I just did the automated testing stuff eariler this month and i finished the framework for custom orders. The plan after that is:
-reworking offline order editor for custom orders and sync with online + bugs
-some bug fixes - requests etc
-event management stuff (rumours - and later plagues)
-pushing design of infra structure forward.
Custom orders may sound trival but its basically a compiler for ingame orders to allow the GM to add/code custom orders to enhance game play. The custom orders can be secret and so you may only learn about them as you find out about them in game.... ie 'known flags' are being attached to orders with associated political information.
Custom order are are a necessary part of the infrastructure as they allow more GM moderated roleplay. It seem sensible to do them first as they stand alone and will take sometime to tweak.
And thanks for the update.
That all sounds very exciting indeed. | QUOTE |
| David - I just thought I should check, is it okay with you that I pick this information up and run it in the SSS this week |
Should be ok. There are no time scales on this btw, when ever i do that something gets in the way.
| QUOTE (David Bethel @ Feb 6 2005, 02:21 AM) |
| -event management stuff (rumours - and later plagues) |
I look forward to having rumours back in the game again. It adds some extra spice to the game when you get some rumours about far away events each time you do some R&R.
Will it be possible for players to spread rumours by themselves (through SAs)? Or will all be written by Mica in response to large (or small) events he notices?
Cheers!
| QUOTE (Thali Rahm @ Feb 7 2005, 06:24 AM) |
| Will it be possible for players to spread rumours by themselves (through SAs)? Or will all be written by Mica in response to large (or small) events he notices? |
As it is down on paper rumours will be generated automatically. The bigger the event, the more likely it is to become known throughout the Peripheries.
This potentially includes battles, docking, trade and essentially any action that involves people.
| QUOTE |
| Will it be possible for players to spread rumours by themselves (through SAs)? Or will all be written by Mica in response to large (or small) events he notices? |
If it was a matter of adding rumours as in BSE (a list added by SA/GM) then it would be easy. Basically it will involve some specification on exactly what rumours will do but potentially they are scary. They will be phased in after we know what they do in game. ie they will be coded but the effects will not be visible until we are happy that they do not say too much.
| QUOTE (Andy @ Feb 7 2005, 03:07 PM) |
| Can you give a few examples of what custom orders will do so I can understand what it is? |
Round up slaves from a sector that is known to have natives/civilians.
Strip some resources from a sector.
Collect minerals from an asteroid field.
Customize your starbase, make unique descriptions for recreation complex visits.
Visit Bob's pleasure palace at New Tate.
Use modules to urbanize a sector.
Customize your ship, e.g. Replace your mkI armour with mkII.
Have you agent seduce the governor's wife.
| CODE |
| ChopShip(posNum,secureCode) { ok=true; error=""; Read_Location(loc); if (LoadPosition(posNum)) { if (!AtDest(loc)) { error="Error - Ship not at location\n"; ok=false; } Read_Position(ship); if (ok && (ship['Type']!="Ship")) { error="Error - can only chop ships\n"; ok=false; } if (ok && !FindItem(item,ship['HullItem'],"Struct")) { error="Panic - Can not find the ships hull\n"; ok=false; } if (ok && !CheckSecurity(secureCode)) { error="Error - Can not access ship \n"; ok=false; } if (ok) hulls=item['Quantity']*0.75; ReleasePosition(); if (ok) { MessagePolitical(posNum,"Your ship got chopped.\n"); DeletePosition(posNum); ChangeQuantityOfItem(ship['HullItem'],hulls,"Cargo"); Print("%s has been chopped.\n",ship['Name']); Print("%s %s added to starbase.\n",hulls, item['Name']); } } else { error="Can not find position\n"); ok=false; } if (error!="") Print("%s",error); return ok; } |
Thats an order for chop ship that i just wrote in 15mins of fiddling on this forum. I would have to select a few dialogs, type in the above text, test it, press upload on orders and we would have a new order in game. The above order is in a custom language for writeing orders internally to phoenix (order previously were written in c++ and compiled in to the phoenix poseditor).
This illustrates 3 things
[1] Mica can now edit the text - i just typed what should go there, not any frilly bits
[2] I make it possible to fix the order on the fly at KJC without sending a large exe and it is totally delocalised from the main code.
[3] Its easy to do.
(If i wrote this now the only issue would be DeletePosition / MessagePolitical / CheckSecurity need a function in the language writing on the C++ side but that will come with time and it quite quick to do)
/edit crumbs that was virtually fun to do - that can not be right.
would be strange to salvage 75% hulls off a ship with 99% damage
(cheaper to rebuild than to repair?) | QUOTE |
| 75% of the ship as hulls seems a little high, if i'm reading that right, shouldn't it be based on damage in some way? |
This is not real btw its just a quickly typed in example. It was just to show that its readable.
It should be based on integrity and damage and the result should be patches.... but when its an example x0.75 shows something happened to hulls.
| QUOTE (David Bethel @ Feb 8 2005, 09:41 AM) |
| It should be based on integrity and damage and the result should be patches.... but when its an example x0.75 shows something happened to hulls. |
All good, although actually i think your better off with the results being hulls, makes more sense to my mind (based on the tech needed in patches)
| QUOTE |
| Maybe you should be able to choose between hulls and patches |
Maybe two parameters indication the ratio of each type would be more useful, then you are able to choose a mix, rather than one result or the other.
Over all, reading all of the above, I think that this idea is superb.
A technical question though.. The language example looks a great deal like TCL code, although there are a few other similar language structures.
Are you imlementing a known language engine, or is this a custom language engine for Phoenix?
| QUOTE |
| Are you imlementing a known language engine, or is this a custom language engine for Phoenix |
Its a custom compiler which runs inside the phoenix main program - it seems most like php to me but i just keep writing the appropriate bits as it becomes necessary. I've been planning this for a while and reading the necessary compliler design books
| QUOTE (Andy @ Feb 9 2005, 08:43 AM) |
| Maybe you should be able to choose between hulls and patches |
I believe that was the 'decision' that we came to at Blackpool - chopping ships would give you hulls or patches (your choice)
Dan
| QUOTE |
| (Andy @ Feb 9 2005, 08:43 AM) Maybe you should be able to choose between hulls and patches I believe that was the 'decision' that we came to at Blackpool - chopping ships would give you hulls or patches (your choice) |
I was not explicit enough, I meant to suggest that a choice could be made as the ratio of hulls and patches, not necessarily the mutally exclusive choice of hulls or patches.
| QUOTE (Archangel @ Feb 23 2005, 03:29 PM) |
| I was not explicit enough, I meant to suggest that a choice could be made as the ratio of hulls and patches, not necessarily the mutally exclusive choice of hulls or patches. |
i.e.
Scrap to Hulls (ship No.) (%Hulls)
This will scrap a ship, resulting in the salvaged mass being converted into hulls and patches. The % is the amount of the salvaged mass that will be converted to hulls, the rest of the salvaged mass will be converted to patches.
| QUOTE |
| i.e. Scrap to Hulls (ship No.) (%Hulls) This will scrap a ship, resulting in the salvaged mass being converted into hulls and patches. The % is the amount of the salvaged mass that will be converted to hulls, the rest of the salvaged mass will be converted to patches. |
Exactly.
Thanks