i was stumbling around with a bit of the dialogue today, and came to (what i think) is a fairly decent idea that only really works with text games: i'm not going to put words into the players' mouth. as much as possible of the dialogue that originates from the player is going to be described by the content, rather than directly quoted. in the end, i want this game to present an experience that is both unique and consistent for everyone that plays it. if you create a character and say, "ok, so i want him to be a dashing, swashbuckling ladies man, who also has a three foot horse penis" and i write a bit of dialogue that has him giggling out poop jokes at the tavern or whatever, it breaks the sense of involvement just as much as if you have, say, a sexual encounter that doesn't acknowledge that he has a three foot horse penis.
granted, this isn't going to be an absolute rule - any sort of clever wordplay naturally requires specific words to be used to come across, and a few extremely specific situations where there aren't really a whole lot of ways to convey intent without specific words. i'm specifically speaking of the half-elf you find bathing in a river when i say this. you can choose to approach her loudly, shyly, or just try peeping on her, and depending on what you do (and if she finds you attractive) she can end up getting angry at you, shyly pulling her shirt on, or giving you an eyeful of elf tits. flirty banter doesn't really work without banter from both sides, but whenever possible, i want to try and make dialogue open so that the player can 'customize' what their character says, rather than being railroaded into making whatever dumb statement i end up writing.
the elf is basically finished. i've been kind of exhausted after getting home from work this week, usually not ending up with more than 2-4 hours of free time (which sometimes gets eaten up by things like family, friends, SO, or electronic opiates designed to stave off stress-induced insanity), which only makes me feel even dumber for agreeing to come in and work tomorrow. still, i'm looking to get a lot of overtime hours this week, so i can't complain about that.
3/29/2012
3/26/2012
poll
so, here's a quick poll for all those who still read the blog:
there's an elf chick you can find bathing in a river. if you don't have a particular fondness for women (eg, you created a gay man or a straight woman), should you still be able to get off to masturbating to her? the option is there regardless (things like that are how i'm going to manage how your preferences change throughout the game), but the end result is what i'm questioning.
there's an elf chick you can find bathing in a river. if you don't have a particular fondness for women (eg, you created a gay man or a straight woman), should you still be able to get off to masturbating to her? the option is there regardless (things like that are how i'm going to manage how your preferences change throughout the game), but the end result is what i'm questioning.
3/22/2012
progress
not much done today. tomorrow is a day off, most of saturday should be free (a funeral in the morning and thats it), sunday is free.
3/20/2012
ugh
8 hours of sleep
12 hours at work
2 hours making dinner & getting groceries
2 hours of free time
admittedly, didn't work on the game a whole lot. spent some downtime at work sketching out conversation lines, which helped a bit, at least.
12 hours at work
2 hours making dinner & getting groceries
2 hours of free time
admittedly, didn't work on the game a whole lot. spent some downtime at work sketching out conversation lines, which helped a bit, at least.
3/19/2012
Codex: Highborn
In-game description: Fat and jolly, any Highborn is capable of reciting their family history for a hundred or more generations, and will gladly inflict this on anyone foolish enough to come even close to asking. Though somewhat ridiculous in appearance and manner, they are surprisingly strong in spite of their girth and incredibly intelligent. Their avarice and ambition knows no bounds. It is speculated that pigs are thought of as greedy by their relation to the Highborn, rather than anything else.
Average male height: 5'7" (~170cm)
Average male weight: 216 lbs (~98 kg)
Notable traits: Highborn are relatively non-diverse genetically, with eyes varying between degrees of red and blue, and both their skin and hair take very light shades. Their most identifiable trait is their somewhat piglike snouts and their lack of a fifth digit on their hands; while Highborn can interbreed with a number of other humanoid races, these are the generally accepted marks of being a 'thoroughbred' Highborn. They also possess a more animal-like lower body, with two-toed hoofs similar to Plainsdwellers (and somewhat similar to Imperials, who have solid hoofs). It's also rumored that Highborn have 'teats' (are lacking in areola), tails, and that their men have notably porcine equipment. The first and last of these are more than rumors. As a final note, Highborn have exceptionally good senses of taste and smell, better even than canines.
Physical traits: Slimes tend to lean towards exaggerated body types, with large and barrel-chested men and curvy, well endowed women. They all tend to be rather thick in stature, and men frequently have potbellies (no matter how active they are). Most Highborn die between 50 and 80 years old.
Society: Highborn gravitate towards the top rungs of any society, and for good reason. They are universally ambitious, hard-headed, arrogant, and worst of all, damned good at it. That said, because they are so ambitious, they tend to 'colonize' other societies. They absolutely detest hard, physical labor, which means that even within Highborn-founded societies, large human, goblin, dwarf, plainsdweller, and similar populations will crop up to take care of labor needs. This generally works out fairly well for both parties; for all their faults, Highborn would be utterly despised were they not so generous. While Highborn are very conscious or their money, they generally measure their wealth by the happiness around them. Those few Highborn that don't end up in positions of power and influence end up as aspiring heroes, physicians, missionaries, or cooks. Highborn love food, from the simplest to the most elaborate, and food is one of the few loves that exceeds their dislike for hard work.
Average male height: 5'7" (~170cm)
Average male weight: 216 lbs (~98 kg)
Notable traits: Highborn are relatively non-diverse genetically, with eyes varying between degrees of red and blue, and both their skin and hair take very light shades. Their most identifiable trait is their somewhat piglike snouts and their lack of a fifth digit on their hands; while Highborn can interbreed with a number of other humanoid races, these are the generally accepted marks of being a 'thoroughbred' Highborn. They also possess a more animal-like lower body, with two-toed hoofs similar to Plainsdwellers (and somewhat similar to Imperials, who have solid hoofs). It's also rumored that Highborn have 'teats' (are lacking in areola), tails, and that their men have notably porcine equipment. The first and last of these are more than rumors. As a final note, Highborn have exceptionally good senses of taste and smell, better even than canines.
Physical traits: Slimes tend to lean towards exaggerated body types, with large and barrel-chested men and curvy, well endowed women. They all tend to be rather thick in stature, and men frequently have potbellies (no matter how active they are). Most Highborn die between 50 and 80 years old.
Society: Highborn gravitate towards the top rungs of any society, and for good reason. They are universally ambitious, hard-headed, arrogant, and worst of all, damned good at it. That said, because they are so ambitious, they tend to 'colonize' other societies. They absolutely detest hard, physical labor, which means that even within Highborn-founded societies, large human, goblin, dwarf, plainsdweller, and similar populations will crop up to take care of labor needs. This generally works out fairly well for both parties; for all their faults, Highborn would be utterly despised were they not so generous. While Highborn are very conscious or their money, they generally measure their wealth by the happiness around them. Those few Highborn that don't end up in positions of power and influence end up as aspiring heroes, physicians, missionaries, or cooks. Highborn love food, from the simplest to the most elaborate, and food is one of the few loves that exceeds their dislike for hard work.
3/18/2012
working on events
finished the first part or the elf maiden at rygal river mouth. you can now greet her, and the game saves a few bits about that (eg, if the first thing you did was attack her). i'm expecting another long day at work tomorrow, but should get the rest of the first part of her event down. once all of the race codexes are done, probably going to use polls to see which npcs people would like finished first.
going through the events that i have sketched out so far, there are about 30 simple conversations (no data tracking, things that are either relatively small or simple) and 12 more complicated ones (ones where i need to lay the groundwork for future npcs). should be able to do 2-3 simple conversations a day, or maybe one of the complicated ones (if i have a decent amount of time to work on it). i really do want to get all of the placeholders out for the next version so it looks a bit more complete.
going through the events that i have sketched out so far, there are about 30 simple conversations (no data tracking, things that are either relatively small or simple) and 12 more complicated ones (ones where i need to lay the groundwork for future npcs). should be able to do 2-3 simple conversations a day, or maybe one of the complicated ones (if i have a decent amount of time to work on it). i really do want to get all of the placeholders out for the next version so it looks a bit more complete.
3/16/2012
Codex: Rules of Engagement
Aven is a relatively small continent with many inhabitants and relatively limited resources: conflict, whether over land, wealth, or philosophy, is inevitable. 'War' has a somewhat different meaning than other places are used to: small-scale skirmishes, ranging from scuffles between individuals to groups or twenty or so, are common on Aven as the competing city-states and political groups test each others' strengths and boundaries. As such, many parts of warfare have taken on an almost ritual aspect. Nowhere is this more true than the Orcish custom of recreational combat, but all races exhibit some degree of ritualism. There are three universally respected customs regarding combat on Aven: recognition of surrender, how it is treated with respect to law, and treatment of outlaws.
The largest and most frequent practice in combat is the recognition of surrender, whether it is the attacker or the victim that surrenders. The population of Aven is limited, and as such, wide-scale combat to the death would lead to a rapid depopulation that could easily allow the already hostile feral elements of the continent to wipe out all civilization. It is considered a grave crime to execute or further attack an opponent who has dropped their weapon and knelt, one exceeded only by feigning surrender. Rumors of either are enough to make someone an outcast, attracting extra attention from authorities, not to mention bounty hunters and adventurers looking to make some coin or gain fame. Taking a victim (or attacker's) weapon is considered standard custom, partly to prevent quick retaliation, although this is generally left to the victor's discretion (so long as the loser suffers no significant injury as a result of the decision, like being tied and left for dead in a desert).
With respect to the law, simple accusations of wrongdoing are generally ignored since they would otherwise be so frequent that there would be little time for anything else. Generally, criminalization of combat only occurs when it occurs with a large number of witnesses (such as in a city) or when the accusation comes from a recognized authority figure from one of the city-states, such as a guard or sheriff. While there is (of course) some degree of politics between cities, with nobody wanting to outwardly recognize each others' authority simply on principle, major breaches - such as violations of surrender - and large bounties can both cause trouble for problem makers across the continent.
Outlaws, on the other hand, are a class of their own. Generally relegated to the most grievous of offenses, outlaws are those few who are welcome nowhere. Individuals so violent or uncontrolled that they are essentially considered feral, no longer subject to the protections afforded by the laws they so disdain. Outlaws generally have a short life span on Aven, with continent-wide manhunts and rich bounties, accumulated from dozens or even hundreds of individuals, drawing even mercenary armies to destroy them.
The largest and most frequent practice in combat is the recognition of surrender, whether it is the attacker or the victim that surrenders. The population of Aven is limited, and as such, wide-scale combat to the death would lead to a rapid depopulation that could easily allow the already hostile feral elements of the continent to wipe out all civilization. It is considered a grave crime to execute or further attack an opponent who has dropped their weapon and knelt, one exceeded only by feigning surrender. Rumors of either are enough to make someone an outcast, attracting extra attention from authorities, not to mention bounty hunters and adventurers looking to make some coin or gain fame. Taking a victim (or attacker's) weapon is considered standard custom, partly to prevent quick retaliation, although this is generally left to the victor's discretion (so long as the loser suffers no significant injury as a result of the decision, like being tied and left for dead in a desert).
With respect to the law, simple accusations of wrongdoing are generally ignored since they would otherwise be so frequent that there would be little time for anything else. Generally, criminalization of combat only occurs when it occurs with a large number of witnesses (such as in a city) or when the accusation comes from a recognized authority figure from one of the city-states, such as a guard or sheriff. While there is (of course) some degree of politics between cities, with nobody wanting to outwardly recognize each others' authority simply on principle, major breaches - such as violations of surrender - and large bounties can both cause trouble for problem makers across the continent.
Outlaws, on the other hand, are a class of their own. Generally relegated to the most grievous of offenses, outlaws are those few who are welcome nowhere. Individuals so violent or uncontrolled that they are essentially considered feral, no longer subject to the protections afforded by the laws they so disdain. Outlaws generally have a short life span on Aven, with continent-wide manhunts and rich bounties, accumulated from dozens or even hundreds of individuals, drawing even mercenary armies to destroy them.
win some, lose some
4th 11 hour workday in a row. on the plus side, i talked to a blind vietnam vet with no legs, and we talked about how we fished at the same little lake just south of where i was born. i think i saw a movie like that once.
in any case, it kicked me out of my funk. going to try harder at daily updates.
in any case, it kicked me out of my funk. going to try harder at daily updates.
3/13/2012
new job
took about 11 hours from when i left for work today to when i get back. updates might slow a bit.
3/11/2012
still working
i am still working on combat, but i'm also working on removing all of the placeholder events from the world, fleshing out existing npcs to at least a barebones level (having the initial conversation with them, etc). it's taking a while.
going to be posting a codex for highborn sometime tomorrow, assuming that i don't end up working. starting a new job, and the schedule is still somewhat nebulous.
going to be posting a codex for highborn sometime tomorrow, assuming that i don't end up working. starting a new job, and the schedule is still somewhat nebulous.
3/07/2012
Codex: Slimes
In-game description: Thought to have once been human, Slimes are aesexual and reproduce by mitosis, but strangely, manifest distinct male and female physical characteristics. They live only in warm, wet environments with a ready supply of food, although their definition of 'food' is rather loose at best.
Average male height: 5'8" (173 cm)
Average male weight: 290 lbs (~132 kg)
Notable traits: Slimes are a very distinct race. Their most obvious feature is that their bodies, rather than being flesh and blood, are composed entirely of a semi-transparent, viscous, gelatin material. The exact viscosity and transparency are both directly linked, they vary even in the same slime, depending no when it last ate, the temperature, and so on. They have a thicker, leather-like membrane on the outside of their bodies that serves as a skin, which is smooth and damp to the touch. They have monochromatic skin, either green or blue. As a rule, green slimes manifest male characteristics, while female slimes manifest female characteristics. There are 'feral' slimes of other colors, but lack the intellect or sociability to be considered a civilized species. They have pupil-less eyes, sometimes of a different shade than the rest of their bodies, but never an outright different color. Slimes generally do not wear clothing, as they do not feel discomfort from heat or cold, only wearing armor for protection, or (when in groups, or in large cities) to differentiate themselves from one another. Another unusual feature of slimes is their exceptional senses of hearing, smell, and taste.
Physical traits: Slimes tend to strongly manifest whichever sexual characteristic they gravitate towards, with green slimes having wide shoulders and strong arms, and blue slimes having slim waists, large breasts, wide hips and plump butts. It should be noted that slimes are deceptively heavy for their size; while not especially larger than humans, they tend to weigh a great deal more, which is simply a result of their composition. Slimes can live close to 300 years, although most will die naturally after around 230.
Society: Slimes tend to be outsiders from most of society, rarely forming into groups of more than two or three. They do, however, gravitate towards larger settlements; slimes are the closest to being wild of any of the civil races on Aven, with some some wild Slimes being unable to speak. Still, settled areas are hubs for food and protection, both of which Slimes seek out. Although generally characterized as being somewhat dim, it would be more accurate to say that they vastly different set of values relative to other species. Having no real need for things like shelter and clothing, capable of eating almost any organic matter, Slimes are very placid, mellow creatures. Still, this simple non-pretentiousness (and willingness to eat almost anything) means they get along very well with Plainsdwellers, which is fortunate, since Slimes tend to gravitate towards their farms. It isn't uncommon to find a found slime entrusted to the care of a farmer, using them as a sort of walking garbage disposal for rotten or parasite-eaten produce. The Highborn also have a curious love for Slimes, since their exceptionally sharp sense of taste makes them one of the few creatures capable of appreciating the full nuance of their cooking.
Physiology: Slimes have a unique biology. While even the most exotic creatures on Aven are still composed of bones, cartilage, and muscle, with some sort of respiratory and circulatory system, the body of a Slime is composed of only five different types of tissue: skin, eye, digestive, reproductive, and muscle.
The outermost layer of a slime's body is skin tissue, an amorphous (or non-crystalline) solid that is soft to a gentle touch, but hardens proportionate to the force exacted on it. Slimes do not exert conscious control over this tissue, instead relying on connecting muscle tissue to move and shape it. Slimes are capable of converting muscle and skin tissue into one another, although this takes some time. If left without a skin membrane on its outer body, Slimes lose the ability to control the shape of their body, leaving them as a lump or blob, similar to their feral cousins.
Eye tissue is the only part of Slimes that is sensitive to temperature or light. Like their skin membrane it is formed from muscle tissue, and is the hardest part of a Slime, being a full-fledged solid, although as a result is also one of the most vulnerable parts, being rather brittle. Most Slimes that come into contact with humanoids keep their eyes in their heads, although there's nothing that necessarily prevents them from forming more (or less) than two eyes, or placing at odd locations.
Muscle tissue composes the bulk of a Slimes body. It is a viscous fluid capable of both expanding and contracting, as well as connecting to nearby tissues. Combined with a rigid internal or external structure, it allows Slimes a good deal of control over their shape and overall appearance.
Digestive tissue is responsible for breaking down organic matter and converting it to muscle tissue. It is the most liquid of all slime tissues, generally held near the center of the body or as several small 'pockets' throughout the body. Slimes are capable of breaking down and digesting almost any organic material, including matter that other species would find indigestible or harmful, such as rotten food. Since they lack many of the major organisms of other sentient species they are not susceptible to most viral and bacterial infections, hemotoxins, necrotoxins, and most damaging effects of paralytic neurotoxins. While Slimes that ingest paralytic toxins do suffer their effects, since they lack a respiratory or circulatory system that can fail, this is not lethal. Further, their exceptionally large body mass means that even the few poisons that can harm them generally result in minimal damage.
Reproductive tissue serves as a sort of null-zone for the Slime's consciousness, being compatible with their biology, but not truly a part of it. It serves as a 'buffer zone' inside of a Slime, allowing them to build a 'bud' of muscle and digestive tissue cut off from it's own sentience, which in turn allows this 'bud' to begin developing an intelligence of it's own, thereby reproducing. In order to prevent direct cloning in this fashion, when Slimes reproduce they seek out others of their kind to contribute in the bud's formation (one male and one female slime), allowing the species as a whole to become more diverse. This is one of the major differences between civil and feral slimes, as many feral slimes will reproduce through binary fission.
Young slimes take some time to learn how to properly control their body, remaining as small blobs for the first several years of their life. During this time they can not reliably generate digestive tissue on their own, and are reliant on their parents. Blue slimes produce a thin, sugary liquid colloquially known as 'slime nectar' designed specifically to feed them. Socially acclimated slimes will generally store this in their breasts and engage in breast feeding as a sort of learned behavior, while wilder ones will store it in any limb, such as legs or arms. By the time they're three or four years old, slimes can generally form their own digestive tissue reliably, and soon after learn how to form eye tissue and keep it separate to avoid accidentally re-digesting it. Slimes grow at a fairly steady rate for around fifteen years after that, at which point they can form a bud large enough to generate it's own consciousness.
Average male height: 5'8" (173 cm)
Average male weight: 290 lbs (~132 kg)
Notable traits: Slimes are a very distinct race. Their most obvious feature is that their bodies, rather than being flesh and blood, are composed entirely of a semi-transparent, viscous, gelatin material. The exact viscosity and transparency are both directly linked, they vary even in the same slime, depending no when it last ate, the temperature, and so on. They have a thicker, leather-like membrane on the outside of their bodies that serves as a skin, which is smooth and damp to the touch. They have monochromatic skin, either green or blue. As a rule, green slimes manifest male characteristics, while female slimes manifest female characteristics. There are 'feral' slimes of other colors, but lack the intellect or sociability to be considered a civilized species. They have pupil-less eyes, sometimes of a different shade than the rest of their bodies, but never an outright different color. Slimes generally do not wear clothing, as they do not feel discomfort from heat or cold, only wearing armor for protection, or (when in groups, or in large cities) to differentiate themselves from one another. Another unusual feature of slimes is their exceptional senses of hearing, smell, and taste.
Physical traits: Slimes tend to strongly manifest whichever sexual characteristic they gravitate towards, with green slimes having wide shoulders and strong arms, and blue slimes having slim waists, large breasts, wide hips and plump butts. It should be noted that slimes are deceptively heavy for their size; while not especially larger than humans, they tend to weigh a great deal more, which is simply a result of their composition. Slimes can live close to 300 years, although most will die naturally after around 230.
Society: Slimes tend to be outsiders from most of society, rarely forming into groups of more than two or three. They do, however, gravitate towards larger settlements; slimes are the closest to being wild of any of the civil races on Aven, with some some wild Slimes being unable to speak. Still, settled areas are hubs for food and protection, both of which Slimes seek out. Although generally characterized as being somewhat dim, it would be more accurate to say that they vastly different set of values relative to other species. Having no real need for things like shelter and clothing, capable of eating almost any organic matter, Slimes are very placid, mellow creatures. Still, this simple non-pretentiousness (and willingness to eat almost anything) means they get along very well with Plainsdwellers, which is fortunate, since Slimes tend to gravitate towards their farms. It isn't uncommon to find a found slime entrusted to the care of a farmer, using them as a sort of walking garbage disposal for rotten or parasite-eaten produce. The Highborn also have a curious love for Slimes, since their exceptionally sharp sense of taste makes them one of the few creatures capable of appreciating the full nuance of their cooking.
Physiology: Slimes have a unique biology. While even the most exotic creatures on Aven are still composed of bones, cartilage, and muscle, with some sort of respiratory and circulatory system, the body of a Slime is composed of only five different types of tissue: skin, eye, digestive, reproductive, and muscle.
The outermost layer of a slime's body is skin tissue, an amorphous (or non-crystalline) solid that is soft to a gentle touch, but hardens proportionate to the force exacted on it. Slimes do not exert conscious control over this tissue, instead relying on connecting muscle tissue to move and shape it. Slimes are capable of converting muscle and skin tissue into one another, although this takes some time. If left without a skin membrane on its outer body, Slimes lose the ability to control the shape of their body, leaving them as a lump or blob, similar to their feral cousins.
Eye tissue is the only part of Slimes that is sensitive to temperature or light. Like their skin membrane it is formed from muscle tissue, and is the hardest part of a Slime, being a full-fledged solid, although as a result is also one of the most vulnerable parts, being rather brittle. Most Slimes that come into contact with humanoids keep their eyes in their heads, although there's nothing that necessarily prevents them from forming more (or less) than two eyes, or placing at odd locations.
Muscle tissue composes the bulk of a Slimes body. It is a viscous fluid capable of both expanding and contracting, as well as connecting to nearby tissues. Combined with a rigid internal or external structure, it allows Slimes a good deal of control over their shape and overall appearance.
Digestive tissue is responsible for breaking down organic matter and converting it to muscle tissue. It is the most liquid of all slime tissues, generally held near the center of the body or as several small 'pockets' throughout the body. Slimes are capable of breaking down and digesting almost any organic material, including matter that other species would find indigestible or harmful, such as rotten food. Since they lack many of the major organisms of other sentient species they are not susceptible to most viral and bacterial infections, hemotoxins, necrotoxins, and most damaging effects of paralytic neurotoxins. While Slimes that ingest paralytic toxins do suffer their effects, since they lack a respiratory or circulatory system that can fail, this is not lethal. Further, their exceptionally large body mass means that even the few poisons that can harm them generally result in minimal damage.
Reproductive tissue serves as a sort of null-zone for the Slime's consciousness, being compatible with their biology, but not truly a part of it. It serves as a 'buffer zone' inside of a Slime, allowing them to build a 'bud' of muscle and digestive tissue cut off from it's own sentience, which in turn allows this 'bud' to begin developing an intelligence of it's own, thereby reproducing. In order to prevent direct cloning in this fashion, when Slimes reproduce they seek out others of their kind to contribute in the bud's formation (one male and one female slime), allowing the species as a whole to become more diverse. This is one of the major differences between civil and feral slimes, as many feral slimes will reproduce through binary fission.
Young slimes take some time to learn how to properly control their body, remaining as small blobs for the first several years of their life. During this time they can not reliably generate digestive tissue on their own, and are reliant on their parents. Blue slimes produce a thin, sugary liquid colloquially known as 'slime nectar' designed specifically to feed them. Socially acclimated slimes will generally store this in their breasts and engage in breast feeding as a sort of learned behavior, while wilder ones will store it in any limb, such as legs or arms. By the time they're three or four years old, slimes can generally form their own digestive tissue reliably, and soon after learn how to form eye tissue and keep it separate to avoid accidentally re-digesting it. Slimes grow at a fairly steady rate for around fifteen years after that, at which point they can form a bud large enough to generate it's own consciousness.
3/05/2012
working, in its own way
i had some trouble while mentally organizing exactly how the game is going to manage combat. i think i could do a fair bit more to streamline it, but it would take lots of work. right now, the way the game loads enemies from memory is extremely messy and uses hardcoded info for things like attack/armor/health instead of drawing it from a file, but unless i want to build an entirely separate program designed to take a bunch of inputs and then write them to a file in such a way that they would be readable by a parser, i'm stuck with this. just add it onto the long-term goals, i guess. the fight with the knell patrol is going to be overly simplified for now (i'll go back and revamp it when i add party-based combat).
when all is said and done, i'd like most of the game data to be loaded from text files in one form or another: instead of consulting a bunch of variables typed into the code itself, i'd prefer for the game to open a text file, look for the data there, and then use that. this would basically allow the user to control everything about the game - the text displayed on startup, the minimums/maximums for character stats, the ability to add new types to existing body parts (frogue 2.0 : now with more than 200 types of cock!), even things like locations, events, and the like. that said, this is definitely be a long term goal: while it would turn the game into more of an 'engine' that other people could pick up and make their own games with, this would also mean that i would be signing off any semblance of ownership to it. truth be told, i sort of like this idea. i have no doubts that there are people out there who can write better than i can, and certainly there are those who can better represent their chosen fetish (or just feel like they have a story to tell), but lack the programming expertise to actually create a game like this.
obviously, this is all in the far, far, far future, once all of the features are added, the world is populated, and the story is told. but still... it's nice to have goals.
when all is said and done, i'd like most of the game data to be loaded from text files in one form or another: instead of consulting a bunch of variables typed into the code itself, i'd prefer for the game to open a text file, look for the data there, and then use that. this would basically allow the user to control everything about the game - the text displayed on startup, the minimums/maximums for character stats, the ability to add new types to existing body parts (frogue 2.0 : now with more than 200 types of cock!), even things like locations, events, and the like. that said, this is definitely be a long term goal: while it would turn the game into more of an 'engine' that other people could pick up and make their own games with, this would also mean that i would be signing off any semblance of ownership to it. truth be told, i sort of like this idea. i have no doubts that there are people out there who can write better than i can, and certainly there are those who can better represent their chosen fetish (or just feel like they have a story to tell), but lack the programming expertise to actually create a game like this.
obviously, this is all in the far, far, far future, once all of the features are added, the world is populated, and the story is told. but still... it's nice to have goals.
3/04/2012
and then,
i spent most of tonight working on populating data for the various creatures that you need to encounter. a lot of them (human, orc, goblin, etc bandits) are just copy/pastes with slightly different descriptions, which made things go fairly quickly. i found an outstanding bug with how people with dog cocks report the size of their knot (which hadn't been reported yet) and fixed it, and altered all of the error output messages slightly so they would report which class was calling them (eg, both 'entity' and 'enemy' have a functions named setCurrentHealth, so now it says which one is giving the error)
most of the persistent npcs will have names now. a short list:
-the kraken at west coast of aven
-the coastdweller/human adventurer at west coast of aven
-the lowland elf at rygal river mouth
-the penitent
-the leonid/trollkin convict
-the forester/lowland elf adventurer at titan's foot
-the human machinist
-the kraken raider
-the giantkin mountaineer
-the goblin adventurer at titan's hand
-the knight
-the demon
other existing, but currently unimplemented / non-enemy npcs are:
-the harpy at westcliff
-a dryad
-the imperial officer from the patrol around doren
-the bounty hunter
-the lepin/faekin with a bodyguard at vegel plains
-the ghost
-eight short and very specifically named imperials
the ones with two races listed have separate variants that show up depending on whether or not you have anthro turned on or off (and some may further not be romance-capable if you have mythic or beast turned on), but are otherwise functionally identical.
if anyone thinks they can name all of the eight imperials, they'll get a shout out in the related event.
most of the persistent npcs will have names now. a short list:
-the kraken at west coast of aven
-the coastdweller/human adventurer at west coast of aven
-the lowland elf at rygal river mouth
-the penitent
-the leonid/trollkin convict
-the forester/lowland elf adventurer at titan's foot
-the human machinist
-the kraken raider
-the giantkin mountaineer
-the goblin adventurer at titan's hand
-the knight
-the demon
other existing, but currently unimplemented / non-enemy npcs are:
-the harpy at westcliff
-a dryad
-the imperial officer from the patrol around doren
-the bounty hunter
-the lepin/faekin with a bodyguard at vegel plains
-the ghost
-eight short and very specifically named imperials
the ones with two races listed have separate variants that show up depending on whether or not you have anthro turned on or off (and some may further not be romance-capable if you have mythic or beast turned on), but are otherwise functionally identical.
if anyone thinks they can name all of the eight imperials, they'll get a shout out in the related event.
3/03/2012
combat system progress
so, the basics on the combat system.
the game is going to have relatively simplistic combat, with three separate actions: strike, feint, and guard. guard beats strike, feint beats guard, and strike beats feint. ten points if you already understand the ages old mechanic behind all of this. for now, it will probably display results like, "you strike. your opponent feints. you push their weak first strike aside and connect, dealing X damage" or "you strike. your opponent blocks. their defense puts you off balance, and the enemy's counter attack deals X damage", but this may be expanded to be more verbose in the future, since things like the opponent's stance, demeanor, behavior, etc can be used as tells for what their next move is going to be. ties will probably have differing results based on the individual action - block vs block might just result in both parties circling each other and not even making a single offensive move, feint would be a few cautious lunges and probing strikes with (maybe) half damage done to both parties, and strike might be both people taking full damage. it might be nice to have them all have unique effects, but there's still something to be said for efficiency (and i don't want to end up with a situation where everyone opens with, say, strike, because it has a 2 in 3 chance to deal full damage to an opponent, as opposed to block, which only does damage 1 in 3 times).
the basic formula is going to be [attackers strength + weapon damage - defenders armor = damage]. first group to reach 0 health loses the fight, but isn't necessarily killed. health is a bit of an abstract representation in this game, although to be fair, if i want to keep saying that it might be good to change it's name (stamina? heroism?). it's a combination of experience, endurance, ability, smarts, and so forth, a concrete measure of how much you can put yourself through before you make a mistake that allows your opponent to connect with a solid shot to put you out of the fight. high-level characters aren't necessarily physically more durable, but they do fight better, which justifies the hp increase.
i'm not going to include randomized elements, like dodges or critical strikes. in fact, i'm not even going to randomize the opponent's responses. maybe - maybe - for the opening move. i want enemies to have recognizable patterns in terms of how they respond to you; it creates a neat sort of situation, i think, where the player can encounter the same antagonist several times, eventually learning their patterns and using this to flawlessly beat them even though they're (relatively speaking) on equal terms. on the other hand, i don't want players to memorize these and then get into a situation where they say, "oh, another greater demon? block-feint-strike-strike, flawless victory" and go through the fight without actually bothering to check what their opponent is doing. again, this goes in to the amount of text that gets displayed - there can be tells (like an opponent shifting their weight to their back foot when they get ready to strike, or raising their shield slightly when they're getting ready to block) that would give the player an idea of the best way to attack, but still allow the opponent to respond randomly.
i have an idea on how i want group combat to work, although i'm not entirely decided on it yet. my preliminary idea is that, first, the melee on each side squares off. the teams split off into either dueling pairs, or goes two on one if needed. if it's 1v1, combat works normally. if it's 2v1, then the side with more uses the most advantageous of the attacks from it's group (so, if the players use strike and feint, and the enemy uses block, the feint gets used instead of the strike). you can't have 3 melee attacking the same opponent, since that would make combat next to impossible to win/lose (depending on if you're the 3, or the 1). ranged characters from either side get to choose to attack whoever they like, doing (weapon damage - armor) per strike. obviously, there's a benefit to having a melee character hold the line while a companion shoots from the back row. if a ranged character gets forced into melee, they have to rely on a 'backup' weapon (which will be listed by weapon, such as "bow with dagger"), which will have a markedly decreased damage than real weapons do.
with regards to the actual programming, i spent most of tonight organizing how the game is going to store things like enemy health, writing simple functions to make sure that you can't set an opponent's current health to a number higher than their maximum health, making sure the right event runs when an opponent gets defeated, that sort of thing. i didn't want to make a massive array with dozens of entries for how enemies respond to different attacks, so instead i'm making a simple file reader that will open up a file, search for a string of letters (lets say, "THIEFHU" for human thief or "THIEFOR" for an orc thief), and get the next ten characters after it, and then parse those ten to fill in the responses for when a block, strike, or feint succeeds, fails, or ties. it keeps the game from holding 10 numbers in memory for every individual enemy (which should dramatically decreases the game's memory footprint, seeing as how i already have around 90 enemies i need to fill out for various races of bandit, civilian, and soldier, not to mention the handful of npc's), and it lets people who really just don't give a damn go in and edit all of the numbers to 1's so they can just spam one button and get through the damn irritating combat and get straight to the hot, juicy troll-on-elf rape if they want to. really, everyone wins.
the game is going to have relatively simplistic combat, with three separate actions: strike, feint, and guard. guard beats strike, feint beats guard, and strike beats feint. ten points if you already understand the ages old mechanic behind all of this. for now, it will probably display results like, "you strike. your opponent feints. you push their weak first strike aside and connect, dealing X damage" or "you strike. your opponent blocks. their defense puts you off balance, and the enemy's counter attack deals X damage", but this may be expanded to be more verbose in the future, since things like the opponent's stance, demeanor, behavior, etc can be used as tells for what their next move is going to be. ties will probably have differing results based on the individual action - block vs block might just result in both parties circling each other and not even making a single offensive move, feint would be a few cautious lunges and probing strikes with (maybe) half damage done to both parties, and strike might be both people taking full damage. it might be nice to have them all have unique effects, but there's still something to be said for efficiency (and i don't want to end up with a situation where everyone opens with, say, strike, because it has a 2 in 3 chance to deal full damage to an opponent, as opposed to block, which only does damage 1 in 3 times).
the basic formula is going to be [attackers strength + weapon damage - defenders armor = damage]. first group to reach 0 health loses the fight, but isn't necessarily killed. health is a bit of an abstract representation in this game, although to be fair, if i want to keep saying that it might be good to change it's name (stamina? heroism?). it's a combination of experience, endurance, ability, smarts, and so forth, a concrete measure of how much you can put yourself through before you make a mistake that allows your opponent to connect with a solid shot to put you out of the fight. high-level characters aren't necessarily physically more durable, but they do fight better, which justifies the hp increase.
i'm not going to include randomized elements, like dodges or critical strikes. in fact, i'm not even going to randomize the opponent's responses. maybe - maybe - for the opening move. i want enemies to have recognizable patterns in terms of how they respond to you; it creates a neat sort of situation, i think, where the player can encounter the same antagonist several times, eventually learning their patterns and using this to flawlessly beat them even though they're (relatively speaking) on equal terms. on the other hand, i don't want players to memorize these and then get into a situation where they say, "oh, another greater demon? block-feint-strike-strike, flawless victory" and go through the fight without actually bothering to check what their opponent is doing. again, this goes in to the amount of text that gets displayed - there can be tells (like an opponent shifting their weight to their back foot when they get ready to strike, or raising their shield slightly when they're getting ready to block) that would give the player an idea of the best way to attack, but still allow the opponent to respond randomly.
i have an idea on how i want group combat to work, although i'm not entirely decided on it yet. my preliminary idea is that, first, the melee on each side squares off. the teams split off into either dueling pairs, or goes two on one if needed. if it's 1v1, combat works normally. if it's 2v1, then the side with more uses the most advantageous of the attacks from it's group (so, if the players use strike and feint, and the enemy uses block, the feint gets used instead of the strike). you can't have 3 melee attacking the same opponent, since that would make combat next to impossible to win/lose (depending on if you're the 3, or the 1). ranged characters from either side get to choose to attack whoever they like, doing (weapon damage - armor) per strike. obviously, there's a benefit to having a melee character hold the line while a companion shoots from the back row. if a ranged character gets forced into melee, they have to rely on a 'backup' weapon (which will be listed by weapon, such as "bow with dagger"), which will have a markedly decreased damage than real weapons do.
with regards to the actual programming, i spent most of tonight organizing how the game is going to store things like enemy health, writing simple functions to make sure that you can't set an opponent's current health to a number higher than their maximum health, making sure the right event runs when an opponent gets defeated, that sort of thing. i didn't want to make a massive array with dozens of entries for how enemies respond to different attacks, so instead i'm making a simple file reader that will open up a file, search for a string of letters (lets say, "THIEFHU" for human thief or "THIEFOR" for an orc thief), and get the next ten characters after it, and then parse those ten to fill in the responses for when a block, strike, or feint succeeds, fails, or ties. it keeps the game from holding 10 numbers in memory for every individual enemy (which should dramatically decreases the game's memory footprint, seeing as how i already have around 90 enemies i need to fill out for various races of bandit, civilian, and soldier, not to mention the handful of npc's), and it lets people who really just don't give a damn go in and edit all of the numbers to 1's so they can just spam one button and get through the damn irritating combat and get straight to the hot, juicy troll-on-elf rape if they want to. really, everyone wins.
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