Writing is problematic as an update. What do I, well, talk about? Strangely, words do not make good updates. Pictures, monsters and other such zazzy topics are generally more accepted. However, bad conversations are a blight like no other. All I can say is that I've been writing and, well, there's not much more than that.
Or, actually, there is. I've been working on a small monster "logic" system for the swamp. Basically, it means that little monsters(let's say, a Stirge) won't try and attack a bigger monster(say, a Wyvern). And, conversely, the Wyvern won't try and attack the Stirge. Although this might seem simply like a faction issue, it's a bit more complicated. I want it to be that if the Wyvern is "hungry"(injured) that it will attack other monsters that, previously, it ignored. But, of course, the Stirge will try and avoid it--ultimately, it involves chases and the Wyvern giving up.
These sort of scenes, obviously, won't attract much player attention(you'd have to have good eyesight or invisibility potions). However, I like to think this level of detail--or supposed detail--does much to make a module(or game) more interesting.
And, while I'm coding this in, I'm trying to make sure that grossly unbalanced combats don't happen(one Naga cannot beat a flight of Wyverns). So, I'm trying to get a handle on a cowardice system, of sorts. Not a total one: making everything run away just bogs down gameplay too much. So, I'm sort of giving it a rule of thumb on which monsters should run away and which ones shouldn't. It'll (hopefully) keep things interesting.
Alright, fine, I hate you Michael. :)
4 hours ago
4 comments:
Yes, conversation updates definately leave something to desire. Writing good conversations takes a lot of time and as the creator you know a player will likely only see a faction of what is avalaible yet so much of a decent game relies on it.
Your ignore/attack/flee system sounds interesting but my question is how large are your areas to support a system like that, how many monsters will be wander around opposed to trigger spawns and what effects will all this have on the performance?
I don't want to sound negative as it does sound like a really neat system and a bunch of work but will it add a lot to the game play and not cause performance issues?
The exteriors that are using it--since these scripts only run in exteriors--are 20x20, one 20x24. That's fairly large. Most areas are going to see maybe 10 monsters in them at a maximum--there are exceptions, of course, but they're spread out(in my experience, animals like lions and leopards don't stand next to one another, so I'm trying to emulate that a bit).
And your comment is perfectly fine, even encouraged. The reason it's being put in is, basically, that the swamp is supposed to be dangerous and I don't want the player to lure monsters together. This makes things far easier than it ought to be and, really, is quite silly.
Thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it. :)
Hi Chaos Wielder,
You have touched upon a similar topic to me this week. :) Doing stuff that makes a difference that will probably not make for very good reading to players. ;)
I am always in favour of systems that add to a module's individuality. All the best with that. :)
Lance.
It may not attract players attention, but other module builders will notice. I spend most of my time when I'm in others works just looking around at what they've done.
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