I tried that, but I didn't manage to make it work. When I try to install, WeiDU says Install Component [UNDEFINED STRING:   @1]? I upload the updated version in case you want to have a look.

And, anticipating my next move even before the current one is completed: Is it possible to use more descriptive names for the string references in setup.tra? I'm thinking about something like @blur_description instead of @2.

Will remove them.

Now that we've made it work, I'm wondering if we can make it a bit more handy. I want to do the same for many spells, and that can make the tp2 file grow a lot and become quite cumbersome. I'm wondering if we can store the improved descriptions in an external file and use references to that external file in the tp2. That would make the mod much easier to handle. Is it possible to do something like that?

Yeeeeha! I have created my first mod! I'm the best!

At least in my computer it works. Would you like to check if it also works in yours?

Thanks, that looks promising. So what would be the full contents of the tp2 file?

Thank you for all the effort you're putting into helping with this.

What is the format of dialogue state names?

Do you mean why for the tutorial the name "v5b.1" was chosen? Basically, inside the d-file it is whatever you want to name it so you can read your dialogue comprehensibly. So, it's any name+number+symbol combination you want to use to keep track of your states and flow of dialogues. Important: no space inside the name. I name the whole dialogue something I can see which dialogue it is, say "first_meeting" for the greetings dialogue. Then the following states that still belong to this dialogue (because you have some chat options with the NPC) would be first_meeting_01, first_meeting_02, etc.

OK, but why use a funny name like v5b.1 when you could use something like first_meeting_01? That "v5b.1" sounds like an important format that he's using for something...
 

you have a script block in his script which sets a variable, let's call it "Global("xxxNPCReactionY","GLOBAL",1)". The engine then searches through the appropriate dlg-file of that NPC top to bottom. And what it expects to find is a dialogue state with the trigger "Global("xxxNPCReactionY","GLOBAL",1)"

Does it mean that every time you change the value of a variable in an NPC script a dialogue state is called?
 

For NPC PID, the "always true" trigger is "IsGabber (Player1)", meaning "it is the HC talking to me!".

What is an "always true" trigger?
 

What kinds of transactions exist?

Basically anything from here.

But you said that transactions come after the CONTINUE button. One of the actions in that page is, for instance, attacking. But attacking cannot come after the Continue button, because after the Continue button there is always another dialogue part, and it's not possible to attack while a dialogue is on. Attacking can only come after the End dialogue button.
 
Back to the tutorial itself, what's the meaning of all the text colours?
 

Rule 1: Every line should start with a tilde (~) and end with a tilde(~).

Not a single line in the dialogue state we've been discussing starts with a tilde.
 

Every line NPC says should start with a SAY.

This is the opposite of what he said in the previous paragraph.
 

If NPC says several lines, all NPC lines after the one starting with SAY should start with an equals sign (=).

And this is the opposite of the two things he said before.

I think that I can guess what he means, but it looks like he's actually saying the opposite of what he means. Which feels quite confusing, especially for beginners.
 

Rule 3: PC replies should look this way: ++ ~Reply~ + NPC_answers_this_line

What is NPC_answers_this_line?
 

Note: if a line only works under a special condition

What does it mean that "a line only works under a special condition"?

I have an awful lot of mod ideas. I have published the list here. As I say in that thread, many of them are not very suitable for a complete beginner, so I would like to start with one of the easiest ones. From the conversation in that thread it looks like some easy ones are:

- Combat log: Say when a character uses a wand or some other magical item.

- Fix Zone of Sweet Air.

- Improve the descriptions of some spells.

Looks like the last one would be the easiest one, I imagine it's just changing a piece of text.

Thank you, @jastey, that was so helpful . Some questions:

What is the format of dialogue state names?

What language is this? I think I read somewhere that IE scripts are based on a funny scripting language developed in a Brazilian university.

this is the conditions for which this state is called

What conditions can be used to call a dialogue state? What is the purpose of calling a dialogue state?

either PC reply options or other so called "transactions", i.e. actions that will be performed after the NPC line when the player clikcs on "CONTINUE".

What kinds of transactions exist?

I want to use these tutorials to learn the very basics of IE modding, but I'm getting overwhelmed with so many tutorials. Which of these would be recommended for beginners?

I've noticed that many links are broken. Some examples of broken links are the ones to Gibberlings 3, igi's DLTCEP setup tutorial, IE modding 101, Adding a trigger to an existing map via WeiDU, and Explaining Creature Patching by .tp2: An introduction.

I'm trying to use the tutorials in this site to learn the very basics of IE modding. Can you explain what the example talk is about? Is it a file you create as a base for the actual mod or is it something else? What are those funny letters and numbers in parenthesis (to v5b.1)?

Hi, I'm trying to use this tutorial to learn the very basics of IE modding. My question is: How do I create the custom itm file for this tutorial?