Removing Helper.NotUsable from a skill.

[EightBitz]

I'm trying to create a custom magic item that allows a character to have Rogue-like abilities. I'm having an issue with not being able to delete the Helper.NotUsable tag from Disable Device (skDisable). I'm not sure if the tag can't be deleted, if it's a timing issue, or if I'm doing something else wrong.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<document signature="Hero Lab Data">
  <thing id="ioRobeRog" name="Robe of the Rogue" description="This dark blue hooded cloak grants its wearer 1/2 his/her levels of bonus points in stealth, perception and disable device checks rounded up. It also enables its wearer to find traps and disable devices as if he/she were a rouge of the same level." compset="Wondrous">
    <usesource source="srcJimEqp" parent="srcJimHR" name="Equipment"/>
    <tag group="Helper" tag="ShowSpec"/>
    <tag group="Helper" tag="EquipAvail"/>
    <tag group="gType" tag="Wonder"/>
    <tag group="Hero" tag="EqpBody"/>
    <tag group="Helper" tag="EquipMag"/>
    <tag group="Helper" tag="NoPathSoc"/>
    <eval phase="PostLevel" priority="9000"><![CDATA[
    	if (field[gUserEquip].value = 1) then
	      var level as number
	      var halflevel as number
	      var thirdlevel as number
	      var trapsense as number
	      var text as string

	      level = herofield[tLevel].value
	      halflevel = herofield[tLevel].value / 2
	      halflevel = round(halflevel,0,0)
	      thirdlevel = herofield[tLevel].value / 3
	      thirdlevel = round(thirdlevel,0,-1)
				
              perform hero.child[skDisable].delete[Helper.NotUsable]
	      hero.child[skDisable].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      hero.child[skPercep].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      hero.child[skStealth].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      
	      text = "+" & halflevel & " to disable traps."
	      #situational[hero.childfound[skDisable],text,field[thingname].text]

	      text = "+" & halflevel & " to find traps."
	      #situational[hero.childfound[skPercep],text,field[thingname].text]
	      
	      if (level >= 3) then
	         trapsense = thirdlevel
	         text = "+" & halflevel & " to reflex saves vs. traps."
	         #situational[hero.childfound[svRef],text,field[thingname].text]

	         text = "+" & halflevel & " to dodge traps."
	         #situational[hero.childfound[ArmorClass],text,field[thingname].text]
	         endif
	      endif
      ]]></eval>
    </thing>
  </document>

 

[ShadowChemosh]

perform hero.child[skDisable].delete[Helper.NotUsable]

It has to be a timing issue because pretty much all tags can be deleted from a Pick.

I would make a 2nd script on the magic that has ONLY the above code. I would move it to Final/999999999 timing to see if the tag gets removed. If so then I work backwards in timing to see why it no longer gets deleted.

You could also add some debug logic to check:

   	if (field[gUserEquip].value = 1) then
	      var level as number
	      var halflevel as number
	      var thirdlevel as number
	      var trapsense as number
	      var text as string

	      level = herofield[tLevel].value
	      halflevel = herofield[tLevel].value / 2
	      halflevel = round(halflevel,0,0)
	      thirdlevel = herofield[tLevel].value / 3
	      thirdlevel = round(thirdlevel,0,-1)
[B]debug "tag before: " & hero.child[skDisable].tagis[Helper.NotUsable]
              perform hero.child[skDisable].delete[Helper.NotUsable]
debug "tag after: " & hero.child[skDisable].tagis[Helper.NotUsable][/B]
	      hero.child[skDisable].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      hero.child[skPercep].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      hero.child[skStealth].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      
	      text = "+" & halflevel & " to disable traps."
	      #situational[hero.childfound[skDisable],text,field[thingname].text]

	      text = "+" & halflevel & " to find traps."
	      #situational[hero.childfound[skPercep],text,field[thingname].text]
	      
	      if (level >= 3) then
	         trapsense = thirdlevel
	         text = "+" & halflevel & " to reflex saves vs. traps."
	         #situational[hero.childfound[svRef],text,field[thingname].text]

	         text = "+" & halflevel & " to dodge traps."
	         #situational[hero.childfound[ArmorClass],text,field[thingname].text]
	         endif
	      endif

Just a bit of helpful advice:

text = "+" & halflevel & " to disable traps."
text = "+" & halflevel & " to find traps."

The above is better using signed() function just the correct sign is always used:

text = signed(halflevel) & " to disable traps."
text = signed(halflevel) & " to find traps."

 

[EightBitz]

It has to be a timing issue because pretty much all tags can be deleted from a Pick.

I would make a 2nd script on the magic that has ONLY the above code. I would move it to Final/999999999 timing to see if the tag gets removed. If so then I work backwards in timing to see why it no longer gets deleted.

You could also add some debug logic to check:

   	if (field[gUserEquip].value = 1) then
	      var level as number
	      var halflevel as number
	      var thirdlevel as number
	      var trapsense as number
	      var text as string

	      level = herofield[tLevel].value
	      halflevel = herofield[tLevel].value / 2
	      halflevel = round(halflevel,0,0)
	      thirdlevel = herofield[tLevel].value / 3
	      thirdlevel = round(thirdlevel,0,-1)
[B]debug "tag before: " & hero.child[skDisable].tagis[Helper.NotUsable]
              perform hero.child[skDisable].delete[Helper.NotUsable]
debug "tag after: " & hero.child[skDisable].tagis[Helper.NotUsable][/B]
	      hero.child[skDisable].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      hero.child[skPercep].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      hero.child[skStealth].field[Bonus].value += halflevel
	      
	      text = "+" & halflevel & " to disable traps."
	      #situational[hero.childfound[skDisable],text,field[thingname].text]

	      text = "+" & halflevel & " to find traps."
	      #situational[hero.childfound[skPercep],text,field[thingname].text]
	      
	      if (level >= 3) then
	         trapsense = thirdlevel
	         text = "+" & halflevel & " to reflex saves vs. traps."
	         #situational[hero.childfound[svRef],text,field[thingname].text]

	         text = "+" & halflevel & " to dodge traps."
	         #situational[hero.childfound[ArmorClass],text,field[thingname].text]
	         endif
	      endif

Just a bit of helpful advice:

text = "+" & halflevel & " to disable traps."
text = "+" & halflevel & " to find traps."

The above is better using signed() function just the correct sign is always used:

text = signed(halflevel) & " to disable traps."
text = signed(halflevel) & " to find traps."

Thanks. And thanks for the tip about text=signed...

Timing is still something I don't quite understand. I know there are phases that are executed in a certain order, and I know there's a preferred priority for each phase.

Where I start to get confused is when the priority doesn't match the preferred priority of the phase.

Like, what happens if you have a phase of Final with a priority of 500? Or if you have a phase of PreLevel with a priority of 10000?

I'm going to search my files for the phase text to get an idea of the preferred priority for each phase, and I think I'm going to print that out and pin it to my wall ... unless this is already documented somewhere?

 

[EightBitz]

A lot of phases have a value of 10000 for a lot of tasks. When I set the tag removal to final @10000, it works. When I step back to PostAttr @10000, it doesn't work. It seems reasonable to leave it at final @10000.

 

[ShadowChemosh]

Phase and Priority both work to get to a very fine control of "when" something executes. Guess this is easier to understand if you have done "batch" processing in computers.

Lets see if I can explain this easily. So the Phase is the wording of Final, First, Post-Attributes. This execute in the order you see displayed in the drop down list.

1) First
2) Pre-Levels
3) Levels
4) Post-Levels
5) Pre-Attributes
6) Attributes
7) Post-Attributes
8) Final Phase

Based on the above we can see something running in Pre-Levels runs BEFORE a script setup as Pre-Attributes.

Then "Priority" allows you to get into detail control within a specific Phase. In example we have two scripts in "Pre-Levels" and we want Script A to run before Script B. We can assign Script A to run at Priority 1,000 and Script B to run at Priority 10,000. Now we know that Script A runs first and Script B second.

If you have two scripts running at exactly the same Phase/Priority (ie Pre-Attributes/10000) then HL randomly selects ONE script to run before the other. But because its random it can switch around each time you make a change in HL.

P.S. - You can have HL help enforce scripts running before/after each other by using the "Timing" button in the eval script window. This allows you to set a "name" to the script and control if it runs after/before another script. This is more advanced but very helpful feature.

 

[EightBitz]

Phase and Priority both work to get to a very fine control of "when" something executes. Guess this is easier to understand if you have done "batch" processing in computers.

Lets see if I can explain this easily. So the Phase is the wording of Final, First, Post-Attributes. This execute in the order you see displayed in the drop down list.

1) First
2) Pre-Levels
3) Levels
4) Post-Levels
5) Pre-Attributes
6) Attributes
7) Post-Attributes
8) Final Phase

Based on the above we can see something running in Pre-Levels runs BEFORE a script setup as Pre-Attributes.

Then "Priority" allows you to get into detail control within a specific Phase. In example we have two scripts in "Pre-Levels" and we want Script A to run before Script B. We can assign Script A to run at Priority 1,000 and Script B to run at Priority 10,000. Now we know that Script A runs first and Script B second.

If you have two scripts running at exactly the same Phase/Timing (ie Pre-Attributes/10000) then HL randomly selects ONE script to run before the other. But because its random it can switch around each time you make a change in HL.

P.S. - You can have HL help enforce scripts running before/after each other by using the "Timing" button in the eval script window. This allows you to set a "name" to the script and control if it runs after/before another script. This is more advanced by very helpful feature.

Ah, OK. I didn't realize that the priority was contained within the phase. I thought that was a global priority. Not sure why I thought that, because having it within the phase makes a lot more sense.