Question: Dabus' rebuses

Basically, the logic behind both is quite the same (or at least close). It's only that linguistics is peppered with knowledge about languages, that is, you have some knowledge resources you can use to solve the language puzzles

If I may ask, what is the specific CRPG your involved in? I can see the game is Neverwinter Nights, but what of your group? Are you affiliated with the City of Doors Initiative and/or the Confederation of Planes and Planets?

It seems to me that making the rebus an actual word puzzle is a bit to metagamey for me. I mean, either my PC is smart enough to understand or he isn't. Allowing the player to try to solve the rebus just bypasses the whole Role Play experience of the character.

That said, I think the character should have multiple options for communicating with a dabus. Intelligence or Lore check, or maybe someone can teach the PC the language or that lazy mimir there can translate.

While the word puzzle rebus is a very creative idea it just ruins the whole role play feeling that makes games like PST so immersive.

-420

Not sure if you're familiar with the CRPG Torment, but in that game the rebuses appear translated only, unless the protagonist or the other PC's lack the intelligence to translate it. While I think that visualizing dabus conversations seems like a nifty feature, I also think that the average player would disregard it to simply move on with the game. Also, it's no doubt a hassle for you as the game/ module creator.

I understand what you mean about the conversation nodes, but there is a work-around to allow the players to solve the puzzle without conversation (and thus not get the multiple-choice options!)

If you use a listener script on the Dabus, you can check for a player to use the conversation bar to "speak" the answer. So, if the answer was pie, your listener would be waiting for a player to enter that string into his conversation bar and hit enter. Upon doing so, the Dabus would start up a new conversation, or the same one with an applied variable. (option 2 would halt the conversation rather than end it, which might be easier)

I'm making a set of NWN modules and I was looking for a good way to do cutscene subtitles with images. It seems that your visual effect approach here could work if I used a strategically placed invisible NPC and had the caption image hover over them like your rubus does here. Can you tell me what you had to do to make the rebus image appear? Thanks!