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[Armok]

coin change suggestion: onton
(from ontology, ontological, utility->utilion photo->photon, etc. )
Default spite: glowing star-like whisp/glowing orb.

[Retropunch]

The 'corruption' could be largely cosmetic - no need to change any tiles in a big way. I really think that'd be preferable to deletion, even if deletion would be hard to come by I can just imagine the thought process of players (me included) that 'I could work on this for ages and then it just get deleted because no one visits it/I can't keep coming back'. Even if this is would be a long time/most players wouldn't suffer from it, it'd still probably prevent people from putting the time in a sort of irrational way. I realize database issues might be a thing though, so perhaps worlds could be 'frozen' somewhere or something?

My idea would be that the monsters were generated randomly - not something that was put specifically into maps, and be quite rare. Possibly it could only be on worlds specified as 'unsafe' by world builders?

As far as a more valuable resource, I just thought 'crystals' or something would be good. They'd basically just be like super-coins, but be a lot more valuable and rare and not be able to be just granted by the world builder. I like Onton instead of coins - anything really.

Although I realize you're trying to keep the story very meta/unobtrusive, I do think there needs to be more cohesive elements. Especially whilst things are starting up, as I think a lot of people will come to it and just not know what to build/why they're building.

[IndigoFenix]

Onton has a nice sound to it, though I don't really like the wisp idea... it should be something you could reasonably expect to find in chests, given as rewards for quests, etc.  Although thinking about it now, it doesn't even have to have a real name or appearance in-game.  It's just a number that can be modified through the script... and the variable that controls it is simply $*.

The first worlds created will probably have a big part in creating a cohesive mythology for the universe overall.  Looking at things as they are now, those worlds will probably be mostly mine.  Or maybe not!

Randomly generated monsters, if put in, would probably involve a whole new RPG-esque 'random encounter' combat system, rather than roaming around, and would be customizable, naturally.  But since a lot of the game is meant to be open-ended, people should be able to make peaceful, non-combat worlds if they so choose, and forcing monsters into them, even when unstable, wouldn't be a good idea.  I want people who prefer casual exploration games to feel as much at home in the BW universe as fans of more 'gamey' games.

My intent is that the deletion process should be slow enough that it would be basically impossible to lose your world if anyone (whether the builder or players) cared at all about its survival.  Perhaps there could be some cosmetic 'warping' effect for a little while before the world is actually destroyed, as a warning (and a hint for travelers to donate to the world's upkeep if they so choose.) But if you are still worried about losing a world, you can simply copy the XML data and save it on your own computer, then upload it again later.

EDIT: I suppose that if a world builder wanted to, they could allow randomly generated elements to be created by the game itself.  Maybe players who felt like creating monsters instead of worlds could make them independently and set them loose on the universe, and anyone who checked the 'allow foreign random encounters' option could let them into their own world at random...

[Retropunch]

Onton has a nice sound to it, though I don't really like the wisp idea... it should be something you could reasonably expect to find in chests, given as rewards for quests, etc.  Although thinking about it now, it doesn't even have to have a real name or appearance in-game.  It's just a number that can be modified through the script... and the variable that controls it is simply $*.

My intent is that the deletion process should be slow enough that it would be basically impossible to lose your world if anyone (whether the builder or players) cared at all about its survival.  Perhaps there could be some cosmetic 'warping' effect for a little while before the world is actually destroyed, as a warning (and a hint for travelers to donate to the world's upkeep if they so choose.) But if you are still worried about losing a world, you can simply copy the XML data and save it on your own computer, then upload it again later.

EDIT: I suppose that if a world builder wanted to, they could allow randomly generated elements to be created by the game itself.  Maybe players who felt like creating monsters instead of worlds could make them independently and set them loose on the universe, and anyone who checked the 'allow foreign random encounters' option could let them into their own world at random...

I like the idea of warping before vanishing completely a lot. I like the idea of a 'allow random monsters' button and completely agree that it should be for the most part peaceful. I'm not a fan of RPG-esque random encounters/battlescreen (ala Final Fantasy) type battles myself, and feel it'd either require a TON of work to get polished, or just generally be not very exciting. I'd prefer some basic sort of zelda type monsters for now.

[IndigoFenix]

Well, there are pluses and minuses to both of the two main possibilities as far as combat systems are concerned.  A Final Fantasy style battle screen would make creating new monsters a lot easier, since you can get away with a single image for their sprite, and custom behavior would be easier to program, but it would require experience, magic, character customization, etc. to make it interesting, which opens up a whole new can of worms.  A Zelda-esque style action game would suit the solo exploration theme better, but interesting enemies would be much more difficult to customize, they would require more animations and programming, and there are a lot of problems with action-based combat in a grid-based game, like weird hitboxes and lack of properly responsive controls.

In any event, a combat system is still some distance away, and quite a bit is possible with the system as it already is.  I plan on Protea having examples of wandering dungeon monsters, a dueling minigame, and a reasonably epic boss fight, using nothing more than the current function system.  The question has less to do with what should be possible and more to do with what should be easy.

[Armok]

Maybe make it slightly more general, random sprites that could be anything rather than combat opponents specifically. like, you could make a trader that wanders around different worlds, or even a world that can only be accessed through a portal that appears randomly and unpredictably in any other world.

[IndigoFenix]

Maybe make it slightly more general, random sprites that could be anything rather than combat opponents specifically. like, you could make a trader that wanders around different worlds, or even a world that can only be accessed through a portal that appears randomly and unpredictably in any other world.

This is a good idea.  I still don't know how best to pull it off but it is definitely a good idea.  No reason why random encounters have to be hostile.

[Isngrim]

this is turning out to be my new favorite browser game...

dont know if this is server end or my comp,but when i try to access a world firefox freezes up

Speaking of zelda style combat,has anyone thought to do a zelda world?

will it be,or is it,possible to add dialogue options?

edit*
its arx's world that keeps crashing it

[Arx]

Good grief. That makes it at least twice that it's bugged out. I'll take a look from my side, but I think IF'll have to do something.

Ed: Bug confirmed. Editing the world works fine, but attempting to load it causes FF to freeze up. I'm thinking memory bug of some kind?

I think Protea is sort of Zelda themed in parts, and dialogue is currently possible with sprites (silent protagonist dialogue right now).

[Isngrim]

thanks for the confirmation Arx

currently working on an idea i had,basically TeS thieves guild meets Zelda.more serious then zelda,less serious then TeS(except maybe Daggerfall),zelda style puzzles focused around getting a thief into castles and out again. just need to find a good tileset.

[IndigoFenix]

Good grief. That makes it at least twice that it's bugged out. I'll take a look from my side, but I think IF'll have to do something.

Ed: Bug confirmed. Editing the world works fine, but attempting to load it causes FF to freeze up. I'm thinking memory bug of some kind?

I think Protea is sort of Zelda themed in parts, and dialogue is currently possible with sprites (silent protagonist dialogue right now).

There was a bug like this earlier, but I thought I fixed it.  Have you done a hard reload?

Is it just your world?   It could be that one of the recent changes to the code might not have been backwards-compatible, hopefully it's something minor.  Check if you're starting point is placed on top of something problematic, touch events trigger on startup where they didn't before.

Conversation is linear now, but dialogue trees are planned.

EDIT: Never mind, I figured out the bug... it's caused by trying to pause (or clicking outside the window) in a room without sound after visiting a room with music playing.  Probably related to the game trying to pause music that doesn't exist.  Shouldn't take too long to fix.

[IndigoFenix]

Room changes can now be run through advanced functions, which is nice for making effects like jumping to different areas.
The pausing crash bug has been fixed, although music does not pause now when you pause the game.  You can, however, change the volume using the plus and minus keys.  I'll work on fixing that up so it works as intended.
A bug related to the direction NPCs face when the room is loaded has been fixed as well.

[IndigoFenix]

The onton system has been partially implemented.  You cannot deposit or withdraw from a world yet, and the draining/deletion system is not yet active, but you can earn points from visitors and view them in the world builder, and ontons collected during gameplay (through functions that add to the $* variable) will be retained by the player.  You get approximately 1 point for every second a visitor spends in your world (provided they exit through a gate), capped at 10 times the amount of time they spent moving.  Points obtained by the player will be withdrawn from the amount they would have given to the world otherwise and are capped at that amount.

[IndigoFenix]

The deposit/withdrawal system is now active.  The display's still a little wonky, but the numbers are working.  You can collect ontons while exploring worlds and then deposit them into your worlds, or withdraw them (by "depositing" a negative amount).  I'll start the world-draining system soon, but I think I'll hold off a bit before actually implementing the deletion system until further experimenting has been done and more people are playing.  Also, the world selector in the universal gate is now sorted based on last time edited; new worlds and recently edited worlds will appear at the top.

[Armok]

maybe for debug, have a popup pop up when you enter a world that would have been deleted? as in, one of the shitty single line default browser ones you should never leve in fro to long, but are fine for this kind of debuging.