Sunday, April 17, 2016

Quest accepted!

So, I have been doing more work on the random generation. I am happy to say that the maps are 100% fine now, after having to come up with some work around for RAGS inconstencies (I was expecting a more straightforward system, but for some weird reasons, RAGS registers as errors the use of variables instead of a specific room name in the particular command I needed for this).
I have decided to improve the design by separating rooms into "corridors" and actual "rooms", this way, it should be even more pleasant and reasonable when you explore the map. This means I might need some extra rooms added to the "chunks" of map I use, though, because the corridors inevitably decrease the number of useful rooms. This also makes the placement of exits/entrances from one area to the other easier, as I can use just the corridors to do that, and avoid having to check for weird cases (like, why the hell is there a ladder in the morgue that leads to the kitchen???).
I did setup the 5 mission types I came up with so far, and I even have different descriptions randomly picked (I might make it so that the different descriptions actually hint to certain specific features or obstacles you can find, but I am not sure if that might ruin the immersion when you see the same descriptions twice).
I have randomly picked names/descriptions for the items I use as exits as well (they are just 4, though, so right now it seems a little too easy to get duplicates of "ladders" "maintenance shafts" and so on). I also figured out another simple fix for a problem I might have for special rooms. Let's use the morgue again as an example: I would like to have the medbay link to the morgue, which is reasonable, but that would require two rooms in a row that aren't "corridors", so instead I'll just pick a room for the medbay first, and then link a previously prepared "morgue" room with an in/out exit. That way, there is no need to check if an exit is taken, if rooms overlap, etc. I might re-use this system with other scenarios, although this specific one was what spurred this decision. I figure the different layouts, and the different room placement will already make enough of a difference, but some of the systems are placeholders, so I still can't fully evaluate them yet.


The auto-resolve battle is done! It was actually very easy to do thanks to how I had previously tackled the "I attack/enemy attacks" timers, so right now I simply run the timers on repeat until either die. This means the game also produces the usual combat log, which I figure is a nice touch. It's pretty basic, so maybe I can consider adding some features (like auto-healing when below certain thresholds) but the decision making behind those are usually more complex, so I figure they might get in only after careful consideration, if I bother with them at all.
Currently the action sits on a sub-menu of the attack action, which seems good enough visually, although I wonder if keeping it "hidden" like this might be a mistake.

I didn't actually get to test the ending, as I was busy with the other stuff, so I am not sure if everything is fine with it just yet, hopefully I'll take care of it next week.

Last week donor hasn't replied to my e-mail yet, so make sure to check if it got stuck in the spam folder!

This should be everything, actually. If I am forgetting something, let me know in the comments. Until next week! ^_^


11 comments:

  1. Shooting at each other until some dies is a very effective way to solve arguments though. In many ways one could argue it's the only way that comes up with a real result. Until the numbers of people shooting at each other passes a certain point then it gets far more complicated.

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    1. Another effective way is diplomacy. Less shooting involved. Typically more compromises but at least no dies.

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    2. You mean like diplomatically agreeing to detain all the asylum-seekers / refugees / migrants in Greece and ship them all back to Turkey, the country that expanded east by doing to the Armenians what the Third Reich later did to the Jews and Roma?

      Fewer deaths among the rich and powerful, perhaps, but it still "feeds the rich while it buries the poor" ... or sinks them in the Med when they try the Libya-Italy route instead.

      Actually, generally, yes I do agree that it's better to find a mutually acceptable compromise than to just let the guys with the most guns make all the decisions. Somehow, though, we seem to still let the guys with the largest defence budgets make all the decisions.

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    3. That tiny little speck up there? Yep, the one waaaay, waaaaaay up in the sky currently going over your head.

      That was the joke

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    4. I thought that was the International Space Station

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    5. Well, I measure effectiveness also by the number of corpses we have to move after an argument, so there is that... :p

      Also, how did we get to talk about the refugees/migrants crisis in my comment section? O_O

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    6. It's because of diplomacy.

      "Well, Baldrick, you see, there was just one teeny, tiny little flaw in the plan."
      "What was that, Sir?"
      "It was bollocks."
      - Blackadder Goes Forth

      Hey, it could be worse. We could be talking about the Philippines' presidential election.

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  2. I think it would be cool to make bets with a humilating outcome if you lose or profitable if you win like play a 1 on game of soccer or strip if you lose money if you win or something and you should be able to affect the outcome I would also think it would to go into debt like a casino or buy too many beers and have to "work" it off I would also love it if you brought back something like nude photoshoot event to this one

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    1. The bet thing strip if you lose money if you win a easy one would poker and after you are out of clothes and chips you can leave of buy more chips for a forfit and a chance to win your clothes and if you lose again do another forfit like streaking or nude pics or video

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    2. Yes please oh Great and Mighty MDQP bless us with this feature.

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    3. This might not be a bad idea at all, actually, but it would probably be better saved for chapter 2, but I might consider adding it in chapter 1 if I find the time and I feel inspired.

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