Task System (preliminary work)

[joligario]

Wrote my first task today... wow that can get involved!

I have a couple ideas/requests/observations:
1. Under the rewards, if there is a cash reward can you display the amount or at least have it say Cash?
2. The reward text does not show on the task screen unless it is an item.
3. Under description, can you set up a description for the initial task window? For example: [0, This is my general description.][1, This is my description for step 1][2,3, This is my description for shared steps 2 and 3.]. Currently it is blank if step 1 and 2 are shared but if there is only 1 step, the main task window shows the entire text from the first step.
4. In activities, even though activitytype is over-ridden if text3 is populated, setting it to 0 will produce erroneous results in the task window. Currently you have default set to 0.
5. You have done an OUTSTANDING job on this!

I think that's it for now. Learning a lot and noticing that we now have many more possibilities with this system. Thanks!

CRAP, please move this to the discussion thread!!!

[Derision]

Originally Posted by ChaosSlayer

well how do you turn in 50 quest items to an npc AT ONCE? =)
Or can task system handles this 1 item at a time? and count the turn ins?

The task system counts the turn ins, so you can turn in 25 one day, and then 25 the next day to complete the activity, or whatever, until you have turned in a total of 50.

Originally Posted by joligario

Wrote my first task today... wow that can get involved!

Yeah, it really needs a GUI to assist in writing the tasks.

4. In activities, even though activitytype is over-ridden if text3 is populated, setting it to 0 will produce erroneous results in the task window. Currently you have default set to 0.

The activitytype is not overridden if text3 is populated (i.e. the task system will still handle it if the activity is not under Perl quest control), it is just not displayed as 'Deliver To', 'Kill', etc. You're right though, the default activitytype of 0 is invalid. I've just comitted a change to the SVN to send activities that have an activitytype of 0 as a type 9 to the client, which should fix that problem. I'll look into the other issues you raised.

Originally Posted by joligario

1. Under the rewards, if there is a cash reward can you display the amount or at least have it say Cash?
2. The reward text does not show on the task screen unless it is an item.

There is a flag in the packet struct which makes the client display 'You gain experience!' if it is set. I am not aware of a flag that will make it display details of a cash reward, however:

In Rev24, I fixed it so the Reward text field will be displayed even if RewardID==0, so if you want a task to have a cash-only reward, set RewardID to 0 and put the details of the cash reward in the Reward field. If you want to give an item and cash and want the player to know they will get both, then the only way currently is to put the ItemID in the RewardID field, and then put eg. 'Item x and 20 plat' in the Reward text field.

[trevius]

Originally Posted by Derision

Yeah, it really needs a GUI to assist in writing the tasks.

LOL, I would love to see what GeorgeS could do as a tool for this. But it sounds like a tool would be as hard to make as the system itself was. :P

[joligario]

Next suggestion:

Alter the task table to have minlevel and maxlevel fields
Create a bool function for CheckTaskLevel()
Create perl quest function quest::istaskappropriate(taskid)

With those, we could let the system do the level checks for us. Not really a big deal, but just might be handy.

[joligario]

Odd text display. Here is what I am talking about. Please look at this task with your previous and new revisions. You'll notice the text gets cut short also.

SQL Code:

INSERT INTO tasks VALUES(13, 0, 'They\'re a Bit Short','[1, They might as well call you a scout, because you\'ll be going out and doing some scouting on some very high-profile sites. These sites are rumored to be burial grounds for priests of an ancient civilization, but there is not much information on them than that. Enough delay, get going and explore the single dwarven hut along the path in the north.][2, If your findings are correct, there\'s nothing around there that even remotely suggests an ancient burial ground. It\'s unfortunate, but there\'s one more spot you need to check before we give up all hope. Go ahead and explore the large rock tower on goblin isle. Be careful, if there is a burial ground, there\'s no telling what kind of creatures lurk nearby.][3, It\'s unfortunate that you weren\'t able to find any remnants at all. Perhaps there will be more to find next time. In the meantime, you need to report your findings, so speak with Tarerd Gahar. That is all.]','Money and Experience', 0, 1433, 2000, 0, 68, 1);

INSERT INTO activities VALUES (13, 0, 0, 5, 'the dwarven hut', '', '', 1, 0, 1, 0, 68, 0);
INSERT INTO activities VALUES (13, 1, 1, 5, 'the large rock tower', '', '', 1, 0, 1, 0, 69, 0);
INSERT INTO activities VALUES (13, 2, 2, 4, '', '', 'Speak with Tarerd Gahar', 0, 2, 1, 0, 202, 0);

INSERT INTO proximities VALUES (68, 1, 390, 410, 2060, 2080, -10, 10);
INSERT INTO proximities VALUES (69, 1, -8515, -8455, -1260, -1200, 20, 70);

butcher\Gibi_Bilgum.pl:

#BeginFile: butcher\Gibi_Bilgum.pl (68090)
#Quest file for Butcherblock Mountains - Gibi Bilgum: They're a Bit Short

sub EVENT_SAY {
  if($text=~/hail/i) {
    quest::say("Get a load of my sister over yonder. She doesn't know when to give up the swashbuckling. Idiocy is more like it. She's not the only one around here with some [tasks] that need... well, tasking. You might say I'm a taskmaster, only without the whip. I'm not sure how to even use a whip though, so maybe it's for the best.");
  }
  if($text=~/tasks/i) {
    if($ulevel >= 12) {
      if(quest::istaskactive(13)) {
        quest::say("They're a Bit Short is already in progress.");
      }
      else {
        quest::taskselector(13); #Task: They're a Bit Short
      }
    }
    else {
      quest::say("I don't have any tasks suitable to one of your experience.");
    }
  }
}

sub EVENT_ITEM {
  quest::say("I have no use for this, $name.");
  plugin::return_items(\%itemcount);
}

#EndFile: butcher\Gibi_Bilgum.pl (68090)

poknowledge\#Tarerd_Gahar.pl:

#Tarerd_Gahar.pl
#The Magic Pool

sub EVENT_SAY {
  if($text=~/hail/i) {
    if(quest::istaskactivityactive(13,2)) {
      quest::say("Thanks for contacting me, $name. Your information on this matter has been most useful.");
      $client->Message(7,"The ideal of burial grounds nearby is one that can not be easily overlooked. That's exactly why you were sent to check these areas out. Sadly none of them turned out to be the rumored burial grounds, but there's plenty more land to cover, so you maybe called upon again. You'll be recieving some payment, mostly for your time investment, but partially for the danger involved. Good job.");
      quest::updatetaskactivity(13,2);
    }
    else {
      quest::say("I'm sorry, I have neither the time nor the patience to chat right now.");
    }
  }
  if($text=~/pool/i) {
    quest::say("Oh Tatlan and Wicas sent you did they? I'll tell you what I told them, nothing is free. If you want to know about the pools then I need something [from you] first.");
  }
  if($text=~/from me/i) {
    quest::say("I'm sure it'll be easy for an adventurer as you. I am working on a potion, and I cannot currently travel to gather my last component. If you could bring me the blood of a Sarnak I'd be willing to share what I know.");
  }
}

sub EVENT_ITEM {
  if(plugin::check_handin(\%itemcount, 22519 => 1)) { #Sarnak Blood
    quest::say("Ahh this is exactly what I was looking for. All the information I've gathered from these pools has come from Myrist. Thiran will give you the book I used as a reference. Give him this note so he knows I sent you.");
    quest::summonitem(15958); #Note From Tarerd
  }
  else {
    quest::say("I don't need this."); #text made up
    plugin::return_items(\%itemcount);
  }
}

#END of FILE Zone:poknowledge  ID:202060 -- Tarerd_Gahar

[Derision]

3. Under description, can you set up a description for the initial task window? For example: [0, This is my general description.][1, This is my description for step 1][2,3, This is my description for shared steps 2 and 3.]. Currently it is blank if step 1 and 2 are shared but if there is only 1 step, the main task window shows the entire text from the first step.

The way it works is that the entire description is sent to the client and it is the client which decides which portion to display based on which activity you are on. Are you saying it is not working like live ?

I think it maybe be possible to have an extra field in the task table for a description which is only displayed in the task selector window. If this new field was null, then it could just behave as at present.

Alter the task table to have minlevel and maxlevel fields
Create a bool function for CheckTaskLevel()
Create perl quest function quest::istaskappropriate(taskid)

This would be simple to do. Could let them default to 0 meaning no level restriction. Anyone else have any input on this feature (and the extra field for a description specific to the task selector window) ?

Odd text display. Here is what I am talking about. Please look at this task with your previous and new revisions. You'll notice the text gets cut short also.

I just ran through this task and can't see what you are referring to. Which text gets cut short ?

[Derision]

Originally Posted by joligario

Next suggestion:

Alter the task table to have minlevel and maxlevel fields
Create a bool function for CheckTaskLevel()
Create perl quest function quest::istaskappropriate(taskid)

With those, we could let the system do the level checks for us. Not really a big deal, but just might be handy.

I've just committed this. There are new minlevel and maxlevel columns in the task table. If either is zero, it is ignored, so you can have no level restriction, only a minimum level, or only a maximum level, or both.

The level restrictions are enforced in the TaskSelector (a Task won't be sent if it doesn't meet the restrictions).

To augment this, I have slightly altered the way Task Sets work. Previously you had to enable/disable tasks in a set on a per player basis.

Now, if you put a TaskID of zero in a Task Set (which is an invalid TaskID), all the tasks in that set will automatically be available for a player, subject to a level restrictions.

This means you can create a task set for an NPC with a bunch of tasks with different level ranges and just call quest::tasksetselector(set number), and let the task system decide which tasks to offer the client based on the level restrictions.

I have also added quest::istaskappropriate(taskid) if you want to have an NPC tailor what it says to a player based on that.

[joligario]

Just checking what new table is going to look like. Am I correct in assuming the following alter?

ALTER TABLE tasks ADD (minlevel int(3) not null default 0, maxlevel int(3) not null default 0);