Learning to Talk
By m.gaines@xpedite.com

It seems as if the BOBs are not very literate. All they know is
"They're Everywhere" and "Thank God It's You!". It's possible to add some
intelligence to the BOBs without hacking at any code.
In the Sounds file is a list of 'snd ' resources that encompasses
all the sounds used in the game. How it's set up is there's a 'base' ID
which ends in a '0' and several similar sounds sequentially numbered. FOr
example, there is a base sound (3020) for the Alien when it awakens, but
there are two other sounds (3021 and 3022) that the Alien makes randomly
(or more factully...at a random time when it does something like run into
an enemy or change direction when running). BOB sounds start at 1410, but
there's nothing until 1415. I plopped some sounds in resource IDs 1411-1414
and sure enough I had BOB chattering other things while he was running
around.
By using SoundEdit Pro to do the editing, I was able to discern
that you HAVE to set the sound at 22K and it HAS to be a 'Standard' sound.
It can't be a Hypercard Sound. Those won't play. I haven't played with
other character's sounds yet, but the BOB sounds were most important to me.
It seems like you might be able to extend the dialogs of all the characters
in the game this way.
For those of you using the Physics Editor, I was in contact with
the author Mike Hanson and we came to the conclusion that the 'Random Sound
Mask' flag is a random number that is checked against when a character
either hits another character or changes direction. By setting this number
lower, BOB can be more of a conversationalist. I'd be cautious against
using this because you need to give time for the sound to play out and BOB
can be a busy character. Any questions? Send them to m.gaines@xpedite.com
or starman@intac.com

-Mike Gaines