Seeking in-game conversations... - by jtr7
jtr7 on 23/10/2008 at 03:18
If I wanted to search the Maps to determine whether it contains a given conversation--without T3Ed--what would I use for a search term? I can find Books in the *.gmp files by searching within them for the filename (minus the extension) as the string, but searching the Content folder for the conversation filename, or the schema filename, or the *.ogg filename as a string yields nothing, at this time.
Any clues? Or would using T3Ed be significantly easier?
For the ETU, we want to mark where and when a conversation can be heard, and determine which Books and Conversations are not used in-game.
Thanks!
massimilianogoi on 23/10/2008 at 05:36
Quote Posted by jtr7
If I wanted to search the Maps to determine whether it contains a given conversation--without T3Ed--what would I use for a search term? I can find Books in the *.gmp files by searching within them for the filename (minus the extension) as the string, but searching the Content folder for the conversation filename, or the schema filename, or the *.ogg filename as a string yields nothing, at this time.
Any clues? Or would using T3Ed be significantly easier?
If you mean working on one of your maps, it would be very easier using the conversation section of T3Ed, but if you mean searching within maps already baked onto ibt, well... you have to know that the Windows's search options is a little buggy, because not always it searchs within the files, sometime it omits directly to do this operation, even if some occurrence would be found, and returns no files...
To search in the files I use a private software called Agent Ransack, it performs a well deep search, for any occurrence that is really in your hard disk, or a specified folder.
Quote Posted by jtr7
For the ETU, we want to mark where and when a conversation can be heard, and determine which Books and Conversations are not used in-game.Thanks!
If I've right understood, the only way to do this, is experimenting deleting the .sch files you think they're not used, and recompiling with compileschemas.pl (you must have perl installed for this): if you will not hear one or more conversations, well, you know that they are used in the map. It's advisable always to keep all the schemas_sfx files, they are the ambient sounds (steps,explosions,stabbing,objects movement, etc.)
Beleg Cúthalion on 23/10/2008 at 07:46
If I'm not mistaken conversations are triggered by scripts and I almost think there's a script for every conversation in every map, arranged and named orderly in the script browser. However, I'm at work now as one could say and far away from T3Ed for now.
But just if you wanted to try jtr7 (you had T3Ed and just don't want to use it, do you?), you could open it and open the script browser (little parchment icon) and see if you can find folders named conversations --> Castle or something.
jtr7 on 23/10/2008 at 08:08
Thanks for the clues, guys.
massimilianogoi: I've got my Windows set up to read the file types, thank you for the suggestion anyway, I just don't seem to be having any luck with knowing what search string to use. I'll try to poke around some more. I've gotten some results for the Books, in the *.gmp files only, but nothing at all in the Maps folder for conversations, so I don't know how those are labeled. Like I said, I'll take your clues and look around.
Haha, Beleg, actually I don't have T3Ed right now. In fact, I don't even know if I have TDS! Remember the glitchy sound issue I was having? Well... There were other problems I discovered and I had to uninstall everything!
But wait! There's more!
While trying to reinstall from my discs, I discovered Disc 1 got a scratch at some point and cannot be read! I hope it's on the read side, not the label side. I can't even see it with my naked eye. I'm currently going through my options from free to cheap to digging in my wallet. I still have the files I had backed up to perform a basic search, so, not to be deterred, I'm hoping to be able to continue this project. I just hope the right search string is enough.
Yeah, I'm none to happy about it. Curiously, while seeking options and opinions about salvaging the data, there were others who got the same cyclic redundancy error about data2.cab. Must be a common place on the disc to get a scratch. I tried some of the suggestions there to no avail.
massimilianogoi on 23/10/2008 at 11:08
Quote Posted by jtr7
Thanks for the clues, guys.
massimilianogoi: I've got my Windows set up to read the file types, thank you for the suggestion anyway, I just don't seem to be having any luck with knowing what search string to use. I'll try to poke around some more. I've gotten some results for the Books, in the *.gmp files only, but nothing at all in the Maps folder for conversations, so I don't know how those are labeled. Like I said, I'll take your clues and look around..
I am wondering why you are doing this??
Anyway, if you're searching for conversations, just download and install (it's just a few KB) Agent Ransack, select the T3Ed folder, check "containing text" and enter to the right the string "conversation". Now you will have any possible conversation occurrence :thumb: .
I would like to note that there's a Conversations options in the menu where is "Level Properties". There you find all the conversation used by the game.
Quote Posted by jtr7
But wait! There's more!
While trying to reinstall from my discs, I discovered Disc 1 got a scratch at some point and cannot be read!
...
Yeah, I'm none to happy about it. Curiously, while seeking options and opinions about salvaging the data, there were others who got the same cyclic redundancy error about data2.cab. Must be a common place on the disc to get a scratch. I tried some of the suggestions there to no avail.
In this case, if you bought an original copy of Thief, I guess you can download it via p2p, if you have the disc ruined, without any risk of persecutions, because when you bought the game, you achieved also the legal license for that copy. Remember: ALWAYS buy original copies of the games! Just in this way we can allow the designers to make new Thief episodes.
Beleg Cúthalion on 23/10/2008 at 15:04
Ha! I wasn't that bad at all:
(
http://s8b.directupload.net/file/d/1591/d7r2cz4h_jpg.htm)
Inline Image:
http://s8b.directupload.net/images/081023/temp/d7r2cz4h.jpgFor the City sections there less orderly listed conversations (e.g. I couldn't find the riff-raff convo in the Auldale folder right now, but for Stonemarket I've found something). The little side quests are there as well and I've even found some old scripts that looked like there were simple teleport traps for the Keeper library instead of this loading zone thing.
jtr7, if you still cannot get T3Ed to work, I could list these convos one by one and maybe even detect if their appearance is based on certain conditions (as long as I can make sense of GlobalInts and flag names). Otherwise, this browser is surely interesting for you I guess.
jtr7 on 23/10/2008 at 19:58
Thanks again!
massimilianogoi: It's for our Encyclopaedia of the Thief Universe (ETU).:D There's irony here that one of the major reasons I want to make the Encyclopaedia, is that I don't always have the games to play, and a printed encyclopaedia would make it possible to look anything up about the universe of Thief without needing the game to find it. It cannot replace the games, but it will be nice for me when I cannot play them, like TDS right now.
I downloaded TDS and installed it, but I'm having to clean up the bugs and apply fixes, so it's not working yet.:sweat:
Beleg: That certainly looks helpful! What do you think the chances are that a conversation will be listed there that isn't actually heard in-game? That's the only concern, along with the monotony of going through so many. If you could determine a method to "detect if their appearance is based on certain conditions", and tell me how you did it, I would appreciate that very much, and it would give me the tools to whittle away at the list.:D
massimilianogoi on 24/10/2008 at 10:04
Quote Posted by jtr7
Thanks again!
massimilianogoi: It's for our Encyclopaedia of the Thief Universe (ETU).:D There's irony here that one of the major reasons I want to make the Encyclopaedia, is that I don't always have the games to play, and a printed encyclopaedia would make it possible to look anything up about the universe of Thief without needing the game to find it. It cannot replace the games, but it will be nice for me when I cannot play them, like TDS right now.
Then, the only thing I can tell you, is formatting and having a fresh installation of windows. This will solve any problem. Restart from 0.
jtr7 on 24/10/2008 at 11:23
Quote Posted by massimilianogoi
Then, the only thing I can tell you, is formatting and having a fresh installation of windows. This will solve any problem. Restart from 0.
That's not the issue at all. I said the problem was that my TDS game wasn't acting right, so I uninstalled it. When I tried to reinstall it fresh from my TDS CDs, I found out Disc 1 was unreadable. Formatting my hard drive won't repair my CD.:)
There have been years where I had no computer at all to play any games. If my laptop breaks, I will not have a computer again for a long time. The encyclopaedia will be all the Thief reference I'll have.
In the meantime, I've got Agent Ransack running, and I still have backup TDS game files I'd made for my research: Maps, Sounds, Schemas, Books, Videos, and Textures. I hope I can discover which books and conversations are found in-game, and which are not. And knowing where and what game day they may be found in--and which conditions trigger them--would be absolutely perfect. It's a lot of work, but it will answer questions some questions once and for all, plus, it's rewarding every time I discover something new, and these projects always reveal little treasures of Thiefy knowledge.:D
So far, searching within the T3 folder for conversation schema names or the *.ogg filenames only brings up the SchemaMetafile_HardDrive.csc file. Unless there's a link between the *.gmp files and the *.csc file, it looks like I will need T3Ed working.
massimilianogoi on 24/10/2008 at 14:01
Quote Posted by jtr7
That's not the issue at all. I said the problem was that my TDS game wasn't acting right, so I uninstalled it. When I tried to reinstall it fresh from my TDS CDs, I found out Disc 1 was unreadable. Formatting my hard drive won't repair my CD.:)
There have been years where I had no computer at all to play any games. If my laptop breaks, I will not have a computer again for a long time.
Formatting breaks nothing. I've formatted so many times in my pcs, that I've lost the number.. Also in this laptop, where I am writing. I'm running now a Vista Ultimate SP1 64 bits, and all's quiet now.
Quote Posted by jtr7
In the meantime, I've got Agent Ransack running, and I still have backup TDS game files I'd made for my research: Maps, Sounds, Schemas, Books, Videos, and Textures. I hope I can discover which books and conversations are found in-game, and which are not. And knowing where and what game day they may be found in--and which conditions trigger them--would be absolutely perfect. It's a lot of work, but it will answer questions some questions once and for all, plus, it's rewarding every time I discover something new, and these projects always reveal little treasures of Thiefy knowledge.:D
So far, searching within the T3 folder for conversation schema names or the *.ogg filenames only brings up the SchemaMetafile_HardDrive.csc file. Unless there's a link between the *.gmp files and the *.csc file, it looks like I will need T3Ed working.
Now I'm approaching to what you meaned, unfortunately I cannot understand well the complex discussions in english.
BUT... It came in my mind another possibility for your beautiful works, listen: you don't wanna, or cannot, game Thief 3 ain't? So, there's the entire episode in youtube, starting from the Inn map, to the last, follow all the episodes, and, with paper, pencil and a bit of patience, take note of any conversations present.
Here we go:
Start from the Inn
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FyiNjAQ-HA&feature=related) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FyiNjAQ-HA&feature=related (be aware: polish text, but english vocals)
or start from the Rutherford Castle
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQwGvC7Pk9o) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQwGvC7Pk9o
Thanks to youtube for all, and to all the users that put up the videos
