Difference between revisions of "Skald Documentation"

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==== Section-type elements ====
 
==== Section-type elements ====
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'''Gameplay'''
 
'''Gameplay'''
  
 
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[[File:Skald8.png|400px]]
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GAME section is used for gameplay descriptions, quest design etc. Can carry information on location and gameplay type.
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Should contain:
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*''Game action'' paragraphs - Each paragraph can have assigned its own gameplay type, time-flow type, and approx. duration. These data may be useful for content analysis.
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May contain:
  
 
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*''Linear dialogs­''
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*''Objectives''
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*''Triggers'' and ''Tutorials'' - special types of non-dialog text data holders.
  
 
 
 
 

Revision as of 14:17, 11 November 2019

Skald is a powerful tool mainly used for creating Dialogs and various text data for the games

It may also be used for:

  • viewing and setting some DB data (souls, inventories, items)
  • defining characters
  • run analyses of designed content
  • organizing and setting voice-overs
  • viewing translations

Skald also plays crucial part in scripting of the game content. This is where you can condition dialogs, setup skill checks, run dialog exist scripts, setup objective messages, set objective states etc.

Global controls

When you run Skald for the first time will see this welcome window.

Start-up

Sk1.png

If you setup the local Database properly, you should see the modding DB here. Select it and Skald will load all the DB data it needs.

Header

Skald1 2.png

1.Shows an overview of all errors, warnings and unprocessed notes in the currently open subchapter.
2.You can switch between edit mode (WHS language) and translation mode (any other language).
3.You can only add new content when in edit mode. You can filter out “Projects” which is yet another organization layer and change the DB if you so desire.
4.Shows Skald controls

Main tabs

File

Skald2.png

Lists Chapters and Subchapters. Double-clicking on a subchapter opens it.

NOTE: The read-only mode checkbox is set to TRUE by default and represents global settings which overrides the “Open” command on subchapters. Any subchapter you open will be open in read-only mode. You should turn the checkbox off. If you still want to open ONE subchapter in read-only, there is a dedicated button in the right panel.

Subchapters are also frequently called quests but don’t necessarily need to represent one. A subchapter can be assigned a FlowGraph quest, in which case the subchapter truly becomes a quest in the game.

There is a subchapter name filter at the top.

You can add new chapters by clicking “New”

Quests

Skald4.png

Quests tab offers an alternate and more detailed view at the quests/subchapters.

To load the detailed data, click the Reload button, and it will take its time to extract all the stats and data from all the quests.

Another look at Subchapters with additional info.

 

Design

Skald3.png

This is the main window for writing the quests and dialogs where you will probably spend 90% of the time when working with Skald. It provides detailed view of the content of a subchapter. You can check, create and edit dialogs, objectives, quest logs,  gameplay descriptions, parts of game logic etc.

You can pretty much ignore the top ribbon. It contains some actions for adding basic elements.

Left pane

Left pane simply lists all the elements of 3 major “section” types (gameplay, branched dialog, cutscene) in order of appearance in the document.
You can change the order by drag and dropping any instance of these types there.

RTENOTITLE

Middle pane

This is where all the writing happens. The controls are designed in such a way that you should be able to use only keyboard to write all the content.
A new document requires that you first click the “Quest” button in the top ribbon.
After that, all you need to do is writing, pressing Enter, and selecting and confirming (with Enter) the next options in the automatically generated menus.

Example of writing a new quest and its first content:

Skald6FIN.png


Section-type elements

Quest

Mandatory element. Gives name to the subchapter.

Quest can have these properties:

  • Link to a FlowGraph (FG) Quest object
    • If the Skald quest is linked to an existing FG Quest, the FG Quest name is prefilled by autocomplete in all dialog entry conditions in this subchapter. This speeds up autocomplete of FG Objectives that belong to that quest.
  • Name – name of the quest that appears in the log if the quest is ever started
  • Description – description of the quest that appears in quest log as the initial description

Gameplay

Skald8.png

GAME section is used for gameplay descriptions, quest design etc. Can carry information on location and gameplay type.

Should contain:

  • Game action paragraphs - Each paragraph can have assigned its own gameplay type, time-flow type, and approx. duration. These data may be useful for content analysis.

May contain:

  • Linear dialogs­
  • Objectives
  • Triggers and Tutorials - special types of non-dialog text data holders.