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Friday, April 29, 2005

In Game Combat and Dead Characters

I finished incorporating my combat module into RealmSpeak, and its working pretty nicely. The game recognizes clearings with combat, and handles the necessary input (luring, positioning, melee). Tremendous monsters flip to red after a successful hit, and things like Giant Clubs and Dragon Heads work correctly. When a character is killed, the frame for that character is closed, and the entry in the list is marked as "Dead".

I played a game as the Magician, got slaughtered in the first day by a couple of trolls (playing a spellcaster without spells is not too bright!). I reentered the game as the White Knight, moved into the troll clearing, and killed them both (took a few wounds!)

Here's what's left to do before the next release:
  • Support the Encounter step (its there, but doesn't do anything yet).
  • Handle missile weapons properly (they don't roll on the table yet...)
  • Apply fatigue and wounds (they are recorded, just not applied yet)
  • Unalert weapons that hit, alert those that do not.
  • Add some better monster positioning logic. Right now you can:
    • Place them one at a time.
    • Auto-place them all (divides them evenly across all three boxes)

I think that's it. I also have a couple of in-game things to fix (particularly the two Map treasures), but that should be fairly easy.

UPDATE 4/30/2005
I just finished the missile roll logic, including support for characters that get a bonus. Wheeee! Now I'd better go mow the lawn before my wife strangles me... :-)

Monday, April 25, 2005

Denizen Positioning and Tactics

I finished combat repositioning and change tactics, and am moving (finally) to combat resolution. Once this is done, I can tie up some loose ends, and call the 2nd encounter version ready for release. Not sure I can get it done by next weekend, but I imagine there will be a release shortly after.

The combat interface is looking nice. I got rid of some buttons, and made more interactions happen on the combat sheet itself. For example, you'll place your attacks/maneuvers by clicking on the attack/maneuver squares on the sheet itself. I like this feel much better, and I think you will too.

Friday, April 22, 2005

First Combat Screenshot

I've finally got enough pieces together to give you a screenshot. Still working on what buttons go where, but the general layout of the combat sheet is pretty much done. If you recognize the combat sheet, its because it is taken (with permission, of course) from the Redesigned Melee Sections that Jay Richardson created. I did tweak it a bit to fit my interface, but its mostly intact. Thanks to Jay for making these resources available, and thanks to Nand for having them accessible on his website.

Right now, the interface allows you to lure monsters, select targets, and place maneuvers/attacks. Effort is tracked, though it doesn't yet recognize the effects of potions or treasures. Armor is placed appropriately, including specialty treasure armor.

Still a lot of work to do, but I can see it coming together at long last. My intention is for combat to work with Monsters only (no Native War) in the next release. Once I get it to that point, and clean up the bits and pieces, I can easily move onto the next step.

I doubt I'll have a release this weekend, but keep checking here for progress. As soon as combat is finished (ie., you can kill stuff), I'll get a release online. Thanks for your patience!

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Reworking the Interface for Combat

I'm still not happy with the interface I put together for Combat. I've decided to toss what I have, and try a new approach. So far I'm pleased with the new layout I'm experimenting with, which should look very much like combat in Magic Realm (something my earlier version did not). If this design proceeds past "idea" stage, I'll post it here, along with a screenshot.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Plugging in Combat

This weekend ended up being very busy, despite the fact nothing was planned for it. As such, I only had a few hours of coding time, and thus not much to show. Still, I can say that I have the framework of combat in place, which means RealmSpeak will go through the motions (Luring, Deployment, Positioning, etc) without actually doing anything. That may not sound like much, but its a very important hurdle to get over before combat becomes a reality.

One thing I came up with, is an option to play with or without combat in the initial game setup pane. I added this so that I could play a 1st encounter game without worrying about the new code. As it turns out, I think this is a nice feature to have in the game, and will probably remain long after I'm finished. I'm thinking the same will apply with 3rd (War) and 4th (Magic) encounter versions of RealmSpeak, so you can play with as much detail as you want. It might also be a nice way to introduce new players to the game, getting them familiar with one piece at a time, much like the 2nd edition ruleset intended.

In any event, I have a couple evenings this week to work on the game, so hopefully I can get the first "combat-ready" version together in the next couple of weeks (no promises!).

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Version 0.3 Released

Decided to get a release out of the way now, so I can start getting the first combat pieces into the code. Besides, I don't think I'm going to have much time in the next several days. Here's what's new:
  • Dragon Essence is finished
  • Shielded Lantern is finished
  • Enhanced Peer works
  • Crystal Ball and Ancient Telescope are finished
  • Normal peering from mountain clearings is finished
  • Finished FLY mechanics (FLY available if you have the means)
  • Flying Carpet is finished
  • Support buying drinks during TRADE BUY actions
  • Fixed Dwarf Cave Knowledge
  • Fixed bug where curses were not removed at the chapel on the last game turn
  • Fixed bug where resting multiple times at the beginning of your turn ignored BLOCK rules
  • Fixed bug where moving into a mountain clearing on your first turn ignored BLOCK rules
  • Exclude gray circles on Mountain clearings when there is not enough move points
  • Flowers of Rest is finished
  • Fixed problem where chits were not staying in the appropriate clearings after character has left the tile.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Flowers of Rest Done

This treasure is working now. Can be nice if you have a bunch of fatigued chits to rest, though you definitely don't want them around when you are trying to loot the Cairns or the Pool! :)

I touched up some of the monster blocking rules: moving into a mountain clearing from a clearing with monsters leads to a BLOCK because the move requires two move points. Also fixed the problem with doing multiple rests at the beginning of your turn in a clearing with monsters, which version 0.2 allows you to do!

Version 0.3 is coming together nicely, and I should be able to put a new release up this weekend.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Some Wiki Items

I noticed this evening that somebody posted some RealmSpeak issues over at the Magic Realm Wiki (thanks Eric!). Thought I'd better address two of the items.

One is a recurring request: Support Buying Drinks during TRADE actions. Seems like many of you are generous when it comes to buying a round of drinks for your comrades! Either that, or you prefer to take advantage of those who are a bit under the influence. In any event, there is now an option to buy drinks, provided your gold is good (no ASHES curse), and you have enough for everyone.

The other item of concern, was the fact that the Dwarf is not getting any advantage from his vast Cave Knowledge, and is rolling two dice instead of one in Caves. This was a bug (actually a typo), and was easily remedied.

The Flying Carpet seems to work fully now, which means the Sorceror can zip around the map quite nicely if he is careful. Now to the Flowers of Rest...

FLY started

I started on the FLY mechanics. Since I have rarely ever done this in a face-to-face game, I find myself spending more time reading the manual, than actually programming. Still, I have the recording portion mostly done, and I'm working on energizing the Flying Carpet. Once this is in place, I imagine that future spellcasting (Broomstick, Hurricane Winds) should be pretty easy to implement.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Peer logic finished

Whew, that got fairly tricky, but its done. That knocks two other treasures off my ToDo list (Crystal Ball, Ancient Telescope), and finishes full support for Peering from Mountain clearings.

Rather than do a release now, I think I'll wait and see if I can get the Flowers of Rest working, and add support for Flying with the Flying Carpet. This will also open the doors for doing some spellcasting (finally) - Seeing as I have a couple of nights this week to work on it, I might actually have a few spells together by next weekend...

Friday, April 08, 2005

Finished Enhanced Peer Recording

The logic is finally done for handling the recording of enhanced peer actions, depending on whether you have the appropriate treasure activated. That means the Crystal Ball and Ancient Telescope are nearly done. Still need to handle the actual results of an enhanced Peer, which is really nothing more than an extension of the Peer table (same results, different clearing). I'd do it now, but I'm tired and need to go to bed.

One other thing though: I added support for doing the peer action into other clearings if you are in a Mountain clearing. These things should be in place for the next release (either this weekend or next, depending on time).

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

New Treasures Supported

I finished the support needed to allow the Dragon Essence treasure to behave like a smoke chit, so that one is done now. I also finished the Shielded Lantern.

The only treasures that still need to be done, and aren't used exclusively for combat are:
  • Flowers of Rest
  • Timeless Jewel
  • Flying Carpet
  • Eye of the Moon
  • Dragonfang Necklace
  • Crystal Ball
  • Ancient Telescope

I've already started working on the last two, meaning that Enhanced Peer should be enabled in the next release. I should be able to finish the Flowers of Rest too. I don't see myself finishing the Dragonfang Necklace until I get the Hire logic in place, since they go hand-in-hand. The Eye of the Moon is going to wait until I start implementing optional rules, so that will likely be one of the last to be finished.

Just to be complete, here is the list of the unfinished "combat-only" treasures:
  • Alchemist's Mixture (potion)
  • Potion of Energy (potion)
  • Gripping Dust (potion)
  • Ointment of Bite (potion)
  • Reflecting Grease (potion)
  • Oil of Poison (potion)
  • Penetrating Grease (potion)
  • Ointment of Steel (potion)
  • Girtle of Energy
  • Elusive Cloak
  • Battle Bracelets
  • Bejeweled Dwarf Vest
  • Golden Crown
  • Golden Arm Band

I'm just noticing that most of those are potions! Once I start on the combat piece, these treasures will have meaning, and I'll be able to write code to support them.

After I finish the last several treasures in the first list (except maybe one), I'll do another release, and begin working on the combat portion of the game (finally).

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Version 0.2 Released

Lots of changes in this release, primarily focused on fixing things that were broken in the last release. Thanks again to all those of you that gave me bug lists, and corrected me where I was wrong! Here's what's new:
  • Java 1.5 bug that prevented spell selection is fixed - those of you that had trouble with this should be able to choose a spellcaster now.
  • Fixed logic to disallow actions in caves after using sunlight phases
  • Horses inactivate in caves (the move logic was already there so you couldn't take advantage of a horse in a cave, but now the act of inactivating the horse is there too)
  • More logic built into the inventory interface to prevent multiple weapons or similar armor types from being activated at once.
  • Updated the chit discovery logic a bit, to better handle chits that are face down
  • Fixed the handling of discovering a Site Card versus a Site Chit
  • Now supports spying on Hidden Enemies to discover paths/passages and treasure locations.
  • Treasure locations in the discovery panel show how many treasures are left.
  • Added a flag to all treasures that are not yet supported, so its obvious why a particular activated item might not be working. As I add code to support each treasure's behavior, I'll remove this flag. Note that if "UNFINISHED" appears on a treasure, it only means that its full behavior isn't in place. You might find that some aspects of the treasure works as expected. ALL treasures "work" as far as Notoriety, Fame, Gold, and Weight are concerned.
  • Marked all spells as "UNFINISHED" for now
  • All Chit Altering treasures are now supported, which includes the Belt of Strength, Draught of Speed, Garb of Speed
  • Fixed behavior of "Open" script to include Gloves, Boots and Horses when determining whether T strength is available
  • Updated the Trading interface: base prices are shown for all items; both sides of horses and weapons are available; can sell more than one item at a time.