Edit: It appears there may have been a miscommunication and scripts written within the editor should work in the GM mode. Character and item scripts should also work fine. So apologies if I made a big deal out of a non-issue, but it was a bit confusing what I was hearing from Larian. To clarify, I don't expect to be able to script within the GM mode itself, but to make scripts in the editor that work within GM mode, and it appears that should work.
I posted something like this on the steam forums, but wanted to start a discussion here. From what I've gathered from various comments by Swen and others at Larian, there will be absolutely no scripting in GM mode, not even simple things like in-level transition points like a ladder to a basement.
If this is true, this is a huge disappointment. Scripting opens up so many things, from cool scenes, to atmospheric things like a day/night cycle, to fundamental gameplay changes that would be difficult, extremely tedious, or outright impossible for the GM to replicate manually.
It is unclear if this scripting block includes character scripts as well. If it does, that means my bard class or any other scripted custom skills won't work. At the very least, character scripts should be usable.
The argument I hear is basically "The GM should always be in control, and scripts take away control from the GM." My answers:
1. That's poor scripting for a GM campaign. The scripter should always give the GM either the ability to interrupt the script, or choose when to enable it. For example, say you script a scene of a lone wolf standing in the road spotting you, then running back to his other wolves, who then charge you collectively and take up various positions around you.
The scripter should give the GM some kind of object in their inventory they could activate to trigger the wolf assault. A GM would not be able to have a group of wolves collectively charge and take up positions in a simultaneous way, since I think the GM can only control one NPC at once. It's just not going to have the cool factor.
This way, the GM always has this cool event in his pocket to throw out. But if the players succeed in calming the wolf and befriending it, or some other solution, the GM doesn't have to make the wolves attack. There is plenty of room for scripting epic boss fights and the like which are just not going to have the same smoothness or atmosphere if the GM manually does every thing.
2. There is plenty of room for automating things for GMs. Being a GM takes a lot of multi-tasking, and if you have certain things that are automated (say, a ladder transition to a one-room basement), that can help a lot. Again, proper scripting will let the GM keep control. And as above, something like managing a day-night cycle as a GM would probably be possible as a GM, but very tedious. And again, a good scripter would give the GM a way to pause the cycle, slow down transition time, etc.
3. "If the GM has scripted events, he'll want to push the players towards these things." True, but that has been the case since day 1 of tabletop. You prepare an awesome story with cool quests and stuff, and the players want to do something completely different. It is up to the group to find a common ground in not pissing off their GM too much with random shenanigans, and the GM adapting to player decisions.
Now, maybe there is some technical limitations to adding scripting to a GM mode. I can't imagine exactly why, since it's the same engine and everything, but this seems like it would be a valuable use of time to enable it if there's technical barriers.
However, it seems to me that it was a purposeful decision to disable scripting. I can understand the argument, and I can imagine that through testing Larian found that scripts could sometimes get in the way. But I think GMs and designers can learn to adapt to using scripts. The default and most common option will surely be a scriptless game. But the key is choice.
It really seems like a shortsighted view of GM mode to nix all scripting. Give players and GMs the option instead of imposing massive limitations. The whole point of this kind of integration of a video game and a game master mode is there's a balance of automation, visual representation, and adaptability. You don't want this to be another SCL, where people discover huge roadblocks to designing campaigns they want right away. You want people to be impressed by the plethora of options for designing a campaign, rather than disappointed by limitations.
Hope you consider my arguments, Larianites. If this is a post-release change, that's fine. Thanks for reading.
Last edited by Baardvark; 27/06/17 07:51 PM.
