Talk:StendhalDesign
What happens if you get a pig, it gets killed, you buy another , it gets killed, and so on, and then u have no more money... you are stuck, maybe should be removed from game? - steve
Interesting question, maybe there should be another way of making money although slower. --MiguelAngelBlanchLardin 11:57, 22 Feb 2005 (PST)
Ragnar wrote:
Make sheeps out of pigs. People *did* drive pigs into the woodlands, to eat acorns, but never far away from the village. Besides, I like sheep. Call me Wallace. I will say animals for now, as I can't say if you're still free to decide, or even willing... ;-)
I see: pig, sheep, cow, horse... animal :) A pig is an animal and it is not abstract, let's grow pigs by now, just as a tribute to Acorn.
I would make weapons and armour expensive. Too expensive to buy under normal conditions, that is: No way by just selling animals. Weapons should be "made" by the character, that is, available for free. Selection: * Axe (entirely of wood, as in the ancient tales of slavian lore) * Staff (*the* proverbial herders staff, yes!) * Sling (call me David) Instead of "healing potions", let there be "bandages" in the shop. Wounds heal one point per bandage over night. Also have herbs available, that can also be collected in the woodlands near the wolves cave. Make that heal one point additionally. In the wolves cave, there could lie the remnants of some hunter or knight, that is, serious equipment, that can be sold or used.
Let's make them expensive or let's make several of them and make several class of armors.
It would be nice to expand later our game concept by adding new zones and so new quests and new tasks. Don't think about Stendhal as a closed game.
The animals could: - have a tendency to wander away (or at least, stray), as long as there's no wolf around - wander away a bit directly away from the character, if beaten by a stick (to make them go this or that way) - have a tendency to follow the biggest animal of the herd (so it usually is enough to make the biggest one go some way) - have a tendency to get nearer to the character, if a wolf can be seen, but is not approaching the animal directly - run away from any wolf, once at least one wolf is attacking it "have a tendency" means "usually not while the character is moving, but more often while grazing"
Ok, it seems a good AI pattern.
But let's start small, let's play with one Pig and we later add several animal under control of the same person.
If we have a wolf: Recolour it, and name it "shepards dog" (yeah, Gromit, in example), make it "bite" animals, which makes them go nearer to the shepard. It must be bought, of course, and perhaps grow as well. Wolves should not be attacking the character, until really pressed, AND outnumbering the character by at least 2:1. Thus, character + dog = 2, and that means 4 wolves at least. Otherwise, they should just be chasing the animals, whereas two wolves are needed to hunt down a grown animal (one for holding fast, one to do the kill), and only one wolf for a small animal. Running animals (including dog) and running wolves should be 50% faster than the character! Small animals should be still 25% faster than the character, but that may not be enough against wolves... :( Two wolves are needed to attack a character, one to hold it at its leg (no need to show this, only have one "fixed" near to the character), and one to jump at the character. Movement -50% for the character. Once the character is down, wounds or a kill can happen. Three wolves make "two hold, one jump", which shoud lower the defence, and make movement impossible. Perhaps "bloody hunting" should not happen regularily (only perhaps when "season" is "winter", but that needs more work on graphics... :-) Perhaps a more tactical "chasing" game instead is more fun.
I plan to implement a very simple RP combat rules.
I perhaps base my work on S6S game, that is very simple and very clean.
Roleplaying?
You said the "character" should gain XP for "Roleplaying". Actually, characters don't roleplay, but Players do.
While this is a single-player game, ignore XP. Once it is multiplayer, the Player should gain XP for Roleplaying.
The Player can then use the XP to:
- "buff up" his character
- have better equipment
This may only happen when a new character is created. It is important Players cannot do this in midgame!
Deal: 1 XP =
50 coins, or
one point of atk more
or one point defense more
or whatever.
Therefore, *remove* the XP-attrib from the character, and add it to the player.
MiguelAngelBlanchLardin 13:00, 4 Mar 2005 (PST)
In Stendhal I talk of Player as Character in the same way. You ARE your character. The XP attribute is just something to measure progress, if you just regards is to new players where is the point?
End of discussion... ;-)
I will honour the agreement we made: You simply complete the game as you like (that is, I will never ask for changes, but only add, where you ask for it). Then, afterwards, I take a copy of the finished game, add "alternate version" to its name, and then change the game-rules (and any elements that must be made to fit the new rules) as I think. After that, we compare the results, by asking the players which of the games they like more, or what should be taken from both, or what should not be implemented at all. Result: The best of both, and we don't hinder our creative processes.