blancfaye7 wrote:So! I get now what you mean, but since this is still all new to me, I still have a few questions:
1. I can add a "global textList" file, right? Something like dialogues.xml then place all textList dialogues there?
unfortunately no, I don't think so. the only way to do it would be to add it to one of the current files (for example, events.xml, events_mantis.xml, etc.)
blancfaye7 wrote:2. If I am to create a mod, then just how would I replace the dialogues? Is it editing the files, or... appending? IDK?
replacing the entire file containing the event should really only be done for a standalone mod. the best way to create an add-on is to yes, append via events.xml.append and use Slipstream tags (like <mod:findName name="..." type="...">), to find the name of the original event, and the tags it has. this lets you go through events without needing to replace them completely.
inside readme_modders.txt under Advanced XML are the descriptions for them. here is a good starting place for examples:
viewtopic.php?t=26426 and this mod can give you an idea of how do use <mod:findComposite>:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=30333 blancfaye7 wrote:3. I have no clue how to do 'hot spotting' in XML files. As far as I know, you cannot do conditionals for whatever form in the current way of modding. If there is no way, then care is really advised when doing these things since it might destroy the integrity of player immersion within events.
This is related to the above post of @stylesrj. The Old Captain saying things, then suddenly when surrendering, the old captain might just disappear from the next dialogues since they're random...
as I mentioned, slipstream tags let you make it more of an add-on. while there aren't conditionals, after making a duplicate of the event, identical just the textList sources are different, you could either:
- create an eventList that has the same name as the base event and rename the base event. then put the event and the "duplicate" event into this new eventList.
- create an eventList with a different name than the base event, and overwrite the spot of the base event in every other eventList with the name of this new event. then just put the base event and the duplicate into the new eventList.
so in other words when this event is called, you get two possible outcomes. the first is the original event without the old captain, and the second is the original event with the old captain.