Failing quest node

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szczepan
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu May 11, 2023 1:12 pm

Failing quest node

Post by szczepan »

Quest node has 3 states inactive active and true, so it seems there's no option to complete a node unsuccessfully. I'm wondering what's the best way to fail a node - e.g. when I have two branches and player gets to a decision point in one branch, I'd like the whole other branch to fail regardless of the progress on that branch. Is this doable this way or should I rather split those branches into separate quests with failure node with condition on the other quest?

Also what's the best approach to for circular relation between nodes? e.g. player needs to pick an item and bring it back to quest giver - if on their way back, player loses the item, quest should go back to previous node. Is there a better way to achieve this than adding a node to watch inventory and when its state goes to true, set each relevant node to inactive
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Tony Li
Posts: 22118
Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Failing quest node

Post by Tony Li »

Hi,
szczepan wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:00 amQuest node has 3 states inactive active and true, so it seems there's no option to complete a node unsuccessfully. I'm wondering what's the best way to fail a node - e.g. when I have two branches and player gets to a decision point in one branch, I'd like the whole other branch to fail regardless of the progress on that branch. Is this doable this way or should I rather split those branches into separate quests with failure node with condition on the other quest?
If you want to fail the entire quest if a node fails, link the node to a Failure node, similar to your screenshot.

If you just want to mark that node as failed but allow the quest to continue, link it to a passthrough node that indicates that the branch has failed. As soon as the node's (failure) conditions become true, the node will become true and it will make the child passthrough node active. The passthrough node will then immediately set itself true.
szczepan wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:00 amAlso what's the best approach to for circular relation between nodes? e.g. player needs to pick an item and bring it back to quest giver - if on their way back, player loses the item, quest should go back to previous node. Is there a better way to achieve this than adding a node to watch inventory and when its state goes to true, set each relevant node to inactive
That's the correct way. See: How To: Revert Quest Node States If Conditions Are No Longer True
szczepan
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu May 11, 2023 1:12 pm

Re: Failing quest node

Post by szczepan »

Tony Li wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:31 am Hi,
szczepan wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:00 amQuest node has 3 states inactive active and true, so it seems there's no option to complete a node unsuccessfully. I'm wondering what's the best way to fail a node - e.g. when I have two branches and player gets to a decision point in one branch, I'd like the whole other branch to fail regardless of the progress on that branch. Is this doable this way or should I rather split those branches into separate quests with failure node with condition on the other quest?
If you want to fail the entire quest if a node fails, link the node to a Failure node, similar to your screenshot.

If you just want to mark that node as failed but allow the quest to continue, link it to a passthrough node that indicates that the branch has failed. As soon as the node's (failure) conditions become true, the node will become true and it will make the child passthrough node active. The passthrough node will then immediately set itself true.
I attached another picture to better demonstrate my case. There are two paths in my quest with a decision point being player teaming up with either Jane or Joe. Both option require some prerequisites either specific to a path or common to both. Once the player makes a choice all remaining prerequisites should "fail" as well as an option to team up with the other NPC. Then player needs to complete a few more steps specific to chosen path and finally both paths join at the end.
Zrzut ekranu 2023-07-21 011230.png
Zrzut ekranu 2023-07-21 011230.png (68.76 KiB) Viewed 727 times
Tony Li wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:31 am
szczepan wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:00 amAlso what's the best approach to for circular relation between nodes? e.g. player needs to pick an item and bring it back to quest giver - if on their way back, player loses the item, quest should go back to previous node. Is there a better way to achieve this than adding a node to watch inventory and when its state goes to true, set each relevant node to inactive
That's the correct way. See: How To: Revert Quest Node States If Conditions Are No Longer True
Thanks that's exactly what I was looking for
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Tony Li
Posts: 22118
Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Failing quest node

Post by Tony Li »

Hi,

For the Joe/Jane scenario, you'll need to use Set Quest Node State quest actions in the Meet Joe and Meet Jane nodes to set the other branch's nodes to inactive.
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