It is important for you to be able to get around the Check and Action Conditions panel if you want to be able to manipulate triggers and Non Player Characters effectively. This tool works in a simple way, despite the fact that most people tend to over-complicate it. For those who know a bit of programming, this is nothing more than an “if and else statement” made easier. Once you understand this concept, making a properly functioning, exciting game will be a piece of cake.
There are two parts to Check and Action Conditions, “check” and “actions”. Basically, if an avatar steps into the triggers’ vicinity, the trigger will cause the item associated with it to carry out a set of checks on the approaching avatar. These checks fall into three categories: inventory checks, stat checks, and team checks. Inventory checks work by peeking into the avatar’s inventory to check for items that may or may not have been picked up earlier in the game (e.g. Check for Imperial Crown). Stat checks compare the avatar’s stats, including health, stamina and hunger with preset values, and whether they fall above or below them, after which an action can be carried out.
Lastly, team checks determine which team the avatar is on, and react accordingly. If the avatar is on a different team, an associated non-player character could attack it.Action conditions are even simpler. They are the response that occurs due to the conditions of the check. A simple Inventory check could check if you had a certain item. If you did, a NPC will not attack you, but if you didn’t, he will. In this case, the action is the NPC attacking you. Check and Action conditions can be manipulated at the ends of certain triggers. The triggers that support the use of these conditions are:
- Modify Triggers - Allows you to give and take inventory and/or consumable items from a player
- Movement triggers - Allows you to move a player under certain conditions, ex: the trigger will only work if a player has a certain item
- Reward Triggers - Gives and/or take items from a player under certain conditions
- Spawn Triggers - Allows you to make the spawned unit behave in a certain way
How to use Check and Action Conditions
Scroll to the bottom of the Logic Properties Editor for any of these triggers to find the Manage Check and Action Conditions box. This box can vary for the different triggers based on their individual functions.
To add a stat check, first, add a stat check to the list by clicking the Stat Check button.
You can set it to check if a player’s stats are equal to or less than the assigned value. This can be used for innovative gameplay mechanics such as a NPC giving you a health pack if your health is below a certain level. To create a inventory check, do the same as above but choose Inv Check to add it to the list. Click on the icon in the list to open the Inventory Check Condition window.
Under this menu, you can select an item which the player must have for the check to be fulfilled. If not, you can create an action to make him pay for his insolence (this is a joke). To create a Team Check, do everything you just did but choose team check. Place it on the list and open the conditions window.
A Team Check is much easier to understand, it basically checks for the presence of any player from a certain team. All the teams in-game will be displayed in the window. Click on any of the teams to select it. Selecting a team will cause it to be highlighted in blue.
Action conditions are easier to work with. For a non-player character using a Check and Action Condition, there are only three possibilities in reaction to a positive or negative check result, all of which are self-explanatory. They include, staying idle, running away, and attacking. And, wait for it... This is the best part. You can even use a compound Check and Action Condition!. So, for instance, “if the non-player character has the Imperial Crown, then attack him, else, run away”. Makes life easier, doesn’t it?
When using Check and Action conditions, the most important concept to understand is that the actions and checks are executed in the order they are placed in the box. This can allow you to add multiple checks to satisfy a single action and vice versa. The best way to work with these is to experiment. Only you can unlock their complete capabilities.