maybe not. But they can at least choose whether or not to show the party.


<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
EDIT:
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

I think I like "Party Favor" better. It's more descriptive and less likely to be mistaken for armor.

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Then WilliamKirk posted this:
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You'll run into the problem that the player can change the party's order through the default menu. I'll record my scripts/events/indirect effects and post them here, but I don't know how to change mine so that the player has the choice.
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I tested it and I can reorder the party with no bugs. The only problem I found was in pre-existing scripts that used the "show party" command. I had to add a condition based on the "Party Hat" flag (I still have not re-renamed it) telling it to display the leader instead if the flag was in the on position. I am using the Generalized "Party" commands, not the specific "Member" commands. This may be the cause of the confusion.

Am I missing something?

I often miss obvious things with this system.

I am asking here because it seemed wrong to start a "Q & A" in the database.

While I would like to hear from William on this, I thought I'd throw it out for anyone to answer and everyone to see.

Peace.

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EDIT:
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OK, I found the error just before I left for work.

Reordering with the party hidden, and changing leaders, causes an invisible leader.

I will try making an indirect effect that tracks the member order or leader name or whatever, and if it changes simply hide and redisplay the party.

That should solve the problem.

But if WilliamKirk has been working on it for a while, I doubt that my first thought will fix it.

The only potential bug with this solution I foresee is that it may not take effect until the player "takes a step" so the effect can run it's check.

Oy.

[Deleted]

"I will try making an indirect effect that tracks the member order or leader name or whatever, and if it changes simply hide and redisplay the party."

"The only potential bug with this solution I foresee is that it may not take effect until the player "takes a step" so the effect can run it's check."

That's what I did exactly. Make a script called 'Display Leader' and call it at the beginning of every event (so player can't enter menu-change-order-and talk to townsperson while leader is invisible), when returning from a battle (in case old leader was killed), and make an event of it and put it on the taking-a-step-script of a constant 'Custom' indirect effect.

One thing I learned recently is that the 'Custom' indirect effect set to always be on a certain party member only takes effect when that party member is (a) in the party and (b) alive. This means you'll need to put this 'Custom' indirect effect on every party member so that no matter which party members are in the team+alive the taking-a-step-script will still run.

The step thing is something I haven't found a way around, but getting it working is good enough for me.

I'll get the exact scripts, events, and indirect effects and post them for you in an hour or two.

[Deleted]

Indirect Effect goes in every party member's Adv 'Custom Status' slot.

Indirect Effect_
Cus 'Priority' set to 999 (I don't know if this matters)
Cus everything in 'Length' set to 0
Adv 'Type' set to 'Custom Status'
(only scripts needed in Adv are these...)
Adv 'Usable' set to 'Both'
Adv 'Each Result' is where Script/Event goes

Script/Event_
(I realized my whole script except for this one line is all for re-sizing party members )
Party: Display: Show Leader

Script/Event also gets called:

at beginning of every event
in script #19 (?) 'Battle Sxit' before screen becomes transparant
in script #3 (?) 'To Map/Facing' before screen becomes transparant
(I think the last one is only needed if you are re-sizing party members)

To make it a choice for the player (I feel dumb for not realizing this earlier ) just use a flag, a menu command, and a Script: Condition (if you need more help on this last thing ask).

[Rodak]

Wow.

Thanks for the thoughts.

I like opening up cans of worms.

I have a way of giving the illusion of debugging the "take a step" problem if you are interested. Simply put in the indirect effect the message "Take a step to try out your new marching order." This does not fix the problem, but instead adopts it and makes it your friend. The True Hippie Way

I will try that in my next game. Or much later in this one. I have too much else that needs overhauling. It's a bigger job than it's worth for now. I'll just hide the party in certain areas.

Thanks for your help.

Peace.

[thetruecoolness]

Man I made this whole big post about changing the leader name and such based on the party order, and then I realized that the formation command already does that, so after deleting all that my solution ended up the same as the ones already mentioned. Man that was a lot of work to realize that the system already did something for you, unlike how it usually is.

Though to still have it as a choice make one of the page conditions [Party Flag] is off. Also you don't need to put it in Battle Exit, since that doesn't change the display of the party.