[ian-reeds-games] Tactical Battle 1.11 dev 11
- From: Ian Reed <support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ian-reeds-games@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 01:03:18 -0700
Hi all!
Dev 11 is here and it includes the ability to save and load your game.
Here's the change list:
36 Made it so you can specify "none" as a terrain name in the
terrain_limit= flag to allow movement on tiles with no terrain.
37 Added the ability for players to save and load games.
Though the list looks small the save and load feature was a huge one. I
think players will really enjoy the game more now.
Especially since so many larger maps have been created. It will make
the maps a little easier though as players won't need to beat them in
one sitting.
Zac, the None option for the terrain_limit flag was one of the issues
you brought up in the forum.
Allan, glad to hear about your star trek map updates.
Let me respond to your items. I haven't had time to delve into them yet
because I've been very focused on the saving and loading feature.
You said: 1. The assimulate skill features the "inflicting" of crew
damage, simulating the borg transporting crew members onto the crew to
turn them into scifi goth zombies. Some of the ships on the board are
shuttles and fighters which do not possess crew points. However, the
borg will use the assimulate skill on the crew less units. This kind of
reminds me of austens map where structures were healing units that could
not be healed cause they didn't have the right type of points.
I say: Yeah, sounds like that old bug. I'm pretty sure it was fixed, or
at least severely improved. Does your assimulate skill deal any other
type of damage besides crew? If it does the AI will use it anyway
because it does other damage, or if it causes effects it might do it as
well.
Give me a simplified map that demonstrates the bug in an obvious way and
I'll see if I can figure out why it's happening.
You said: 2. I created some skills to simulate a borgs adaptation
ability. It would gradulally increase weapon damage and shield strength.
However, when the adaption points are reached for the new skills to be
used, the borg will not use it. Do I need to find an ai flag that will
trick it into useing the adaptations, or should there be some kind of
flag that makes a certain skill be used the moment it is available? The
borg is so buff already, it isn't necessary, but still, it would be true
to the borg, as it were.
I say: I'd need to know more about the skill. I'll have a look at it in
a bit.
For now you could try the ai_heal flag. A long term solution is for me
to let you prioritize how the AI uses the skills.
Carlos has asked about that in the past. The current AI always favors
certain types of skills over others.
I think the order of priority is something like:
summons, heals, uncurses, buffs, curses, tile curses, unbuffs, attacks.
This works ok for basic scenarios but obviously there are situations
where re-prioritizing would be helpful.
You said: 3. I noticed that when a person uses the period and slash
keys, among others, to get from unit to unit, that it does so in the
order the units were placed on the map. Was this just an arbitrary
thing, or is this something that someone might want to control later on
? Not sure if this is an error so to speak, but it was interesting. I
ended up takeing out the dreadnaughts and then placing them in a more
logical order, instead of jumping back and forth with no rhyme nor reason.
I say: It is arbitrary. The order you place them is the order they are
saved in the map file and thus the order they get loaded into the in
memory lists and my code just moves through the list in order when you
use those hot keys.
It is very interesting to note how it can be controlled though. I'm not
sure if there's a better way for me to let people control that.
Re-ordering the lines in the map file is probably easier than deleting
all the units in the map editor and then replacing them.
Craig said: Regarding multiplayer, as much as it would be cool, I feel
as if it would add a huge new dimension to things. Maps will go from
simply getting around AI challenges to trying to keep things either
evenly balanced or in some way fun for both players. Not necessarily a
bad thing, but it would involve whole new map packs needing to be
written as well as the code.
I say: You're right. Almost none of the existing maps would be valid
for multiplayer.
People would need to start choosing whether their maps are intended for
a single player campaign or for an evenly matched multiplayer experience.
As you say, not a bad thing, but good to be aware of. I think you're
also pointing out that multiplayer is a huge feature and possibly larger
than some of the near term AI improvements. I agree.
Craig said: Which model would we want for multiplayer: A single server
somewhere where people connect and challenge each other or look for
random opponents, or a person to person connection where you type in the
IP of another player to connect to directly? The second is the one that
was requested in the original feature request, but there's definite
bonuses to having a central place for everyone to connect. Something to
think about.
I say: I'm leaning more toward a central server at the moment.
My current thoughts are that a central server allows an easy way for
players to find other people to play with.
It also gets around much of the yuckiness with port forwarding and
firewalls that can hinder direct connections.
Additionally it is the form of network programming I am more familiar with.
Allan, interesting to note you prefer the single player experience. I
think you've said it before but I'd forgotten.
Multiplayer is a huge feature but I do think a lot of people would enjoy it.
Rest assured I would retain the single player experience and continue
improving it.
I still want this engine or the one that follows it to be a full fledged
RPG maker which is very much a single player experience.
I get pretty excited thinking about that, but one step at a time.
Here's the link for dev 11:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/43120001/Tactical%20Battle%201.11%20dev%2011.zip
Enjoy!
Ian Reed
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