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[Toady One]

I've done some minor interface tweaks (ack...  a smoke detector keeps going off briefly in the room through the wall)...  it will now be a lot easier to tell when you have advanced in a skill or attribute, and the high score list is now sensibly colored.

The real work begins tomorrow.  It has only been a week since the last release, so I wouldn't expect a new one this weekend , but I should get through most of the ground/look interface updates.  Unless something strange happens, the next version will be out by March 18th (the beginning of my Spring break).

[Demon]

What sort of skill advance indicator have you cooked up?  Will we be able to look at them after we die yet?

[Toady One]

This is just the very mundane sort -- if you move from say, Novice to Average in Blades skill, then the Combat Advancement indicator in the lower right will appear and flash.  If you click on it, it tells you what you've improved in in the text window.  That way, you can easily know when you've advanced, but you won't miss it as you would if it were just included in the main combat text.

The after-death notification will have to wait until I do the actual high score list improvements, which is a few releases away.  Specifically, this and the next release are fairly easy interface things, then 3d models, then the high score list...

If I'm lucky, I can finish all of that over Spring break.  That would be nice.  4 releases between now and April 1st  He he he.  It's rather unlikely, but I'm willing to try!  Here's the specious time-line:

March 16thish: Pickup Release
March 21st: Corpse P./First Aid Release
March 27th: 3D Models
April 1st: High Scores/Clean Up!

HA HA HA.  No way.  But that's the Plan.  A realistic timeline pushes those forward a bit.

[SkeleTony]

There are skills and attributes in this game?!?

Brb....

[Toady One]

He he.  Just press 'S' or click on the little gray-white spread eagle guy button.  There's lots of information there.  Ugh...  light-headed...  I think the brake cleaner fumes have cause permanent damage...

[Toady One]

All right, so I've finished the manipulation screen and easy pick up.  I also changed how the game changes to full screen mode, but that might just introduce different hassles  :roll:

I just have to add Look Mode and put in some short item/creature descriptions to give Look Mode a point.

I have some last-week-of-the-quarter math duties -- I'll probably be holding a review session for my partial differential equation students on Friday, and it might be a good idea to look at the practice finals the professor posted beforehand.  That means things might be a little slow for the next few days, but I still expect to have the "You Can Pick Things Up Again" Release out around March 16th.

[Demon]

Did you fix that lethal 2% force thing for this one?  Also, did you take exhaustion out?  I thought that if you ran for a while on fastest sprint you should get tired, and the energy meter should decrease...

[Toady One]

I had taken exhaustion out because in previous versions you could start with endurances around 8 which made things unplayable.  Now that all attributes are around 100, I've put it back in.  Movement doesn't cause energy loss right now, but I could stick that in.

I looked at the numbers on the force calc but I still have to figure out what to do about it.  I think everything is coded right, it's just that the numbers are very high to begin with, so 2% can still be lethal.  Also, if you are playing a titan, punching and kicking is more lethal than using any weapon (aside from a titan broad sword) just because of the size of the limbs involved -- and in these cases the force numbers are gigantic against larger opponents, so any percentage will still be lethal.

I think I'll have to refigure the whole way I treat the force slider, so that no matter what you are fighting (from a titan to a rat), a 10% force shot is always made with the intention of doing minimal damage.  It might take a while to get something effective planned, so I wouldn't count on it for this release.  I should probably decrease the overall force numbers immediately thought, which will help a bit.

You will be able to pick things up though.  I think I've fixed all the bugs we used to have with that.  I played a titan and went around collecting norway rat corpses in my left hand.  After I was holding about 20 of them, I attacked some red ogres that eventually broke my grasp...  little rat bodies landed everywhere.

[Demon]

I'd like movement exhaustion not only to practice stamina but also to check out how your meter works.  I've only ever seen them full or empty!

[Toady One]

He he he -- that was a bug!  The meter was always supposed to stay full (because exhaustion was turned off), but sometimes creatures could hit you so hard that it overflowed the check I put on exhaustion and zeroed your energy.  That's all fixed now.

I'll put in movement exhaustion today when I get a chance (I'm at school now, but my friend is making sushi for the departmental tea today, and it should be yummy, so I'm glad I'm at school...).  I'm also going to try to knock off look mode this evening.  Then Saturday I'll do item/creature look mode descriptions and release the new version.  The version after that is corpse processing.  He he he.

[Harlander]

An idea for the force slider: it's difficult to judge the amount of force you apply in numerical terms, but not so hard to guage how much force would, say, injure a creature. The idea I had was to have a selection of verbal descriptions of attack strengths (perhaps ranging from the equivalent of a light slap, through attacks intended to injure but not break bones, up to going with all available force) and perhaps an option to increase/reduce the force after seeing the result of the blow.

Also, I thought some factors might affect the accuracy of the estimation of force - eg a drunk character could accidentally smash someone's skull, etc.

[Toady One]

Yeah, that's how it has to be I guess.  There needs to be a way for the game to determine the force of the strike needed to accomplish the player's stated goals against any given creature.  It will take a while to get this right, because the damage depends on:

1) Size of the target creature part
2) Size of the attacking part/weapon
3) Attributes and skills of the attacker
4) Attack part/item material
5) Materials that make up whatever part the attacker hits

Given all the strange materials that creatures can be made out of, and that the player might not know about the creature he or she is fighting, I guess the force calculated would need to be standardized against a typical opponent unless the player has special knowledge of the creature.  So if a player knows nothing about a fragile monster and wants to slap it lightly, he or she might end up breaking its bones, unless he or she knows better.

Moreover, since creatures have different sized parts, a strike meant to cause light injury could tear off an ear for example.  This isn't a big deal unless the creature has small vital parts, like a very small head.  Then the calculation would have to take this into account, since only a very talented player would know exactly where his or her strike will land.

Even the basics of the new calculation are going to be annoying, so it'll have to wait a few versions.  I have to let it simmer a bit.

[Demon]

Also even if you try to hit someone lightly, you may hit them rather hard.  If they get a really poor dodge role and move into it...  Also, it it possible to roll with impact, by almost dodging?  Like, if youre moving with the swing you can get hurt less?

[Toady One]

That sounds good, having more than just the hit/miss dodge roll I have now.  Which reminds me, sometime I have to stop creatures from blocking sword strikes with their bare hands.  I think they can still do that.

I think the next version will be up tonight, although I have a hangover so it isn't completely certain