Experimenting with NPC dialogues

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SavageBob
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Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#1

Post by SavageBob » Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:42 pm

Image "You expect me to help… you? I hardly think so, my good sir. Good day and begone!"
Image "Hey, what's up?"
@swrider, @ShadoWarrior, is there any way to control the size of the cells in tables like the two above? Ideally, the left-hand cell would be only about 256 pixels wide.

EDIT: To make the right-hand cell display correctly, the dialogue needs to be long enough. In the examples above, the second dialogue is too short, so the cell is short to match it. There may be a way to force it to be bigger, perhaps with non-breaking spaces.
Last edited by SavageBob on Wed Sep 19, 2018 2:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Boutrose Saba-Norr
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#2

Post by Boutrose Saba-Norr » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:10 pm

that would be really cool, i'd love to be able to add photos to the text to add some depth to it.
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SavageBob
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#3

Post by SavageBob » Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:13 pm

I'm trying to approximate a semi-retro console RPG feel. :)

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swrider
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#4

Post by swrider » Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:39 pm

I added a bbcode to allow resizing of tables a long time ago, but it lacked cross browser compatibility and I have not revisited it since.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#5

Post by SavageBob » Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:40 am

swrider wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:39 pm
I added a bbcode to allow resizing of tables a long time ago, but it lacked cross browser compatibility and I have not revisited it since.
Do you have any idea why the two tables I posted above end up with different cell sizes? They look that way for me in both Safari and Firefox on Mac OX.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#6

Post by swrider » Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:18 am

No. Have you tried to use the imageleft tag?

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Doctor Who
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#7

Post by Doctor Who » Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:55 am

Well now I feel like I will need to do this for my games. And my addiction to collecting character art is going to get even worse :P
Give me about 5 minutes after a post, I'll probably edit it a bit before it is finalized.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#8

Post by SavageBob » Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:15 am

Doctor Who wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:55 am
Well now I feel like I will need to do this for my games. And my addiction to collecting character art is going to get even worse :P
:lol: My worry is that it'll break in people's phones. And the random cell sizes are bothering me. I need to experiment more with it.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#9

Post by SavageBob » Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:20 am

swrider wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:18 am
No. Have you tried to use the imageleft tag?
It really seems that BBCode is idiosyncratic. I've tried what I can find on other sites, but it doesn't seem to work here. What's the code on this site?

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ShadoWarrior
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#10

Post by ShadoWarrior » Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:49 pm

SavageBob wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:20 am
It really seems that BBCode is idiosyncratic. I've tried what I can find on other sites, but it doesn't seem to work here. What's the code on this site?
When you say "other sites", are you referring to other phpBB sites, and if so do you have specific phpBB sites you could cite? Forum software varies wildly in terms of how they handle BBcode (and whether they allow embedded HTML/CSS). Sites which are not based on phpBB cannot be reliably used as coding samples, as what works on them is unlikely to work on any site that isn't using the same forum software. And even if some site is using phpBB, it matters which version of phpBB they're using. There are codes that worked okay on old versions that no longer work, which is why so damn many of the old (and cool) published phpBB mods that can be found using Google are useless.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#11

Post by DeepSpacer » Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:31 pm

Doctor Who wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:55 am
Well now I feel like I will need to do this for my games. And my addiction to collecting character art is going to get even worse :P
You, too? ;)

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swrider
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#12

Post by swrider » Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:55 pm

SavageBob wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:20 am
swrider wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:18 am
No. Have you tried to use the imageleft tag?
It really seems that BBCode is idiosyncratic. I've tried what I can find on other sites, but it doesn't seem to work here. What's the code on this site?
It is not difficult to determine, but I still do not like publishing that information in an open forum. Knowing the back end software and version can expose vulnerabilities. If you PM me I will provide you that information. Though I make no promises as to when I will be able to install any updates to the code, even if you find one which is compatible.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#13

Post by swrider » Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:03 pm

Image
"You expect me to help… you?"


3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510
58209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679
82148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128
48111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196
44288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091
45648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273
72458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436
78925903600113305305488204665213841469519415116094
33057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548
07446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912
98336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798
60943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132
00056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872
14684409012249534301465495853710507922796892589235
42019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960
51870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859
50244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881
71010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303
59825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778
18577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989

Floating the text to the right seems to work.

Image
"You expect me to help… you?"



3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510
58209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679
82148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128
48111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196
44288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091
45648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273
72458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436
78925903600113305305488204665213841469519415116094
33057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548
07446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912
98336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798
60943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132
00056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872
14684409012249534301465495853710507922796892589235
42019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960
51870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859
50244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881
71010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303
59825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778
18577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989

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SavageBob
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#14

Post by SavageBob » Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:10 pm

ShadoWarrior wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:49 pm
When you say "other sites", are you referring to other phpBB sites, and if so do you have specific phpBB sites you could cite? Forum software varies wildly in terms of how they handle BBcode (and whether they allow embedded HTML/CSS). Sites which are not based on phpBB cannot be reliably used as coding samples, as what works on them is unlikely to work on any site that isn't using the same forum software. And even if some site is using phpBB, it matters which version of phpBB they're using. There are codes that worked okay on old versions that no longer work, which is why so damn many of the old (and cool) published phpBB mods that can be found using Google are useless.
Thanks, Shado. That's what I was trying to convey. It seems that each site runs its own version, so only rarely does the code I find elsewhere work here. But knowing that phpBB is a subset of BBcode helps.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#15

Post by SavageBob » Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:11 pm

swrider wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:55 pm
It is not difficult to determine, but I still do not like publishing that information in an open forum. Knowing the back end software and version can expose vulnerabilities. If you PM me I will provide you that information. Though I make no promises as to when I will be able to install any updates to the code, even if you find one which is compatible.
No, sorry; I meant how does the imgleft syntax work specifically?

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#16

Post by SavageBob » Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:14 pm

Image
"You expect me to help… you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
It seems to break if you have to resize the image, and if the text is very long.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#17

Post by swrider » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:31 pm

SavageBob wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:14 pm
Image
"You expect me to help… you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."[/size]

It seems to break if you have to resize the image, and if the text is very long.
Hitting Enter between lines seems to help.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#18

Post by swrider » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:34 pm

SavageBob wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:10 pm
ShadoWarrior wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:49 pm
When you say "other sites", are you referring to other phpBB sites, and if so do you have specific phpBB sites you could cite? Forum software varies wildly in terms of how they handle BBcode (and whether they allow embedded HTML/CSS). Sites which are not based on phpBB cannot be reliably used as coding samples, as what works on them is unlikely to work on any site that isn't using the same forum software. And even if some site is using phpBB, it matters which version of phpBB they're using. There are codes that worked okay on old versions that no longer work, which is why so damn many of the old (and cool) published phpBB mods that can be found using Google are useless.
Thanks, Shado. That's what I was trying to convey. It seems that each site runs its own version, so only rarely does the code I find elsewhere work here. But knowing that phpBB is a subset of BBcode helps.
Not quite. PhPBB is the forum software. BBcode is the coding language which the forum software allows users to use. This code is replaced by HTML which is displayed on the screen. It allows some formatting options for users without creating a security risk. We can program any BBcode we wish for the forum or download pre-made lists. The problem is that not all HTML codes work on all browsers the same way.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#19

Post by ShadoWarrior » Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:56 pm

swrider wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:34 pm
We can program any BBcode we wish for the forum or download pre-made lists. The problem is that not all HTML codes work on all browsers the same way.
This is true ... to a point. In addition to the issue with how different browsers render HTML/CSS, there is also an issue with the fact that, regardless of browser, phpBB does NOT accept all HTML/CSS. PhpBB does not just passively pass through whatever we (the admins sticking HTML/CSS code into bb tags) insert. It's doing some sort of intermediate evaluation/processing and passing through what it wants to (using some criteria we're not privy to). This is part of the reason why some (most) mods that worked on old versions of phpBB no longer work with version 3.x.

It'd be so much easier if phpBB would just allow people to directly insert HTML code into posts. Which it obviously doesn't let us do. Of course, if it allowed that, then users could really mess up how forum pages look. IMO, they haven't quite (yet) struck the right balance between security (to maintain the integrity of how a forum is themed) and flexibility. They probably never will, at least to my satisfaction. But phpBB has one very important fact that's very much in its favor: it's free (and pretty easy to learn and use). Better forum software isn't free.

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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#20

Post by SavageBob » Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:27 am

I certainly understand the appeal of free.

So, these all worked. For the first three, I'm using "resized=xxx,yyy" where xxx,yyy is the actual pixel size of the target image.
Image "You expect me to help… you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
Image "You expect me to help… you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
Image "Hello, Guvnah! Fancy a stroll down the boulevard? I was hoping to find Miss Fannie Elstrom down by the quay."
But for these three, I'm actually resizing the image from its original dimensions. Using resized on a much larger image does seem to work here, but I'm not sure why here and not in the two images I presented in the first post above.
Image "Hello, Guvnah! Fancy a stroll down the boulevard? I was hoping to find Miss Fannie Elstrom down by the quay."
Image "Hello, Guvnah! Fancy a stroll down the boulevard? I was hoping to find Miss Fannie Elstrom down by the quay."
Image "You expect me to help… you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

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SavageBob
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#21

Post by SavageBob » Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:59 am

One more fun trick: Use imageresize.org to load any source image, crop it how you want, and then post here—without having to save the image to your computer, use Photoshop, or do any other off-line manipulation. Perfect for finding a random NPC image on Pinterest and cropping it how you want.
Image
"You expect me to help… you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

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Boutrose Saba-Norr
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#22

Post by Boutrose Saba-Norr » Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:50 am

It looks good on my phone
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Re: Experimenting with NPC dialogues

#23

Post by SavageBob » Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:32 am

Boutrose Saba-Norr wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:50 am
It looks good on my phone
Awesome! I'm going to try this style in Hyperlight Echoes; if it starts to break on people, we can always change it.

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