Creating Lore Items?

[Samuel Slayer]

How difficult would it be to create lore items that display text upon picking up an item in Doom? I have a couple RPG inspired projects that I think will be UDMF so this small little feature could really sell the atmosphere a bit more. I'm not attempting any complex stuff like dialoque or quests. Just ways to display lore in GZDoom. 

[Rifleman]

If you're using UDMF, you could create a simple script that prints your text to the screen(either using Print or HudMessage) and then in your map set the weapon actor action to 80. Player picks up the weapon and your script shows whatever you desire. Of course this is the most basic approach, I'm sure there could be more complex solutions.

[Fraston]

Does modifying the pickup text for the item do it?

in DECORATE or ZScript there is an attribute for that you can modify.

[Samuel Slayer]

On 6/16/2022 at 8:05 PM, Fraston said:

Does modifying the pickup text for the item do it?

in DECORATE or ZScript there is an attribute for that you can modify.

I think not, because there isn't really that much text to show and the player might miss it. It'd be enough if it worked like in Quake 1 with those info pop-ups or how Amid Evil handles lore texts. Approach a trigger volume & text pops up into the screen. If it gets too technical to pull off it could just be dropped.

Edited June 21, 2022 by Samuel Slayer

[forgettable pyromaniac]

33 minutes ago, Samuel Slayer said:

I think not, because there isn't really that much text to show and player might miss it. I'd be enough if it worked like in Quake 1 with those info pop-ups or how Amid Evil handles lore texts. Approach a trigger volume & text pops up into the screen. If it gets too technical to pull off it could be just dropped.

It's definitely not too technical, you can do some crazy stuff with ZDoom-Derrived ports.

If you don't mind having separate items for each pickup (/you don't have many of them), you could always make a pickup for each one, and when you pick them up, it'll show the text.
DECORATE is good for that.

[Fraston]

1 hour ago, Samuel Slayer said:

I think not, because there isn't really that much text to show and the player might miss it.

Doesn’t everyone just open the console to see what text was displayed?

[Samuel Slayer]

1 minute ago, Fraston said:

Doesn’t everyone just open the console to see what text was displayed?

Oh, didn't think of that. Technically, it could work. But I don't see it as great design from an end-user perspective.

[Bauul]

4 minutes ago, Fraston said:

Doesn’t everyone just open the console to see what text was displayed?

 

Having watched a fair few play-throughs of Elementalism (which also features lore text items) I can assure you very few people think to review the console for missed text.

 

On 6/16/2022 at 8:00 AM, Samuel Slayer said:

How difficult would it be to create lore items that display text upon picking up an item in Doom?

 

HudMessage is the way to go. I wouldn't even tie it to an item, just have an ACS script trigger that displays the message when the player enters a sector. You could have a dummy visual Thing (like a tablet or something) so people know to walk up to it, but with an Item it means players will only have one chance to view the message on pickup (unless you implement a more complex inventory system). A static in-map Thing that displays a message whenever the player gets close to it is probably the easiest and least-missable solution.