[ian-reeds-games] Scripters
- From: Ian Reed <support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ian-reeds-games@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:16:04 -0700
Hi all!
I've done a lot of thinking about exposing scripting to everyone and
I've changed my mind on how I want to approach it.
Most of the change comes because as I think about exposing the insides
of the game engine to be scripted against I'm faced with a problem.
The problem is that the more I expose the less I can change without
breaking old scripts.
This is coupled with the fact that the insides of the game are more
likely to change than higher level concepts such as flags.
The problem already exists at the existing map creation level but is
less severe than it would be at the scripting level.
Here's a few examples:
1 Remember when I changed from the old point system to the new? People
are still recovering from that one.
2 When the hide_old_points flag existed and then disappeared so you
suddenly got new errors.
3 When I implemented use_sight_range and later replaced it with
use_unseen and use_unexplored.
4 AI changes and bugs that either made your maps more difficult or less
difficult than they were when you originally created them.
Here's an example where scripts would break but flags would not:
1 When I change from always using solid numbers to allowing ranges and
dice rolls this would break almost every script that touched numbers in
the game but all flags would continue to work.
I plan on doing this particular feature before scripting is available,
but more of these script wide breaking features will come up in the future.
Which brings me to my new thoughts on how I can make breaking script
changes when necessary while effecting the fewest number of people.
I'd like to specifically work with people who have programming or
scripting experience and want to implement features for the game.
Obviously it is volunteer. You only work on features you want
implemented and there's no real commitment as you could stop anytime you
get bored with TB.
By doing this I am officially supporting only a few people and I can let
you know when I am making an engine change that will break scripts or
even update scripts myself if you've stopped supporting yours.
We can also have a high level of communication about what things I need
to expose as it will be based on what is needed for you to implement the
features you're working on.
Then these scripts can be packaged with the game so that all map
creators can benefit from them just as though they were features
implemented in the core engine.
A script for doing drain life could take parameters such as how much
life to be drained, just as flags do now.
I will also be sure to give you credit for the scripts you write just as
map creators get credit for their maps.
So, if you're interested in being a scripter please answer these
questions for me:
1 What programming and scripting experience do you have?
2 Do you have a list of features you'd like to script so I can get an
idea of what needs to be exposed in the early versions?
Thanks everyone!
Ian Reed
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