# Tips, Tricks, and Newb Questions!

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [January 3, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42 "2013-01-03T03:04:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 529

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 5:00am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10562 "2015-10-02T05:00:35Z")

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Also looking into whether the .json talk files can check for traits, instead of just wearing items.

EDIT: Fuck. Nope, error’d.

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**Author:** ![Noctifer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/noctifer/32/458_2.png) [@Noctifer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Noctifer)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10563 "2015-10-02T05:03:06Z")

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Talk files can check for items? Like if statements?

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**Author:** ![DG123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@DG123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DG123)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10564 "2015-10-02T11:19:15Z")

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Is there by any chance a list of the extra vehicle items from the various mods that explains fully what they do?

Shock absorbers, the differences between military harnesses and standard seatbelts, airbags, etc.

… And of course the many weird “growing blob” items. There is no real clue to what they do on the crafting menu.

Also, I noticed something odd.

The mountable splintergun. Why does it use batteries as ammo when it’s presumably powered by the vehicle? Also, batteries as ammo means it’s not actually shooting bits of metal out, unless it’s actually physically turning batteries into flechettes.

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**Author:** ![Litppunk](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/litppunk/32/409_2.png) [@Litppunk](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Litppunk)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10565 "2015-10-02T13:23:22Z")

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> [@Noctifer](#):
>
> Talk files can check for items? Like if statements?

I think he is referring to the (L)ook at, and (S)tats things.

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**Author:** ![Noctifer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/noctifer/32/458_2.png) [@Noctifer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Noctifer)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10566 "2015-10-02T15:06:26Z")

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Oh, well that still works I guess.

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10567 "2015-10-02T15:09:43Z")

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Derp. No, look at the talk file for the arsonist for example. \>\_\>

The opening line for most of the refugee NPCs has a dynamic line set to check whether the player is wearing a deputy badge, which changes their response.

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**Author:** ![Noctifer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/noctifer/32/458_2.png) [@Noctifer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Noctifer)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10568 "2015-10-02T15:11:47Z")

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Check for badges huh…that works,

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10569 "2015-10-02T15:20:32Z")

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You can presumably make conversations that check for other items worn too.

The source code has additional NPC dialogue, and a few uses of dynamic lines checking for trait/mutation instead of a worn item. Sadly, it seems importing this to an NPC talk file in .json format doesn’t work.

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**Author:** ![Noctifer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/noctifer/32/458_2.png) [@Noctifer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Noctifer)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10570 "2015-10-02T15:24:28Z")

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Checking for worn items is all I need really, Just need to create the npc and make its dialogue check for a made up item.

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10571 "2015-10-02T15:31:46Z")

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Ah, that’s good then.

I do wish the “check for trait” option was JSONized though, I would have uses for it.

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**Author:** ![Noctifer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/noctifer/32/458_2.png) [@Noctifer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Noctifer)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10572 "2015-10-02T16:29:18Z")

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How do you made an NPC spawn in a specific location?

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**Author:** ![Hazerithious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@Hazerithious](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Hazerithious)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10573 "2015-10-02T18:22:45Z")

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Is there any way to import artifacts from one world to another?

EDIT: Nevermind, i figured it out.

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**Author:** ![DG123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@DG123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DG123)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10574 "2015-10-02T20:38:09Z")

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Is it just me…

Or are explosive crossbow bolts not what they should be like?

I was expecting small focused explosions causing huge damage. Instead you get a GIGANTIC FIREBALL covering a significant portion of the visible screen, and doesn’t do much damage to anything from what I saw.

I hope grenade launcher rounds don’t do this too. It seems silly.

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**Author:** ![Arek\_PL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Arek\_PL](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Arek_PL)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10575 "2015-10-02T21:00:36Z")

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explosion do not work like they did now, but fragmentation should still work

by the way, when animations (bullets and shrapnell flying, car moving, pc flying after hulk punch) only animations i see is rain, snow, explosions and combat text

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10576 "2015-10-02T21:03:50Z")

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Odd. I recently added a PR that implemented smaller explosion effects, and assigned various ammo to use them. So explosive crossbow bolts should have less kaboom than, say, 40mm conc rounds.

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**Author:** ![DG123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@DG123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DG123)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10577 "2015-10-02T22:09:26Z")

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Well my experimental won’t be the absolute latest version. Should be recent though.  
Let’s see… 13th of September. Not quite as recent as I thought.

Could you let me know if I need to update and whether that’s safe for my save files?

At the moment if I accidentally load the repeater crossbow with the wrong ammo and fire a 3 round burst, basically it blows up half of the screen.

… And fails to kill anything usually. I can’t really understand how the explosive effect works in terms of damage. Even I don’t get badly hurt.

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10578 "2015-10-02T22:13:20Z")

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Let’s see, that PR was merged on…september 29. As for porting the save over, just give it a try and keep the old version+save on hand before determining if it’ll work.

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**Author:** ![DG123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@DG123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DG123)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10579 "2015-10-02T22:14:10Z")

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Any other notable changes I should be aware of before porting over?

Also, I just copy the save folder and settings folders across into the new install, right? It’s been a while since I did it.

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**Author:** ![Random\_dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4da419/32.png) [@Random\_dragon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Random_dragon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10580 "2015-10-02T22:18:49Z")

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Copy the save, yeah. I’ve never tried copying settings though, so…

Other changes include a large number of source tweaks/fixes thanks to BevapDin, Chezzo fixed his tileset’s stairs, John Candlebury re-added the fancy gun stores, a fix to flintlock guns, and an update to Arcana mod.

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**Author:** ![DG123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@DG123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DG123)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/10581 "2015-10-02T22:23:01Z")

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Looks like the graphics in the default tileset changed a bit. Bluer windows I think.

Anyway it’s running and my tank is still there. It’s a start.

Anything nice in the Arcana mod that got added? I only have the offering chalice and athame so far and the stupid thing is I found both of them on survivor zombies rather than crafting them.

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