Castle Paradox

msw188 · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1041

After The Mad Cacti mentioned the lack of a plan for better items in my thread on the Help forum, I thought maybe we as a community could start working towards one. So let's use this thread to decide what kinds of options should be available in custom for items. Some of these suggestions are probably already on Bugzilla as feature requests, but it might be nice to have this one thread to discuss this. Here are some of mine:

*Ability to call a script, along with passing it an user-definable argument

*Ability to change the effect of using an item based on tags; an interface like the door-linking menu might be nice, one for each item

*Ability to change equippability based on tags, similar to above

*Ability to be equippable in more than one slot, and having stat gains depend on what slot the item is equipped in

*Ability to disable unequipping (cursed equipment)

*Ability to set, on a per item basis, the maximum amount of any item allowed to the player, although I'm not sure how game should handle the player obtaininga new item after he has hit the max... perhaps each such item would also have an option to set a script to call upon reaching overtaking the max, and if none is selected then the item simply disappears? Then it is the author's job to set up a script to handle what happens.

*Ability to be unable to sell, yet be consumed by use

*Ability to set a default selling price. Actually, a customizable global default percentage for selling price might be nice too (it's 50% right now)

*Of course, I still dream of individualized item menues, but I've already made my dream a reality, haha. That said, if they ever became part of the engine, I would be simultaneously elated and infuriated
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My first completed OHR game, Tales of the New World:
http://castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=161

This website link is for my funk/rock band, Euphonic Brew:
www.euphonicbrew.com

FnrrfYgmSchnish · Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 1:45 pm Post subject:

JSH357 · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 1705

Parent-child relationships between items, or the ability to edit item properties via plotscripting.

Bagne · Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 4:16 pm Post subject:

JSH357 · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 1705

I mean, the ability to make items on the fly that are just like other items but with minor differences (hence, changing properties via scripting).

Bagne · Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 5:53 pm Post subject:

Oo. I like that.
Might that make game-saving a little tricky ... ?
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Moogle1 · Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 6:44 pm Post subject:

They're changing the save format to something more freeform anyway. After that, other improvements will flow like milk and honey.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

Blue Pixel · Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 6:59 pm Post subject:

TMC · Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 6:33 am Post subject:

OK, I'm seeing a clear pattern in certain requests. I've started writing a proposal: 'Plan for improved items' which so far covers improvements to equipment and item use. I think that covers all the relevant requests I've heard so far, aside from cursed equipment which I'm less sure about (maybe a global bitset (as opposed to an Equip Entry), controlled by tag conditions?). Comments soght. But it does seem like it creates too much work when creating multiple Equip Entries that share a lot of data, such as equipping an item in multiple slots, but for the same heroes, and with the same stats and elemental bitsets each time. Adding keys to let you copy and paste this seems pretty awkward.

I'm very interested in being able to modify items with scripts to create unique items.

The Drizzle · **Who is the Drizzle?** Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Posts: 432

* Percentage based stat increases/decreases(e.g. +10% Atk, -20% Def)
* Multiple inventories. This could have a number of good uses but just off the top of my head:
- Giving each character their own inventory
- Setting up some kind of banking system
- Treating treasure chests something like Fallout or Elder Scrolls (you can take items or leave them in different places)
* System to import/export huge lists of items (like we have with text boxes). This would make item copy/pasting and large scale edits much easier.
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Bagne · Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 12:42 pm Post subject:

I was just thinking about plotscripting up a multiple-inventory system for S&S.
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msw188 · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1041

Here are some more thoughts concerning equipment:

*Have equipment changeable AND usable in battle!!!

*Have weapons a bitset to be endowed with an 'attack' element (or elements). This does nothing by itself but...

*Have attacks have a bitset "Use equipped weapon's 'attack' elemental bitsets"

PS: to Bagne (and anyone else interested), the download for Tales 2 at Slime Salad contains the scripts used to make the individualized item menues, if you'd like to see how one person did it (I still do believe I am the first to do so while still using the OHR's battle system)
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My first completed OHR game, Tales of the New World:
http://castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=161

This website link is for my funk/rock band, Euphonic Brew:
www.euphonicbrew.com

Bagne · Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 4:05 am Post subject:

Cool!
May I wade through those included script files?
Which one contains the multiple inventory stuff?
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Working on rain and cloud formation

msw188 · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1041

Of course you can wade all you like. The text file "BetterItemSystem" was my beginning planning document (no scripts, just a basic outline that slowly changed as I began coding). The file "TNW2ItemScripts" has the majority of the scripts relevant to maintaining the individual items, but it's not commented particularly well (or maybe much at all...).

As always, if you have any questions just ask! I'm fairly proud of my system (I remember thinking that I had actually impressed TMC with using levelMP for item usage in battle), but there are lots of quirks that need to be maintained in custom to keep it all running smoothly (treasure chests need to both call a specific script AND give the item that they are supposed to, although this will be deleted from standard inventory by the script). Equipping also needed some thought...

Ah, you'll see.
_________________
My first completed OHR game, Tales of the New World:
http://castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=161

This website link is for my funk/rock band, Euphonic Brew:
www.euphonicbrew.com