Reading Weapon Proto Data?

[dude_obj]

I'm trying to read weapon proto data using the proto_data command. I can get the name, description, pid, fid, flags, and other stuff, but I can't get the thing I need: Animation Code. This is what tells me which attack type it is, so I can check if a critter can use that weapon. According to define.h there is item data

#define it_data (10)

And in the txt files that get generated in \fallout2\dev\proto\items it shows what is in this data section:

d.animation_code: J-RIFLE
d.min_damage: 13
d.max_damage: 26
d.dt: normal_dam
d.max_range1: 35
d.max_range2: 35
d.min_st: 4
d.mp_cost1: 4
d.mp_cost2: 5
d.crit_fail_table: 2
d.perk: None
d.rounds: 3
d.caliber: .223
d.ammo_type_pid: 34 00000034
d.max_ammo: 30
d.sound_id:

There it is right at the beggining of data, animation code. Problem is: if I try to "print" the value of it_data to the screen like this:

display_msg("data=" + proto_data(PID,it_data));

The mapper crashes. I can look at the other fields this way, but it can't print the data field. That makes be think the data field is is binary. Okay, so if it's binary, how the heck do I extract the animation code so I can know what animation type the weapon needs. Any ideas?

 

[Mangler]

Uhm I know nothing specific about the Fallout 2 scripts, but;

if its binary...convert it to hex(or one integer at a time) (may need to chuck it into a temp array first...) and display the data byte by byte.
I don't think whatever 'it_data' is can be converted to a string (whatever flavour FO2 uses).

sounds like whatever it is, does not end in '/0' like it should (assuming C style array-string, not some ASCIIZ or ZASCII weird string).

try appending '/0' too, you never know.

 

[dude_obj]

Well if I had functions to read bytes, and if I had functions to convert from binary, I wouldn't be asking this question. There are no such functions. And there are no arrays. This is not C and not a general purpose programming language.

I am wondering if this part of proto_data might not be implemented for scripting. None of the scripts use this part. The engine code accesses it internally to support other engine functions.

EDIT:

There is a related issue, that is: the proto as in what is stored in the proto file, is only a blueprint of an object, its not the actual object. And in the case of weapons, there must be "instances" of a proto that store what kind of ammo is loaded and how much ammo is left. This would be good information to have via script access! If I knew for example what kind of ammo was in a gun, I could create poison crossbow bolts and implement a poison counter on critters.

But I can't even read the generic blueprint of a proto, let alone its instance data. Well I can, but not the DATA part, which has most of the important information. Maybe that's the issue: the instance of the proto needs to be read, not the blueprint. I would think that a pointer to weapon would be needed to get instance data (number of rounds left for example cann't be stored in blueprint). But object pointer is not input to the proto_data command, its by PID number.

I made a workaround already which is just a lookup by weapon returning the animation type needed for that weapon, but it pisses me off because that shouldn't be necessary, the anim code is sitting there in proto data, I just can't seem to read it from script.

 

[jargo]

Just checked it out,proto_data gets data from *.pro file using standard engine proto_ptr_ function, it can read any prototype data.

the proto as in what is stored in the proto file, is only a blueprint of an object, its not the actual object. And in the case of weapons, there must be "instances" of a proto that store what kind of ammo is loaded and how much ammo is left.

Yup every object has its instance saved in map file, when you place a new object on map in mapper you create a new instance of that object. But instance of object does not have proto data, only PID number, and when engine need some protodata it reads it from file using proto_ptr_ function.
If you want to see instance info then just save map as txt file and see objects section

[OBJECT BEGIN]
obj_id: 20
obj_tile_num: 17291
obj_x: 0
obj_y: 0
obj_sx: 229
obj_sy: 213
obj_cur_frm: 0
obj_cur_rot: 0
obj_pid: 244 00000244
obj_fid: 130 arvase2
obj_flags: 2684358656
obj_elev: 0
obj_cid: 4294967295
obj_light_distance: 0
obj_light_intensity: 0
obj_outline: 0
obj_sid: 4294967295
obj_pud.inv_size: 0
obj_pud.inv_max: 0
obj_pudg.updated_flags: 0
[OBJECT END]

When map is loaded those will be object instances, obj_id: is a place for object pointer(assigned when object is loaded)
Dims mapper show all this info.

In script some of this info can be get using has_trait with TRAIT_OBJECT option.
#define OBJECT_AI_PACKET (5)
#define OBJECT_TEAM_NUM (6)
#define OBJECT_CUR_ROT (10)
#define OBJECT_VISIBILITY (666)
#define OBJECT_CUR_WEIGHT (669)

But i did not found a way to get ammo pid or how many ammo is loaded.

 

[Raven_2]

to dude_obj

AFAIK, there is no way to do such thing. But you can use "material" field to store needed info. It 4 byte long, so you can store there everything you want. This field never used in game, AFAIK, so you can edit it like you want (place animation code value/bit, for example). Of course, you need to edit all protos by hand with hex-editor. And mapper don`t like unusual ones, as always.

 

[dude_obj]

Jargo do you know the syntax of this proto_ptr function? I would assume it needs obj_ptr plus some kind of index to the data element within the data? Data element name?

So I was right, it makes sense that the data part needs a pointer (not PID) since there would be multiple instances. It is strange however that something like animation code would be in the instance (not blueprint) since that should be the same for all objects of that proto type (much like a class variable in OO). If that's how this is then I need to create every weapon just to find out its animation code! That means I can't check if a critter can use a weapon before actually creating the weapon. Sucky, but better than a lookup function, I can destroy the object if the critter cannot use it.

 

[dude_obj]

to dude_obj

AFAIK, there is no way to do such thing. But you can use "material" field to store needed info. It 4 byte long, so you can store there everything you want. This field never used in game, AFAIK, so you can edit it like you want (place animation code value/bit, for example). Of course, you need to edit all protos by hand with hex-editor. And mapper don`t like unusual ones, as always.

You mean that proto_ptr that jargo mentioned cannot be accessed from script? Does this also mean thet proto_data(PID, it_data) is not implemented? It returns error it can't read memory but that's because it doesn't have pointer to instance I assume.

EDIT: thinking further on this, proto_ptr must be just a pointer, not a function, similar to the self_obj opcode (pointer). So rather than being a function, it's a pointer that is argument for functions. The question is, what function can use it as argument? I assume this also means that critter instance data cannot be read (this is not good!).

 

[Raven_2]

to dude_obj

>>You mean that proto_ptr that jargo mentioned cannot be accessed from script?

It`s an internal engine function that called from op_metarule, op_create_object_sid and op_start_gdialog (?). I see no normal way (without hacking exe) to make possible for this func to be called directly from scripts.

>>Does this also mean thet proto_data(PID, it_data) is not implemented?

proto_data simply read data field from pro and try to convert and return it. There is a code for it_data, but it cause error.

 

[dude_obj]

Okay well I made a lookup to get the anim code for any weapon, but it's really a shame that we can't read proto instance data from scripts.

This is interesting, I made a command wieldRandomWeapon that reads the critter's six combat skills, picks the skill with the highest level, picks a weapon that uses that skill, then checks if the critter has the animation. If no amimation keep picking until suitable weapon is found.

But it seems there are critters with some strange proto setups, for example there is a soldier that uses NFMETL appearance, which only has knife, spear, punch and kick animation, but her highest rated skill is small guns, which she can't use. Its proof about how easy it is to screw up without an automated check on animation types.

So now I have to go a step further, if the critter can't use weapon for highest skill, go to the next highest skill. Aside from this issue the random wielding is working fine, I have it so it never crashes on attempt to wield a random weapon, and a critter will always have the animation and skill required, plus extra ammo of the right type.