Conversations

Conversations in Deus Ex are created using an external software called ConEdit.

Prerequisites

• Actors
• Custom packages

Create a folder

Create a Conversations folder inside your package, like so:

• DeusEx
  • MyPackage
    • Conversations

Starting the conversation file

1. Open ConEdit
2. Create a new conversation (File > New or the New button). A Conversation File Properties dialog will show up.
3. Pick Mission 16 in the Missions tab (explanation here) and click <-- Add.
4. On the Misc tab, type in Mission16 in the Audio Package field (no spaces, as this will eventually be part of a filename).

Creating a conversation

1. Click Conversation > Add conversation.
2. For the Conversaion Name field, type MeetSomeGuy.
3. For the Conversation Owner field, type SomeGuy, and add the name to the table if prompted.
4. Click OK.
5. At this point, you can save the conversation file. Save it as DeusEx/MyPackage/Conversation/Mission16.con.

Create a speech event

1. With MeetSomeGuy highlighted, click Event > Add > Speech.
2. In the Actor to Speak dropdown, select SomeGuy.
3. In the Speaking To dropdown, type in JCDenton.
4. Type something for Some Guy to say in the Speech text area.
5. Click Update.
6. Now click Add Event and notice that the actors have swapped places.
7. Type in a smooth response and click Update again.
8. When you're done, click Close.
9. Finally, click Event > Add > End to close the conversation.

Create an import file

Create a new file called ConversationImport.uc inside your DeusEx/MyPackage/Classes folder with this content:

class ConversationImport expands Object abstract;

#exec CONVERSATION IMPORT FILE=Conversations\Mission16.con

Rebuild your package

Rebuild your package and observe that you now have 3 files in the DeusEx/System folder:
- MyPackageAudioMission16.u
- MyPackageText.u
- MyPackage.u

Set up your map for conversations

1. Reopen UnrealEd.
2. Ensure that your map has a DeusExLevelInfo actor in it (found in the Info section in the Actor Class Browser).
3. Enter the properties dialog and expand the DeusExLevelInfo section.
4. In the Conversation Package field, type MyPackage.
5. In the missionNumber field, type 16.

Add a character and try it out

1. Add a character from the Actor > Pawn > ScriptedPawn > HumanCivilian section of the Actor Class Browser.
2. Now expand the Conversation section.
3. In the BindName field, type SomeGuy.
4. In the FamiliarName and UnfamiliarName fields, type Some Guy.
5. If you want, you can also expand the Orders section and change the Orders field from Wandering to Standing.
6. Click `Play Map`` to try it out.

Adding audio to a speech event

ConEdit and Deus Ex are very particular about the names, contents and locations of your audio files.

The file structure looks like this:

• DeusEx
  • MyPackage
    • Audio
      • Mission16
        • PaulDenton
          • MeetPaulDenton
            • Choice01A.mp3
            • Choice01B.mp3
            • PaulDenton01.mp3
            • JCDenton01.mp3
        • InfoLink
          • DL_EnterHallway
            • AlexJacobson01.mp3

1. Under View > Options..., set the Audio Path to C:\DeusEx\MyPackage\Audio.
2. If you want help creating the file structure, click File > Generate Audio Filenames.

3. Record some audio for for the lines and replace the placeholder files.

   Important

   The audio files must be 48kbps 44kHz mono .mp3 files with no silence on either end and no meta tags. Here is a helpful script for Linux users that automates this process.

4. Rebuild your package (remember to delete the existing .u files).

5. Open UnrealEd (you might have to restart it) and click Play Map! to test it.

   Note

   If ConEdit complains about references to nonexisting labels after you moved events around by copying and pasting them, open the event in question and click Update, that should fix it.

   Note

   The Audio File field is completely ignored, so just leave it.

InfoLink conversations

Internally, Deus Ex is a bit confused as to whether they are called "InfoLinks" or "DataLinks", so the two terms are both used in different places.

1. Create a new conversation and make your JCDenton the owner.
2. Name it DL_Test (The DL_ is short for "DataLink", just a convention).

3. Set the Actor To Speak to PaulDenton.

   Note

   If the BindName of the speaker matches a texture in the InfoPortraits texture group, it will show up in-game.

4. Set the Speaking To to JCDenton.

5. Type in something informative in the text area.
6. Assign an audio file, if you like. It should be located at MyPackage/Audio/Mission16/InfoLink/DL_Test/PaulDenton01.mp3.
7. Click Update.
8. Add an End event, click Update again, save the conversation and rebuild.
9. Place a DataLinkTrigger actor in your map (Triggers > Trigger > DataLinkTrigger).
10. In the properties dialog, set DataLinkTrigger > datalinkTag to DL_Test.
11. Right click in the little grey bar above the viewport and select Actors > Radii View.
12. Back in the properties dialog, expand the Collision section and adjust CollisionHeight and CollisionRadius to your liking.
13. Click Play Map! and walk into the collision area of the DataLinkTrigger.

Choice events

Choice events are a list of options for the player to choose from.

Aside from the above little kink, the properties of each choice event more or less speak for themselves.

Trigger events

The Trigger tag field corresponds to the Events > Tag of a Trigger actor in the map. It will be fired when this event comes up during a conversation.

Barks

Barks can be context sensitive, if you name the conversations after a particular scheme. It goes like this:

<BarkBindName, if available, or BindName>_Bark<Context>

So, for instance: PaulDenton_BarkFutz will be played if the player picks up an object with Advanced > bOwned set to True near Paul Denton, and if his Reactions > bReactFutz is set to True.

The available contexts are as follows:

Context	Description
Idle	Just murmuring to themselves
CriticalDamage	Sustained critical damage
AreaSecure	Spotted the player, but lost line of sight quickly
TargetAcquired	Spotted the player running, or maintained line of sight
TargetLost	lost sight of the player
GoingForAlarm	Running for the alarm
OutOfAmmo	Ran out of ammunition
Scanning	Looking for the player
Futz	When the player is causing "futz", i.e. stealing and throwing things
OnFire	On fire
TearGas	Tear gas
Gore	When seeing gore
Surprise	When the player suddenly shows up
PreAttackSearching	Sure the player was sighted, running to find them
PreAttackSighting	About to engage
PostAttackSearching	When the player escaped line of sight
SearchGiveUp	Give up searching for the player
AllianceHostile	When the alliance changes from friendly to hostile
AllianceFriendly	When the alliance changes from hostile to friendly

Execute scripts

There are 2 common approaches to this.

Using a custom trigger

Add a Trigger event to your conversation and set the Trigger tag to the Event > Tag of your custom trigger.

class MyTrigger expands Trigger;

function Trigger(Actor Other, Pawn Instigator)
{
    Super.Trigger(Other, Instigator); // This is optional

    // Do something here
}

Using flags

Add a 'Set flags' event to your conversation and use it in your mission script.

function Timer()
{
    Super.Timer();

    if ( Flags.GetBool('MyFlag') )
    {
        // Do something
    }
}