Dark Stone: Quest Editor Tutorial - Chapter 3: Creation of the objects

In the Darkstone world there are 2 types of objects: The quest objects and the virtual objects.

1: The quest objects

The quest objects are represented graphically in the game. These are the objects that the player find along thing quest. Generally they are used for the framework of your scenario.
Right click in the edition window and select Add Object or in the module window, activate the Objects tab, right click and select Create.
Fill the properties window with the following parameters.

Origin: Choice of the referenced object. QuestEdit creates a copy of the object, with the same characteristics (if it's a weapon, a ring, some food) as the original object. (ex: ITEM_XGOU_01)
Key: Identification key (ex: Object1 This object will appear and can be selected in the object list used, under this name )
Name: The name of the object. (ex: Devastator)
Text: The text that is displayed in the game when the player clicks right on it (optional). (ex: A club to destroy the wood crates).
Quest: Define if it's a quest object or not. If you checked this box, this object will be a quest object, so if the player starts a new game this object will be removed from their inventory.
The parameters customize will be seen more in depth later in this chapter.
Click Ok to validate.

Now your object is visible in the module window and is available to be used. We will use it in the next chapter for our quest. You can modify it at any moment (by right click and selecting Properties) in the module window (activate tab objects).

2: The virtual objects

The virtual objects are like the quest objects except they are invisible to the player in Darkstone.
Right click in the module window and select Create Virtual under the objects tab.
Enter a name for your virtual object: Virtual1
Your virtual object is in the module object window.
You can rename it by right clicking on it and selecting Properties.

NOTE: The object in the hierarchy view is visible only when the object is linked to a character or to a state machine.

3: Import your own sprites and 3D objects

With QuestEdit you can create your own sprites and 3D objects to include them in your quest. This is how to proceed:
Right click in the edition window and select Add Object.
Fill the properties window with the following parameters.

Origin: Choice of the referenced objects. QuestEdit will copy onto a new object the same characteristics (if it's a weapon, a ring, food, etc) of the original object. (ex: ITEM_FOOD8)
Key: Identification key of the object. (ex: Pizza (This object will appear and can be selected in the object list under this name .))
Name: The name of the object. (ex: A piece of pizza)
Text: The text that gets displayed in the game when the player right clicks on it (optional). (ex: A piece of pizza with some olives.)
Quest: Define if it's a quest item or not. If you check this box, this object will be a quest item, so if the player starts a new game this object will be removed from their inventory.

- Click on sprite.

NOTE: A bank dedicated to your sprites can be found the folder:
..\Darkstone\Data\CustomQuest\name of your quest\k0830_sprite.tga

- Draw your own sprites with your favorite program and save them in the bank k0830_sprite.tga (Targa non compressed).
- The sprites must be a multiple of 24 (pixels) and have a transparent color equal in RGB to 0,0,0 (tolerance +12%).
- Select the size of the sprite by pushing the Sprite Format button until you reach the desired size then move the selection square on the sprite (Left click in the bank).
- Validate
- Now click on Mesh.

NOTE: Your 3D objects must be saved in the directory: ..\Darkstone\questEditor\customMeshes\Name of your 3D file.o3d

- Choose the 3D object in the list then validate.
This chapter concerning the objects is over, now lets see the state machines.

Chapter 4: Creation of state machines