Dr Nick's Quest Var Guide (In Plain English)
With a special thanks to oddy for Section 5.

Once you read the guide, get the example scenario here

1. What is a variable?

The technical definition of a variable is a place in memory used to store a value that is unknown at the time of creation.

At this point, that probably doesn't make much sense to you (and if it does, you really don't need to read the rest of this guide). That's okay; I just needed to get that out of the way so I can start explaining it to you.

So what does it mean? Well, when you create a scenario, there are things you may not know, or that can change, depending on the player. Still confused? An example is probably in order:

Say in your scenario you want to create a shopping list (never ask why!). The list has four different items: a rug, a house, a fish and a donkey. These items can be bought in any order. This is entirely possible (I've done it). How would you keep track of which items the player has and which still need to be bought? This is where variables come into play.

You can actually create a variable that stores this information so that you don't need to know it when you make the scenario. Instead, you simply refer to it by its name.

Okay, now I will break away from the example to explain another aspect of variables. This is actually very logical if you think about it: If you don't know what this mystery value is when you create this scenario, how in Hades' name can you use it? The answer is very simple: Names. Every Quest Var that you create will have a name. Remember it, because without it, you're screwed. A name can be anything, really. I like to use descriptive names because they allow me to remember what variable is for what.

So in our example, there will be four Quest Vars: one for the rug, one for the house, one for the donkey and one for the fish. Lets make some names: Has_Rug, Has_House, Has_Donkey and Has_Fish are the ones I will use.

Okay now what? you may ask yourself at this point. Well remember, a variable is just a value. We can use it to keep track of things. Let’s say, if the player has the item, its variable value will be 1 and if they don't, the value will be 0. These are really arbitrary, but I use 0=FALSE 1=TRUE because its sort of a programming thing (I could have used 121.5=TRUE and anything else=FALSE or some other nonsense but lets face it, that's just asking for typos).

So: So far we have a good definition of a Quest Variable in plain English: Any value that you don't know when you create the scenario or that can change when the scenario is played. It has two parts (in AOM:TT) A name and a value.

2. Types

Okay, this is a short one, but it's here for posterity. There are many types of data that your computer can store. It can store "strings" which are strings of characters (anything you can type is a character), there are integers (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc), there are boolean values (Big word...just means true or false only), and many, many more.

But you, as a scenario designer for AOM:TT, don't have to even think about it. Its all handled because the only type of information your Quest Variables are allowed to hold are called Float. That's short for Floating Point decimals. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, a floating point decimal is any number with a decimal point in it. You know, this guy: . As in 32.33, 1234.70, etc. In fact, any value you give it will automatically be given many decimal places: 1 becomes 1.00000000 (or so), etc.

So the main thing I want you to get from this chapter is: If you want to go on to do other types of programming, there are many different types of variables. If you're going to stick with scen designing, only worry about the decimal point numbers.

3. Trigger Effects using Quest Variables

Okay, I started with effects because they are what you will use to set up your Quest Variables and give them values. Conditions will be covered in the next section. Also note that some of these conditions/effects may come from the New Editer as I downloaded that before I ever opened the editor and I don't really know which ones came with what.

Quest Variable effects are easy to recognize, they all begin with Quest Var. Here are the important ones:

Quest Var Set: This is pretty self explanitory. This is where you can directly set the value of your variable (or create it with a default value).
Parameters: Var Name; This is where you enter the unique name of your variable. Value; This is where you enter the value you want to give your variable.
Example: For the example in Chapter 1. When the player buys the rug, you can create a trigger with the effect: Quest Var Set. Var Name = Has_Rug. Value = 1. This will set the variable named Has_Rug to the value 1.

Quest Var Modify: This allows you to change the value of your variable by using an operator. This may seem confusing at first, but its not that difficult.
Parameters: Var Name; The name of the variable whose value you want to modify. Operator; This is the way you want to change your variable. Its a mathematical operator. Value: This is the ammount you want to change by. The formula would be: [Var Name] = [Var Name] [Operator] [Value].
Example: I haven't given an example of this yet, but here's a simple one. Say you want to create an RPG where killing a Jarl gives you 500 experience points. You can keep track of how much experience a player has by using a Quest Variable (let's name it Experience). you can set up a condition so that the trigger fires whenever the player kills a Jarl. Then the effect would be: Quest Var Modify. Var Name = Experience. Operator = +. Value = 500. So the formula would be Experience = Experience + 500. No matter what Experience is already, this effect will add 500 to it. You can also use - (subtract), * (multiply), /(devide), and probably % (modulus, though I've never tried it) as operators.

Quest Var Modify 2: This one probably came with the new editor, though I've been wrong before. This trigger is exactly the same as Quest Var Modify, except instead of using a value for the third perameter, you use another Quest Variable. That way you don't need to know how much to change the first Quest Variable when you create the scenario. The formula this creates is: [Var Name] = [Var Name][Operator][Var Name2]. So for the example from Quest Var Modify: Experience = Experience + Jarl_Experience. That way, Jarls don't have to always give 500 experience, they could give a variable ammount that you determine.

Quest Var Randomize: Okay this is a cool one. And the one most of you will probably use the most. This little effect will generate a random number and then set the value of your variable to that number. Parameters: Var Name; The name of the variable that will have the random value. Min Value; The value of your quest variable will not be less than this ammount. Max Value; The value of your quest variable will not be more than this ammount. Rounding; Remember that all Quest Variables can have a decimal point. If you only want whole numbers, make sure this is pressed. If you like funny decimals, go ahead and leave it.
Example: Okay, say the player must win at a game of "Paper, Rock, Scissors" againsed the computer in order to win a donkey (instead of buying it for his list...duh!). The player choses one of the three options and then the computer can randomly chose one of the three options using the following effect: Quest Var Randomize. Var Name = Comp_Answer. Min Value = 1. Max Value = 3. Rounding = On (TRUE). The value will be either 1 (paper), 2 (rock) or 3(scissors). This is just one example, the possibilities are endless.

4. Conditions using Quest Variables

There are only two conditions that I will go over for Quest Variables. These are really where Variables show their usefullness. First a small explanation of some minor programming type stuff:

IF...THEN. Okay, short logic lesson. As you may (or may not) know, all conditions are similar to the english IF...THEN. In other words, the Unit In Area condition is
really saying IF there is a unit in the area, THEN do the effects. Quest Var conditions are no different. In fact, you can really see the correlation better.

Quest Var Check: Okay, so you want to know IF the person bought the rug. Quest Var Check is the condition for you. Remember that IF the variable Has_Rug = 1, THEN they have the rug. IF the variable Has_Rug = 0, THEN they don't. This can be almost directly translated to the Quest Var Check condition like this: Condition: Quest Var Check. Var Name = Has_Rug, Operator = ==, Value = 1. Unless you want to know more about other kinds of programming, just accept that == means "is equal to" as in: IF Has_Rug is equal to 1. There are also several other operators that you can experament with. So the opposite would be IF Has_Rug == 0, or Or you can even just check the "Not" box as in IF Has_Rug NOT == 1 THEN. It may not be good English, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Quest Var Compare: This is the same as Quest Var Check except instead of comparing one quest var and one value, you're comparing two quest variables. The formula looks like this: IF [Var Name1][Operator][Var Name2] THEN... So in our Paper, Rock, Scissors example, We want to know if its a tie (Both the player and the computer picked the same answer). So it would look like this: IF Player_Answer is equal to Computer_Answer THEN its a tie. So lets put the pieces into their correct Parameters: Var Name1 = Player_Answer, Operator = ==, Var Name2 = Computer_Answer. THEN (its a tie so do the nessesary effects for a tie).

One more note about conditions: Remember, you can use multiple conditions with "AND" or with "OR" to get the desired results. Experiment around with it.

5.oddy's Quest Var Conditions/Effects

For this section, we have a special guest, the very creator of these Quest Var Conditions and Effects, oddy. These triggers can be downloaded from the download section of AOMH.

Being the creator, he is the best person to describe what these effects do. So, without further adieu, Here's oddy:

--Already downloadable effects/conditions--

Effects:

QV Count Army Deploy: This little baby deploys units like a normal Army Deploy effect. It adds units to an army and places them on the map, but the number of units is the
value of a Quest Var. For example, if you use the Quest Var MyArmySize and the value of MyArmySize is 8, then 8 units will be deployed. Imagine the possibilities with difficulty settings! If you are using triggers to make the game easier or harder depending on the difficulty, be sure to add some
Quest Var Set to them. With QV Count Army Deploy, you can deploy smaller or larger armies depending on the difficulty! It also comes handy in the case that a player gets an amount of units based on earlier events. And DrNick thinks it would be cool to make a random number of enemies or allies appear like Random encounters!

QV in Message, QV Send Chat, QV Set Fake Counter, QV Counter: Add Timer, QV Overlay Text: These five are somewhat more subtile versions of the Quest Var Echo effect.
As you know, the Quest Var Echo effect displays the value of a Quest Var in the left of the screen, like a gaia's chat. These effects let you include the Quest Var value in the text of a Message, a Chat, an Overlay Text, a Fake Counter or a Counter. It works like this: you have a sentence in which you want to include the value of your Quest Var. You split up the sentence in two parts: one before the place where you want the value to be,
and one after that place. The first part comes in the first textbox of the effect, the Quest Var name in the second and the second part in the third.
Example: if MyVar is 6 and your two parts are "Hello, MyVar equals " and ". Good luck with it!" (exactly like that), you will get "Hello, MyVar equals 6. Good luck with it".

QV Tribute: This effect works like a normal Tribute, the only thing different is that it works with the value of a Quest Var instead of an amount. This can also be used to manage difficulty (see explaination at QV Count Army Deploy). It can also be used to reward a player equivalent to his actions (in other words, if the player's acting bad he will get a lower amount because his personal Quest Var is lowered if he's acting bad). DrNick says, they can be given rewards that are randomized also.
Example: if the Quest Var MyResourceAmount has a value of 239, a QV Tribute
with MyResourceAmount will tribute 239 of the selected resource.

QV Player Convert: This converts a unit to the player specified by the Quest Var. For example, if the Quest Var equals 4, the unit will be converted to player 4. In combination with a Quest Var Randomize effect to randomize the Quest Var for the player, you could get very nice effects! DrNick: Especially for some crazy blood scns.

QV Player Army Convert: Same as QV Player Convert, but with an army instead of a unit.

QV Player Invoke GP: This uses the Quest Var value like QV Player Convert to let a player specified by the Quest Var invoke a Godpower. I know, it seems useless, but let me explain where this effect was designed for: I needed to invoke an Atlantean Godpower several times, quickly following each other. Normally this wasn't possible because the Godpower had to reload -even with granting a new one-, but with this effect, I was able to make 4 players managing the invokation of the godpower. The Quest Var began with the value of 2, after each invoke it was increased by 1 and after 5 it was reset to 2. So, the players who invoked the Atlantean Godpower were 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 and this way the Godpower had the time to regenerate.

QV Randomize with QV: This effect is like the Quest Var Randomize effect, but the minimum and maximum values that the result can be are now Quest Var values. This thingy can be used to randomize a Quest Var more precisely, because you can randomize the minimum and maximum value of another randomize. Or you can use Quest Vars that are influenced by the gameplay. Get it?
Example: We have three Quest Vars: MyMaxRandomVar, MyMinRandomVar and MySupahRandomVar. We use a plain old Quest Var Randomize effect on MyMaxRandomVar and MyMinRandomVar. These two Quest Vars are used in a QV
Randomize with QV effect on MySupahRandomVar. Let's say that MyMaxRandomVar was randomized to 43 and MyMinRandomVar was randomized to 23, the random value of MySupahRandomVar will be between 23 and 43. DrNick says: This could be used in conjunction with say QV Tribute to allow for a random number of tributed resourses, within the limits of how well or poor a player is doing.

QV Percent Damage Unit: This damages a unit with a percentage, like a normal Damage Unit Percent. But now, the amount is the value of a Quest Var. You can randomize damage this way, or let the Quest Var be influenced by the difficulty.

QV Damage Unit: As above, only without percent.

QV Damage Units in Area: As above, only with the In Area variant.

QV Set Stat Value (Effect), QV Stat Value (Condition): This is one interesting couple. Let me first explain what it should do. A feature of The Titans is that you can check a large amount of Stat values, like kill count, trained soldiers etc. The problem is that you can't reset
these values to start from scratch, i.e. as an objective in midgame, because you don't know how much it was before. For example, if you have an objective "kill 300 guys", the 300 will be the amount of kills since the start of the game and not since the activation of the objective. Until now. With the QV Set Stat Value effect you can store the current value of a Stat Value in a Quest Var. This value is what I like to call it a Point Zero. In following triggers, you don't use the Stat Value condition but the QV Stat Value condition. The QV Stat Value condition needs the name of a Quest Var and uses its value to calculate the amount of the Stat Value requested. Sounds hard? Let's give an example:
Imagine, We still have the objective "kill 300 guys", now not since the game started but since the objective was activated. At the time the objective is activated, we use the QV Set Stat Value effect with a Quest Var called ObjectivePointZero to store the Stat Value "Kills" at the time of activation. Let's assume that when the objective is activated, the player has killed 120 units. ObjectivePointZero will now be 120. We also have a trigger that checks if the objective is completed. This trigger has a QV Stat Value condition. It requests the Stat value "Kills" and an amount of 300. Also, the name of the Point Zero Quest Var, in our case ObjectivePointZero, must be typed in the textbox. The condition now works like this: IF the current Stat Value MINUS the value in the Point Zero Quest Var EQUALS current stat value, the effects will be fired. So, if the players has 120 + 300 = 430 kills, the effects will be fired. Because the 120 is the amount of kills that the player already had when the objective was
activated, 300 is the number of kills since the objective. Tadatada!

--Conditions--

QV Count Resource: This works like a normal Player Resource Count condition, only the value is the value of a Quest Var. Again, this can be used a lot for difficulty
purposes. For example: on Easy the Quest Var MyVar is set to 300, on Titan it is set to 1000. So, in the trigger where this is used in, the player must have 300 of the resource on Easy and 1000 on Titan.

QV Chat Contains: This condition can be used in combination with Quest Var Randomize to create
a kind of password function. The condition will be true if the player chats the exact Quest Var value (including the floating-point numbers!). For example: if a Quest Var MyPasswordVar is randomized (with rounding OFF) to
1.236784, the condition with MyPasswordVar filled in in the textbox will be true as the selected player chats exactly "1.236784". This can serve as a password: a code for getting units, upgrades or something. It stimulates the
memory of the player (or his blocnote). (Of course, be sure to display the Quest Var value with a nice effect!)

QV Count Unit: Like a normal Player Unit Count, but now the count is the value of a Quest Var. This can serve to the same difficulty purposes as QV Count Resource.

--There are more to come.--

So there you have it.

6. Conclusion

So this is the end of my first guide. I hope it helped in your understanding of Quest Variables (and maybe computers in general). If you understand Quest Variables, then the possiblities are vast. You can have anything from inventory systems, to mini-games (like the paper-rock-scissors), to completely random environments. I would like to thank oddy again for keeping me accurate as well as adding section 5. I really recommend you download his triggers and they are very powerful and alow a wide range of creativity. If you have any other questions, feel free to post them.

[This message has been edited by DrNick (edited 05-23-2004 @ 11:59 AM).]