Way of seeing where each item is being used?

[Chronoboy]

Is there currently a way to see where an item is referenced in the game, such a rewards, and text boxes? Being able to cross reference this would be great, as sometimes keeping track of where I place specific items can get cumbersome. Having this built in would be great!

Oh that note, being able to cross reference TextBoxes and see which NPCs are using them would also be nice. This way I can see where each chest is and how many references I have of it.

[Bob the Hamster]

I would love to do cross-references like that, but it is a fairly complicated task.

[FnrrfYgmSchnish]

Custom already does something like this for scripts, doesn't it?

Items seem like they'd be more complicated (you'd have to check several things on enemies and shop stuff lists, in addition to NPCs and textboxes) but the basic outline for a "check where this thing is used and then give you a list" feature should pretty much already be there... or at least I would guess it would, I don't know what the programming actually looks like or how it really works.

[TMC]

Yes you are right that the script cross-referencing is more complicated since scripts are referenced from lots of places. NPCs aren't, but items are: textboxes, NPCs, shops, hero default weapon and learn-from-item, attacks, enemies, at least. Also there's little hope of sharing any code between the script stuff and these cases, though looking at the existing code and imitating/copy+pasting+modifying it would save a little time.

[Spoonweaver]

I normally map things like this out on paper while I'm doing them.

Despite all the programs and gadgets available on the computer and in the engine, it's amazing how useful a pad of paper and a pencil can be while game developing.

After all, no matter how well thought out this system is, you never know what you'll want to keep track of in your personal game.

[Pepsi Ranger]

Maybe I'm missing the point of this thread, but would it be so hard to index the placement of things?

I could see this improving the accessibility of map design if we had markers for specific objects and the attachment of the coordinates to those markers once they're set. If every element in CUSTOM came with labels (I'm thinking specifically NPC IDs at the moment) that default as blanks but can be labeled as "Guard #1" or "Potion Crate #1," then the engine can track where those NPCs (or other defined markers) are placed and write them to a slice that opens with a function key and displays the active list (alphabetized for the user's convenience) of placed objects. Maybe by selecting them on the index, we can "jump to" the marker or NPC (or zone or whatever). I'm not sure how this would be any more complicated than creating a new menu item for maps. But I may be misreading how this feature is supposed to work.

[Chronoboy]

I ended up going through all my textboxes to locate all the so-called "item catches", I made notes of which textboxes had which item catch.

Then I went through my items list(which I wish I could export into a text file like how tags are exported for plotscript, anyways...), I marked which items had a possible item catch in the game so far from the textboxes.

Then I went into my various maps where I know for sure there are chests and looked at the NPC list and marked my list of which maps had the item catches. A lot of work so far, but there's more...

Then of course I needed to take into account which shops sell the items, and made notes of that too in my list.

Finally, I went through all my enemies and made notes of their rewards in my item list.

I was finally left with a short list of items which are currently not accessible to the player, I made them, built logic into them, tested them using a special "debug shop" I made for development, but in the end, the player who plays the game won't even be-able to use the items.

I know this sounds like an odd way of developing, but when I get an idea for a new item, I'm not exactly sure where I want to place in my world yet. I try to focus on building the story arc over placing items. As the story progresses and I test more, I eventually find out where each of these items should placed in the game world.

Just being able to run a Query to see which items are not being used would be nice, although since my debug shop sells the item, it may not be effective in my situation.

Does anyone else create things like a hidden debug shop or hidden menus in the game for the sole purpose of making the playtesting much quicker? I am sure some people would just give themselves a billion gold and call it a day, and just buy the items in the shops. I tend to build a somewhat advanced debug menu into most of my games. This menu lets me do things like instantly use door 0 as a quick way of exiting an area while testing, and I usually add a special debug shop which gives me all the quest items and other rare items free of charge for playtesting. I am the world's creator, why should I pay a single piece of gold for items I forged with my own hands! I AM GOD GODDAMMIT! Bow down before me you worthless merchant NPCs, mwahahahaha!!!