Dragon Age Toolset Wiki - User contributions [en]

Conversation

2009-11-13T19:36:54Z

Ixobelle: /* Looping conversation and re-using lines in multiple places */

Conversations contain lines of dialogue, usually focused on one NPC and the player's interaction with him or her. Each line of dialogue can have the following associated with it:
*The text of the line, which can be displayed in-game
*The voice over (for non-player characters)
*The speaker's facial performance (lip synching and expression)
*[[Stage]] information for positioning the actors and cameras in an area (optional, some conversations can occur anywhere and use default staging)
*[[Cutscene]] cinematics that can potentially override any of the above with more detailed and complex events.

A conversation is usually associated with a [[creature]], which is referred to in the conversation with the "OWNER" tag. They can also be associated with placeables, or simply used as a container for lines of dialogue used in a cutscene.

The main body of the display for this type of object is one or more tree-shaped structures containing all of the lines or actions that can be reached in the course of following this conversation. For example:

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 2.png]]

Red lines are those spoken by NPCs, blue lines are those spoken by the player (usually chosen from a group of alternatives). Grey lines are lines that are 'linked' to other lines, allowing the flow of the conversation to jump to other branches or repeat itself if needed.

Below the main display is a tabbed pane containing options that can be set on a line-by-line basis.

== Global Settings ==

The global settings tab is only present when the root node of the entire conversation is selected. This is where one can set defaults for who is listening and who is talking (in conversations with more than two individuals you'll need to override these defaults on a line-by-line basis as needed).

You can also set a number of flags involved in cinematic effects:
*Lock all gestures
*Lock all poses
*Lock all RoboBrad
*Lock all cameras
*Ambient Soundset Type

Also available in the root node are a simplified plot and scripting tab (see below for details) that allows you to modify plot flags and trigger scripts when the conversation ends; this is helpful for preventing errors and saving time when crafting a conversation that is always supposed to have the same effect on the world when it's over but that has many different conversation end nodes scattered throughout it.

The cinematics tab of the root node allows default cinematics information to be set, which is inherited by the rest of the nodes in the conversation unless overridden.

Finally, the root node has a conversation synopsis text field where a summary of the content and purpose of the conversation can be placed for ease of reference.

== Dialogue ==

[[Image:Conversation dialog.png]]

This tab contains the string of text that is displayed to the player when this node in the tree is reached.

At the lower left corner are some statistics for this line and for the conversation it's a part of.

*Player Response Length Maximum: 60 characters
*NPC Response Length Maximum: 200 characters

Also in the lower left corner is the string ID for this line of dialog, which is used when recording voice over audio.

=== Formatting tags ===

==== Emphasis tags ====

To indicate that a word in spoken text is emphasized, use <emp> tags. In subtitles, text inside the tags will be bolded.

For example: "I don't <emp>think</emp> so." appears in-game as: "I don't '''think''' so."

==== Description tags ====

Description <desc> tags are used in three ways: 1) To set apart a non-spoken sound (NPC lines), 2) To describe action that is not voiced (player lines), 2) To indicate that a persuade line is a lie or charm (player lines), 3) For text that describes an object (object lines).

In subtitles, text inside <desc> tags will be italicized and put into parentheses.

1) Unspoken sounds (such as a sigh, sob, or grunt of pain) - NPC lines only.

Write out the sound, not a description of the sound.
* Incorrect: "No! Please don't kill me! <desc>gurgling sound as she is stabbed</desc>
* Correct: "No! Please don't kill me! <desc>Aaargh!</desc>

"If only... <desc>sigh</desc> Alas, it cannot be." appears in-game as: "If only... ''(sigh)''' Alas, it cannot be."

2) Persuade lines that need to be marked as "lie" or "charm" - player lines only: When a line that has been flagged in the toolset as a "Persuade" line needs to me marked as a specific "lie" or "charm", write Lie or Charm at the line's beginning. Then, use <desc> tags around that word so that it will be set off from the rest of the line.
For example: <desc>Lie</desc> "Of course I didn't report you to the authorities." appears in-game as: "''(Lie)'' Of course I didn't report you to the authorities."

3) Text that describes an object - Object lines only: When a line is created to describe an inanimate object, such as a bookcase or chest, descriptive lines for that object should be marked with <desc> tags. The writer creates a "character" in the toolset ("bhm700_bookcase"), and writes a line to describe that object. For example, <desc>This bookcase is full of dusty, moldering books.</desc> or <desc>The phylactery is warm to the touch and filled with a small amount of viscous, red liquid. You see no way to open it.</desc>

* Correct: <desc>This bookcase is full of dusty, moldering books.</desc>
All such text should be written in third-person, present tense, with the player always referred to as "you".
* Incorrect: <desc> The phylactery is warm to the touch and filled with a small amount of viscous, red liquid. I can't see any way to open it.</desc>
* Correct: <desc>The phylactery is warm to the touch and filled with a small amount of viscous, red liquid. You see no way to open it.</desc>

The tech designer will need to create a placeable in the appropriate area. The character for that placeable should be set as "null". (This indicates that no VO recording is needed for that line.) It should also be set to appear on the screen even if subtitles are turned off by default.

==== Action Tags ====

Action tags <act> describe player action. In subtitles, text inside <act> tags will be italicized and put into parentheses.

For example: "If that's the way you want it. <act>Kill the soldier.</act>" appears in-game as: "If that's the way you want it. ''(Kill the soldier.)''"

* Incorrect: {Owner}: "Here. Take this. <act> Opens chest, removes sword.</act> It was your father's."

=== Macros ===

The <FirstName/> macro will be replaced with the first name entered by the player for his character. Since the player character's name can be anywhere up to 20 characters long, player lines using the <FirstName/> macro can only have 40 characters (not including the macro itself).

Macros are used fairly rarely in Dragon Age since voiceovers accompany most lines and cannot be modified to match lines with variable text.

=== Other settings ===

Also on this tab are some additional flags and tags that can be set for this line.
*Skill/Icon - allows an icon to be placed next to this line indicating that a skill must be used when the line is selected by the player
*Speaker Tag and Listener Tag - defines which character is the speaker and which is the listener (can be set to default)
*Language - defines which language the line is spoken in.
*Fast Path - Any line with "Fast Path" set will be the first option presented to a player when they reach this conversation node. This can be useful if you want to provide an easy way to blow through the conversation tree without having to read it; if you mark the shortest path through the tree with this flag the player will only have to tap the "1" key to pass through it. You can also do this without the fast path flag by arranging your conversation nodes in the correct order, but restructuring an entire conversation tree for this purpose is a more complex task.

== Plots and Scripting ==

See [[conversation plots and scripting]] for details on how to use plots and scripts to make certain lines of dialog "conditional" (appearing or not appearing based on conditions in the game) and how to have certain lines cause scripted actions and change plot flags.

This tab also includes an option to easily set a line so that it appears to a player only once (either once per conversation or once per game).

== Cinematics and Animation ==

See [[conversation cinematics and animation]] for details of how to control the performance of your virtual actors. Conversations without cinematic direction set for them will use a default over-the-shoulder camera style that's serviceable for most conversations, but which might become dull when used for all of them. Adding some animation and varying the camera angles can go a long way to spicing up a conversation, and for special events you can add much more than that - even integrating full-blown cutscenes into the middle of a conversation.

== Localization and Editing ==

These two panels are used for keeping track of the status of the localization and editing process for this line. This is useful for large-scale collaborative projects, such as Dragon Age itself, but may not be of as much use for individual adventure designers.

== Slide Show ==

The Slide Show tab is used to produce a simple form of "cutscene" that consists of a pre-rendered still image that's shown while the line is displayed or voiced. Images used in a slide show can be in [[TGA]], [[TPC]] or [[DDS]] format.

== Toolbars ==

[[Image:Conversation toolbar labeled.png]]

* "Find links" generates a list of other places in the tree that have this line as their child. See the "looping conversations and re-using lines" section below.
*The highlighting toolbar is handy for rapidly finding and paging through conversation nodes with particular properties. There's forward and backward buttons for jumping from highlighted node to highlighted node, and a set of togglable highlight selection buttons that turn on and off highlighting based on node characteristics.
* "Once-per" lines include both once-per-conversation and once-per-game
* Highlighting lines with plot involvement will prompt you to select which particular plot to highlight.

== Looping conversation and re-using lines in multiple places ==

Although the basic structure is tree-shaped, the flow of the conversation can be structured to return back to previous nodes in the conversation. To cause a node in the tree to repeat:

*select the node you want to return to,
*"Copy" it (control-C, or select copy from the right-click menu),
*select the node you want the repeated response to be a child of,
*select "Paste as link" from the right-click menu (keyboard shortcut: control-shift-V)

The link node will appear in gray and cannot be edited. If you edit the original copy of the node all linked copies will reflect the change. You can only link nodes that have the same type (player/non-player), the paste-as-link option won't be available if the node currently saved to the clipboard can't be linked to a child of the currently selected node.

To find the original copy of a linked node, right-click on the grey node and select "Jump to Target".

Using the "once per conversation" or "once per game" visibility setting for the children of a repeating node is useful for preventing the player from cycling multiple times through the exact same dialogue.

== Recording VO ==

To record your own voice-over, you'll need some method for recording your voice as a wav file. Windows comes with a basic sound-recording program but other more sophisticated programs are available free for download as well. The wav file must be recorded in or converted to PCM 24 khz 16 bit mono format, otherwise the process will fail and an error message will be displayed in the log.

Real vo needs to be stored in ~installpath~\Dragon Age\addins\[moduleuid]\module\override\toolsetexport\[lineid]_m.wav - you can dump wav files anywhere under the toolsetexport directory and they will be picked up but for organizational purposes you should probably organize it into subfolders grouped by conversation.

The wav file's filename must be of the form "[lineid]_m.wav" with [lineid] replaced by the ID number for the conversation line's string table entry. For example, if a conversation's line ID number is 344169, you'd save the voice over for this line as "344169_m.wav".

When you select "generate VO" from the toolset, the toolset will first check the above directory for properly named files. Any wav files that are not present will have robo vo created, and any that do exist will be used as-is.

A quick way to verify that voice over generation worked after processing: go to My Documents\Dragon Age\packages\core\override\[conversationname].fsb and play it with windows media player. You will hear all of the VO lines for that conversation packaged together with whatever combination of real and robo VO all slapped together in one file.

== Glossary of design terms ==

* Branch: A dialogue option that adds flavor to a conversation, but doesn't change the direction of the plot or story. Branches always come back together at a choke point.
* Clarification Hub: This allows a player to return to an NPC and clarify plot elements, get directions, or find out information about the current area. Generally, an single NPC line asks the player what he wants; a list of questions is then available to the player. Once the player has received an answer, the same list reappears (minus the question just asked). The player can loop infinitely through this NPC dialogue.
* Path: The dialogue options players can select that change the direction of a plot or story. For example, when a player is given the option of accepting a quest, there are two different resulting paths (based on a "Yes" or "No" answer). Unlike branches, paths never come back together. Each path has a different ending condition.
* Question Hub: A list of questions presented to a player that allows him to ask multiple questions to clarify information he's just learned. After a response is given, the player can ask the remaining questions. It's possible to loop indefinitely through a question hub, but only by asking non-critical questions. Unlike a clarification hub, at least one question drives the conversation tree forward and eliminates all remaining questions. For example, an NPC gives plot critical information; once she relates the details, the player can ask four specific questions. Three of the questions are non-critical: they give flavor and/or enhance role-playing. These questions allow for infinite looping. However, the fourth question drives the conversation forward and eliminates all other questions. This important question should always be located beneath the "lesser" questions.

== Associated Links ==

*[[conversation cinematics and animation]]
*[[Conversation plots and scripting]]
*[[Conversation tutorial]]

[[Category:Conversations]]

Installing the toolset

2009-11-10T01:58:05Z

Ixobelle: /* Lightmapper */

The Dragon Age Toolset installer comes with several pieces of third-party software that are needed for the toolset to function. They are:

* DirectX 9.0c
* Visual C Runtime Library
* Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 Edition
* Nvidia PhysX drivers

These components will be installed along with the toolset by the toolset's installer.

== Location ==

The first screen you'll get to after starting the installer and passing the title page is the install location selector. The toolset can only install the program into a specific subdirectory of the Dragon Age game directory, so you won't be able to alter the installation path; it's for informational purposes.

'''Note:''' MSSQL Express 2005 is bundled with this toolset and is required for it to function. Unfortunately, MSSQL Express 2005's installer has a limitation that prevents it from installing to a directory path that's longer than 58 characters.<sup>[http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935371]</sup>

Follow the instructions on [[installation into a directory with a long path name]] for a workaround on this issue.

== Components ==

The next screen after location has been selected is where you can choose which components to install. There are only two selectable components here; Core Resources (the toolset itself) and Microsoft SQL Server Express. To run the toolkit you'll obviously need to install the Core Resources option. SQL Server is presented as a separate option so that if you already have a database server installed on your system you can use that instead of installing a whole new one.

If you don't have an SQL server installed, or if you don't know whether you have one installed, it's safe to go with the default and install SQL Server Express. SQLServer's installer will check the existing components and, finding that all required components are already in place, won't do anything after you click "finish."

== Manual database selection ==

If you choose not to install SQL Server Express, the installer will ask for a database server and database name to install the toolset's resource database to instead. The default server is <code>.\BWDATOOLSET</code> and the default database name is <code>bw_dragonage_content</code>.

== Installation ==

Once you have selected these options the Dragon Age toolset will begin the installation process. This can take a while. When the install process is finished you'll be given the option to read a readme.txt file.

The toolset will create a start menu folder named "Dragon Age". The start menu folder will include a link to start the toolset, a link to the toolset's uninstaller, and a link to the toolset's external configuration utility.

The installer will write a log file in your My Documents folder. If installation fails this log file will be helpful for debugging purposes.

If you are installing over a previous version of the toolset, you may need to update the format of your old database to make it compatible with the new version of the toolset. See [[database migration]] for details.

=== Lightmapper ===

The [[lightmap]]per is the tool used to calculate lighting in level layouts. You only need to use it if you're going to be creating or modifying level layouts. The lightmapper included with the toolset requires Python to run but Python isn't currently bundled with the toolset, so if you don't already have it installed you'll need to do the following:

#Install Python 2.5
#Install the win32all extensions for Python 2.5 (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/)

The easiest way to do this is to download and install [http://www.activestate.com/activepython/ Activestate Python] 2.5, which comes with the needed extensions. Just click through the defaults on the installer and you will be ready to go.

*If you don't have Python installed and try to run the lightmapper, you'll receive a standard Windows error message indicating that "EclipseRay.exe has stopped working.

*Note for 64 bit machines: There appears to be a bug with the 64-bit version of ActiveState Python 2.5 for Windows that prevents the lightmapper from functioning. Install the 32-bit version instead, it works. Otherwise, you could try the installer from Python.org (you'll have to add the win32com package manually).

== Configuration ==

The external configuration utility is used to configure the toolset's database connection. You shouldn't need to run the configuration utility during routine usage of the toolset, and if the defaults set up by your installer work you may not need to run it at all.

The default database string is "<code>Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;Initial Catalog=bw_dragonage_content;Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS</code>". For advanced configuration, click on the ellipsis button ([[Image:ellipsis.png]]) to open the data link properties window.

Note that the configuration utility will first ask where the game build is. The game executable is not currently available for distribution but it is not necessary for the toolset to run so there's no need to be concerned about this.

== Uninstallation ==

An uninstaller shortcut is available from the same start menu folder as the toolset itself. It will autodetect the location you installed the toolset in, display it to you to confirm that this is correct, and then after you click "next" it will ask which components to uninstall.

* Core Resources - uninstalled by default, this is the toolset itself.
* Database - Since the uninstaller can't automatically determine if you're using SQLServer Express purposes other than just the Dragon Age toolset, SQLServer is ''not'' uninstalled automatically by default. To have the uninstaller remove the database server as well, unselect this checkbox.

The uninstaller is generated on installation and therefore isn't signed. This may cause Vista to complain under some circumstances but shouldn't affect the uninstaller's functioning.

== Troubleshooting ==

See [[installation troubleshooting]] for a list of common problems that can occur during installation and how to correct or work around them.

Note that there is currently an issue with installing the toolset for games that have been installed via Steam. See [[Installation with Steam]] for specific instructions on how to resolve this issue. If you have installed your game in a directory with a path name longer than 58 characters you may also encounter this same issue.

If you experience a crash logs can be found in <code>My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Toolset\logs</code>. The log filenames will include the date on which the log file was created. Sending in a log will help greatly with bug fixing.

== Documentation ==

Documentation is currently provided via the wiki at:

http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/

[[Category:Toolset installation]]

Material editor

2009-11-08T19:34:15Z

Ixobelle: /* Root */ Explained the difference between libraries and objects.

Materials are a combination of textures that can be "painted" onto surfaces in the game.

Each material can have the following texture layers:

*diffuse - defines the color of the light that is reflected off of the surface
*emissive - defines the color of the light that is emitted from the surface (ie, the color that the surface glows)
*normal - the "slope" of the surface. This simulates roughness by varying how light reflects off of the surface, creating shadows and hightlights on an otherwise flat plane.
*relief - the "bumpiness" of the surface. This map displaces the surface, for instance allowing a flat plane to be painted with a cobblestone material that creates bumps and cracks. Unlike normal maps these bumps are "real", with rises that are able to occlude dips when viewed from a low angle.
*specular - the "shininess" of the surface
*tint - A uniform color that can be applied to modify the shade of a material. This allows materials to be given variant appearances with very little additional work.

== Root ==

At the root of the material project you can insert the following:

*[[Image:IconMaterialObject.png]] Model
*[[Image:IconMateriaLibrary.png]] New material library
*[[Image:IconMateriaLibrary.png]] New tint library
*[[Image:IconMaterialPaletteLibrary.png]] New palette library
*[[Image:IconMaterialPaletteLibrary.png]] New Heraldry library
*[[Image:IconMaterialLight.png]] New Light
*[[Image:IconMaterialLight.png]] The Sun

Libraries themselves aren't directly editable, though. Once you've created a library, you'll need to right click the library and insert an actual object to be tinkered with.

For example: right click Root > insert Tint library > right click Tint library > insert new tint object.

The 'tint object' itself can then be adjusted and manipulated. The same goes for all the above library types.

Libraries can have groups added, which are similar to subdirectories for organizational purposes.

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|Name|}}
{{inspector section|Buffer Effect 1}}
{{inspector row|Name|}}
{{inspector section|Buffer Effect 2}}
{{inspector row|Name|}}
{{inspector section|Buffer Effect 3}}
{{inspector row|Name|}}
{{inspector section|Layout Setting}}
{{inspector row|Layout|}}
{{inspector row|Layout Visible|}}
{{inspector section|Location}}
{{inspector row|Position X|}}
{{inspector row|Position Y|}}
{{inspector row|Position Z|}}
{{inspector row|Rotation Pitch (degrees)|}}
{{inspector row|Rotation Roll (degrees)|}}
{{inspector row|Rotation Yaw (degrees)|}}
{{inspector end}}

== Material Properties ==

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|Material Name|}}
{{inspector row|Material Type|}}
{{inspector row|Material Semantic|}}
{{inspector row|Name|}}
{{inspector row|Sound Material Type|Materials of type "Prop Default" don't have a sound material type.}}
{{inspector end}}

Material type can be:

* Black
* Canopy
* Character
* Cloth
* Clouds
* Diffuse Distortion
* Distortion
* Eye
* Eyelash
* Face
* General GUI
* Hair
* Instancing
* Lava
* Prop Default
* Sky
* Static
* VFX
* Water
* Weapon
* Weapon Trail

Material Semantic can be:

* Atlas
* Default
* Hero
* HeroAlpha
* HeroPunch
* LOD1Blend
* LOD1BlendFlat
* LOD1Punch
* LOD1Relief
* LOD3(Static3)
* LOD3Punch

Sound Material Type can be:

*Unknown
* Wood
* Sand
* Leaves
* Grass
* Stone
* Dirt
* Puddle
* Water
* Mud
* Ice
* Snow
* Hollow wood
* Metal
* Gravel
* Carpet

=== Diffuse ===

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|Enable Diffuse Map|True/false}}
{{inspector row|Diffuse Map|A [[TGA]] or [[DDS]] file}}
{{inspector row|Diffuse (Preview Texture)|Pops up a window displaying a larger view of the diffuse map}}
{{inspector row|Diffuse (Refresh Texture)|Reloads the diffuse map from disk and rebuilds the texture}}
{{inspector section|Export}}
{{inspector row|ResRef|}}
{{inspector end}}

=== Normal ===
{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|Enable Normal Map|True/false}}
{{inspector row|Normal Map|A [[TGA]] or [[DDS]] file}}
{{inspector row|Normal (Preview Texture)|Pops up a window displaying a larger view of the normal map}}
{{inspector row|Normal (Refresh Texture)|Reloads the normal map from disk and rebuilds the texture}}
{{inspector section|Export}}
{{inspector row|ResRef|}}
{{inspector end}}

=== Specular ===

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|Enable Specular Map|True/false}}
{{inspector row|Specular Map|A [[TGA]] or [[DDS]] file}}
{{inspector row|Specular (Preview Texture)|Pops up a window displaying a larger view of the specular map}}
{{inspector row|Specular (Refresh Texture)|Reloads the specular map from disk and rebuilds the texture}}
{{inspector section|Export}}
{{inspector row|ResRef|}}
{{inspector end}}

=== Tint ===

Only materials of type "Prop Default" can have a tint.

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|Enable Tint Map|True/false}}
{{inspector row|Tint Map|A [[TGA]] or [[DDS]] file}}
{{inspector row|Tint (Preview Texture)|Pops up a window displaying a larger view of the diffuse map}}
{{inspector row|Tint (Refresh Texture)|Reloads the diffuse map from disk and rebuilds the texture}}
{{inspector section|Export}}
{{inspector row|ResRef|}}
{{inspector section|Tint Files}}
{{inspector row|Tinting File|}}
{{inspector end}}

== Tint properties ==

Tints are stored in a separate tint library within the material project.

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|General}}
{{inspector row|For Export| true/false}}
{{inspector row|Import TNT file| Import a [[TNT]] file for this tint}}
{{inspector row|Name|}}
{{inspector row|Name Descriptor|}}
{{inspector row|Tint Type|}}
{{inspector section|Red Channel}}
{{inspector row|Enable Tint R|}}
{{inspector section|Green Channel}}
{{inspector row|Enable Tint G|}}
{{inspector section|Blue Channel}}
{{inspector row|Enable Tint B|}}
{{inspector section|Alpha Channel}}
{{inspector row|Enable Tint A|}}
{{inspector end}}

Tint type can be:

* 3 Channel Tint
* Makeup Lip Tint
* Makeup Eye Tint
* Makeup Blush Tint
* Skin Tint
* Tattoo Tint

For the R, G, and B channels, enabling each will enable the following properties:

{{inspector start}}
{{inspector section|Channel}}
{{inspector row|Enable Tint Channel|True/False}}
{{inspector row|Diffuse Color|}}
{{inspector row|Diffuse Intensity|}}
{{inspector row|Diffuse Opacity|}}
{{inspector row|Specular Color|}}
{{inspector row|Specular Intensity|}}
{{inspector row|Specular Opacity|}}
{{inspector end}}

== Models ==

Models can be placed in the material project's display area to allow textures to be tested and compared as work progresses.

== Palette objects ==

Palette objects are similar to materials, but much simpler.

== Heraldry ==

A heraldry object is a diffuse texture that's intended to overlay an existing material like a decal.

Morph

2009-11-08T00:49:09Z

Ixobelle: /* Parameters */ Indicated the dropdown for more color section choices.

[[Image:New resource.png|thumb|The new resource menu contains a "Morph" option]]

Morphs are highly customizable heads that can be added to many of the common humanoid creatures in Dragon Age to create unique characters. They are not listed on the palette window; to create a new morph you'll have to go to the "File" menu, select "New", and then select "Morph" from the list of resource types.

A morph must first start with a basic head shape. Select one from the drop-down menu in the toolbar (it defaults to "choose base", indicating the need to select one) and the head will appear in the main display. The camera can be maneuvered around it using many of the same basic controls used elsewhere in the toolset. The head bases that are available include male and female versions of Human, Dwarf, Elf, and a gender-neutral child's head.

Once the base is selected, an enormous number of options will become available in the object inspector for modifying the exact shape and texture of the head. Hairstyles and beards can be added, tattoo textures can be overlaid on the skin, and so forth - there are hundreds of parameters.

To speed the creation of unique generic NPCs, the "randomize" button in the toolbar will set the various shape parameters to random values. This doesn't affect all facial features, however, since many of the adjustable features would look quite bizarre when set to extreme values. Generally the effects of the randomize button are limited to tabs 4 through 8, and it doesn't affect all of the features even on those. Manual customization may still be required to produce a truly diverse crop of NPCs.

Note that for some features (for example, lip color) the opacity defaults to 0%, so you may not see an immediate effect when changing them unless you set the opacity higher first.

[[Image:Morph editor.png|600px|thumb|center]]

== Beards and facial features ==

There are two basic types of beards available for facial morphs; model beards and stubble beards. Stubble beards are simply a texture overlay, and have no particular special effects associated with them. Model beards are three-dimensional objects that are affixed to the face, and it is important to be aware of certain limitations that come with using them.

In order to make a physical beard model fit properly onto the face, some facial features must be set to their default values. This is so that, as an example, one doesn't wind up with the tip of the chin poking out through the end of the beard. When you add a physical beard model to a head morph these specific facial features are automatically snapped to their default values and are locked there for as long as the beard is in place. If the beard is removed they become editable again, but it is important to note that they do ''not'' return to whatever values they had before the beard was added. So make the decision on whether a character has a physical beard before you spend a lot of time adjusting his jawline and other such details.

== Debug features ==

There are a number of features with "debug" in their names that are intended only to allow a facial artist to get a better view of certain parts of a facial morph, and if they are set to anything other than zero the morph won't be usable by the rest of the toolset. The most obvious example is the "teeth debug" parameter, which pulls the lips back to expose the model's teeth so that they can be adjusted in plain view.

== How to use a morph in your module ==

Morph is an art tool, not a design tool, and so it uses a somewhat different mechanism for making its output available to the designer than the other tools that come with the toolset. You can save a morph as a file in your regular filesystem but when you go to select a head morph in the creature designer you won't be able to import directly from the filesystem to use it.

Instead, you need to export the morph via the "post to local" command under the "Tools"->"Export" menu (alternately, right-click on the morph's display window and select "post to local" from the menu). Once the morph has been exported, it will be available in the creature creator's morph list when the appropriate body appearance model is selected (eg, a human female head morph is usable with a human female body appearance).

If you want to make a slight variation on an existing morph (say for example to change the hair colour or add a scar), load the mrh file of the desired morph, and then 'save as' with a new file name. Make your changes and save, then once again export to local. To make the new variant available, use "View"->"Refresh".

== Morph files ==

There are actually two files for every morph.
*.mrh - This is the source file for the morph data and can be saved anywhere and loaded from anywhere.
*.mor - This is the generated/processed binarized gff file that the game uses. You can change these in the toolset but it's not recommended.

To get the *.mor file you need to use the "export" command.

To edit an existing .mrh, you can either drag and drop the .mrh into the toolset or open the *.mrh from the toolset.

The head morph tool concatenates the two letter prefix (HM for human male, HF for human female, etc.) to the filename for you. If you saved a resource called "myhead", for example, and it was a human male then it would export a hm_myhead.mor. If it was a female dwarf it would save it as df_myhead.mor

The drop down for the head morph will also auto generate the two letter prefix based on the gender and appearance of the creature you are making.

== Deleting a morph ==

Morphs are an art asset, and as such are not stored in the database in the same manner as other resources. You can find morph files (.mor extension) in the \Dragon Age\packages\core\override\toolsetexport directory, to remove one simply delete it.

== Parameters ==

{{sidebox|
* Keep in mind that when selecting colors, you can open up a dropdown list where you browse for colors, and choose "All Tint Files *.tnt" to get a much wider range of color choices. The Tattoo colors especially (t1_tat_*) are very vibrant, and can give you 'very blue eyes', for example.
}}

Choose Base model name:

*HM_UHM_BASE - Human Male
*HF_UHM_BASE - Human Female
*DM_UHM_BASE - Dwarven Male
*DF_UHM_BASE - Dwarven Female
*EM_UHM_BASE - Elven Male
*EF_UHM_BASE - Elven Female
*QM_UHM_BASE - ??? Male
*QF_UHM_BASE - ??? Female
*KN_UHM_BASE - Child

*(Opacity 0.00 least color - 1.00 full color)
*(Anything 0.00 to 1.00 or -1.00 to 1.00 is a slider)
*(Left and Right = Left and Right of Morph Face not Left and Right as you look at the face.)

01. MATERIAL:

01. Face:

*Skin Color: 8 choices
*Lip Makeup Color: 27 choices
*Lip Makeup Opacity: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blush Makeup Color: 30 choices
*Blush Makeup Opacity: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eye Makeup Color: 36 choices
*Eye Makeup Opacity: 0.00 - 1.00

02. Skin Texture:

*Base Skin Texture: 12 choices
*Blend Skin Texture: 12 choices
*Blend Right Eye: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Left Eye: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Right Cheek: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Left Cheek: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Left Forehead: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Right Forehead: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Middle Forehead: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend All Override: 0.00 - 1.00

03. Skin Type:

*Blend Right Eye: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Left Eye: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Right Cheek: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Left Cheek: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Left Forehead: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Right Forehead: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend Middle Forehead: 0.00 - 1.00
*Blend All Override: 0.00 - 1.00

02. PART SELECTION:

1. Model: (Base model Chosen when starting.)

2. Parts:

*Eye Color: 11 choices
*Eyes: 2 choices
*Eye Texture: 16 choices
*Hair and Beard Color: 10 choices
*Hair: 17 choices
*Beard: 7 choices
*Eye Lashes: 1 choice
*Lashes Texture: 4 choices

3. Tattoo:

*Tattoo Mask: 14 choices
*Tattoo Channel 1 Color: 15 choices
*Tattoo 1 : R Channel: 0.00 - 1.00
*Tattoo Channel 2 Color: 15 choices
*Tattoo 2 : G Channel: 0.00 - 1.00
*Tattoo Channel 3 Color: 15 choices
*Tattoo 3 : B Channel: 0.00 - 1.00
*Tattoo Channel 4 Color: 15 choices
*Tattoo 4 : A Channel: 0.00 - 1.00

4. Brow and Stubble:

*Brow and Stubble Colors: 10 choices
*Bushy Eyebrows: 0.00 - 1.00 (only available if regular eyebrows set to 0.00)
*Regular Eyebrows: 0.00 - 1.00
*Thick Eyebrows: 0.00 - 1.00 (only available if regular eyebrows set to 0.00)
*Thinned Eyebrows: 0.00 - 1.00 (only available if regular eyebrows set to 0.00)
*Goatee: 0.00 - 1.00
*Soul Patch: 0.00 - 1.00
*Mustache: 0.00 - 1.00
*Pork Chops: 0.00 - 1.00

5. Crew Cut Selection:

*Sheppard: 0.00 - 1.00
*Receeding Hairline: 0.00 - 1.00
*Balding Hairline: 0.00 - 1.00

03. FEATURE SELECTION:

01. Shape:

*Head Shape 01: 0.00 - 1.00
*Head Shape 02: 0.00 - 1.00
*Head Shape 03: 0.00 - 1.00
*Head Shape Fat: 0.00 - 1.00
*Head Shape Thick: 0.00 - 1.00
*Head Shape Thin: 0.00 - 1.00
*(You can only choose to adjust one of these shapes.)

02. Nose:

*Eastern Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Flat Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Long Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Pig Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Straight Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*Thick Nose: 0.00 - 1.00
*(You can only choose to adjust one of these shapes.)

03. Eye Shape:

*Eye Shape 01: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eye Shape 02: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eye Shape 02: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eye Shape 04: 0.00 - 1.00
*(You can only choose to adjust one of these shapes.)

04. Universal Shapes:

*Shape Chubby: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Skinny: 0.00 - 1.00
*(You can adjust both of these.)

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

04. NOSE:

01. Targets:

*Nose Bend Left/Right: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Bridge In/Out: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Bridge Thin/Wide: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Up/Down: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Out/In: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Smaller/Larger: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Tip Up/Down: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nose Tip Out/In: -1.00 - 1.00
*Nostrils Narrow/Wide: -1.00 - 1.00

02. Shape:

*Nose Shape 1: 0.00 - 1.00
*Nose Shape 2: 0.00 - 1.00
*Nose Shape 3: 0.00 - 1.00
*Nose Shape 4: 0.00 - 1.00
*Nose Shape 5: 0.00 - 1.00
*Nose Shape 6: 0.00 - 1.00
*(You can choose to adjust any or all of these.)

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

05. MOUTH:

01. Targets:

*Mouth Back/Forward: -1.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Corner Up/Down: -1.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Up/Down: -1.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Lips Fat/Thin: -1.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Lower Lip Fat: 0.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Lower Lip Up: 0.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Narrow/Wide: -1.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Over/Underbite: -1.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Upper Lip Down: 0.00 - 1.00
*Mouth Upper Lip Fat: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

06. EYES:

01. Targets:

*Eye Bags: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eye Brow Back/Forward: -1.00 - 1.00
*Eye Brow Down/Up: -1.00 - 1.00
*Eye Narrow/Wide: -1.00 - 1.00
*Eye Position Down/Up: -1.00 - 1.00
*Eyelash Fan: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eyelash Length: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eyes Back/Forward: -1.00 - 1.00
*Eyes Larger: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eyes Small: 0.00 - 1.00
*Eyes Squint: 0.00 - 1.00

02. Debug

Debug Cornea Larger/Smaller: -1.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

07. CHEEKS:

01. Targets:

*Cheeks Back/Forward: -1.00 - 1.00
*Cheeks Bones In/Out: -1.00 - 1.00
*Cheeks Gaunt: 0.00 - 1.00
*Cheeks Lower: 0.00 - 1.00
*Cheeks Up: 0.00 - 1.00
*Cheeks Wide: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

08. JAW:

01. Targets:

*Jaw Chin Down/Up: -1.00 - 1.00
*Jaw Chin In/Out: -1.00 - 1.00
*Jaw Chin Thin/Wide: -1.00 - 1.00
*Jaw Lower: 0.00 - 1.00
*Jaw Narrow/Wide: -1.00 - 1.00
*Jaw Square Shape: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

10. TEETH:

01. Targets:

*TeethChippedtoothLeft: 0.00 - 1.00
*TeethChippedtoothRight: 0.00 - 1.00
*TeethMissingLeft: 0.00 - 1.00
*TeethNoFront: 0.00 - 1.00
*Teeth Back/Forward: -1.00 - 1.00
*Teeth Close/Separate: -1.00 - 1.00
*Teeth Down/Up: -1.00 - 1.00

02. Debug:

*Teeth Wide/Narrow: -1.00 - 1.00
*Teeth Debug: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

11. EARS:

01. Targets:

*Ears Down/Up: -1.00 - 1.00
*Ears In/Out: -1.00 - 1.00
*Ears Large/Small: -1.00 - 1.00
*Ears Rotate Outwards: 0.00 - 1.00
*Ears Wide/Narrow: -1.00 - 1.00

02. Debug:

Ears Debug for Hair Crashing: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

12. NECK:

01. Targets:

*NeckApple: 0.00 - 1.00
*NeckThin: 0.00 - 1.00
*Neck Back: 0.00 - 1.00
*Neck Wide: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

13. BROWS:

01. Targets:

*Brow Down/Up: -1.00 - 1.00
*Forehead Out/In: -1.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

13. VIEW SETTINGS:

1. Light:

*Light Model: 6 choices
*Light Probe: 4 choices

2. Camera:

*Distance: Numeric
*Orientation: 3 coordinates
*Position: 3 coordinates

3. Object:

*Orientation: 3 coordinates
*Position: 3 coordinates

4. Facial Animation:

*FA name: Blank
*FA set: 5 choices

14. EXPORT SETTINGS

General:

Export .mop file: True/False (False default)

14. UNIQUE SHAPES:

01. Targets:

*Fat Man: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Alistair: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Daveth: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Duncan: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Jory: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape King Cailan: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Loghain: 0.00 - 1.00
*Shape Old Male: 0.00 - 1.00

Reset
*(Left clicking in box to right resets all selections to 0.00)

== Tints and hairstyles ==

Tints and hairstyles often have somewhat uninformative names. The following thumbnails provide a preview summary of what these tints and hairstyles represent:

=== Dwarf male beards ===

<gallery>
Image:dm_brd_b1a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b1a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b1a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b1a_0 side
Image:dm_brd_b2a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b2a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b2a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b2a_0 side
Image:dm_brd_b3a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b3a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b3a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b3a_0 side
Image:dm_brd_b4a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b4a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b4a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b4a_0 side
Image:dm_brd_b5a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b5a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b5a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b5a_0 side
Image:dm_brd_b6a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b6a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b6a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b6a_0 side
Image:dm_brd_b7a_0 front.jpg | dm_brd_b7a_0 front
Image:dm_brd_b7a_0 side.jpg | dm_brd_b7a_0 side
</gallery>

=== Human female hairstyles ===

<gallery>
Image:hf_har_blda_0 front.jpg |hf_har_blda_0 front
Image:hf_har_blda_0 side.jpg | hf_har_blda_0 side
Image:hf_har_ha1a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_ha1a_0 front
Image:hf_har_ha1a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_ha1a_0 side
Image:hf_har_ha2a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_ha2a_0 front
Image:hf_har_ha2a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_ha2a_0 side
Image:hf_har_ha3a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_ha3a_0 front
Image:hf_har_ha3a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_ha3a_0 side
Image:hf_har_ha4a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_ha4a_0 front
Image:hf_har_ha4a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_ha4a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hb1a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hb1a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hb1a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hb1a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hb2a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hb2a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hb2a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hb2a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hb3a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hb3a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hb3a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hb3a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hb4a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hb4a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hb4a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hb4a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hc1a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hc1a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hc1a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hc1a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hc2a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hc2a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hc2a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hc2a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hc3a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hc3a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hc3a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hc3a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hc4a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hc4a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hc4a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hc4a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hd1a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hd1a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hd1a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hd1a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hd2a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hd2a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hd2a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hd2a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hd3a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hd3a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hd3a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hd3a_0 side
Image:hf_har_hd4a_0 front.jpg |hf_har_hd4a_0 front
Image:hf_har_hd4a_0 side.jpg | hf_har_hd4a_0 side
</gallery>

=== Human male beards ===

<gallery>
Image:hm_brd_b1a_0 front.jpg | hm_brd_b1a_0 front
Image:hm_brd_b1a_0 side.jpg | hm_brd_b1a_0 side
Image:hm_brd_b2a_0 front.jpg | hm_brd_b2a_0 front
Image:hm_brd_b2a_0 side.jpg | hm_brd_b2a_0 side
Image:hm_brd_b3a_0 front.jpg | hm_brd_b3a_0 front
Image:hm_brd_b3a_0 side.jpg | hm_brd_b3a_0 side
Image:hm_brd_b4a_0 front.jpg | hm_brd_b4a_0 front
Image:hm_brd_b4a_0 side.jpg | hm_brd_b4a_0 side
Image:hm_brd_b5a_0 front.jpg | hm_brd_b5a_0 front
Image:hm_brd_b5a_0 side.jpg | hm_brd_b5a_0 side
Image:hm_brd_b6a_0 front.jpg | hm_brd_b6a_0 front
Image:hm_brd_b6a_0 side.jpg | hm_brd_b6a_0 side
</gallery>

=== Human male hairstyles ===

<gallery>
Image:hm_har_blda_0 front.jpg | hm_har_blda_0 front
Image:hm_har_blda_0 side.jpg | hm_har_blda_0 side
Image:hm_har_ha1a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_ha1a_0 front
Image:hm_har_ha1a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_ha1a_0 side
Image:hm_har_ha2a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_ha2a_0 front
Image:hm_har_ha2a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_ha2a_0 side
Image:hm_har_ha3a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_ha3a_0 front
Image:hm_har_ha3a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_ha3a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hb1a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hb1a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hb1a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hb1a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hb2a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hb2a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hb2a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hb2a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hb3a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hb3a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hb3a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hb3a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hb4a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hb4a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hb4a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hb4a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hc1a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hc1a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hc1a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hc1a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hc2a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hc2a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hc2a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hc2a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hc3a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hc3a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hc3a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hc3a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hc4a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hc4a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hc4a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hc4a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hd1a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hd1a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hd1a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hd1a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hd2a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hd2a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hd2a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hd2a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hd3a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hd3a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hd3a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hd3a_0 side
Image:hm_har_hd4a_0 front.jpg | hm_har_hd4a_0 front
Image:hm_har_hd4a_0 side.jpg | hm_har_hd4a_0 side
</gallery>

=== Eye shadow ===

<gallery>
Image:t1_mue_bk1.jpg | t1_mue_bk1
Image:t1_mue_bk2.jpg | t1_mue_bk2
Image:t1_mue_bk3.jpg | t1_mue_bk3
Image:t1_mue_bl1.jpg | t1_mue_bl1
Image:t1_mue_bl2.jpg | t1_mue_bl2
Image:t1_mue_bl3.jpg | t1_mue_bl3
Image:t1_mue_gn1.jpg | t1_mue_gn1
Image:t1_mue_gn2.jpg | t1_mue_gn2
Image:t1_mue_gn3.jpg | t1_mue_gn3
Image:t1_mue_gr1.jpg | t1_mue_gr1
Image:t1_mue_gr2.jpg | t1_mue_gr2
Image:t1_mue_gr3.jpg | t1_mue_gr3
Image:t1_mue_or1.jpg | t1_mue_or1
Image:t1_mue_or2.jpg | t1_mue_or2
Image:t1_mue_or3.jpg | t1_mue_or3
Image:t1_mue_pi1.jpg | t1_mue_pi1
Image:t1_mue_pi2.jpg | t1_mue_pi2
Image:t1_mue_pi3.jpg | t1_mue_pi3
Image:t1_mue_pu1.jpg | t1_mue_pu1
Image:t1_mue_pu2.jpg | t1_mue_pu2
Image:t1_mue_pu3.jpg | t1_mue_pu3
Image:t1_mue_re1.jpg | t1_mue_re1
Image:t1_mue_re2.jpg | t1_mue_re2
Image:t1_mue_re3.jpg | t1_mue_re3
Image:t1_mue_ro1.jpg | t1_mue_ro1
Image:t1_mue_ro2.jpg | t1_mue_ro2
Image:t1_mue_ro3.jpg | t1_mue_ro3
Image:t1_mue_te1.jpg | t1_mue_te1
Image:t1_mue_te2.jpg | t1_mue_te2
Image:t1_mue_te3.jpg | t1_mue_te3
Image:t1_mue_wh1.jpg | t1_mue_wh1
Image:t1_mue_wh2.jpg | t1_mue_wh2
Image:t1_mue_wh3.jpg | t1_mue_wh3
Image:t1_mue_ye1.jpg | t1_mue_ye1
Image:t1_mue_ye2.jpg | t1_mue_ye2
Image:t1_mue_ye3.jpg | t1_mue_ye3
</gallery>

=== Lip colour ===

<gallery>
Image:t1_mul_bk1.jpg | t1_mul_bk1
Image:t1_mul_bk2.jpg | t1_mul_bk2
Image:t1_mul_bk3.jpg | t1_mul_bk3
Image:t1_mul_pi1.jpg | t1_mul_pi1
Image:t1_mul_pi2.jpg | t1_mul_pi2
Image:t1_mul_pi3.jpg | t1_mul_pi3
Image:t1_mul_pu1.jpg | t1_mul_pu1
Image:t1_mul_pu2.jpg | t1_mul_pu2
Image:t1_mul_pu3.jpg | t1_mul_pu3
Image:t1_mul_re1.jpg | t1_mul_re1
Image:t1_mul_re2.jpg | t1_mul_re2
Image:t1_mul_re3.jpg | t1_mul_re3
Image:t1_mul_ro1.jpg | t1_mul_ro1
Image:t1_mul_ro2.jpg | t1_mul_ro2
Image:t1_mul_ro3.jpg | t1_mul_ro3
Image:t1_mul_ta1.jpg | t1_mul_ta1
Image:t1_mul_ta2.jpg | t1_mul_ta2
Image:t1_mul_ta3.jpg | t1_mul_ta3
Image:t1_mul_te1.jpg | t1_mul_te1
Image:t1_mul_te2.jpg | t1_mul_te2
Image:t1_mul_te3.jpg | t1_mul_te3
Image:t1_mul_wh1.jpg | t1_mul_wh1
Image:t1_mul_wh2.jpg | t1_mul_wh2
Image:t1_mul_wh3.jpg | t1_mul_wh3
</gallery>

=== Skin tone ===

<gallery>
Image:t1_skn_001.jpg | t1_skn_001
Image:t1_skn_002.jpg | t1_skn_002
Image:t1_skn_003.jpg | t1_skn_003
Image:t1_skn_004.jpg | t1_skn_004
Image:t1_skn_005.jpg | t1_skn_005
Image:t1_skn_006.jpg | t1_skn_006
Image:t1_skn_007.jpg | t1_skn_007
Image:t1_skn_blank.jpg| t1_skn_blank
</gallery>

=== Eye colour ===

<gallery>
Image:t3_eye_amb.jpg | t3_eye_amb
Image:t3_eye_blk.jpg | t3_eye_blk
Image:t3_eye_dbl.jpg | t3_eye_dbl
Image:t3_eye_dbr.jpg | t3_eye_dbr
Image:t3_eye_grn.jpg | t3_eye_grn
Image:t3_eye_gry.jpg | t3_eye_gry
Image:t3_eye_hzl.jpg | t3_eye_hzl
Image:t3_eye_ice.jpg | t3_eye_ice
Image:t3_eye_lbl.jpg | t3_eye_lbl
Image:t3_eye_lbr.jpg | t3_eye_lbr
Image:t3_eye_tea.jpg | t3_eye_tea
</gallery>

=== Hair colour ===

<gallery>
Image:t3_har_blk front.jpg|t3_har_blk front
Image:t3_har_blk side.jpg| t3_har_blk side
Image:t3_har_bln front.jpg|t3_har_bln front
Image:t3_har_bln side.jpg| t3_har_bln side
Image:t3_har_dbl front.jpg|t3_har_dbl front
Image:t3_har_dbl side.jpg| t3_har_dbl side
Image:t3_har_dbr front.jpg|t3_har_dbr front
Image:t3_har_dbr side.jpg| t3_har_dbr side
Image:t3_har_gry front.jpg|t3_har_gry front
Image:t3_har_gry side.jpg| t3_har_gry side
Image:t3_har_lbr front.jpg|t3_har_lbr front
Image:t3_har_lbr side.jpg| t3_har_lbr side
Image:t3_har_org front.jpg|t3_har_org front
Image:t3_har_org side.jpg| t3_har_org side
Image:t3_har_rbr front.jpg|t3_har_rbr front
Image:t3_har_rbr side.jpg| t3_har_rbr side
Image:t3_har_red front.jpg|t3_har_red front
Image:t3_har_red side.jpg| t3_har_red side
Image:t3_har_wht front.jpg|t3_har_wht front
Image:t3_har_wht side.jpg| t3_har_wht side
</gallery>

== Blush colour ==

<gallery perrow="3">
Image:T1_mub_bk1.jpg | t1_mub_bk1
Image:T1_mub_bk2.jpg | t1_mub_bk2
Image:T1_mub_bk3.jpg | t1_mub_bk3
Image:T1_mub_br1.jpg | t1_mub_br1
Image:T1_mub_br2.jpg | t1_mub_br2
Image:T1_mub_br3.jpg | t1_mub_br3
Image:T1_mub_or1.jpg | t1_mub_or1
Image:T1_mub_or2.jpg | t1_mub_or2
Image:T1_mub_or3.jpg | t1_mub_or3
Image:T1_mub_pi1.jpg | t1_mub_pi1
Image:T1_mub_pi2.jpg | t1_mub_pi2
Image:T1_mub_pi3.jpg | t1_mub_pi3
Image:T1_mub_pu1.jpg | t1_mub_pu1
Image:T1_mub_pu2.jpg | t1_mub_pu2
Image:T1_mub_pu3.jpg | t1_mub_pu3
Image:T1_mub_re1.jpg | t1_mub_re1
Image:T1_mub_re2.jpg | t1_mub_re2
Image:T1_mub_re3.jpg | t1_mub_re3
Image:T1_mub_ro1.jpg | t1_mub_ro1
Image:T1_mub_ro2.jpg | t1_mub_ro2
Image:T1_mub_ro3.jpg | t1_mub_ro3
Image:T1_mub_ta1.jpg | t1_mub_ta1
Image:T1_mub_ta2.jpg | t1_mub_ta2
Image:T1_mub_ta3.jpg | t1_mub_ta3
Image:T1_mub_te1.jpg | t1_mub_te1
Image:T1_mub_te2.jpg | t1_mub_te2
Image:T1_mub_te3.jpg | t1_mub_te3
Image:T1_mub_wh1.jpg | t1_mub_wh1
Image:T1_mub_wh2.jpg | t1_mub_wh2
Image:T1_mub_wh3.jpg | t1_mub_wh3
</gallery>

== Tattoos ==

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
|-
! Tint file !! Colour
|-
| t1_tat_blk || Black
|-
| t1_tat_dgn || Dark Green
|-
| t1_tat_org || Orange
|-
| t1_tat_blu || Blue
|-
| t1_tat_dpu || Dark Purple
|-
| t1_tat_pnk || Pink
|-
| t1_tat_brn || Brown
|-
| t1_tat_drd || Dark Red
|-
| t1_tat_pur || Purple
|-
| t1_tat_dbl || Dark Blue
|-
| t1_tat_grn || Green
|-
| t1_tat_red || Red
|-
| t1_tat_dbr || Dark Brown
|-
| t1_tat_gry || Grey
|-
| t1_tat_yel || Yellow
|}

You can use a different colour for each Tattoo layer.

You can combine (layer) Tattoos 1 to 4 for each Tattoo mask if desired.

Sliders 0.00 to 1.00 determines darkness of the Tattoo.

All screen shots set at 1.00, black colour

<gallery>
Image:uh tat av1 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat av1 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat av1 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat av1 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat av1 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat av1 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat av1 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat av1 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat av2 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat av2 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat av2 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat av2 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat av2 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat av2 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat av2 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat av2 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat av3 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat av3 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat av3 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat av3 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat av3 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat av3 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat av3 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat av3 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat dw1 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat dw2 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat ed1 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat ed2 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat ed3 0t tattoo 4
Image:uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 1.jpg | uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 1
Image:uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 2.jpg | uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 2
Image:uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 3.jpg | uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 3
Image:uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 4.jpg | uh tat ed4 0t tattoo 4
</gallery>

[[Category:Morphs]]

Character generation

2009-11-07T20:03:33Z

Ixobelle:

A [[module]] with no event script will start the player without going through character generation, which will leave the player with an almost unusable character to play with. To send the player through a basic character generation UI use the below script as the module event script. This is done by first creating the below script, and saving it, then opening your module properties (file > manage modules > properties), and changing the "script" field to be whatever you named your script (hit the ellipsis and browse for it).

<dascript>
#include "events_h"
#include "global_objects_h"

void main()
{
event ev = GetCurrentEvent();
int nEventType = GetEventType(ev); //extract event type from current event
int nEventHandled = FALSE; //keep track of whether the event has been handled
switch(nEventType)
{
case EVENT_TYPE_MODULE_START:
{
PreloadCharGen(); //preloads resources needed for character generation
StartCharGen(GetHero(),0); //initiates character generation
break;
}
}
if (!nEventHandled) //If this event wasn't handled by this script, let the core script try
{
HandleEvent(ev, RESOURCE_SCRIPT_MODULE_CORE);
}
}
</dascript>

Another quick and dirty method that skips the character generation interface:

<dascript>
#include "sys_chargen_h"
#include "utility_h"

...

case EVENT_TYPE_MODULE_START:
{

// skip character generation
object oHero = GetHero();
Chargen_InitializeCharacter(oHero);
Chargen_SelectGender(oHero,GENDER_MALE);
Chargen_SelectRace(oHero,RACE_HUMAN);
Chargen_SelectCoreClass(oHero,CLASS_WARRIOR);
Chargen_SelectBackground(oHero,BACKGROUND_NOBLE);

// give the player some equipment
object oItem = UT_AddItemToInventory(R"gen_im_arm_cht_lgt_rlr.uti");
EquipItem(oHero,oItem);
oItem = UT_AddItemToInventory(R"gen_im_arm_bot_lgt_rlr.uti");
EquipItem(oHero,oItem);
oItem = UT_AddItemToInventory(R"gen_im_arm_glv_lgt_rlr.uti");
EquipItem(oHero,oItem);
oItem = UT_AddItemToInventory(R"gen_im_arm_shd_sml_wdn.uti");
EquipItem(oHero,oItem);
oItem = UT_AddItemToInventory(R"gen_im_wep_mel_lsw_lsw.uti");
EquipItem(oHero,oItem);

break;
}
</dascript>

Another alternative is to create a template creature and then call LoadItemsFromTemplate to copy it to the player.

<dascript>
case EVENT_TYPE_MODULE_START:
{
// skip character generation
object oHero = GetHero();
Chargen_InitializeCharacter(oHero);
Chargen_SelectRace(oHero,RACE_HUMAN);
Chargen_SelectCoreClass(oHero,CLASS_WARRIOR);
Chargen_SelectBackground(oHero,BACKGROUND_NOBLE);

LoadItemsFromTemplate(oHero, "gcd_hero.utc", TRUE);

break;
}
</dascript>

For a quick-and-dirty level up, you could add the following to one of the examples above:

<dascript>
...

#include "sys_rewards_h"
const int FORCE_AUTOLEVEL = 2;

...

case EVENT_TYPE_MODULE_START:
{
object oHero = GetHero();
...
// Make character level 10
int nTargetLevel = 10;
RewardXP(oHero, RW_GetXPNeededForLevel(nTargetLevel), FALSE, FALSE);
SetAutoLevelUp(oHero, FORCE_AUTOLEVEL);
...
}
</dascript>

A more sophisticated script could include other setup code, for example triggering an introductory cinematic to inform the player of the game's plot.

[[Category:Character generation]]

Conversation tutorial

2009-11-07T07:33:34Z

Ixobelle: /* Adding some dialog */

Dialog is perhaps the most important part of making an adventure into a story. In Dragon Age, dialog is a collection of lines that are arranged in an interactive tree-shaped structure. This tree structure can be simple or complex, and each line can have conditions and actions attached to it that interact with the state of the world at large.

For this tutorial we will start simple and then progressively add new features and options to a [[conversation]] as we go. Later on there will be a separate tutorial for adding cinematic direction to conversations.

== Creating and setting a conversation for a creature ==

{{sidebox|
* The root node of a conversation tree holds global (conversation-wide) settings.
}}

In the [[creature tutorial]] we created a [[creature]] named "Quest Giver", who is standing outside a hut that's filled with monsters. The goal is to have the quest giver ask you to go in and kill all the monsters for him.

First, we need to create the conversation resource. Using the new resource command, select "conversation" and give it a resource name that will help keep track of its purpose. We're calling this conversation "conv_quest_giver". The new conversation starts out empty, with only a "root" node. The root node of a conversation doesn't contain any dialog itself; it is merely a container that holds various global settings that apply to the conversation as a whole.

With the root node highlighted, the global settings become accessible in the tabbed pane at the bottom of the conversation editing window:

[[Image:Conversation root global settings.png]]

{{sidebox|
* "OWNER" is the creature the conversation "belongs" to.
* "PLAYER" is the player's character
* A conversation is assigned to a creature in the ''creature's'' properties (the "Conversation" property)
}}

These settings have defaults that will be perfectly good for a conversation between a PC and a single NPC, as we will be doing here. The "OWNER" of the conversation will be the creature the conversation is attached to - in this case, Quest Giver. The "PLAYER" is, of course, the player's character.

*Default NPC Speaker: This is the the creature who, by default, responds to the player's dialog selections.
*Default NPC Listener: This is the creature who the NPC is directing those responses to. This is used to determine who the NPC should turn his head toward when speaking.
*Default PC Listener: This is the creature who the PC is talking to when he makes dialog selections, determining who the PC's avatar turns his head toward.

These settings can be overridden on a line-by-line basis, something you'll usually only need to do when you're writing a conversation with more than two participants. We won't do that in this introductory tutorial. It's also possible to have an inanimate object (a placeable) as a participant in a conversation, which we also won't get into here.

Also on this page are a number of checkboxes for locking cinematics. This is usually used to prevent the toolset from generating new automatic animations after you've fine-tuned things manually, we won't need to worry about that for now.

Once the conversation resource is created, we'll need to tell the quest_giver creature that he's supposed to use it when the player tries to talk to him. Open the quest giver in the creature editor and change his "Conversation" property from the default (none) to "conv_quest_giver" by pressing the ellipsis ([[Image:ellipsis.png]]) button and selecting the conv_quest_giver dialog.

== Adding some dialog ==

{{sidebox|
* Red lines of dialog are spoken by NPCs one at a time
* Blue lines of dialog are selected from by the player and are presented as groups of options
}}

To add a line to the root, you can right-click on it and select "Add Line". It's also available as a button in the toolbar (button #23, below) and with the shortcut "control-A".

[[Image:Conversation toolbar.png]]

The added node will be in red text, indicating it's non-interactive (spoken by the NPC) and tagged with <nowiki>[[[[OWNER]]]]</nowiki> to indicate who's speaking it. When the player initiates conversation with the conversation's owner, this is the first line that will be said.

To determine what it is that the conversation owner says, select the node and go down to the dialog tab to enter the text. For the time being we won't need to worry about the other options below the dialog's main text entry field.

[[Image:Conversation dialog.png]]

Once the creature has spoken its line, the player needs to be prompted to give some sort of response. The player could greet the Quest Giver, ask him a question, or choose to ignore him. To add these options, select the line you just added and "Insert line" three times. This will add three blue lines as children of the red one. In each of these lines' dialogue tabs, add the text of the response the player can give.

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 1.png]]

Here's how it looks in game once we've initiated this conversation:

[[Image:Conversation tutorial quest giver speaks.png|600px]]

The conversation can continue being built in this vein with one NPC response for each of the player's options and one or more player options branching out in turn. When the player runs off the end of the conversation it ends, sending him back to explore mode.

{{sidebox|
* "Copy" and then "Paste as Link" allows conversation trees to loop or merge branches
}}

Thanks to this branching pattern it is possible for a conversation's volume to grow at an exponential rate, rapidly becoming very tedious to write. Worse, there could be many points within a conversation tree where the same lines might be spoken, leading to redundancy. This can be solved by "linking" lines to each other, allowing the conversation to jump from one branch to another or to loop back on itself to replay parts over again.

In this example, we'll have the Quest Giver respond to the player's first option with "Excellent! I have a quest I need performed for me!". At this point the player could respond with the same "Oh? What quests do you have in mind?" line that was an option initially, leading to the same response. Rather than duplicate the entire tree, select the existing "Oh? What quests do you have in mind?" line and copy it to the clipboard (control-C, or right click copy, or edit -> copy). Then select the new owner line and paste as link (control-shift-V, right click paste as link, or edit -> paste as link)

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 2.png]]

The linked line is shown in gray. To find out where a grey line links to, right-click on it and select "Jump to Target" (or just double click it). To find all the places the target line is linked to from, right-click on it and select "Find Links"

Now both of these paths through the conversation will lead to the same line, wherein the Quest Giver tells the player that the hut behind him is full of monsters. We can add an option to the dialog after this where the player can accept the mission to slay them all, and now when he enters the hut to fight them there will be more of a story behind about how he came to that point.

== Keeping track of quests via plots ==

{{sidebox|
* Plots contain lists of flags for keeping track of quest status and other world events
* Each flag can also contain journal text for the player to read
}}

Now that we have a mechanism in place where we can assign a quest to the player we'll want some way to keep track of his progress. In Neverwinter Nights this was done using scripting directly, but in Dragon Age a new type of resource has been introduced that helps to simplify the process. These are "[[Plot]]s". Go to the resource palette and create a new plot with the resource name "clear_the_hut".

A plot consists of a series of named flags that can be set to true or false. The intent is for these flags to represent significant accomplishments or developments in the plot, with the values being set in response to the player's actions. Each flag can also have an associated journal text, a block of text that is displayed in the player's journal under the plot's title. Journal text is normally used to keep the player informed of his progress and remind him of important information he's discovered along the way.

We'll need to give the plot a "Name" property, which will be seen by the player as the plot's title in the journal. This plot's name will be "Clear the Hut". There are three significant landmarks in the course of this plot; the moment the player accepts the plot, the moment the player has succeeded in slaying all of the monsters in the hut, and the moment when the player reports back to the quest giver to receive his reward. We will therefore create three flags:

*QUEST_ACCEPTED
*MONSTERS_SLAIN
*REWARD_RECEIVED

Create flags by right-clicking on the plot editor and selecting "Insert -> Main Flag", or by clicking on "Insert Main Flag" in the toolbar, or by selecting "Edit -> Insert -> Main Flag" from the menu bar.

[[Image:Plot tutorial 1.png]]

Each time a plot flag is set, that flag's journal text replaces the previous text that was in the journal for that plot.

{{sidebox|
* The "Action" section of the "Plots and Scripting" tab of a conversation node allows plot flags to be set (made "true") or unset (made "false") when that line is finished
* The "Condition" section of the tab allows the line to be hidden or shown to the player based on the state of plot flags
}}

The easiest way to set a plot flag is in a conversation. When the player accepts the quest to slay the monsters in the hut, we'll want to set the "QUEST_ACCEPTED" flag of the clear_the_hut plot. Select the line where the player accepts the quest and then click on the "Plots and Scripting" tab. Under the "Action" section we'll want to select the clear_the_hut plot. It won't initially appear in the dropdown list since we haven't selected it before (the dropdown list contains recently-used resources), so click on the ellipsis button and select it from the list of all plot resources. Then, once the correct plot is accepted, select the "QUEST_ACCEPTED" flag. The default action is "set", which will set the flag to true.

Now when we reach this line in the conversation, the "QUEST_ACCEPTED" flag in the clear_the_hut plot will be set to true. This will also update the player's journal to show the journal text associated with that plot flag. You'll note that an "A" also appears in the icon for this conversation node, an indicator that this line of dialog has an action associated with it.

{{sidebox|
* The first NPC (red) line that can be shown to a player will be; all subsequent NPC lines branching from the same node will be hidden
* Make sure the last child line of a node has no condition attached so that there will always be a default line to show the player
}}

Once the quest has been accepted, it makes no sense for the Quest Giver to offer it a second time. Indeed, if the player were to partially complete the quest and then accept it all over again, his progress through the quest would be disrupted and quite likely unexpected errors would slip into the game. Therefore, we are going to go back to the first line in this conversation and add a condition to it. Select the first line, go to the "Plots and Scripting" tab, and this time put the "clear_the_hut" plot in the ''condition'' section. Set the flag to "QUEST_ACCEPTED", and set the condition to "is false".

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 4.png]]

This means that this line of dialog will only appear if the quest has not yet been accepted. You'll note that a "C" appears in the node icon to indicate that this line of dialog has a condition attached. Since all of the other lines of dialog depend on this line appearing, including the offer of the quest and the line where the player accepts it, this means that the quest can only be accepted once; once it's been accepted the quest giver will not offer it again.

However, this will now leave the quest giver with nothing at all to say. We'll want to give him a different line to say instead. Select the root node of the conversation tree, add a line, and you'll get a second "first" line for the quest giver to say. The game will always pick the first line that can be spoken, so the player will never see the line "Have you slain the monsters yet?" until after he has accepted the quest and the line "Ahoy! I am the Quest Giver!" becomes hidden.

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 5.png]]

{{sidebox|
* Player responses can also be made conditional, being hidden from the player if the condition fails.
}}

Conditions can also be placed on player lines. In this case, we want the player to only be able to tell the quest giver that he's completed the quest once the monsters are actually dead. We'll be showing how the MONSTERS_SLAIN flag will be set up later, using scripting, but the details of how it is set are not important right now; we can set the conversation up to account for it and implement it later.

Set the condition for the line "Yes, I have" to require the MONSTERS_SLAIN flag to be true. The subsequent response from the quest giver can then set the REWARD_RECEIVED flag to true.

To prevent the player from accepting his reward multiple times, add a condition to the line "Have you slain the monsters yet?" to require REWARD_RECEIVED to be false. Finally, add a third line off of root for the quest giver to say once the quest has been confirmed completed and there's nothing more for him to do.

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 6.png]]

And there you have it, a simple interactive conversation that will affect and be affected by the world around it.

== Simple stages ==

{{sidebox|
* Stages define where characters stand and how the camera is positioned during a conversation
* A conversation without a stage will use a basic default camera positioning
* You need to define a stage for a conversation before you can give the actors animations
}}

If you run through the conversation as it currently exists you'll find that all of the mechanics are there, but that the performance of our virtual actor leaves a lot to be desired - he simply stands there silent and motionless, staring at the player. The camera angle is also somewhat bland. This can be remedied by adding a [[stage]] to perform the conversation in.

A stage is a set of locations where the participants in a conversation will be positioned, and locations where various cameras will be placed. Create a new stage resource and name it something informative, such as hut_exterior_quest_giver. You'll be presented with an empty, featureless stage. The stage editor window defaults to having four different views of the stage; if you want to change this you can find the setting for this under the "Tools->Options" menu.

{{sidebox|
* "place" objects are spots where the conversation's participants will stand
* The identity of the creatures occupying places is set in the conversation editor
* Each place should have a default camera selected. This camera is used by default when the creature occupying that place is talking.
}}

Stages can be complex but in this case we'll keep it simple. Right-click somewhere near the center of the stage and insert a "place" object, and then again to insert a second "place" object. You'll create two blank-looking yellow figurines. These figurines will represent the two creatures who will be involved in the conversation, the player and the quest giver. You'll want to turn one of them to face the other and put them relatively close together.

You'll then want to insert a camera for the conversation to use. Right-click, select insert, and select camera. Position the camera so that it has a view over the shoulder of one of the two figures and is looking at the other figure, a standard over-the-shoulder shot. You can adjust the camera more easily by setting one of the four views to be the camera's view; right-click on the frame, go down to the "camera" option, and select which of the cameras the frame should provide the view of. You can also select the "Safe Frame" option, which puts a border on the view showing only what will be visible in-game.

[[Image:Stage tutorial 1.png]]

For each place you'll want to define a default camera; this is the camera that will be used to view the creature standing in this place when that creature is talking in the game. Select the place and in the object inspector select "camera1" for the default camera.

If you wish, you can put in additional cameras. In the conversation editor you will have options to select which cameras are active, and even to cut from one camera to another in the middle of a line. We won't do that yet, however; we currently want this to be as simple a stage as possible. A future tutorial will cover stages in more depth.

{{sidebox|
* Once a stage resource is created, it must then be placed in the area editor
* Place the stage so that the conversation's participants won't have to be moved far
}}

Once the stage has been created, we'll need to place it in the area where the conversation is to take place. Open the hut exterior area in the area editor and go to the location where you've placed the Quest Giver. Find the stage in the resource palette, place it in the area, and you'll see the blank figures and the camera appear. There will also be a red flag similar to a [[waypoint]]; this marks the center of the stage and is useful for distinguishing them when there are many stages overlapping each other in an area. Position the stage so that the place where the quest giver will be standing is approximately where he is right now; it doesn't have to be exact, but if he changes location dramatically when the conversation starts it might be a bit jarring.

[[Image:Stage tutorial 2.png]]

{{sidebox|
* Assign the stage to the conversation in the conversation editor
* Then assign which conversation participants use which places defined by the stage
}}

Now that the stage has been placed, we can set the conversation to use it. Go back to the conversation editor, select the root node, and then select the "Cinematics" tab. There will be an option there to set a stage. Since we've never selected this stage before it won't be in the dropdown list, use the ellipsis button to select the stage from the available stage resources.

Once the stage has been selected the two places that are part of the stage will be listed below. You'll want to assign them to the two participants in this conversation, OWNER and PLAYER.

[[Image:Conversation tutorial 7.png]]

== Gestures ==

{{sidebox|
* Once a stage is set you can automatically generate gestures
* To generate gestures for all nodes in a conversation, select the root node and generate gestures for children
}}

Select the root node of the conversation and then click on the "Generate Gestures for Children" button (#35 on the toolbar, or in the right-click menu for the node, or in the edit menu)

[[Image:Conversation toolbar.png]]

This will run through all of the nodes beneath root and automatically generate some random gestures appropriate for a man standing and talking to someone. These gestures can be customized and fine-tuned, but this will be the subject of a separate tutorial.

Now at last our actors are a little less wooden; they move around a bit, and the camera is in an interesting place. But their faces are still completely blank. This too can be easily remedied.

== Voice-over and FaceFX ==

{{sidebox|
* You need to have voice-over recorded to generate a facial performance with FaceFX.
* You can generate a basic placeholder voice-over automatically.
}}

Every line of dialog in Dragon Age can have voice-over recorded for it, which as one might imagine can be a daunting task. As a temporary measure during game development you can instead generate a temporary placeholder voice-over using a basic speech synthesis program. Under "Tools" select "Generate VO" and synthesized voice-over will be added to every line.

[[Image:Conversation generate VO.png]]

The synthesized voice over is very primitive, but it allows you to test the conversation and fine-tune other details without having to record voice as you go - you can leave voice recording until later, once you've finalized all the dialog. It also allows us to generate a facial performance using [[FaceFX]].

[[Image:Conversation generate FaceFX.png]]

The most obvious component of facial performance is lip-synching. FaceFX generates lip-synching from the actual audio of the line, not just from the text of the dialog, so voice over needs to be generated before FaceFX can be run. FaceFX also adds emotional cues to the character's expression using an extension called RoboBrad. You can select the emotion to be added from the "Emotion" field in the cinematics tab for each line of dialog.

[[Image:Conversation cinematics.png]]

Once you've generated a facial performance, you can fine-tune it by selecting "Edit FaceFX" from the tools menu. This will open FaceFX with the selected line of dialogue loaded. We won't be doing this in this tutorial, but if you want to try it out and see what options FaceFX provides see the [[FaceFX]] page for more detail.

[[Image:Conversation edit FaceFX.png]]

To record your own voice-over, you'll need some method for recording your voice (Windows comes with a basic sound-recording program but other more sophisticated programs are available free for download as well) as a wav file. The wav file must be recorded in or converted to PCM 24 khz 16 bit mono format, otherwise the process will fail and an unhelpful error message will be displayed.

Real vo needs to be stored in ~installpath~\Dragon Age\addins\[modulename]\module\override\toolsetexport\[lineid]_m.wav - you can dump wav files anywhere under the toolsetexport directory and they will be picked up but for organizational purposes you should probably organize it into subfolders grouped by conversation.

The wav file's filename must be of the form "[lineid]_m.wav" with [lineid] replaced by the ID number for the conversation line's string table entry. For example, if a conversation's line ID number is 344169, you'd save the voice over for this line as "344169_m.wav".

When you select "generate vo" from the toolset, the toolset will first check the above directory for properly named files. Any wav files that are not present will have robo vo created, and any that do exist will be used as-is.

A quick way to verify that voice over generation worked after processing: go to ~installpath~\Dragon Age\addins\[modulename]\core\override\toolsetexport\[conversationname].fsb and play it with windows media player. You will hear all of the vo lines for that conversation packaged together with whatever combination of real and robo vo all slapped together in one file.

[[Category:Conversations]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Placeable tutorial

2009-11-07T07:07:18Z

Ixobelle: /* Placing / Adjusting your Placeable */

In Dragon Age, "[[placeable]]s" are objects that a player can interact with or are objects simply added to the area to create greater detail. They are added to areas simply by dropping them into the area landscape. Once placed, they can easily be moved into position or rotated on their axis to achieve the look you want.

In general, placeables can serve a wide variety of functions. They can render popup text. They can be destroyed or bashed or hold inventory or treasure within. They can be holders of conversations. In this tutorial we'll mainly stick to the basics, but placeables are an important part of any area design.

== Creating A Placeable ==

Similar to creating anything within the toolset, go to File > New > Placeable or right click in the Palette Window to access the New Placeable option.

[[Image:New resource.png|thumb|New resource menu]]

The first step is naming the placeable. We'll need a door for the tutorial so lets start with a door that will serve as an area transition. Name the placeable "transition_door". Luckily and unluckily, the default object is a door. The lucky part is that it is a door. The unlucky part is that this is a non-area transition door. There are two types of doors, ones that open and allow for an area transition and ones that simply open. For the upcoming [[area tutorial]] we need a door that will allow the player to move from outside the hut to inside the hut.

Doors that allow transitions are all grouped under the Appearance beginning with "Area Transition". Change the appearance to be "Area Transition, Ferelden, Small". The placeable has the exact same appearance it had but now it will be able to function as an area transition. For more detail on doors, please see [[door]]s. They are a bit unique within the placeable world so it is important to understand how the two types function as well as some of the finer options that are available.

As you can see, placeables are straightforward and easy to create. Let's build one more for our module before moving along with the tutorial. Again create a new placeable and let's name it "statue". Any good exterior can always use a statue. For this lets set the appearance to "Statue, Giant" and rename the placeable "Huge Statue". By default, the placeable is "Interactive" so let's toggle that setting to false. You can either use the drop down menu OR just double click on TRUE to toggle the state. Now our statue is ready to be placed. It is basically an addition to the landscape. It won't be something you can interact with but it can add detail to your area and to your story.

While we are in the tutorial, let's quickly cover checking in and checking out resources which is a new concept for Dragon Age. For a more detailed summary, please see [[Resource palette]]. Briefly, in Dragon Age resources are stored within databases. When you work on a module and alter any existing work or create new work, you are creating an instance of the object (be it a placeable, item, creature, area etc.). There are a number of benefits for this that are beyond the scope of this tutorial but when you edit something, it has to be "checked out" (or never checked in) with you working on an instance.

For example, select your new statue and right click and you will see that many common tasks are NOT available because it has not been "checked in" to the database. For example, you can't rename or delete the placeable. In order to rename the placeable, we'll need to check in the placeable. Right click and select check in. Check the box for no comment or enter a comment and hit ok. At this point, the resource has been written to the database. Once the object is "checked in" you can adjust the name or delete it if you so choose (assuming it doesn't have other dependent resources).

== Placing / Adjusting your Placeable ==

That is a brief overview of how to create your first placeables. Now let's cover putting them into your module. To place a placeable, simply bring up an area (which we will make in the [[Area Tutorial]]), then highlight the placeable and left-click within the region.

To adjust the position or orientation of the object, you'll need to use the Camera and Movement Toolbar:

[[Image:Camera and movement toolbar labeled.png]]

To adjust the x,y,z position either activate the Local Coordinates button [[Image:IconLocalCoordinates.png]] or use the keyboard shortcut 'q'. With this activated, you can mouse over any axis (notice the change to the yellow highlight) and the object will move only in the selected dimension.

To adjust the rotational orientation, highlight the 3 Axis Rotation button [[Image:Icon3AxisRotation.png]] or use the keyboard shortcut 'e'. In a similar fashion, you can easily selected and adjust the rotational orientation of the placeable.

'R' is the keyboard shortcut to return to the standard selection tool [[Image:IconStandardSelection.png]].

(For much more detail regarding 3D controls please see the [[3D control]] page).

Of course, you can use the Object Inspector to type in exact numbers for any of these parameters you choose. Simply ensure the object is selected within the area viewer and type in your changes.

== Field Notes ==

*'''Character''': Mapping a character to a placeable is done for VO when a placeable owns a conversation.

[[Category:Placeables]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Placeable tutorial

2009-11-07T07:06:19Z

Ixobelle: /* Placing / Adjusting your Placeable */

In Dragon Age, "[[placeable]]s" are objects that a player can interact with or are objects simply added to the area to create greater detail. They are added to areas simply by dropping them into the area landscape. Once placed, they can easily be moved into position or rotated on their axis to achieve the look you want.

In general, placeables can serve a wide variety of functions. They can render popup text. They can be destroyed or bashed or hold inventory or treasure within. They can be holders of conversations. In this tutorial we'll mainly stick to the basics, but placeables are an important part of any area design.

== Creating A Placeable ==

Similar to creating anything within the toolset, go to File > New > Placeable or right click in the Palette Window to access the New Placeable option.

[[Image:New resource.png|thumb|New resource menu]]

The first step is naming the placeable. We'll need a door for the tutorial so lets start with a door that will serve as an area transition. Name the placeable "transition_door". Luckily and unluckily, the default object is a door. The lucky part is that it is a door. The unlucky part is that this is a non-area transition door. There are two types of doors, ones that open and allow for an area transition and ones that simply open. For the upcoming [[area tutorial]] we need a door that will allow the player to move from outside the hut to inside the hut.

Doors that allow transitions are all grouped under the Appearance beginning with "Area Transition". Change the appearance to be "Area Transition, Ferelden, Small". The placeable has the exact same appearance it had but now it will be able to function as an area transition. For more detail on doors, please see [[door]]s. They are a bit unique within the placeable world so it is important to understand how the two types function as well as some of the finer options that are available.

As you can see, placeables are straightforward and easy to create. Let's build one more for our module before moving along with the tutorial. Again create a new placeable and let's name it "statue". Any good exterior can always use a statue. For this lets set the appearance to "Statue, Giant" and rename the placeable "Huge Statue". By default, the placeable is "Interactive" so let's toggle that setting to false. You can either use the drop down menu OR just double click on TRUE to toggle the state. Now our statue is ready to be placed. It is basically an addition to the landscape. It won't be something you can interact with but it can add detail to your area and to your story.

While we are in the tutorial, let's quickly cover checking in and checking out resources which is a new concept for Dragon Age. For a more detailed summary, please see [[Resource palette]]. Briefly, in Dragon Age resources are stored within databases. When you work on a module and alter any existing work or create new work, you are creating an instance of the object (be it a placeable, item, creature, area etc.). There are a number of benefits for this that are beyond the scope of this tutorial but when you edit something, it has to be "checked out" (or never checked in) with you working on an instance.

For example, select your new statue and right click and you will see that many common tasks are NOT available because it has not been "checked in" to the database. For example, you can't rename or delete the placeable. In order to rename the placeable, we'll need to check in the placeable. Right click and select check in. Check the box for no comment or enter a comment and hit ok. At this point, the resource has been written to the database. Once the object is "checked in" you can adjust the name or delete it if you so choose (assuming it doesn't have other dependent resources).

== Placing / Adjusting your Placeable ==

That is a brief overview of how to create your first placeables. Now let's cover putting them into your module. To place a placeable, simply bring up an area (which we will make in the [[Area Tutorial]]), then highlight the placeable and left-click within the region.

To adjust the position or orientation of the object, you'll need to use the Camera and Movement Toolbar:

[[Image:Camera and movement toolbar labeled.png]]

To adjust the x,y,z position either activate the Local Coordinates button [[Image:IconLocalCoordinates.png]] or use the keyboard shortcut 'q'. With this activated, you can mouse over any axis (notice the change to the yellow highlight) and the object will move only in the selected dimension.

To adjust the rotational orientation, highlight the 3 Axis Rotation button [[Image:Icon3AxisRotation.png]] or use the keyboard shortcut 'e'. In a similar fashion, you can easily selected and adjust the rotational orientation of the placeable.

'R' is the keyboard shortcut to return to the standard selection tool [[Image:IconStandardSelect.png]].

(For much more detail regarding 3D controls please see the [[3D control]] page).

Of course, you can use the Object Inspector to type in exact numbers for any of these parameters you choose. Simply ensure the object is selected within the area viewer and type in your changes.

== Field Notes ==

*'''Character''': Mapping a character to a placeable is done for VO when a placeable owns a conversation.

[[Category:Placeables]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Area tutorial

2009-11-07T05:53:56Z

Ixobelle: /* Area transitions via doors */

Once you have created a new module (see [[creating a module]]), the first thing you will likely want to do is create one or more areas where your adventure is going to be set.

== Creating the area ==

[[Image:New resource.png|thumb|New resource menu]]

There are several ways to reach the "new area" command; you can right-click on the resource palette window, or select "new" from the file menu.

<br clear="all" />

Areas are represented with the [[Image:IconArea.png]] icon. When you select it you'll be presented with a "Create New Resource" window:

[[Image:Create new resource.png|center|]]

{{sidebox|
* Resref names should be useful to the designer
* Set the "area layout" property to assign terrain to an area
* "Resource Name" and "Tag" are only seen by developers
* "Name" may be seen by players
}}

Most of the fields are already filled in with good defaults for the module you're working with. You'll need to supply a "ResRef Name", which is the name by which the resource will be known internally to the toolset. (This is the "Name" field on the "Create New Resource" dialog box.) You'll probably want to use a name that will remind you, the module designer, of the purpose or important features of the area. Changing a resource's name is difficult to do later. We're going to call the first area of the tutorial "hut_exterior".

After creating the area you'll be presented with a completely blank area editor. There will be no environment or objects of any kind. To specify what environment you'll be placing objects into, open the object inspector and select the "Area Layout" property. There will be an ellipsis button ([[Image:ellipsis.png]]) in the property's data field that will bring up a resource selection window where you can select an environment to use for this area. The environment we wish to select is in the area layout file "ost101d.arl". Once we select it, the area layout appears in the main area window.

The resource's internal resource name is hut_exterior but the player will not see this when he's playing the game. To give the area a name meaningful to the player we'll set the "Name" field to "Deep in the Swamp". All of the other defaults are fine for now, we will leave them as is.

[[Image:Area tutorial 1.png|thumb|600px|center]]

== Area Basics ==
{{sidebox|
* See [[3D control]] for camera and movement controls
* You can double-click on an object in the area's object list to zoom in to it.
}}

Moving the view around inside the area layout can be somewhat non-intuitive and frustrating at first. The toolset has a number of different control schemes it can be set to; see [[3D control]] for a summary of the various options. By default, you can:

* zoom in and out by using the mouse wheel
* rotate the camera around the target it's focused on by holding the middle button down or by holding down the Ctrl key and the right mouse button while moving the mouse
* translate the camera by holding down the Ctrl key and the left mouse button while moving the mouse

To see where you are a bit better, it is helpful to deactivate real lighting or turn on full brightness. Above the area viewer, the sun-like button should be toggled so that it isn't highlighted; see [[Area]] for a more complete summary of various options within the Area Editor.

Before we move along to placing a starting location, it is important to touch upon Pathfinding points. All BioWare areas include walkmesh or pathfinding information. To view pathfinding information for your area, goto View, then Environment, and then toggle Pathfinding Points on. The green dots represent areas where characters can walk. Note, in this map, the area that is walkable is quite small compared to the entire area. When placing your starting location, you should ensure it is in a walkable portion of the area.

== Setting the start point ==

{{sidebox|
* Create a waypoint to mark where the player starts the game
}}

This is going to be the starting area for the adventure, so we're going to want to define a spot within the area where the player will first appear. This is done by setting a [[waypoint]]. Waypoints are very simple objects that mark locations in an area that other objects in the game can refer to; they are not normally visible to the player. To create a waypoint, right-click somewhere in the area and select "Insert Waypoint" from the resulting menu. A waypoint will appear at the location of your mouse pointer and follow it around along the area's floor; move it to the approximate place you want to have the player appear and left-click to place it. By default the waypoint is named "Waypoint".

The waypoint will be automatically selected, indicated by a yellow wireframe box surrounding it. You'll also see the waypoint listed in the area's object list, to the left of the display window. If you lose track of the waypoint later a good way to find it again is to right-click on the waypoint in the list and select "Zoom to Object" in the resulting menu or double click on its tag to center the object in the display window. The waypoint's properties will be shown in the object inspector. We want to change the waypoint's name to something more informative, in this case to "start". More importantly for the game itself, though, we'll also want to change the waypoint's tag to "start" (it defaults to blank). An object's tag is how scripts and other resources will refer to the waypoint. Since this particular waypoint is never going to be visible to the player it's likely that the waypoint's name will never be seen at all.

The player will also start out facing in the same direction that the waypoint is facing (indicated by the arrow-shaped base of the waypoint object). If we don't want the player to start out facing in the default direction, we'll want to rotate the waypoint to point in a new direction. To rotate an object, use the toolbar to switch from standard selection mode ([[Image:Standard selection mode.png]]) to 3-axis rotation mode ([[Image:3 axis rotation mode.png]]).
When you select the waypoint in this mode you'll see a set of circles around the waypoint's base with various orientations; clicking and holding the mouse button on one of them will allow you to rotate the waypoint around its center.

[[Image:Waypoint rotation.png|center]]

Now that we have an area and a waypoint to start at, we can now tell the module that this is where the player is to appear. Reopen the "Manage Modules" window (available via a command under the File menu), select your module, and click the "Properties" button. This opens the module's properties. For the "Starting Area" property, click on the ellipsis button ([[Image:ellipsis.png]]) and select the starting area from the areas available in the module; since we've only put one area in so far "hut_exterior" will be the only available option. Once the area has been selected we can then select the starting waypoint from the waypoints currently placed in the area. Again, we've only put in one so this will be easy. You can also set the player to appear ath the origin of the map (coordinates 0,0,0), but this is generally a poor choice and available only as a default in case there are no waypoints defined yet.

== Area transitions via doors ==

Adventures almost always have more than one area in them, so we'll create a second area to demonstrate travel between the two. The area "hut_interior" will use area layout ost102d, which is a cosy little room that represents the interior of the small hut present in the hut_exterior area.

{{sidebox|
* [[Door]]s are special placeables
* Doors can attach to "hooks" pre-built into the area layout
* Area transition doors use a different "appearance" than within-area doors
}}

Next we will need to create some doors. We'll create a default door placeable using the "New Placable" command, reached in a similar way as the "New Area" command explained earlier (placeables will be covered in another tutorial, but the core game resources will come with a variety of default doors usable in many situations like this) and place it in the area near the empty doorframe built into the hut's exterior. For an area transition, use one of the "Area Transition" appearances for the door. To place the door, click on it in the palette; the mouse cursor will turn into a crosshair; then click in the area viewer near the doorframe.

As a side note, if you accidentally use one of the standard door appearances it won't work as an area transition: the door will simply swing open when clicked on instead. Each standard door appearance has a matching area transition door appearance in the resource database so this can be an easy mistake to make, but it's also easily correctable - just go back to the door's placeable resource and swap in the correct appearance, and all copies of that door in use throughout your game will be updated.

You may notice that when the door you placed in the area is selected a small blue sphere will appear at one edge in addition to the yellow wireframe bounding box. This is the door's "hook". Area layouts come with hidden "hooks" pre-installed to place doors on, and doors have matching hooks of their own. If you click on the blue sphere it will turn red, and all of the compatible door hooks built into the area's layout will appear. The following image illustrates this:

[[Image:Door with door hook selected.png|400px|center|thumb|Drag the red sphere near to the blue sphere to automatically position the door]]

To hook a door up with its frame, simply click and drag the door's hook to a location very close to the matching frame hook. You don't need to get the positioning exact; if the two hooks are close enough together when you release the mouse button they'll automatically snap together. The door will be positioned and reoriented to fit correctly into the frame. Make sure you're still in the 'Standard Selection' mode ([[Image:IconStandardSelection.png]]) for the snap to occur, if you're in the more advanced 3 Axis Movement tool, the snap will not happen.

Note that door hooks are only there to make it easy to get exact matches on frames and walls that need a snug fit, to ensure that Artists and Designers don't have to spend a lot of time putting it in place. Doors will function just as well off of hooks as on them.

{{sidebox|
* Area transition effect is defined in the door's "Variables" property
}}

Next, we'll tell the game engine that the door is an area transition door and that when the player clicks on it he will be transported to another area of the game. This is done by setting two of the door's [[variable]]s. Select the door (either in the area's object palette or directly in the main display window) and right-click on it, selecting "properties" from the resulting menu. This will open the door's properties in the Object Inspector window. Select the "Variables" property and click on the ellipsis ([[Image:ellipsis.png]]) button. This will open up the variable browser for that particular instance of the door object.

There are two key variables in this list that we'll need to set:

*PLC_AT_DEST_AREA_TAG - tag of the destination area
*PLC_AT_DEST_TAG - tag of the destination waypoint within the destination area

Once we've set these the door will become an area transition door, and when the player interacts with it they'll be transported to the target area.

The destination area is "hut_interior". We'll create a waypoint just inside the hut's interior door, tagged "hut_door_interior", to serve as the place where the player appears.

Here is how the exterior door's variables should look:

[[Image:Area tutorial door variables.png|frame|center|Area transition door's variables]]

And here is the interior door, with the destination waypoint:

[[Image:Area tutorial interior door.png|frame|center|Interior door with destination waypoint]]

The interior door is set up in the same manner, with a destination area of "hut_exterior" and a matching destination waypoint of "hut_door_exterior".

{{sidebox|
* Use invisible area transition "doors" when the transition is already built into the area layout art
}}

If you want to create an area transition that doesn't look like a door, or is otherwise already represented by the level art, you can use an invisible 'door' instead. Appearances for these invisible placeables are named "Area Transition, Invisible". Set its variables the same way as was done for the visible door.

[[Image:Area Transition, Invisible.png|frame|center|Invisible area transition]]

The player won't see this 'door' in the game, but when he moves the mouse pointer over it it will change to signify that an area transition lies there and it can be right-clicked to be activated just like a visible door.

== Area transitions via triggers ==

{{sidebox|
* Triggers use variables with a different prefix for setting their area transition effect
}}

Finally, you can also create an area transition that triggers automatically when the player walks into a predefined area. This is done using [[trigger]]s. ([[Image:IconTrigger.png]]) You'll first have to create a trigger resource, much like how you had to create a placeable door earlier, but trigger resources are much simpler and for area transitions you won't need to change any of the defaults. Create a default trigger with "New -> Trigger" (either by right-clicking the resource palette or from the File menu) and give it an informative name such as "trigger_area_transition".

Go back to your area map, select the trigger from the resource palette, and then click on the map to define the corner points of the area the trigger will occupy. Double-click the last vertex to complete the polygon. A trigger can have any number of vertices, and vertices can be moved, added, or deleted after the trigger is created so don't worry if you don't get it exactly right. Note that the blue plane the trigger uses to show the enclosed area will pass through the ground and may not be entirely visible in the toolset, but it extends infinitely upward so the trigger will still take effect if the player enters its boundaries.

To set the trigger's destination, you'll find a familiar pair of variables in the trigger's default variable table:

*TRIGGER_AT_DEST_AREA_TAG - tag of the destination area
*TRIGGER_AT_DEST_TAG - tag of the destination waypoint within the destination area

(Note the prefix "TRIGGER" instead of "PLC")

Below is an example where we've placed both a trigger and an invisible door across a pathway. Note that this is redundant, only one or the other is really needed. For most purposes a placeable area transition is probably best. (''It is worth noting that placeable area transitions prompt a popup asking the player if they want to transition when bumped, but not when clicked upon - effectively acting as either a door or a trigger.'') The waypoint shown is the arrival spot for the player when coming in from the other side; note how it's placed outside the trigger area, allowing the player to immediately back up and retreat through the area transition if he chooses.

[[Image:Area Transition, invisible with trigger.png|center]]

== Grouping Placeables ==

{{sidebox|
* Two or more placeables can be grouped together using Associations.
}}

Often the placeables within an area are related. For example, a firepit placeable probably has an associated sound emitter. The toolset needs to be told that these two objects are related. Place the firepit in your area. Next, place the sound emitter. Right-click on the firepit to bring up the menu and choose "Add Associated object." The cursor changes to a cross-hair. Click on the sound emitter placeable. Now when you drag the firepit placeable around the area, the sound emitter will automatically follow. Use the "Managed Links" menu item if you want to remove an association. Note that associations are uni-directional; you can still move the sound emitter without moving the firepit. Examples of other useful associations: a table and all of the items on top of the table, a table surrounded by chairs, etc.

[[Category:Areas]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]