Daggerfall : Création de quêtes

Cet article est actuellement en travaux importants par abg depuis le 23/08/2012. Contactez cette personne pour toute modification majeure de l'article. Si vous voulez participer directement à cet article vous pouvez créer une discussion (voir onglet discussion ci-dessus), ou utiliser le forum afin de coordonner vos interventions.

Le compilateur de quêtes Template, de Donald Tipton, est l'outil fondamental pour créer et modifier les quêtes daggerfalliennes.

Traduction commentée du document questing.html

Utiliser le décompilateur de quête

Vous pouvez examiner le contenu de n'importe quelle quête de Daggerfall. Les seules qui seront inaccessibles seront les quêtes ayant un fichier Qbn mais aucun fichier Qrc. Comme il n'y a pas de bonne méthode pour deviner les textes manquants, le décompilateur ne vous montrera pas le contenu de telles "erreurs". Certaines discordances semblent être liées à des incohérences de nommage (réputation, numéro de série de la quête...) entre QBN et QRC. (NDT : Normalement, depuis l'époque de D.Tipton, ces bugs ont été réparés...)

Le décompilateur est assez bavard, préférant autant que possible l'anglais de base. Bien qu'il ait ses propres idées à propos de la casse des caractères, ça n'a que peu d'importance autant pour lire la quête décompilée que pour la recompiler.

(NDT : La casse des caractères n'a aucune importance dans le code source)

Pour décompiler une quête, vous devez dire au décompilateur quelle quête vous intéresse, ainsi que où écrire le résultat de la décompilation.

template  -d  d:\game\dag\arena2\40c00y00.qbn  40c00y00.src

Où :

template est le nom du décompilateur.

-d est le switch de commande spécifiant une décompilation.

d:\game\dag\arena2\40c00y00.qbn est le chemin d'accès de la quête.

(Utilisez votre propre chemin d'accès menant jusqu'au dossier arena2 de votre installation de Daggerfall)

40c00y00.src est le fichier qui va recevoir la quête décompilée.

Si vous omettez cette destination, le compilateur décompilera la quête spécifiée dans le répertoire où se trouvent les fichiers qbn/qrc et nommera la quête décompilée avec l'extension .src

Vous pouvez ensuite modifier la quête en éditant le fichier .src avec un éditeur de texte. Si vous utilisez un traitement de texte, assurez vous bien qu'il laisse le texte en tant que ascii propre (pas de conversion de format) si vous voulez pouvoir recompiler la quête.

Utiliser le compilateur de quête

Pour compiler une quête, inversez le processus :

template 40c00y00.src

Où :

template est le nom du compilateur de quête.

40c00y00.src est le nom de la quête à compiler.

Par défaut, le compilateur créé les fichiers qbn/qrc dans le répertoire même où se trouve le fichier .src. Le compilateur va lister le source vers la sortie standard, ainsi que les éventuelles plaintes pour problèmes rencontrés en cours de route. Si la quête contient une quelconque erreur, la dernière ligne de sortie va le rappeler et vous inviter à revoir le source pour corriger les erreurs.

N'espérez pas que les fichiers qbn/qrc soient utilisables si le compilateur a trouvé des erreurs.

Vous pouvez demander une compilation "verbeuse" en incluant le switch -v:

template -v 40c00y00.src

Cela amènera le compilateur à réciter tout ce qu'il fait pour produire les fichiers qbn/qrc, incluant ses construction de syntaxe à partir des modèles sources (source patterns), ainsi que le code binaire émis pour constituer le fichier qbn.

(NDT : Le résultat est vraiment verbeux. Pensez à faire une redirection système pour lecture à tête reposée :

template -v 40c00y00.src >compilation.log

)

Additionnellement, le scénario de quête obtenu (NDT : La sortie de Template en mode "verbose") contient les informations requises pour utiliser le débogueur de quête de X-engine. Voir Utiliser le débogueur de X-Engine pour plus d'informations.

Diagnostics

Le compilateur/décompilateur va se plaindre de temps en temps à propos des anomalies qu'il rencontrera. Certaines erreurs reflètent simplement le système d'exploitation sous-jacent et ne seront pas traitées ici. Dans de tels cas, le compilateur annote généralement le message système avec sa propre interprétation.

Les messages d'erreur sont annoncés généralement par la balise qcomp: bien que le compilateur se plaigne parfois en utilisant la balise qrc: si pour une raison ou une autre il ne peut accéder au fichier Qrc.

La ligne de source contenant l'erreur sera habituellement listée avant le message d'erreur la mettant en cause.

NN is an invalid Qbn section number. Only [0, 10] are allowed. 

Le compilateur a découvert qu'on lui demandait de créer une section Qbn inexistante. Indique habituellement que Windows s'est tiré dans le pied ou qu'une application quelconque a tiré dans le pied du compilateur. (!!)

_symbol_ appears in Qrc without mention in Qbn. 

Le compilateur a détecté un symbole de quête utilisé dans un bloc de message du Qrc, mais n'ayant jamais été défini comme ressource de quête. Signifie le plus souvent une erreur de syntaxe dans le symbole au niveau du Qrc ou dans les déclarations de ressources. Le compilateur ne peut vous dire quelle syntaxe est la bonne. Des symboles mal orthographiés dans le Qrc peuvent planter la quête, ou au moins engendrer l'apparition de chaînes "BLANK". (NDT : "VIDE" selon la traduction PFD)

_symbol_ at &N is the wrong type of symbol for this operation. 
Expected symbol type NN but found symbol type MM.

En réduisant une ressource du Qbn à sa forme numérique, le compilateur a découvert un usage en conflit avec le type d'opération accompli. Par exemple :

give pc _house_

peut engendrer cette erreur, car il n'est pas raisonnable de tenter d'ajouter un site de quête à l'inventaire du PJ.

_symbol_ sera remplacé par la ressource qui chagrine le compilateur. NN et MM correspondent aux numéros de section du Qbn

_symbol_ has not been defined. 

En réduisant une ressource du Qbn à sa forme numérique, le compilateur a découvert une référence à une ressource inexistante. _symbol_ est remplacé par le texte qui fait râler le compilateur.

Par exemple, définir une action utilisant une ressource item (objet de quête) sans avoir défini la ressource à utiliser peut déclencher cette condition d'erreur. Mal orthographier un symbole d'objet le peut aussi.

Bad DagText number NNNN (should be between 1000 and 2100). 

Une action dans une tâche de quête a spécifié un mauvais numéro de texte Qrc. Les "Bad DagText" peuvent planter X-engine.

Buffer overrun. 

En décompilant un fichier Qrc, le décompilateur a rencontré un bloc de message trop grand pour son tampon interne. Le décompilateur assume que tout bloc de message a une taille inférieure à 1000 caractères.

Cannot use a symbol for amount of gold reward. 

Une directive item gold a tenté de définir un montant d'or de façon non numérique. Le compilateur attend que les quantités monétaires soient exprimées par des nombres.

Cannot use same symbol with differing contexts. 
Previous context is:

Le compilateur a rencontré un usage non valide d'un symbole. Le contexte précédent (previous context) est la définition de la ressource qui entre en conflit avec la présente définition. Par exemple :

Item _reward_ gold 10
_reward_ task:

va déclencher un conflit car tout les noms d'objet et de tâche doivent être unique.

Code parameter count must be in [1, 5]. 

Le compilateur a découvert un modèle Qbn (Qbn template) dans sa base de données .src qui a un nombre d'opérandes définies suspect. Toutes les conditions/réponses connues dans les Qbn ont entre 1 et 5 opérandes.

Could not convert the new size value. 

Un fichier .src contient une directive de taille NN qui ne peut être convertie sans erreur.

Could not open aFileName for input. 

Le compilateur n'a pas été capable d'accéder en lecture au fichier aFileName.

Could not open 'aFileName' for input. 

Le compilateur/décompilateur n'a pas été capable d'accéder au fichier .src/.qbn pour travailler dessus.

Hmmm, this quest doesn't seem to have anything to say. 
('qcomp' would like some text to work with)

Le compilateur s'est aperçu qu'il allait devoir créer un fichier Qrc vide, ce qui semble improbable.

Implicit task gives template more than NN words. 

Une directive de ressource dans la base de données .src a tenté de placer plus d'arguments qu'attendu dans une brique ressource.

Line NNNN 'fragment' 

A la ligne NNNN du fichier source d'une quête, le compilateur a trébuché en analysant un fragment de cette ligne. Une plainte détaillant le problème rencontré suit généralement.

No command handler for Qbn section NN has been created yet. 

Le compilateur a découvert qu'il lui était demandé de créer une section inutilisée dans le Qbn. Dans la mesure où toutes les sections connues de Qbn en usage ont des gestionnaires (handlers) créés pour eux, dans la pratique ça ne devrait pas arriver, à moins que Windows ne fasse encore des siennes.

No command number; cannot convert template to Qbn section. 

Un modèle de commande ou de directive a été ajouté à la base de données .src du compilateur, qui ne définit pas de façon propre une ressource de Qbn. Toutes les directives de ressources correctement définies doivent spécifier un index de section Qbn en tant que premier champ dans le modèle définissant la ressource.

No template matches this pattern. 

Le compilateur ne peut pas localiser une correspondance pour une directive de ressource dans sa base de données .src..

Quest contains errors. Please review the output log. 

Une ou plusieurs erreurs sont survenues durant le traitement du fichier source de la quête. Les fichiers Qrc/Qbn pour cette quête seront probablement inutilisables.

Quest: 'aFilePattern' doesn't follow the pattern for Daggerfall quest file names. 

La directive Quest: utilisé dans le préambule de la quête ne suit pas le modèle des noms de fichiers quête de Daggerfall.

Seek to text offset barfed (NN != MM). 

En se parcourant le fichier Qrc pour traiter un bloc de message existant, le décompilateur a découvert que la position demandée ne correspondait pas à la position actuelle. Cela indique généralement que quelqu'un etait en train de modifier le fichier Qrc au moment où le décompilateur essayait de le lire.

Source file has no extension. 

En tentant de définir les noms de fichiers Qrc/Qbn à partir du nom de fichier source, le compilateur a découvert que l'extension .src n'était pas présente. Pour diverses raisons internes, le compilateur compte sur la présence de l'extension .src.

Stopping compilation because Qrc compile has failed. 

La compilation d'une quête se déroule en deux parties. D'abord les blocs de messages sont assemblés pour produire un fichier Qrc. Ensuite les définitions de ressources de la quête sont assemblées pour produire un fichier Qbn. Chaque partie va généralement essayer de compiler toutes les déclarations associées. C'est pourquoi vous pouvez recevoir toutes les plaintes du compilateur "en masse" pour ainsi dire. Cependant, si la partie Qrc ne se compile pas avec succès, la partie Qbn remarque cette situation et ne démarre pas.

Template failed to assign an item. 

Un des modèles d'objets a échoué à assigner un paramètre requis pour ce type d'objet. Si vous modifiez un des fichiers .src du compilateur (pour définir des objets additionnels par exemple), il se peut que ce changement dérange le compilateur.

This clock doesn't have an associated timer task. 

Le compilateur a essayé d'assembler une action se référant à une ressource "clock" et a découvert qu'aucune tâche n'a été créée pour cette horloge. X-engine s'attend à ce que chaque "timer" ait une tâche définie pour lui, même si aucune action n'est associée à la tâche.

Too many Daggerfall variables. Symbol table size of NN is too small. 

While compiling the Qrc message blocks, the compiler discovered the table it uses to track misspelt symbols was used up. This table can hold up to 1000 symbols, which ought to be adequate for ordinary quests.

Unable to create command output. 

The compiler was unable to manufacture an argument brick for a quest resource. This usually indicates that system resources or memory are low.

Unable to determine the <parameter> (NN). 

Quest resources (like NPCs, Foes, etc) have to be reduced to a numeric form for the X-engine. When the compiler tried to do so, it couldn't figure out how to represent the parameter as a number. This usually means you've mispelled a quest resource or used a quest resource that isn't present in the compiler's .src database. If you've made changes to the compiler's .src database, the field number where the mishap occured is given by NN. parameter spans the names of the qbn fields for all the Qbn record types.

Unable to determine the permanent site. 

A quest Place resource has requested an unknown location as a permanent site. Either it didn't recognize the spelling for the permanent site, or the requested site isn't part of the permanent site database.

Unable to open aPathName for reading. 

While constructing the quest resource database, the compiler encountered a .src file name which it could not access.

Unable to open qrc file aFileName. 

While creating a new quest, the compiler was unable to access the Qrc file for writing.

Unable to open the decompiled file 'aFileName'. 

While setting up to disassemble a quest, the decompiler was unable to access the source file aFileName when it tried to create it or reuse it.

Unable to open the qbn file 'aFileName'. 

While setting up to disassemble a quest, the decompiler was unable to access the Qbn file aFileName.

Unable to position the qrc file to next message descriptor. 

While decompiling an existing Qrc file, the decompiler was unable to scroll the file to the next message block that it expected to process. Unless you're having hard drive problems, this usually indicates a mutant Qrc file has been found.

Unable to rewind the qrc file. 

While decompiling a quest, the decompiler discovered it could not reposition the Qrc file to its beginning.

Unable to write an empty qrc file header. 

While creating a new quest, the compiler was unable to write the Qrc file preamble.

Unknown configuration directive. 

While processing its configuration file (template.cfg) the compiler encountered an unknown configuration directive.

Unknown switch '-x'. 

While analyzing the command line arguments, the compiler encountered an unrecognized switch or setting.

Unable to open qrc file aFileName. 

While setting up to disassemble an existing quest, the decompiler discovered it was unable to open the Qrc file of the Qrc/Qbn pair.

Unresolved symbolic references. 

The compiler was presented with a quest resource definition which did not completely replace all symbols with numeric values in the resource argument brick. There should be one or more preceding complaints detailing which bits could not be resolved.

Warning: &N did not resolve to a numeric value. 

After performing all the symbolic resolutions correctly, the compiler detected that parameter N was still a non-numeric value. This usually means that one of the .src files in the compiler's data base has been edited to create a non-numeric template. Typing the letter O instead of the number 0 can cause this.

Warning: making system quest file. 

The compiler discovered that the file name pattern for the quest indicates that a main-story quest is being produced. The interrelation between main-story quests and their global states isn't well-understood, so the risk of substantial changes having surprising side-effects is higher in these cases.

Warning: no command templates have been detected. 

After processing its configuration file (template.cfg) the compiler detected that no quest resource operations have been included.

Warning: no item definitions have been detected. 

After processing its configuration file (template.cfg) the compiler detected that no quest items were present in the resulting database.

Warning: template does not assign all parameter tokens. 

Each quest resource is determined by an argument brick of parameter values required by the X-engine to describe that resource. The compiler discovered a command template that failed to provide values for all of the parameters required to describe the resource.

Warning: this configuration has no command template files. 

After processing its configuration file (template.cfg) the compiler detected that no quest resource operations have been included.

Well, that didn't work. 

After processing a configuration directive the compiler noticed that something was amiss. Generally there is a preceding complaint detailing the trouble.

Wrong number of command line arguments. 

While processing the command line arguments, too many parameters were encountered.

Utiliser le débogueur de X-Engine

When creating new quests, it is helpful from time to time to see which steps of a quest have been taken, and which have not.

X-Engine has a cheat mode key to overlay the main view with the tasks of a quest to show which ones have been acted on.

To access the X-Engine debugger, edit z.cfg and include the line

cheatmode 1

in the file before starting Daggerfall.

After acquiring the quest you want to examine, you can use the apostrophe or single quote key (') in the main 3D view to overlay a display of the quest tasks on the main view, on an active quest by active quest basis. (NDT : Sur clavier azerty, la touche est "ù")

When the overlay is active, the name of the quest, along with the player position, is displayed at the bottom of the overlay. You may need to adjust the camera position to find a suitable contrast between the view background colors and the yellow letters of the overlay.

The apostrophe or single quote key (') will step the display through each active quest of the character. Each time the key is pressed, the tasks of the next active quest of the PC will be displayed, until the display finally returns to the first quest shown.

The quests are displayed in no particular order, so you will have to cycle through the open quests until the one you're interested in appears on the screen.

To clear the task overlay from the screen, press F9. If you have used the game's control panel to modify the behavior attached to F9, you may need to revert that assignment to enable F9 to clear the overlay display.

For each open quest, X-Engine displays a flag to indicate which steps of the quest have been taken, and which are as yet inactive.

Tasks are listed in the same order which the scenario declared them. But as a fail-safe check, the symbol name of each task is displayed in numerical form. Executed tasks are highlighted in dirty orange; unexecuted ones in yellow.

When you use the -v[erbose] option of the compiler program, the end of that listing will show the same numerical values which will appear in the X-Engine debug screen.

In addition, debugging information is added to the quest file which X-engine will access to provide symbols in the display overlay in place of raw numbers.

When -v is used to compile a quest, after cycling the display to that quest with the apostrophe (') key, you can use the semicolon (;) key to cycle through the various quest resource sections.

For items, persons, and foes, the world coordinates of the thing are displayed. If the thing hasn't yet been installed in the game world, its coordinates will be zero. If the thing is in the same vicinity as the PC (the current town or dungeon) it will be highlighted a dirty orange color, else displayed in yellow.

For clocks, the elapsed time and the alarm time are displayed in game minutes.

For randomly selected dungeons, whether the location has been revealed or not is available, as well as its world coordinates once it has been revealed. Note that even if the dungeon has already been revealed on the province map by an earlier quest, this display shows whether the present quest has revealed it or not. Other quest locations are never hidden, and so always appear on the world map.

And as before, without the debugging information, the state of the tasks of the quest is available, but now all the tasks have their names from the quest scenario source displayed too. Executed tasks are displayed in dirty orange, unexecuted ones in yellow.

Note that the compiler calls these symbols, while X-Engine calls them flags--they refer to the same task block in the quest scenario.

When X-Engine indicates a flag is true, this means that task is presently executing/has already executed. When X-Engine indicates a flag is false, this means that task has not been executed, or that the task has already been cleared so it may rerun when conditions are ripe.

Certain game conditions (e.g., daily from) are automatically rescheduled for execution each game world minute, and so always are reported as false, even though the task has executed.

Again, use the apostrophe (') or single quote key to cycle through the different open quests. Use the F9 to remove the task overlay from the screen.

Examiner une quête "live"

The quest decompiler engine can be used to examine the contents of an open quest in the player's logbook. In addition to the usual disassembled details, links to other saved game records for items, NPCs, and places are available, among other details. The native Linux decompiler supports date recovery, which is not available without the ATLAS package and isn't implemented under Dos.

To decompile a living quest, the desired quest must first be extracted from the saved game of interest. The TES2 tool will extract all the open quests with its -Q option.

C> tes2 -Q 3

extracts all the living quests in saved game slot 3 into the fictitious quest player.qbn. Each open quest is assigned an arbitrary serial number (1, 2, 3, ...) when the saved game is created. The serial numbers change whenever quests start up or stand down, and so must be determined in situ each time. The end of the regular TES2 report shows the serial numbers currently in use by open quests:

                          Active Quests
      (2)         s0000977                  (4)         S0000021             
      (6)         s0000012                  (3)         s0000999             

The gaps (2, 3, 4, 6) in the serial numbers are normal.

To examine the living state of quest 3, s0000999, use the SAVEQBN tool to extract quest 3 from player.qbn and feed the extracted quest to the decompiler using the -s switch instead of the usual -d switch:

C> saveqbn 3 <player.qbn >s0000999.qbn
C> template -s s0000999.qbn snapshot.src

where -s stands for sans Qrc. For example, from an unrelated living quest

--	Quest start-up:
	place item _I.01_ at _L.04_ 
--	exec: 1 (000b58c6) 09:42 Morndas, 7 of Mid Year, 405.
--	hash: 00644605 44ebfa04 00000000 00000000
	dialog link for person _victim_ 
--	exec: 1 (000b58c6) 09:42 Morndas, 7 of Mid Year, 405.
--	hash: 00000000 483b3e45 00000000 00000000

The exec tag gives the last time of access and whether the action has been accomplished yet. 0 generally means not performed while 1 indicates completed. Other states are possible, e.g. for letters as yet undelivered to the PC but already en route.

The hash tag lists the object identifiers for the four possible opcode operands. There will be an item record in the saved game with object id 0x00644605, a quest location with object id 0x44ebfa04, and an NPC record with id 0x483b3e45.

NPC and place object identifiers use the Daggerfall GPS notation. So this quest NPC's birthplace is somewhere in site 0x483b. ATLAS shows that 0x483b is Langpath, Anticlere. The specific lot number, 0x3e45, is tied to a quest location 0xfann by another record in the saved game. If the PC isn't presently in Langpath, that relation won't necessarily exist until the Langpath site has been rendered.

MAPS.BSA identifies the possible quest locations at a site with a special codex listing the lot numbers that correspond to quest locations. A quest site, whether in town or in a dungeon, is indexed by the special lot code 0xfann, where nn is the consecutive serial number of quest locations at a site (0xfa01, 0xfa02, ...). If the site is a dungeon, these correspond to the rooms which the teleport jump cheat links together.

The place 0x44eb is the Ruins of Ashsly Manor in Anticlere province, where the fourth teleport jump has been randomly assigned as the spot where the quest item will be hidden.

You can use the -s option to decompile just the Qbn portion of an ordinary quest file, but the resulting extra information is uniformly uninteresting.

Organisation d'une quête

The source file created by the quest decompiler is divided into three parts:

• Quest preamble
• Qrc text blocks
• Quest resources and operation (Qbn)

which are discussed subsequently.

Préambule d'une quête

The quest preamble lays out the general requirements of the quest: who offers it, who can receive it, how it is started, etc. The purpose of this preamble is to collect the information required to fabricate a standard quest file name pattern. There are two ways to do so, concisely or verbosely.

Quest: pattern

where pattern is the desired quest file name pattern. For example

Quest:  b0c00y13

Alternately, the pattern can be inferred by the compiler from the following verbose descriptions. Case is insignificant.

StartsBy: [Letter | NPC]

Indicates whether the quest starts by the player character receiving a letter or by contacting an NPC (non-player character) in the game.

Questee: [Initiate | Member | Anyone]

Indicates what general relationship the PC must have with respect to the NPC / group that offers the quest.

Initiate 	Initial invitation to join
Member 		PC must be a member of this group
Anyone 		Anyone may be offered this quest

Questor: quest grantor or single letter key

The questor is the group, guild, or daedra prince which offers the quest. It can be specified by single letter key (as used by the quest file name pattern) or by the proper name of the group, taken from the following list:

Questor	Key	Ids[1]	Questor	Key	Ids	Questor	Key	Ids
Akatosh	D	0	Lady Azura	T	0	Peasant	A	0-18
Arkay	E	0	Mage	N	1-18	Peryite	5	0
Boethiah	U	0	Main	S	[2]	Royalty	R	0-28
Brotherhood	L	0-11	Malacath	8	0	Sanguine	7	0
Clavicus Vile	V	0	Mara	H	0	Sheogorath	6	0
Dibella	F	0	Mehrunes Dagon	Y	0	Stendarr	I	0
Fighter	M	0-19	Mephala	Z	0	Temple	C	0-15
Hermaeus Mora	W	0	Merchant	K	0-10	Thief	O	0-12
Hircine	X	0	Meridia	1	0	Vaernima	9	0
Julianos	0	0	Molag Bal	2	0	Vampire	P	0-10
Knight	B	0-17	Namira	3	0	Witch	Q	0-8
Kynareth	G	0	Nocturnal	4	0	Zenithar	J	0

[1]See QuestId: below. CompUSA quests are included. [2]Main story numbers in use are 1-22, 100-107, 500-503, 977, 988, and 999.

Again, case is not significant. Space, for those daedra princes with two names, is. Main refers to the main story quests.

Questor: Arkay

indicates a quest offered by the temple of Arkay, for example.

Repute: mm

The repute is the minimum repute the PC must have with respect to the group / prince offering the quest. It can also indicate a range of reputes for which the quest is offered.

If mm is strictly numeric, then it indicates the minimum repute the PC must have, with 0 being the smallest repute and 99 the largest.

Quests can be restricted to a particular decade of the PC's repute with the questor by writing the units digit as the letter x.

Repute: 3x

limits the quest to PCs whose repute is between 30 and 39 with the questor.

QuestId: nn

X-engine expects every quest associated with one of the questor groups to have a unique two-digit serial number assigned to it.

QuestId: 17

assigns 17 as the quest id in the file name pattern for the quest.

If the quest preamble describes a quest that already exists, the compiler will replace the original contents of that quest with the new contents from this source file.

If that quest does not already exist, the compiler will create a new Daggerfall quest for it.

Please see the table of guilds/questors for the quest ids already in use by the game.

Messages: aNumber

The quest compiler needs to know approximately how many message blocks will be recorded in the Qrc file before it begins processing. By default it reserves space for 50 message blocks. If the quest scenario supplies more than 50 messages, the compiler needs to be told the number of messages to expect with this directive.

The decompiler now automatically includes this directive when it decompiles a quest, as a convenience for recompiling quests. However, adding additional messages to existing quests may bump into the message count limit. The limit need not be exact, just more than enough.

AllowDupes:

Some existing quests from Bethesda have Qrc files that contain duplicate message block numbers. This is arguably wrong when you're creating a fresh quest, and the compiler normally smacks you if you try to do such a thing. But to allow the existing quests to recompile without trying to figure out which text block is the valid one--good luck--supplying this directive in the quest preamble will instruct the compiler not to whine if it finds message block numbers are being reused.

QuestDir: aDirectoryPath

You can tell the compiler where you want it to produce the qrc/qbn files by supplying the directory path name where you'd like them to go. By default, the compiler drops them in the same directory as the scenario source file.

QuestDir:  d:\games\dag\arena2

directs the compiler to the arena2 directory of my Daggerfall installation.

Les blocs de texte du QRC

Every message displayed by a quest is assigned a serial number starting from 1000 and increasing. The first dozen numbers have stock behavior associated with them, and may be called for display automatically by the game engine during the quest, without an explicit trigger in the compiled quest script.

The text block section of the source file is announced by the directive:

Qrc:

The compiler will expect to find text message blocks thereafter in the source file, until it is told otherwise. Again, the case of the directive doesn't matter.

In the source file, the text composing a quest message is introduced by the Message: directive followed by the message number to assign to the text block.

The compiler accepts synonyms for the stock quest messages:

QuestorOffer:
Message: 1000

What the questor says when the PC makes contact for the quest. Although not enforced by the compiler, for quests started in person, this is likely a required message.

RefuseQuest:
Message: 1001

What the questor says when the PC refuses the quest offer. Again, while the compiler is silent about its omission, for quests started in person, this is likely a required message block.

AcceptQuest:
Message: 1002

What the questor says when the PC accepts the quest. Again, this block is likely expected for quests started in person.

QuestFailed:
Message: 1003

What the questor says until the PC completes the quest. Again, this block is likely expected for quests started in person.

QuestComplete:
Message: 1004

What the questor says when the PC completes the quest and returns. Again, this block is likely expected for quests started in person.

Note that certain quest actions will post this message automatically. See give pc / give pc nothing.

RumorsDuringQuest:
Message: 1005

Gives information that may come up during Any News? dialogs the PC has during the quest.

RumorsPostFailure:
Message: 1006

Gives information that may come up during Any News? dialogs the PC has after failing the quest. The X-engine eventually retires these after a suitable time lag.

RumorsPostSuccess:
Message: 1007

Gives information that may come up during Any News? dialogs the PC has after completing the quest. The X-engine eventually retires these after a suitable time lag.

QuestorPostSuccess:
Message: 1008

What the questor says to the PC in dialog after a successful quest. That is, when the PC chats with the questor through the dialog screen.

QuestorPostFailure:
Message: 1009

What the questor says to the PC in dialog after a failed quest. That is, when the PC chats through the dialog screen.

QuestLogEntry:
Message: 1010

The message inserted into the PC's log when the quest is accepted. Probably not used automatically.

QuestTimeLapse:
Message: 1045

Displayed when the PC fails to meet a quest with a dead-line. Probably not used automatically.

The quest author can create as many additional message blocks as the quest requires, although the compiler arbitrarily complains if you choose message numbers larger than 2100. 1000 message blocks isn't a quest, it's a whole game.

Since remembering what text is associated with a Qrc message number is tedious, the compiler will accept an arbitrary label in place of a message number. The compiler will automatically assign the next available message number to each message label you provide. And you can refer to the Qrc message by that label in the Qbn section of the quest file.

Message: NpcPeeved
What? I can't believe you took so long
for such a simple request!

You can mix labels with section numbering in different message blocks.

Following the Message: directive are the lines composing that message block. By default, left justification is used.

Text can be centered by using the <ce> tag at the beginning of the line to be centered.

An empty or blank line can be inserted by using the <br> tag for the content of a line.

A message block may be divided into subsections. When X-engine displays a subsectioned message block, it displays only one of the available subsections of that block at a time. The selected subsection is chosen at random from the subsections available for the block. The next time X-engine is asked to display that message block it repeats this process, and so may select a different subsection for display.

Subsectioning gives variety to the messages that appear when the PC performs the same quest more than once. Indeed, with clever use, the quests can appear quite different when coupled with the randomizing feature in the Qbn section. While there may be an upper bound on the number of subsections the X-engine can handle, there are existing quests with upwards of a dozen subsections each in several different message blocks.

Any message block can be subsectioned by using the <---> tag on a line to start a new subsection:

RumorsDuringQuest:
<ce>I heard that %ra is a complete loser.
              <--->
That %ra is after some loser's hide.
              <--->
<ce>Isn't %ra chasing after _questgiver_ for something?

The position of the tag on the line is irrelevant.

RumorsDuringQuest:
         <ce>I heard that %ra is a complete loser.
<--->
That %ra is after some loser's hide.
<--->
<ce>Isn't %ra chasing after _questgiver_ for something?

works just as well. The decompiler takes advantage of this to center the decompiled text as required.

Be careful of leaving blank lines between different quest message blocks unless you intend the message to display empty lines in the block. Generally, you want only one blank line between the end of one block and the next message block:

RumorsDuringQuest:
Very strange sounds come out of the _house_.
           <--->
_qgiver_'s house has really gone to Oblivion.

RumorsPostfailure:
Poor _qgiver_ has to hire an exterminator.
         <--->
It's going to cost _qgiver_ to clean that house.

Les symboles du QRC

X-engine likes to name replaceable parts of text as _symbol_, where in fact symbol can be any meaningful mnemonic. (See Quest Resources for how symbols are created)

There are some fairly intricate rules for using symbols in a Qrc message block.

_foo_ is replaced with the name of foo : a ring, an NPC's name, or kind of enemy. It is generally an error to use this form for a Place or Clock quest resource. The quest compiler won't stop you from doing so, but the results within the game world aren't likely to be what you expect.

=foo_ is replaced by the clock time (expressed as the number of days that the clock will be active) when _foo_ is a Clock quest resource. Or by the character class when _foo_ is an NPC quest resource, or by the foe's name for enemy resource.

==foo_ is replaced by the faction association for an NPC quest resource. So for a Person symbol:

_foo_ of ==foo_

would result in something like

Zaphod Beeblebrox of the Blades

while

_foo_ the =foo_

would result in something like

Zaphod Beeblebrox the Acrobat

If _foo_ is a Person resource then ___foo_ (three leading underscores) gives the town name where _foo_ can be found. While __foo_ (two leading underscores) gives the name of the house/shop in that town where _foo_ can be found. If you move _foo_ to different places in the game world, it isn't obvious that these symbols will track those moves. I tend to regard them as 'birthplace' markers, rather than present residence markers.

Place symbols follow slightly different semantics.

_foo_ is the form of a shop name.

__foo_ is the town where the shop can be found.

___foo_ is the form of a dungeon name.

____foo_ is the name of the province where the place can be found.

This pattern holds regardless of whether _foo_ was created as a shop or as a dungeon. This is why some existing quests give out mysterious hints about non-existent shops. The quest author left out underscores in the Qrc text, and got the shop name format instead of the dungeon name format.

Note that quest locations which are not randomly generated, the permanent sites, do not follow these rules at all. The symbol used to represent a permanent site is always replaced by random garbage in a Qrc block. So the information for a permanent site must needs be written out in full inside a Qrc block.

The following table summarizes the usage. NO means you probably don't want to use that substitution. At any rate, there aren't any such examples in the existing quests.

Symbol	Item	Person	Place[1]	Foe	Clock
_foo_	ring	Zaphod Beeblebrox	Lord Marcus' Arms	warrior	NO
__foo_	NO	Adams residence	Daggerfall City[2]	NO	NO
___foo_	NO	Gothway Gardens	Ruins of Bethsoft	NO	NO
____foo_	NO	NO	Daggerfall	NO	NO
=foo_	NO	Acrobat	NO	Arthur Dent	4 days
==foo_	NO	Blades	NO	Fighter	NO

[1]Not available for permanent sites. [2]This form is invalid for remote dungeons.

There is a whole family of %symbols to scrape out information about the PC, NPC gender, and the like, which are tabulated below. [1]

The pronomial forms (%g, %g1, etc) refer back to the last NPC or foe symbol appearing in the same Qrc text block to determine the proper declension. It is usually an error in content to use one of them prior to the first appearance of the proper noun you want them bound to. When a computer refers back that way, it's anybody's guess which person will actually be used for the construction. That happens from time to time in the existing quests, and so you may see quirky constructs like "...her research lab where Andystair Bonedoggle..." when you're pretty sure Andystair takes the masculine, not feminine gender.

All of these symbols appear at one time or another, either in arena2\text.rsc, fall.exe, arena2\*.qrc, or arena2\bio*.txt. It is unclear whether their use is restricted to contexts appropriate to each of those file sets, or whether you're free to mix bio*.txt symbols within Qrc blocks. If you use one of these symbols in an improper context, Daggerfall generally posts an error message naming the offensive symbol and dies.

Symbols in italics appear in the existing qrc files from Bethesda.

%1am	1st + Magnitude
%1bm	1st base Magnitude
%1com	Greeting (?)
%1hn	?
%2am	2nd + Magnitude
%2bm	2nd Base Magnitude
%2com	?
%2hn	?
%3hn	?
%a	Cost of somthing.
%ach	+ Chance per
%adr	?
%adr	+ Duration per
%agi	Amount of Agility
%arm	Armour
%ark	?
%ba	Book Author
%bch	Base chance
%bdr	Base Duration
%bn	?
%bt	Book title
%cbl	Cash balance in current region
%clc	Per level (Chance)
%cld	Per level (Duration)
%clm	Per level (Magnitude)
%cn	Current City
%cn2	?
%cpn	Current shop name
%cri	Accused crime
%crn	Current Region
%dae	A daedra
%dam	Damage modifyer
%dat	Date
%di	Direction
%dip	?
%dng	Dungeon
%dts	Daedra
%dwr	?
%ef	Local shop name
%enc	Encumberence
%end	Amount of Endurance
%fcn	Another city
%fe	?
%fea	?
%fl1	Lord of %fx1
%fl2	Lord of %fx2
%fn	Random first(?) name (Female?)
%fn2	Same as %mn2 (?)
%fnpc	?
%fon	?
%fpa	?
%fpc	?
%fx1	A faction in news
%fx2	Another faction in news
%g	He/She etc...
%g1	He/She ???
%g2	Him/Her etc...
%g2self	Himself/Herself etc...
%g3	His/Hers/Theirs etc...
%gii	Amount of gold in hand
%god	Some god (listed in TEXT.RSC)
%gtp	Amount of fine
%hea	HP Modifier
%hmd	Healing rate modifer
%hnr	Honorific
%hnt	Direction of location.
%hnt2	?
%hol	Holiday
%hpn	?
%hpw	?
%hrg	?
%hs	Holding Soul type
%htwn	?
%imp	?
%int	Amount of Intelligence
%it	Item
%jok	A joke
%key	A location (?)
%key2	Another location
%kg	Weight of items
%kno	A knightly guild name
%lev	Rank in guild that you are in.
%ln	Random lastname
%loc	Location marked on map
%lt1	Title of %fl1
%ltn	In the eyes of the law you are.......
%luc	Luck
%map	?
%mad	Resistance
%mat	Material
%mit	Item
%mn	Random First(?) name (Male?)
%mn2	Same as %mn (?)
%mod	Modification
%mpw	Magic powers
%n	A random female first name
%nam	A random full name
%nrn	Noble of the current region
%nt	?
%ol1	Old lord of %fx1
%olf	What happened to %ol1
%on	?
%oth	An oath (listed in TEXT.RSC)
%pc	?
%pcf	Character's first name
%pcn	Character's full name
%pct	Character's class
%pdg	Days in jail
%pen	Prison sentence
%per	Amount of Personality
%plq	Place of something in log.
%pnq	Person of something in log
%pp1	?
%pp2	?
%pqn	Potential Quest Giver
%pqp	Potential Quest Giver's Location
%ptm	An enemy of the current region (?)
%q1 to %q12	Effects of questions answered in bio.
%qdt	Quest date of log entry
%qdat	Quest date of log entry [2]
%qot	The log comment
%qua	Condition
%r1	Commoners rep
%r2	Merchants rep
%r3	Scholers rep
%r4	Nobilitys rep
%r5	Underworld rep
%ra	Player's race
%reg	Region
%rn	Regent's Name
%rt	Regent's Title
%spc	Current Spell Points
%ski	Skill
%spd	Speed
%spt	?
%str	Amount of strength
%sub	?
%t	Regent's Title
%tcn	?
%thd	Combat odds
%tim	Time
%vam	PC's vampire clan
%vcn	Vampire's Clan
%vn	?
%wdm	Weapon damage
%wep	Weapon
%wil	?
%wpn	Poison (?)
%wth	Worth

[1] Reproduced from Appendix A, Daggerfall Quest File (QRC/QBN) Hacking Results - v1.00, by Dave Humphrey uesp@m0use.net. I've added 2 or 3 additional symbols from the qrc files.

[2] Appears in d0b00y00, the Akatosh Chantry quest, but looks like a simple misspelling of %qdt.

Ressources et opérations

Once the text blocks for the quest have been laid out, the contents of the Qbn file are described by using the Qbn directive

Qbn:

to instruct the compiler to finish the Qrc section and begin the Qbn section of the source code.

The Qbn section is by far the more complicated part, and is itself further divided into subsections:

• Items required in the quest
• Persons encountered in the quest
• Places encountered in the quest
• Clocks or timers used in the quest
• Foes encountered in the quest
• Condition/responses that operate during the quest

The exact order you pick is somewhat irrelevant. The only requirement by the compiler is that the condition/responses appear last, since they generally refer to resources defined by the other sections.

Gérer l'écran de dialogue

The scenario can control whether to include each quest item, person, or place resource in the pick list under the Tell me about... dialog tab.

Each item, person, or place resource can be embellished with the tag

anyInfo aQrcNumber

where aQrcNumber is a Qrc message block to display in the dialog screen when the PC chats about that particular resource.

When the scenario assigns an anyInfo Qrc message to a quest resource, the name of that resource automatically appears as a new entry in the pick list under the Tell me about... dialog tab.

Such entries are available throughout the duration of the quest for use in conversation with anyone the PC happens upon in the game world.

Note, however, that the PC's repute with the NPC being spoken to affects the outcome of chatting about such entries. So not every NPC spoken to will offer the information provided by the scenario when quizzed by the PC. But, when combined with the subsectioning message block technique, different pieces of information may be supplied at each chat session.

But sometimes a scenario wants to make such information available only after the PC has met certain milestones within the quest. In such cases, the scenario can control when the anyInfo messages become available through the dialog link and add dialog family of quest actions.

Note that once an entry has been added to the Tell me about... pick list, it is stuck there for the remaining life of the quest. There does not appear to be any quest action to delete entries from the list.

A person or place quest resource may be further embellished with the tag

rumors aQrcNumber

where aQrcNumber is a Qrc message block to display in the dialog screen when the PC selects the Any News? dialog option.

Oftentimes, adding a rumors tag will insert the quest resource into the dialog picklist as well, but this insertion can be suppressed with dialog link family of commands.

Objets de quête

Every item associated with the quest must be described for the X-engine using a form of the Item command. Items include not only things, like rings, letters, drugs, or artifacts, but also quest rewards like gold payment.

In addition each item can have message text from the Qrc file associated with it, which is displayed when the item is discussed with an NPC or when the PC 'uses' the item in the inventory screen.

Quest items with usage text will also appear in the About picklist when conversing with NPCs. The Qrc text will be 'spoken' by the NPC if asked about the item.

Whether the item automatically appears as a topic under the Tell me about... dialog tab is somewhat variable. Non-letter items tend always to appear, while letter items tend to depend upon their method of delivery to the PC.

Regardless, the scenario can regulate the contents of the Tell me about... picklist with the dialog link and add dialog actions.

To prevent a quest item with usage text from appearing in the dialog picklist, simply include a dialog link item for it in the quest start-up. If there is no corresponding add dialog item action for it, then it will never appear.

As a rule, when the PC acquires a quest item in the inventory it shows up with a green background. Furthermore, such items will be automatically taken from the player when the quest terminates. Special steps have to be taken in the condition/response section to bestow an item (like an artifact) on the player permanently.

So in general, don't expect a quest item to hang around after the player completes the quest unless you provide for that specially in the condition/response section.

Also note that quest items are unknown to X-Engine until the scenario puts them somewhere in the game world. The practical consequence of this is that displaying a Qrc message block referring to a quest item before that item has been placed in the world, or after it has been destroyed, will most likely result in the infamous BLANK text when the Qrc message is shown to the player.

A quest isn't required to have a item section, but most quests that do anything interesting have them.

There are three general forms for the Item command:

• reward (gold) items
• artifact items
• other items

Objets de récompense

Item  _symbol_  gold
item  _symbol_  gold  range  nn to  mm

The first form creates a random amount of gold reward proportional to the player's current level. While the relation isn't exactly linear in player level, expect about 100 times the player's level when the quest begins. So for a level 2 player, expect the gold reward to be in the neighborhood of 200 gold.

_symbol_ is an arbitrary name to refer to the item throughout the quest scenario. It must be unique among all the item resources--the compiler will smack you if it isn't--and it is helpful to make it unique to all the symbol names you use in the Qbn section, as well as indicative of what the item is:

Item _reward_ gold
Item _bribe1_ gold range 50 to 100

The second form of the reward item selects a random amount within the requested range. If the PC repeats the quest, that attempt won't necessarily have exactly the same reward amount.

This isn't always a bargain. Some players react to this with "Goody, it's different this time." But others react with "Boo! This quest isn't the same! What's wrong now?"

To make a reward of an exact amount, use the same number for the beginning and end of the range.

Any Item command can be embellished to provide a message when the player chats about the item with another NPC.

Item _reward_ gold anyInfo 1017

requests the X-engine to display Qrc message block 1017 when the gold reward is discussed with another NPC.

Every item command can be embellished to provide a message when the item is 'used' in the player's inventory screen.

   Item _letter1_ letter used 1022

requests the X-engine to display Qrc message block 1022 when the item is used in the player's inventory screen.

The two embellishments can be combined:

Item _letter1_ letter anyInfo 1014 used 1022

Artefacts

   Item  _symbol_  artifact  artifactName

describes an artifact item appearing in a quest. artifactName must be one of the known Tamriel artifacts:

Auriels_Bow	Oghma_Infinium
Auriels_Shield	Ring_of_Khajiit
Azuras_Star	Ring_of_Namira
Chrysamere	Sanguine_Rose
Ebony_Blade	Skeletons_Key
Ebony_Mail	Skull_of_Corruption
Hircine_Ring	Spell_Breaker
Lords_Mail	Staff_of_Magnus
Mace_of_Molag_Bal	Volendrung
Masque_of_Clavicus_Vile	Wabbajack
Necromancers_Amulet	Warlocks_Ring

As usual, case doesn't matter, but notice underscores (_) used instead of blanks. You can, however, change the names to your own liking by editing items.src. Indeed you can change most of the compiler's notion of spelling by editing any of the *.src files to your own preferences.

The artifact item command can be embellished with an anyInfo notice. Some item artifacts in the existing quests from Bethesda are embellished with the used tag, but this is inconsistent. When an artifact is used in the inventory screen, the message displayed is invariably taken from TEXT.RSC, not the Qrc block.

Autres objets

Item  _symbol_  someItemName
Item  _symbol_  item  class nn subclass mm

Some common items are prefabricated in the items.src data base. Daggerfall also uses a sort of generic item specification, to select randomly one item from a group of related items. These forms are shown in italics in the following table.

aegrostat	amulet	armbands
armor	book	book0
book1	book2	book3
boots	bracelet	bracer
cloth_amulet	coins	common_symbol
daedra_heart	decanter	deed
diamond	drug	element
emerald	finger	flamable
gem	gold_bar	harpy_feather
horn	indulcet	ivory
jade	junk	kimono
lantern	large_plant	large_sack
letter	lich_dust	lodestone
magic_item	malachite	mantella_crux
map	mark	mens_clothing
mineral	misc	mummy_wrappings
mythic	organs	painting
pearl	portrait	quaesto_vil
random_map	random_recipe	religious
ring	root_tendrils	ruby
sapphire	scarab	skin
small_plant	small_sack	snake_venom
specials	straps	sursam
talisman	telescope	torc
totem	transport	trinket
turquoise	tusk	wand
weapon	werewolf_blood	womens_clothing
womens_robe	wraith_essence	yellow_flowers

Other items can be created at will by using the class/subclass form to describe any Daggerfall item.

Again, the item command can be further embellished with an anyInfo notice and/or a used notice.

You can find tables of the known Daggerfall item codes at the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.

Quest Persons

Each NPC involved in a quest has to be described in the Qbn section with a Person command. Most quests will have at least one Person command to describe the questor NPC granting the quest to the player. This appears to be how the X-engine couples the change of repute to the allied/enemy factions associated with the questor when the PC completes or fails the quest.

Factional alliances / repudiations are fairly involved in Daggerfall. This document won't treat all aspects of factions or how to choose correct factions for a quest. Basically it just depends on the goals of the quest.

Briefly, the Daggerfall social structure forms a four-tier hierarchy of Guild-Group, Social Group, Faction Type, Individual-Faction. Unfortunately I haven't been able to determine the magic numbers used to describe Social Groups in the Qbn files. The elements of the remaining classifications are, however, known.

For example, Clavicus Vile, a Daedra, Supernatural Being, of Oblivion. The guild-group name is Oblivion, the social group is Supernatural Being, the faction-type is Daedra, and the individual-faction is Clavicus Vile.

Or another example, The Battlelords subgroup of the Guild Members of the Knightly Order. The guild-group name is Knightly Order, the social group is Guild Members, the faction-type is Subgroup, and the individual-faction is The Battlelords.

All the non-permanent NPCs in the game can be so classified.

Permanent NPCs are slightly different, in that they have no top level guild-group name. For example, King Gothryd, a person of nobility. The social group is nobility, the faction-type is person, and the individual-faction is King Gothryd.

For the nonce, NPCs can be selected by faction type, guild group, individual faction, or permanent NPC.

As with Items, message blocks can be associated with NPCs in two different ways.

anyInfo nn adds the Qrc message nn to the Tell me about... dialog responses under the NPC's name.

rumors nn adds the Qrc message nn as a possible response when gossiping in the dialog panel under Any News?. Under patch 213 it also adds the NPC's name to the dialog list of choices, even if there is no anyInfo nn entry for the NPC.

These tags can be appended to any Person command.

Permanent NPC

Basically, a permanent NPC is one of the named major figures of the royal houses in Daggerfall, Sentinel, or Wayrest, or supernatural figures like the King of Worms. They are all generally involved in the main quest in one way or another.

The Person command tags a permanent NPC with the named field, since all permanent NPCs have invarient names within the game.

Permanent NPCs can be used in one of two ways. They can be located at their regular place in the game world, which the Person command tags as atHome. So the player would encounter a permanent NPC at their normal place in the game world.

Alternatively, the permanent NPC can be positioned elsewhere in the Bay area for the duration of the quest. The X-engine needs to be told up front which you plan to do so it can do all the necessary bookkeeping to keep the NPC portraits managed correctly.

Be aware that fiddling with the NPCs associated with the main story in side-quests can have surprising side-effects. Recall that it is always possible for the PC to have several quests operating concurrently.

It's even possible to have multiple copies of the same side-quest active at the same time. Consider the typical mage guild quest to fetch a rare ingredient from a dungeon. It's perfectly possible to pick up that quest from the guild in Wayrest, say, and immediately teleport to Sentinel and acquire the same quest from the guild hall there.

You need to consider consequences of that sort if you use permanent NPCs in a quest offered from more than one location in the game world. It probably isn't realistic to expect the X-engine to situate the King of Worms in two different places at the same time.

The quest condition faction available can help to determine whether a permanent NPC is presently starring in another quest.

Person  _symbol_  named  aPermanentNPC
Person  _symbol_  named  aPermanentNPC  atHome

The complete list of permanent NPCs is shown below.

Azura	Baltham_Greyman	Baron_Shrike
Baroness_Dh'emka	Boethiah	Br'itsa
Charvek-si	Chulmore_Quill	Clavicus_Vile
Farrington	Gortwog	Hermaeus_Mora
Hircine	Karethys	King_Eadwyre
King_Gothryd	King_of_Worms	Lady_Bridwell
Lady_Brisienna	Lady_Doryanna_Flyte	Lord_Auberon_Flyte
Lord_Bertram_Spode	Lord_Bridwell	Lord_Castellian
Lord_Coulder	Lord_Darkworth	Lord_Harth
Lord_K'avar	Lord_Khane	Lord_Kilbar
Lord_Perwright	Lord_Plessington	Lord_Provlith
Lord_Quistley	Lord_Vhosek	Lord_Woodborne
Malacath	Medora	Mehrunes_Dagon
Mephala	Meridia	Mobar
Molag_Bal	Mynisera	Namira
Nocturnal	Nulfaga	Orsinium
Peryite	Popudax	Prince_Greklith
Prince_Helseth	Prince_Lhotun	Princess_Elysana
Princess_Morgiah	Queen_Akorithi	Queen_Aubk-i
Queen_Barenziah	Sanguine	Sheogorath
Skakmat	Sylch_Greenwood	Thaik
The_Crow	The_Night_Mother	The_Squid
The_Underking	Thyr_Topfield	Vaernima
Whitka

Person _qMother_ named mynisera

creates the queen mother Mynisera as an NPC in a quest. She'll be teleported to a remote spot by the start-up task of the quest.

Note that you may easily confuse the player if your quest, say, teleports the King of Worms away somewhere while the player is off to fetch the lich soul for him as part of the main story. On the other hand, it might serve an interesting twist to the main plot.

Faction Type

An NPC can be created with an affiliation with one of the twenty-odd factions to control how the success or failure of the player in the quest is spread among the Iliac Bay inhabitants.

Person  _symbol_  factionType  aFactionName
Person  _symbol_  factionType  aFactionName  female
Person  _symbol_  factionType  aFactionName  male

where aFactionName is one of the known faction types:

Court	People
Daedra	Person
Generic_Group	Region
God	Subgroup
Group	Temple
Knightly_Guard	Thieves_Den
Magic_User	Vampire_Clan
Official	Witches_Coven

You can use the generic name Faction to select a faction at random when the quest begins.

The first form of the Person command picks the gender of the NPC at random, while the latter two forms request a specific gender.

anyInfo nn and rumors nn tags can be appended to supply message block numbers to use in the dialog screen.

Person _npc1_ factionType temple male

would select a male NPC allied with the temple crowd.

Group Alliances

An NPC can be created with an affiliation for one of the occupations found in Tamriel.

Person  _symbol_  group  aGroupName
Person  _symbol_  group  aGroupName female
Person  _symbol_  group  aGroupName male

where aGroupName is one of the social groups/guilds:

Armorer	Jeweler	Resident3
Banker	Librarian	Resident4
Bookseller	Noble	Shopkeeper
Carpenter	Pawnbroker	Smith
Chemist	Questor	Spellcaster
Cleric	Resident1	Tailor
Innkeeper	Resident2

By coordinating the occupation of the NPC with site selection, you can control the venue that your NPCs appear in. Selecting a spellcaster as an NPC and a mage's guild hall for a site ensures the resulting sprite will be one the player is accustomed to finding in that locale. See Local and Remote Sites for additional information.

The first form of the Person command picks the gender of the NPC at random, while the later two forms request a specific gender.

anyInfo nn and rumors nn tags can be appended to supply message block numbers to use in the dialog screen.

Person _npc1_ group pawnbroker

would select an NPC allied with the pawnbrokers. The gender of the NPC is taken at random.

Faction Alliances

An NPC can be created with an affiliation with a specific faction in the game.

Person  _symbol_  faction  aFactionName
Person  _symbol_  faction  aFactionName  female
Person  _symbol_  faction  aFactionName  male

where aFactionName is one of the 400-odd factions from the table below.

Abibon-Gora	Agents_of_The_Underking	Akatosh
Alcaire	Alik'ra	Anticlere
Antiphyllos	Apothecaries_of_Akatosh	Apothecaries_of_Arkay
Apothecaries_of_Dibella	Apothecaries_of_Mara	Apothecaries_of_Stendarr
Apothecaries_of_Z'en	Arkay	Ayasofya
Bergama	Betony	Bhoraine
Binders_of_Arkay	Children	Court_of_Abibon-Gora
Court_of_Alcaire	Court_of_Alik'ra	Court_of_Anticlere
Court_of_Antiphyllos	Court_of_Ayasofya	Court_of_Balfiera
Court_of_Bergama	Court_of_Betony	Court_of_Bhoraine
Court_of_Cybiades	Court_of_Daenia	Court_of_Daggerfall
Court_of_Dak'fron	Court_of_Dragontail	Court_of_Dwynnen
Court_of_Ephesus	Court_of_Gavaudon	Court_of_Glenpoint
Court_of_Glenumbra_Moors	Court_of_Ilessen_Hills	Court_of_Kairou
Court_of_Kambria	Court_of_Koegria	Court_of_Koegria
Court_of_Kozanset	Court_of_Lainlyn	Court_of_Menevia
Court_of_Mournoth	Court_of_Myrkwasa	Court_of_Northmoor
Court_of_Orsinium	Court_of_Phrygia	Court_of_Pothago
Court_of_Santaki	Court_of_Satakalaam	Court_of_Sentinel
Court_of_Tigonus	Court_of_Totambu	Court_of_Tulune
Court_of_Urvaius	Court_of_Wayrest	Court_of_Wrothgaria
Court_of_Ykalon	Crafters_of_Julianos	Cybiades
Cyndassa	Daenia	Daggerfall
Dak'fron	Dancers	Dark_Binders
Dark_Mixers	Dark_Plotters	Dark_Slayers
Dark_Trainers	Default	Dibella
Dragontail	Dwynnen	Ebonarm
Enchanters_of_Kynareth	Ephesus	Fighter_Equippers
Fighter_Questers	Fighter_Trainers	Gavaudon
Generic_Knightly_Order	Generic_Temple	Glenpoint
Glenumbra_Moors	Healers	Ilessan_Hills
Isle_of_Balfiera	Julianos	Kairou
Kambria	Koegria	Kozanset
Kynareth	Lady_Northbridge	Lainlyn
Mara	Menevia	Mixers_of_Akatosh
Mixers_of_Arkay	Mixers_of_Dibella	Mixers_of_Mara
Mixers_of_Stendarr	Mixers_of_Z'en	Mournoth
Myrkwasa	Northmoor	Oblivion
Orsinium	People_of_Abibon-Gora	People_of_Alcaire
People_of_Alik'ra	People_of_Anticlere	People_of_Antiphyllos
People_of_Ayasofya	People_of_Balfiera	People_of_Bergama
People_of_Betony	People_of_Bhoraine	People_of_Cybiades
People_of_Daenia	People_of_Daggerfall	People_of_Dak'fron
People_of_Dragontail	People_of_Dwynnen	People_of_Ephesus
People_of_Gavaudon	People_of_Glenpoint	People_of_Glenumbra_Moors
People_of_Ilessen_Hills	People_of_Kairou	People_of_Kambria
People_of_Koegria	People_of_Koegria	People_of_Kozanset
People_of_Lainlyn	People_of_Menevia	People_of_Mournoth
People_of_Myrkwasa	People_of_Northmoor	People_of_Orsinium
People_of_Phrygia	People_of_Pothago	People_of_Santaki
People_of_Satakalaam	People_of_Sentinel	People_of_Tigonus
People_of_Totambu	People_of_Tulune	People_of_Urvaius
People_of_Wayrest	People_of_Wrothgaria	People_of_Ykalon
Phrygia	Pothago	Questers
Random_Knight	Random_Noble	Random_Ruler
Santaki	Satakalaam	Secret_of_Oblivion
Seneschal	Sentinel	Shalgora
Smiths	Smiths_of_Julianos	Spellsmiths_of_Kynareth
Stendarr	Summoners_of_Akatosh	Summoners_of_Arkay
Summoners_of_Dibella	Summoners_of_Julianos	Summoners_of_Kynareth
Summoners_of_Mara	Summoners_of_Stendarr	Summonists_of_Z'en
Teachers_of_Akatosh	Teachers_of_Arkay	Teachers_of_Dibella
Teachers_of_Julianos	Teachers_of_Kynareth	Teachers_of_Mara
Teachers_of_Stendarr	Teachers_of_z'en	Temple_Blessers
Temple_Healers	Temple_Missionaries	Temple_Treasurers
The_Academics	The_Acolyte	The_Akatosh_Chantry
The_Anthotis	The_Archmagister	The_Bards
The_Battlelords	The_Beldama	The_Benevolence_of_Mara
The_Blades	The_Cabal	The_Citadel_of_Ebonarm
The_Crafters	The_Crow	The_Crusaders
The_Daggerfall_Witches	The_Dark_Brotherhood	The_Daughters_of_Wroth
The_Dust_Witches	The_Fey	The_Fighters_Guild
The_Garlythi	The_Glenmoril_Witches	The_Great_Knight
The_Guildmagister	The_Haarvenu	The_Host_of_the_Horn
The_Host_of_the_True_Horn	The_House_of_Dibella	The_Isolationists
The_Khulari	The_Knights_Mentor	The_Knights_of_Iron
The_Knights_of_the_Circle	The_Knights_of_the_Dragon	The_Knights_of_the_Flame
The_Knights_of_the_Hawk	The_Knights_of_the_Owl	The_Knights_of_the_Rose
The_Knights_of_the_Wheel	The_Kynaran_Order	The_Lyrezi
The_Mages_Guild	The_Maran_Knights	The_Master_at_Arms
The_Master_of_Academia	The_Master_of_Incunabula	The_Master_of_Initiates
The_Master_of_Initiates2	The_Master_of_the_Scry	The_Mercenary_Mages
The_Merchants	The_Montalion	The_Mountain_Witches
The_Necromancers	The_Odylic_Mages	The_Oracle
The_Order_of_Arkay	The_Order_of_the_Candle	The_Order_of_the_Cup
The_Order_of_the_Hour	The_Order_of_the_Lamp	The_Order_of_the_Lily
The_Order_of_the_Raven	The_Order_of_the_Scarab	The_Palatinus
The_Patricians	The_Prostitutes	The_Quill_Circus
The_Resolution_of_Z'en	The_Royal_Guard	The_Royal_Guards
The_School_of_Julianos	The_Selenu	The_Septim_Empire
The_Shadow_Appraisers	The_Shadow_Schemers	The_Shadow_Spies
The_Shadow_Trainers	The_Sisters_of_Kykos	The_Sisters_of_the_Bluff
The_Skeffington_Witches	The_Tamarilyn_Witches	The_Temple_of_Kynareth
The_Temple_of_Stendarr	The_Thieves_Guild	The_Thrafey
The_Tide_Witches	The_Travelers_League	The_Utility_Mages
The_Vraseth	The_Witches_of_Alcaire	The_Witches_of_Devilrock
The_Witches_of_the_Marsh	Thyr_Topfield	Tigonus
Totambu	Tulune	Urvaius
Venom_Masters	Wayrest	Wrothgaria
Ykalon	Zen

The first form of the Person command picks the gender of the NPC at random, while the later two forms request a specific gender.

anyInfo nn and rumors nn tags can be appended to supply message block numbers to use in the dialog screen.

Person _lamper_ faction The_Order_of_the_Lamp anyInfo 1031

would select an NPC allied with The Order of the Lamp. Qrc message block 1031 is associated with the Tell me about.. dialog option of the game. The gender of the NPC is taken at random. (Although for the Order of the Lamp, females are rendered by male images as it happens)

Quest Places

Different locations can be associated with a quest. For example, the PC may have to steal something from a shop, scour a dungeon for some special ingredient, or what have you. These places must be tracked both by the X-engine and the quest itself (You might want something special to happen when the PC arrives at a quest location)

A Place command is used to describe each place a PC might visit in the quest where something out of the ordinary may take place in pursuit of the quest goal.

Message blocks can be associated with locations in two different ways.

anyInfo nn adds the Qrc message nn to the Tell me about.. dialog responses.

rumors nn adds the Qrc message nn to the rumors to spread when the PC asks for Any News? in the dialog panel.

These tags can be appended to any Place command. Although, beware that adding a remote dungeon to the pick list under the Tell me about... dialog tab doesn't always do the right thing.

Instead of displaying the name of the dungeon in the pick list, X-Engine usually displays the name of a fictitious alchemy shop. However, rumors spread through the Any News? query will display the remote dungeon name properly.

This unfortunate side-effect can be mitigated somewhat, by using the dialog link command to suppress the entry of the bogus shop name in the pick list.

Quest locations are divided into three groups:

• permanent sites
• local sites
• remote sites.

Permanent Sites

A permanent site is one that appears the same for every Daggerfall incarnation, and they are the obvious main story 'hot spots': Sentinel, Wayrest, Daggerfall, Dirinni Tower, Scourg Burrow, and so forth. Your quest is free to send the PC on a romp through Castle Daggerfall or Medora's tower if you want to.

Place  _symbol_  permanent  aPermanentPlace

where aPermanentPlace is one of the permanent Daggerfall sites. Some places have several forms, each of which indicates a different location within the dungeon that the teleport cheat travels to. These are used to indicate specific rooms in the castle dungeons, or rooms along the chain of teleport cheats for other dungeons.

DaggerfallCity1	MantellanCrux	Sentinel4
DaggerfallCity2	OrsiniumCastle1	Shedungent1
DaggerfallCastle1	OrsiniumCastle2	Shedungent2
DaggerfallCastle2	OrsiniumCastle3	Shedungent4
DirenniTower	OrsiniumCastle4	Skeffingcoven
GlenmorilCoven	PirateerHold1	TotambuCoven
KykosCoven	PirateerHold2	WayrestCastle
LlugwychCastle	ScourgBarrow1	WoodbourneHall4
LysandusTomb1	ScourgBarrow2	WoodbourneHall5
LysandusTomb2	SentinelCastle

If you choose a permanent location, you may need to make it visible on the proper province map. The three main castles and the starting dungeon are always present on the province map. The dungeons for Lysandus' tomb, Nulfagu, etc are initially absent from the travel map.

The reveal quest action can put permanent sites on the travel map.

Note also, that quest locations specified as permanent do not have their _symbol_ substituted properly in Qrc text blocks. So their names must be written out in full in any Qrc messages refering to that site.

Local Sites

A quest can associate a house or shop in the town currently occupied by the PC--there are no local dungeons in Daggerfall.

Place  _symbol_  local  aLocalSite

where aLocalSite is:

apothecary	house1	palace
armory	house2	pawnshop
bank	house3	random
bookstore	house4	tavern
clothingshop	jewelryshop	temple
furnitureshop	library	weaponstore
generalstore	magery

house1 through house4 select between different styles of Daggerfall homes. Random selects the type of shop at random when the quest begins.

Remote Sites

A quest can associate a house or shop in a remote town, or it can associate a remote dungeon with the quest.

Place  _symbol_  remote  aRemoteSite

where aRemoteSite is:

apothecary	generalstore	magery
armory	house1	palace
bank	house2	pawnshop
bookstore	house3	random
clothingshop	house4	tavern
dungeon	jewelryshop	temple
furnitureshop	library	weaponstore

When you specify a remote place, X-engine selects a location in the current province that has the type of remote site requested.

Note that this sometimes means the current location will be selected if it satisfies the site criteria. Really, local implies that no distant travel will be required, while remote implies that distant travel is optional.

Although there are no local dungeons, your quest scenario may request one. Why would you want to do this? One reason is to hide another quest resource where you are certain the PC can not locate it. Selecting a different remote dungeon that the quest does not reveal is not a certain guarantee that the PC can not locate the resource in the other dungeon. After all, the other dungeon may already be visible on the province map from an earlier quest. The present quest has no way of determining this fact.

Quest Clocks

Quests can associate time limits or durations to various parts of the quest by creating clocks to time events. Clocks specify how much time must elapse before a task in the condition/response section is activated.

Clocks can specify an absolute amount of time, or a range of time, or a random amount of time. Use an extended version of clock time format to specify an amount of time: days.hours:minutes

so 1.4:45 represents a time 1 day, 4 hours and 45 minutes in the future.

Clock  _symbol_

creates a clock with a random amount of time to run.

Clock  _symbol_  dd.hh:mm

creates a clock that runs down in dd days, hh hours, and mm minutes.

Clock  _symbol_  dd.hh:mm  aa.bb:cc

creates a clock that runs down between dd.hh:mm and aa.bb:cc.

The symbol assigned to a clock also names a task in the condition/ response section of the Qbn file. When the timer runs out, that task is actived in response to the time-out.

Note that a Clock resource doesn't automatically start ticking, and must be started by using the start timer action.

Quest Enemies

Quests can create specific enemies to plague the PC with.

Foe  _symbol_  is  anEnemy
Foe  _symbol_  is  nn  anEnemy

The first form creates a single foe of type anEnemy while the second form creates nn foes of type anEnemy.

Please see the file foes.src for the complete list of quest foes.

Foe  _angryMages_  17 mage

would describe a mob of seventeen (17) mages.

Unlike quest NPCs or places, quest foes must be installed in the game world through actions in the condition/response section of the quest file.

Quest Condition/Responses

The quest condition/response section is probably the most involved section of the quest. Here is the logic or scripting of what happens during the quest.

This section can be thought of as tasks or steps which are triggered by various events in the game world. It probably helps if you've been exposed to some programming concepts before, but it isn't essential.

Each task of the quest has a symbol name associated with it, which can be used in other tasks to determine whether that step has been taken yet.

The general pattern of a task is:

_symbol_  task:
 action1
 action2
  :
  :

or

_symbol_  task:
 condition1
 condition2
  :
  action1
  action2
  :
  :

or

_symbol_  task:
 condition1
 condition2
  :
  :

or

until  _symbol_  performed:
 action1
 action2
  :
  :

where an action is the desired quest activity and condition is the quest event to trigger the desired action.

Quest tasks are usually written in what's called their positive-definite form, and so are usually performed but once. However the until performed form creates a task to perform over and over again until another task is finished.

There are also task forms which condense the task and conditions together as a sort of shorthand.

For example, suppose part of a quest involves locating an NPC to receive a hint or clue. When the player locates that person, the quest must tell the X-engine what to do. We can create a task to handle this event in the game world.

_npcClicked_ task:
 clicked _npc_
 say 1014
 log 1015 step 1
 reveal _dungeon_
 place _item_ at _dungeon_

which says roughly when the player clicks on _npc_ the NPC makes a speech from a Qrc message block, adds an entry to the player's log book, adds a dungeon to the province map, and hides a quest item in that dungeon.

Life isn't quite that simple though. What happens if the PC returns and clicks the NPC again? Does he get a free item? Oops. A better solution might be:

-- This task remembers whether the PC has clicked _npc_
_npcClicked_ when _npc_ clicked

-- This  task remembers whether we've hidden the quest item or not.
_itemHidden_ when _hideItem_

-- This task checks whether the PC has clicked _npc_ and only
-- proceeds if we've not yet hidden the quest item.
_hideItem_ task:
when _npcClicked_ and not _itemHidden_
 say 1014
 log 1015 step 1
 reveal _dungeon_
 place _item_ at _dungeon_

-- This task intervenes if the PC clicks _npc_ again
-- after we've hidden the quest item in the dungeon.
_alreadyHidden_ task:
when _npcClicked_ and _itemHidden_
 say 1016

If the PC tries to 'cheat' by clicking the NPC again, the NPC chides the PC with message 1016.

Quest conditions

Apart from the quest start-up actions and clock time-outs, quest tasks are triggered by conditions or events within the game world which the quest wants to take special notice of, usually to supply some stimulus to the player character which would not otherwise arise.

This section catalogs the game world events which a quest can check for, to take appropriate action on as the circumstances require.

The game world events that a quest may capture are

• cast aSpell spell do aTask
• clicked anItem
• clicked anNPC
• clicked anNPC and at least anAmount gold otherwise do aTask
• daily from aTime1 to aTime2
• dropped anItem at aPlace
• faction aFaction available
• from aTime1 to aTime2 daily
• have anItem set aVariable
• injured aFoe
• killed aFoe
• level nnnn completed
• pc at aPlace do aTask
• repute with anNPC exceeds nn do aTask
• toting anItem and anNPC clicked
• anItem used do aTask
• anItem used saying nnnn do aTask
• when aFoe killed
• when aTaskHasBeenPerformed
• when anItem clicked
• when anItem used
• when anItem used saying nnnn
• when anNPC clicked
• when anItem dropped at aPlace
• when aSpell spell cast
• when repute with aFaction is at least nnn
• when pc at aPlace
• when pc not at aPlace
• when aSpell cast
• when toting anItem and anNPC clicked

Some of the conditions seem to describe the same thing (e.g., killed aFoe vs when aFoe killed) and they do refer to the same game world event, but have different contexts within the quest source file.

For the X-engine, conditions always have task names associated with them. But as a quest author you don't necessarily care about the task name a condition is associated with unless you need to refer to the completion of that task elsewhere in the quest.

So many of the conditions have two equivalent forms of expression, one which must follow a named task, and one which does not. The basic rule is that the forms beginning when ... create their own task names automatically while the other forms do not, and so must appear within a task named by the task: directive.

The detailed descriptions of the quest conditions follows.

Locating things in the game world

clicked aThing
when aThing clicked
toting anItem and anNPC clicked

When the player character clicks on a quest related item or NPC this condition will schedule the actions associated with this task for execution by the X-engine. aThing must be a quest item created by an Item command, or a quest NPC created by a Person command.

Message: 1017
 <ce> Your quest is complete.

when _item1_ clicked
 say 1017
 end quest

In this quest fragment, when the PC clicks the mouse on _item1_ in the game world, message number 1017 is displayed and the quest is finished.

Alternatively, the same task could be written:

foundItem task:
 clicked _item1_
 say 1017
 end quest

Sometimes you only want to take action if the PC approachs your NPC with a specific quest item

Message: 1020
 <ce> Thank you for returning my widget.

returnItem task:
 toting _item1_ and _questor_ clicked
 say 1020

So the questor won't congradulate you unless you return with the quest item he's waiting for.

This last form, toting and clicked has an important side-effect when you include it in a scenario: The item is destroyed when both parts of the condition are true.

By the player's cash on hand

clicked anNPC and at least anAmount gold otherwise do aTask

When the PC clicks on a quest NPC in order to obtain a quest item from the NPC, the quest can assign a cost to the quest item and take different actions if the PC doesn't have the requisite cash available.

If the PC has at least the specified amount of gold on hand, that number of gold pieces will be taken from the PC and the remainder of the actions in this task will be performed.

If the PC doesn't have enough gold (and it must be available as pieces of gold; letters of credit don't seem to apply) none of the actions in the task are performed. Instead, the X-engine schedules the other task mentioned by the condition.

_buyTalisman_ task:
 clicked _healer_ and at least 20 gold otherwise do _pcTooPoor_
 say 1013
 get item talisman
 log 1017 step 2

_pcTooPoor_ task:
 say 1015
 clear _buyTalisman_ _pcTooPoor_

By the clock

daily from aTime1 to aTime2
from aTime1 to aTime2 daily

A quest may direct the X-engine to perform some task on a daily schedule. Often this involves sending nasties to plague the player, but any quest action is possible. This condition is used in the main story for example to make the ghost of King Lysandus haunt Daggerfall City for several hours after sunset. For example

from 06:00 to 10:00 daily
 create _foe_ every 10 minutes 7 times with 100% success

or

plague task:
 daily from 6:00 to 10:00
 create _foe_ every 10 minutes 7 times with 100% success

would create waves of nasties to plague the player character every morning from 6 to 10 for the duration of the quest.

Note also that each Clock command creates an implicit time-out condition. Create a task with the same name as the clock to activate when the clock runs out. Note that a Clock resource doesn't automatically start ticking, and must be started by using the start timer action.

Message: 1019
 <ce> Well, you've run out of time now.

Clock _tooSlow_ 12.0

-- Quest startup:
 start timer _tooSlow_

_tooSlow_ task:
 say 1019
 end quest

In this quest fragment, if the PC is still plodding along after 12 days on this quest, chide him and terminate the quest.

Checking the PC's repute

A quest can check the player's repute with a particular quest NPC and take different actions according to whether the NPC likes or dislikes the PC.

repute with anNPC exceeds nn do aTask

is the condition to schedule a different task if the NPC favors the player character enough. NN is the PC's minimum repute with the NPC, usually between 0 and 100, although the PC's reputation can be negative.

Message: 1019
 <ce> I suppose this will have to do.
 <ce> Couldn't you have brought a fresher sample?

Message: 1020
 <ce> I say, that was quite good work for a %ra.
 <ce> Here, take this extra reward for special service.

checkForBonus task:
 repute with _npc_ exceeds 41 do bonus

variable bonus

bonusReward task:
 when deadFoe and bonus
 say 1020
 give pc _reward_ _extraReward_
 end quest

regularReward task:
 when deadFoe and not bonus
 say 1019
 give pc _reward_
 end quest

which bestows one reward if the PC's reputation with the NPC is smaller than 42 and bestows two rewards if the reputation is larger than 41. You can write quests to shine the PC on if the NPC doesn't like the PC's previous affilliations.

Using items

have anItem set aVariable
have anItem do aTask
anItem used do aTask
anItem used saying nnnn do aTask

There are times when a quest author wants to take some special action when the player manipulates an object pertaining to the quest.

A quest can detect when the player has a particular item in the inventory by using the have anItem condition. The two forms are really equivalent, for in the X-engine a variable is just a task without any conditions or actions.

Message: 1015
 <ce> You notice a sudden change in your surroundings.

ambush task:
 say 1015
 move _foe_ to pc

waiting task:
 have _questItem_ do ambush

would set up to ambush the PC after a quest item was added to the inventory.

Message: 1015
 <ce> As you examine the parchment
 <ce> you notice your surroundings change.

ambush task:
 say 1015
 teleport pc to _newDungeon_

waiting task:
 _questItem_ used do ambush

would teleport the PC to a different dungeon when the quest item was used in the inventory screen (to read a quest letter perhaps).

Attacking foes

A quest can detect when the PC first injures an enemy in a fight or when the enemy is dead.

injured aFoe
killed aFoe
killed nn aFoe
when aFoe injured
when aFoe killed

For example

Message: 1099
 <ce> No, I won't let you kill me.  Begone!

When _foe_ injured
 say 1099
 teleport pc to _newDungeon_

which contrives to teleport the player elsewhere if the specified foe has been injured.

Message: 1099
 <ce> Congradulations, you've killed the orc commander.

When _foe_ killed
 say 1099
 end quest

which pops up a message box when the PC slaughters the specified foe.

Recall that the Foe command will create mobs of kindred foes. You can specify how many of the mob must be slain for the condition

Foe _foe_ is 17 vampire

enoughDead task:
 killed 5 _foe_
 get item _reward_
 teleport pc to _newDungeon_

would trigger the requested actions after killing 5 of the 17 vampires.

Note that the killed task will be permanently retired by the X-engine once the number of foes created by the associated Foe command have been slaughtered.

That sounds reasonable enough, but notice that it clashs with the use of the create foe command, which may create more foes to be killed than can be tested by the killed condition.

Even worse, you can't use several kill commands to check for different numbers of foes slaughtered. You can have only one killed action for each Foe declaration. If you provide more than one, the action response becomes unpredictable.