Manual:Zone Manual/The NPC Section/DIL functions for NPCs
DIL functions for NPCs
The DIL language is the language a builder can use to make his own special functions on rooms, NPCs, objects, PCs, and much more. This manual is for basic zone writing and therefore will not go into how to write your own DIL functions. The VME however is released with many functions for you as an Administrator and your builders to use to make special rooms, NPCs, and objects. The following is a list of all NPC functions released with the VME 2.0 server.
- Mercenary
- This function allows you to make an NPC hireable by players in the game. You simply dilcopy this unto a mob and the player can then type 'contract <character name>
and the mob will hunt that char for a fee. This function takes no special arguments. the following is the function definition found in function.zon:
dilbegin mercenary_hire();
To use it you simply dilcopy it to your NPC as follows:
dilcopy mercenary_hire@function();
- Obey
- This function when dilcopied on the NPC will make it obey there master. And example mobile of this is the familiar. Upon completing a small quest a Mage receives a familiar that will obey that player and that player only. The player can simply type Tell <familiar name> cast heal
<player name> and it will carry out the command. This function takes no arguments. The following is the definition found in function.zon:
dilbegin obey();
To use this function simply dilcopy it to the NPC you want to be a mercenary like so:
dilcopy obey@function();
- Evaluate
- This function when placed on an NPC allows it to evaluate items for a fee. The function definition looks as follows:
dilbegin evaluate (amt:integer);
The function has one argument 'amt' that lets you set the cost of the evaluation of items. If you wanted to set the value to four gold it would work just like when setting the money field and look as follows:
dilcopy evaluate@function(4*GOLD_PIECE);
- Guard Direction
- This is an enhanced version of the Guard Way Function. It will allow both certain players to enter as well as certain mobs. An optional stop DIL can be supplied if you wish to do something special. It takes two arguments, the activator and the direction. The following is the function definition:
dilbegin guard_dir(direction : string, excludepc : stringlist, excludenpc : stringlist, stopdil : string);
This function is dilcopied onto the mob in the room that the mob is initially loaded. Thus is the mob is summoned or commanded away it will not block the directions until it is back to where it was first created. This DIL takes four arguments. The first is the direction to block. The second arguments is for those PC's you wish to allow to pass in that direction without being stopped. The next for the NPCs you wish to allow to pass. The last is the 'act you wish the blocking mob to display to the PC's that are blocked from proceeding in the selected direction. The third and forth arguments may be 'null', this will pass the defaults to the dilcopy. The third argument is a stringlist that tells which players or NPCs are excluded from the guard. The forth is a DIL you can pass in to do something special to people who are stopped. We will not show how to use the forth argument because it takes more DIL knowledge than this manual covers. The following would be a valid dilcopy for this function:
dilcopy guard_dir@function("south", {"papi",
{"rejji"}, null, null);
- Combat magic
- This function when placed on a mobile allows it to use any of the combat spells. The function definition is as follows: It also allows the NPC to cast heal during combat on itself.
dilbegin combat_mag(atk_spl : string, def_spl : string, def_pct:integer, spd: integer);
| argument | Type | description |
|---|---|---|
| atk_spl | string | Attack spell ie "fireball" or "" for none |
| def_spl | string | Defense Spell ie "heal" or "" for none |
| def_pct | integer | At what % of hitpoints defense spell will be cast |
| spd | integer | speed at which mob will uses its attack magic, 1 for all
at once (every round) to 5 for every 5 rounds. I suggest 2. |
Defense spells take priority when the hit points fall below the % specified, after (if) the hits have been restored above that number attack magic will resume. If def_spl is used, function automatically makes sure that it retains enough mana for at least one healing, ie it will attack 4 times if it don't need a healing. The following would be an example of what you would put on your NPC:
dilcopy combat_mag@function ("harm", "heal", 25, 2);
- Fido
- This function turns the NPC into a corpse eating mobile. The following is the functions definition:
dilbegin fido(txt1:string,txt2:string);
| Argument | Type | description |
|---|---|---|
| txt1 | string | The text shown when mob finds and eats corpses, default:
'XXX savagely devours a corpse.' will be shown if txt1 is set to "". If txt1 is set to "stop", the mob will NOT devour corpses (convenient if you want your dogs to only eat food leftovers but not corpses). |
| txt2 | string | The text shown when mob finds and eats ITEM_FOOD, default:
'XXX hungrily devours YYY.' will be shown if txt2 is set to "". If txt2 is set to "stop", the mob will NOT devour ITEM_FOOD (convenient if you want to make a corpse-eating ghoul, who'd choke on normal food, etc). |
In both cases $1n is the mob itself, $2n is the title of the item devoured.
An example of the 'fido' function on an NPC would look as follows:
dilcopy fido@function("$1n slowly devours $2n, crunching the bones.",
"$1n grabs $2n and hungrily munches it.");
- Wander zone
- This function allows a mob to wander around more than one zone, but not all zones.
You specify what zones the mob can wander. Has optional intelligence which allows the opening and closing of doors. The following is the function definition:
dilbegin wander_zones(zones : string, spd : integer, doors : integer, lckd_doors : integer);
| argument | Type | description |
|---|---|---|
| zones | string | A string of zone names separated by spaces. |
| spd | integer | The speed (in seconds) at which the mob wanders.
Minimum = 5 secs (for process time). |
| doors | integer | Can open/close doors (0 = false, 1 = true) |
| lckd_doors | integer | Can open/closed locked doors (0=false, 1=true) |
The options are not too hard so we will show how to use it and leave it at that
dilcopy wander_zones@function ("halfzon haon_dor", 5, 1);
@loadzone option which is used by inputting @loadzone somewhere in the zones string will replace it by the zone the mob is loaded in like this:
dilcopy wander_zones@function ("halfzon haon_dor @loadzone", 5, 1);
- Global wander
- This is similar to wander_zones because it's just a modified version of it,
which requires no zones argument since it moves in all zones. The following is the function definition:
dilbegin global_wander(spd : integer, doors : integer, lckd_doors :integer);
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| spd | integer | The speed (in seconds) at which the mob wanders. Minimum = 5 seconds (for process time). |
| doors | integer | Can open/close doors (0 = false, 1 = true) |
| lckd_doors | integer | Can open/closed locked doors (0=false, 1=true) |
The options are not to hard so we will show how to use it and leave it at that
dilcopy global_wander@function (60, 1, 1);
- Team work
- This function when placed on a mob, located in the same room as another mob,
will allow the mobile to assist the other in combat. The following is the function definition:
dilbegin aware teamwork(lst: string);
This function takes one argument which is a string of the mobiles it is to protect. So if we wanted a NPC to protect both Jesper and Enver the dilcopy would look as follows:
dilcopy teamwork@function("jesper/enver");
For this to work both mobs must be in the same room or following each other.
- Rescue
- This function when placed on a mob, located in the same room as another mob,
will allow the mobile to rescue the other mob if it is attacked. The function is as follows:
dilbegin aware rescue(lst: string);
This function takes one argument, a string of those mobiles you wish this NPC to assist should they be attacked.
For this to work both NPCs must be in the same room or following each other.
Again we will use our test subjects Jesper and Enver and if we wanted an NPC to protect them and come to their aid the following would be the dilcopy:
dilcopy teamwork@function("jesper/enver");
- Agressive
- This function makes a Mob hostile to person(s) in the room with it, under certain conditions which are provided as arguments.
In short, the all-singing, all-dancing aggression DIL. The following is this functions definition:
dilbegin aggressive (sx : integer, rce : integer, opp : integer, levl : integer, sanc : integer, tme : integer, tar : integer, align : string, attack : stringlist);
| argument | Type | description |
|---|---|---|
| sx | integer | NOTE: not the sex values in values.h.
This decides the sex of your mob's victim. 0 - Sex doesn't matter, 1 - Attack opposite sex to self (if not neutral!), 2 - Attack SEX_MALE, 3 - Attack SEX_FEMALE, 4 - Attack SEX_NEUTRAL. |
| rce | integer | Any of the PC races from 0 to 14. A value
of -1 means we don't care about the victim's race. |
| opp | integer | 0 - Non race specific (same as rce := -1)
1 - Attack the specified rce, 2 - Attack any pc race _but_ the specified rce. |
| levl | integer | Allow level specific aggression.
A value of 30 would make the mob hostile to all pcs level 30 and above. A value of -30 (note the -) would make the mob hostile to all pcs level 30 or below. A value of 0 means level doesn't matter. |
| sanc | integer | Does this mob obey the sanc/soothe rules?
(ie, if someone has cast sanctuary on themselves, will this mob recognize it, and not attack, or attack anyway). 0 - Doesn't obey sanc or soothe 1 - Obeys only sanc 2 - Obeys only soothe 3 - Obeys both sanc and soothe (SOOTHE is a new spell for ranger's guild) |
| tme | integer | Time in ticks to wait before attacking (is
automatically put to RANTIME, ie, time variance of time-time/2 to time+time/2). Values accepted are from 0 to 400 (that's 0 - 100 seconds. Can be specified using PULSE_SEC). |
| tar | integer | This is a special value which determines
which of the eligible victims we pick. -2 - Last eligible victim to into the room. -1 - Weakest eligible victim in room. 0 - Random eligible victim. +1 - Strongest eligible victim in room. +2 - First eligible victim into the room. |
| align | string | The desired alignment of the victim.
"ANY" - We don't care about the alignment. "GOOD" - Attack only good alignment. "EVIL" - Attack only evil alignment. "NEUTRAL " - Attack only neutral alignment. "OPPOSITE" - Attack opposite alignment to self (provided self isn't neutral). "SALIGN" - Attack same alignment as self. "DALIGN" - Attack any alignment different to self. |
| attack | stringlist | This is a 2 string stringlist. These are
the messages sent to the people in the room except the victim, and the victim itself, in that order. If the second (victim) string is "", the first string will be shown to the victim, as if they were anyone else in the room. You can leave both blank if you wish. $1n is the mob name (self), $3n is the victim's name. NOTE: the $ values only apply if you supply BOTH string 1 and 2. |
The argument descriptions pretty much explain everything there is to know about the agressive function and what it was so we will finish off by giving an example of a dilcopy that will create a NPC that fits the following description
Let's say our mob is a level 40 Goblin who doesn't like dwarves. He's very particular in that he doesn't like evil female dwarves who are level 20 and above. He does recognize the sanctuary spell, but he doesn't recognize soothe, and he'll wait 10 seconds on average before he attacks. The 2 messages sent are: "$1n savagely attacks $3n with his big axe!" and "$1n attacks you!"
Here's what the function call would look like:
dilcopy aggressive (3, 2, 1, 20, 2, PULSE_SEC*10, 0, "EVIL",
{"$1n savagely attacks $3n with his big axe!",
"$1n attacks you!"});
In this example, 3 (attack females), 2 (attack dwarves), 1 (just dwarves), 20 (Level 20+ victims), 2 (obey only soothe), PULSE_SEC*10 (wait around 10 seconds before attacking), EVIL (attack only evil), and the strings in the stringlist are displayed to the victim and the room, in that order.
- Janitors
- This function turns the NPC into a janitor that will pick up items left lying around and will also tell new players. those under level 20,
where there corpse is if they come across it in there wanderings. You must also supply the wander_zone DIL for this to work correctly. The definition for the janitor function is as follows:
dilbegin janitors(rate: integer);
The Janitor function only takes one argument and that determines how fast the janitor will pick up stuff in seconds.
To make a Janitor that will pick up stuff every thirty seconds the following would be the dilcopy:
dilcopy janitor@function(30);
- Shop Keeper
- This is one of the more complex dilcopies and considered by some to be confusing. Below I will step you through the creation of the mobile,
and the application of this DIL using defines to hopefully simplify the use of this function. The function is defined as:
dilbegin aware shopkeeper(prod: stringlist, custom_acts : stringlist, opentimes : stringlist, itemtype: string, sellprofit : integer,buyprofit: integer, maxcash : integer,closedil : string, dilparams : string );
- Step 1
- First, figure out what you want your shopkeeper to sell. He can sell pretty much any item from any zone, as long as you know its symbolic name.
For Hogan (our example shopkeeper), he is a bartender, so he sells things you would commonly find in a pub, tavern, or bar. His list of items (their symbolic names at which zone) are:
grain_alcohol@gobtown1 pretzels@gobtown1 beer_nuts@gobtown1 rum_coke@gobtown1 tuborg@udgaard
Now, since I use defines, I make a define for Hogan's products. I called it TAVERN_PROD (for tavern's products). And use the following setup and just stick the names of your items in where his items are. Each item will have a setup like this:
"tuborg@udgaard 15 20"
A symbolic name followed by two numbers, with the entire thing in quotes. Where :
- The "tuborg@udgaard" is your item's symbolic name
- The 15 (our first number in the string) is the number of that item that
will load into your shop daily
- The 20 (our second number in the string) is the limit available of that
item in the shop ever So this shop would sell tuborgs.. and every mudday, 15 tuborgs will load into our shop to replenish our stock.. and the maximum tuborgs we can have at any given time is 20.
Next we place all this info into the define we created above, which would look like this:
#define TAVERN_PROD \
{"grain_alcohol@gobtown1 15 20", \
"pretzels@gobtown1 10 15", \
"beer_nuts@gobtown1 15 20", \
"rum_coke@gobtown1 10 15", \
"tuborg@udgaard 15 20"}
The above is my define for Hogan's products that he sells. Each one is in quotes and they have commas separating them. If you put each item on its own separate line, you need to put a space and then a back slash after the comma which separates the items, like it shows above. The entire define is enclosed in curly brackets, {}. Now we are finished with the items he sells.
- Step 2
- Now you must decide what kind of dialogue you would like your shopkeeper to say. There are ten separate responses you can make for your shopkeeper. They do go in a specific order and I will list what each do.
- Response 1
- The first response will be used if the shopkeeper doesn't have the particular item you're trying to buy in stock, or if he doesn't sell that item at all.
- Response 2
- The second response is used when the player is trying to sell the shopkeeper something which the player does not have in his inventory. Items worn by the player can not be sold until removed from there worn position.
- Response 3
- The third response is used when the player is trying to sell the shopkeeper something that is not one of those of his trade types. (This will be more clear when we get to the trade type part below. Such as a player trying to sell our bartender a canoe. =)
- Response 4
- The fourth response is used when the player tries to buy something from the shopkeeper, but doesn't have enough money to buy it.
- Response 5
- The fifth response is used when the sale was successful and the player buys something from the shopkeeper.
- Response 6
- The sixth response is again used when the sale was successful, but this time it's for when the player successfully sells something to the shopkeeper.
- Response 7
- The seventh response is used when the shopkeeper doesn't have enough of the item to sell as the player requests. Such as someone trying to buy 10 tuborgs, but our bartender only has 9.
- Response 8
- The eighth response is Used when the shop is closed and a player tries to buy something from or sell something to the shopkeeper.
- Response 9
- The ninth response is used when the player tries to sell an item to the shopkeeper that the shopkeeper doesn't trade that item.
- Response 10
- The tenth (and last!) response is for when the shopkeeper has run out of money and can't afford to buy what the player is trying to sell him.
Now. again, I made a define called TAVERN_MSG (for tavern messages) and I placed all my responses in it. Don't forget, they do go in that specific order! And below is our setup with responses in it.
In the responses below, $1n refers to the shopkeeper, $2n refers to the item being sold, bought, etc.. and $3n refers to the person dealing with the shopkeeper.
#define TAVERN_MSG \
{"$1n says, 'This is a tavern, I don't sell such an item as that!'", \
"$1n says, '$3n, you don't even have that!'", \
"$1n says, 'I don't trade with things such as $2n! Just buy a beer!'", \
"$1n says, '$3n, you can't afford $2n.'", \
"$1n says, 'Thank you, $3n, here are %s for $2n.'", \
"$1n says, 'Thank you, $3n.'", \
"$1n says, 'I don't have that many $2ns in stock.'", \
"$1n says, 'I'm on break, come back later.'", \
"$1n says, 'I haven't got a use for $2n.'", \
"$1n says, 'I'd like to buy it, but I can't afford it, sorry.'"} \
Just like with the items, the responses are in quotes, and are separated with commas. Since I put each on their own separate lines (for neatness sake), I put a space and a back slash, \, after each. The entire define is enclosed in curly braces,{}. And then you're done with your shopkeeper's messages! Don't worry, it gets simpler from here.
- Step 3
- Now we get to decide when we want our shop to be open. We get to use military time, so 1 refers to 1am, 6 refers to 6am, 12 refers to 12pm
(noon), 18 refers to 6pm, and both 0 and 24 refer to 12am (midnight).. etc.. =) And my define for this I named TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES (for when the tavern is open) and I used the following setup:
#define TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES {"12","18"}
You just have to make your define and stick your times in quotes and enclose them in curly braces. So Hogan will be opened from 1am ("1") until 11pm ("23"). He will close after 11pm and reopen again at 1am. You may also add multiple open and close times as per the following example:
#define TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES {"1","12","16","20"}
- Step 4
- For this step you get to choose your shopkeeper's trade types. And what you pick all depends on what kinds of things you want your shopkeeper to sell and buy. You can find the item types in values.h, but I'll also list them below.
| Value | Type | Value | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ITEM_LIGHT | 14 | ITEM_TRAP |
| 2 | ITEM_SCROLL | 15 | ITEM_CONTAINER |
| 3 | ITEM_WAND | 16 | ITEM_NOTE |
| 4 | ITEM_STAFF | 17 | ITEM_DRINKCON |
| 5 | ITEM_WEAPON | 18 | ITEM_KEY |
| 6 | ITEM_FIREWEAPON | 19 | ITEM_FOOD |
| 7 | ITEM_MISSILE | 20 | ITEM_MONEY |
| 8 | ITEM_TREASURE | 21 | ITEM_PEN |
| 9 | ITEM_ARMOR | 22 | ITEM_BOAT |
| 10 | ITEM_POTION | 23 | ITEM_SPELL |
| 11 | ITEM_WORN | 24 | ITEM_BOOK |
| 12 | ITEM_OTHER | 25 | ITEM_SHIELD |
| 13 | ITEM_TRASH |
We are making a bartender, so he should sell food and drinks. So I selected ITEM_FOOD, and it's corresponding number is 19. So I made my define TAVERN_ITEM_TYPE (for our tavern's type of items) using the following setup:
#define TAVERN_ITEM_TYPE "19"
Now, if we had a magic shop, and wanted to sell potions and scrolls, I would make a define called for example MAGIC_ITEM_TYPE and make it like this:
#define MAGIC_ITEM_TYPE "2 10"
The 2 was our number corresponding to the scrolls, and the 10 corresponded to the potions. That is how you make your shopkeeper sell more than one item type, just stick the corresponding numbers inside quotes with a space separating them.
- Step 5
- Now you get to decide how much money your shopkeeper gets to have to buy things with. One platinum piece is equal to 40960. So if I wanted him to have two platinum pieces to spend on buying things from players, I would make a define called TAVERN_MAX_CASH (for the maximum amount of money our shopkeeper gets) and use the following setup:
#define TAVERN_MAX_CASH 81920
I got 81920 by multiplying the 40960 (one platinum) by 2
- Step 6
- The sixth thing we get to do is to decide how much profit does our shopkeeper get when he sells his items. Items should have a cost to them already tagged on them, so their whatever their cost is, that is equal to 100%. Now, if your shopkeeper wants to take an extra 10% on the items he's selling so he can support his family, then you would make his selling profit 110. So I made a define called TAVERN_SELL_PROFIT (for his profit when he sells things) and gave him 110% selling profit, and used the following setup:
#define TAVERN_SELL_PROFIT 110
- Step 7
- This last define is almost exactly like our selling profit, but now, we're doing our buying profit... when a player sells an item to the shopkeeper,
he doesn't want to pay full price because it must be used since a player has it. Now the item's cost is 100%, and maybe the shopkeeper only wants to buy items for half its cost. So I would make his buying profit 50, and use the following setup.
#define TAVERN_BUY_PROFIT 50
All of the previous defines you can place anywhere in the zone. I like to place mine before the %DIL section just to keep them somewhere where I know they all are. You can place each one on the mob itself, but I think that looks cluttered so's why I put them where I put them. And you're going to have a dilcopy placed on your mob also, which I'll explain in step 8.
- Step 8
- Okay one last step. Now you get to place the DIL on your shopkeeper mob using all of those cute little defines you just made. The syntax for the DIL is:
dilcopy shopkeeper@function(products, responses, opentimes, tradetypes, sellprofit, buyprofit, maxcash, closedil, dilparams);
Take your defines from above the defines that you made are called:
TAVERN_PROD, TAVERN_MSG, TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES, TAVERN_ITEM_TYPE, TAVERN_SELL_PROFIT, TAVERN_BUY_PROFIT, and TAVERN_MAX_CASH.
Now all you have to do is place them in the syntax where they belong like in the below example.
dilcopy shopkeeper@function(TAVERN_PROD, TAVERN_MSG, TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES, TAVERN_ITEM_TYPE, TAVERN_SELL_PROFIT, TAVERN_BUY_PROFIT, TAVERN_MAX_CASH, "", "");
For the last two fields, I just put "", "" because I don't make my own unique DIL for those. By just putting and empty set of quotes for each, it makes it go to the default. And make sure you don't forget that semicolon at the end either.
You are pretty much done now. All you have to do is place your defines either up before %DIL or somewhere in %mob if you'd like, and place the dilcopy onto your mob.
Just to make sure I've completely beaten a very dead horse, this is what it would look like in the end.
%zone sample_zon
#define TAVERN_PROD \
{"grain_alcohol@gobtown1 15 20", \
"pretzels@gobtown1 10 15", \
"beer_nuts@gobtown1 15 20", \
"rum_coke@gobtown1 10 15", \
"tuborg@udgaard 15 20"}
#define TAVERN_MSG \
{"$1n says, 'This is a tavern, I don't sell such an item as that!'", \
"$1n says, '$3n, you don't even have that!'", \
"$1n says, 'I don't trade with things such as $2n! Just buy a beer!'", \
"$1n says, '$3n, you can't afford $2n.'", \
"$1n says, 'Thank you, $3n, here are %s for $2n.'", \
"$1n says, 'Thank you, $3n.'", \
"$1n says, 'I don't have that many $2ns in stock.'", \
"$1n says, 'I'm on break, come back later.'", \
"$1n says, 'I haven't got a use for $2n.'", \
"$1n says, 'I'd like to buy it, but I can't afford it, sorry.'"} \
#define TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES {"1","23"}
#define TAVERN_ITEM_TYPE "19"
#define TAVERN_MAX_CASH 81920
#define TAVERN_SELL_PROFIT 110
#define TAVERN_BUY_PROFIT 50
%mobiles
bartender
names {"hogan","goblin","bartender"}
title "Hogan"
descr "Hogan stands behind the bar waiting to take your order."
extra {}
"He looks back at you, patiently waiting for your order."
M_AVG_GOBLIN(76,SEX_MALE)
alignment -1000
exp 100
money 2 SILVER_PIECE, 2 COPPER_PIECE
dilcopy shopkeeper@function(TAVERN_PROD, TAVERN_MSG, TAVERN_OPEN_TIMES,
TAVERN_ITEM_TYPE,TAVERN_SELL_PROFIT,
TAVERN_BUY_PROFIT, TAVERN_MAX_CASH, "", "");
end
