How can I make clientside findareanpcs work reliably?

[Tyhm]

(I had posted all this, then it fixed itself for a bit, now it's broken again.)

Problem: See picture. The player's weapon:

PHP Code:

     if(player.chat=="") player.chat = (area_npcs.size() SPC "npcs in area (" @ temp.lowestx @ ", " @ temp.lowesty  @ ", " @ temp.highestx  @ ", " @ temp.highesty @")"); 


And the NPCs have a fairly predictable "message your location and timevar";
the trouble is they keep updating the message - even with the timevar - serverside and clientside, no problem - but after they've been idling against a wall for long enough (hard to pin down exactly how long it needs to be; could be a few minutes, could be until a player re-enters the map, could be until a player re-logs, whatever) they Fall Off the findareanpcs results table.

Until the player makes them move. Then they're back in the detection area.

So do I just have to make the zombies move around every so often? :-P

[Tyhm]

Patch:
message("Idle2 v<r "@1+tt@" ("@tx@", "@ty@")"SPC timevar);
x=int(x-1+random(0,2));
y=int(y-1+random(0,2));

Horrible, but it works. I'm open to better suggestions...

[xXziroXx]

Maybe you have sleepwhennoplayers set to true in serveroptions?

[Tyhm]

Hmm, nope, don't see that in there. Would that do that though?

Mostly it just bugs me that movement, or the lack thereof, would cause findareanpcs to screw up...it's like, server, the NPC's either in the area or it isn't, whether or not the NPC's moving shouldn't affect things...

[cbk1994]

Are they still in the 'npcs' array?

[Tyhm]

Maybe; is there a findnpcs (findallnpcs, findlevelnpcs, findgmapnpcs) command hidden somewhere? ;-D

[xXziroXx]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

Maybe; is there a findnpcs (findallnpcs, findlevelnpcs, findgmapnpcs) command hidden somewhere? ;-D

Just as Chris said, the npcs array.

[Tyhm]

Thank you captain smarmypants, that's the same as an answer. I suppose then that I could say with(npcs) or for (npc:npcs) and it's a protected variable which always contains an array of all NPCs on the server in perpetuity? Or should I be doing an old fashioned for(temp.i=0;temp.i<npcscount;temp.i++) if(npcs[i].x... ?

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

Thank you captain smarmypants, that's the same as an answer. I suppose then that I could say with(npcs) or for (npc:npcs) and it's a protected variable which always contains an array of all NPCs on the server in perpetuity? Or should I be doing an old fashioned for(temp.i=0;temp.i<npcscount;temp.i++) if(npcs[i].x... ?

'npcs' is an array of all the NPCs in your current level. Similar to the 'players' array.

PHP Code:

for (temp.npc : npcs) {
  echo("I found an NPC at (" @ npc.x @ "," SPC npc.y @ ") with an image of" SPC npc.image @ "!");
  npc.trigger("Poke", player.account);
  npc.var = "foo";
} 


[Tyhm]

Well shoot, I wish I'd known that a month ago, I coulda saved a lot of headache; I already run a specific scan on the NPCs in the area to make sure they're lined up with the player, above and beyond the findareanpcs' check to make sure they're in the right general box...

Works a bloody treat. Still ain't thrilled that findareanpcs is unreliable...but I'll live.

[xXziroXx]

Originally Posted by Tyhm

findareanpcs is unreliable

It really shouldn't be, I use it for quite a lot and it hasn't failed me a single time...

[salesman]

Yea, I'm using it on a rather large scale and it's working perfectly...

[xXziroXx]

I just remembered reading this a while back, might be of help.

Originally Posted by Stefan

If the npc is inactive or doesn't have a script, remember to wake it up when you add or modify data: a simple trigger("update", "") or similar will solve the problem.

Inactive npcs are not saved. It's the same problem when changing x or y of an inactive npc, you need to activate the npc so that the modifications are sent to the players.

[Tyhm]

Ahh. Good to know, thanks. I'm using the npc array and it's working swimmingly...which is good, because it'd be rather difficult to update an npc that wasn't saved anywhere at all ever...:-P