8 replies to this topic

[Item]

(((I couldn't tell if I should post this topic here or ZC editor help so I chose this one. If I posted this in the wrong area, just delete it or something)))

 

 

I was thinking to make a quest ((once I get a Windows 7 or 8 or 10)) and do you need some kind of expert coding skills to make your own quest? I'm kinda not good at coding, but if there is coding needed to make a quest, I'll do coding classes. Because one day I will make a quest and it will be great (((I hope. It's been my dream to make a quest and plush it here and it becomes popular.)))

Edited by Unpost, 22 February 2017 - 02:11 PM.

[Orithan]

Coding is not really needed to make a good quest. While many questmakers opt for scripting, there are a lot who don't. As an example; none of a30502355/Xavier's quests, at least to my knowledge, use scripting (aside from one moment in >Link<: Rank 9) and his work is pretty popular in the PZC community.

[Avaro]

Yeah, you just need to be good with the editor. However if you want scripts, you could use existing ones from the database.

Edited by Avataro, 22 February 2017 - 02:31 PM.

[Item]

Yeah, you just need to be good with the editor. However if you want scripts, you could use existing ones from the database.

What kind of editing do you need?

[Aslion]

What kind of editing do you need?

Just knowledge of ZQuest, it's easy to pick up and learn and there are some pretty good tutorials on how to do most things with it. It's pretty simple at its core as far as designing maps and everything goes.

 

Scripting (coding) is only a feature in 2.50 quests and you can make some pretty good stuff without it (see Hero of Dreams, Link to Tortuga) but it can add more complex and polished features to a game. It's not mandatory that you know how to use it but getting a basic grasp of it can definitely help.

[Jamian]

In any case I'd recommend that you first make a quest without scripts until you've got the most important parts of ZQuest figured out (which is not terribly difficult). It's hard to implement scripts without a good knowledge of the basic editor.

[Item]

In any case I'd recommend that you first make a quest without scripts until you've got the most important parts of ZQuest figured out (which is not terribly difficult). It's hard to implement scripts without a good knowledge of the basic editor.

that was basically my plan

[ShadowTiger]

There are TONS of really, really interesting things that you can do in ZQuest that look utterly fantastic and technically impressive without the need to script. I just made a little cutscene where the player steps on a button, and are immediately subject to a tiny cutscene of a door opening on another screen, and are then warped back to the button, which no longer triggers the cutscene. Both screens are real, and there are no dummy screens. All of this is done with no scripting.

Here's how to do this.

Spoiler

The "button" is actually a Stair combo. It warps you to a space on the intended door-opening screen where the player will never be able to go or see the player, such as in the corner of the room with some extra wall padding away from the edges so the player can't accidentally scroll into the next room. Place the wall on layer 5 or 6 to hide the player, place floor borders on layer 1 or 2 to stop the player from walking outside of their little box to the next room, and coat the floor beneath the player on layer 0 with Step->Trigger(Permanent, Sensitive) combos.

Both rooms need to be "Interior" style rooms, FYI. This makes the secret-triggering permanent. Obviously, this also needs to be the only secret in each room. Set this screen's Inherited Secret trigger thing (Forgot what it's called; the thing at the top of the 4th tab of the Screen Data dialog where you select a map and screen to also be triggered by this screen's secrets.) to the screen with the button that's actually a warp.

Make an animation of the door opening. Or not. Doesn't matter. Assign your secret combos to the open door and place them.

Now we're going to do a little bit of cinematic effect. We want to give the player a moment to actually see the change and not be warped INSTANTLY through this whole thing. That means delaying the return warp of the player by a second or two so they can fully absorb what just happened. All this is is combo-cycling the floor they're on to a warp after a few combos, rather than turning the floor directly into a warp combo.

So have that warp combo warp them back to the first screen where they stepped on the "button" and don't forget to place your return warp coordinates AND make sure that it's using the correct warp return point. (A, B, C, or D. It's very easy to forget. I always do.)

Change the secret combo from the button/stairs to a lowered button that does nothing. Place your flags. That's it. An awesome door-opening cinematic, and it only takes five to ten minutes to implement. Your players will thank you.

[Item]

I only read half of it, but I will read the rest later. Also, this is amazing that everyone here is helping me out! And major thanks to ShadowTiger for the huge tips! :^)