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[Outcast Orange]

I've decided on a topic system.

Topics will be stored globally. (cheap)
There will be a separate class for each "type" of topic.
I have only added "topics_common" so far.
It currently consists of topics such as "the house" and "the rain".

I'll add a new class for each type of topic.
I'm not sure if I'm going to add separate topic classes for characters, locations,
 and stuff already represented by fleshed out classes, but I might have to.

Each character has stored topic subclasses corresponding with the primary topic classes.
This way they can store personal opinions of things, and stuff like that.

I know this is a ton of memory used, but there really isn't much more to add after this, (memory wise)
 and I want a deep system that can support a lot of things.

EDIT:
    - Conversations now use the common topic choices.
    - Characters can change conversation topics.

I tried running it with a pop cap of 10 people.
With so much going on, it crashed more frequently.
I suspect one of the common functions has a flaw in it.

It might also have been caused by there not being enough beds for everyone, but I don't think it was.
If there are not enough beds and someone gets tired,
 they just become unsure of what to do.

[Outcast Orange]

I've added a text file input!

Now you can open up "Common Topics" and type in your own,
 and they will be added to the game, or you can replace the ones already there.

It supports up to 100 common topics,
 which I will fill with anything that seems like someone trapped on a strange island would discuss.

I think I'll do one for names too, but leave the random name generator as an option.

The project is currently in a state of massive debugging, since I need to get rid of those pesky crashes.

[Dave Mongoose]

I would suggest an inheritance tree for the topics:

Generic Topic Class
 - Topic Type 1
 - Topic Type 2
 etc.

Of course, if the topic types don't behave differently then it might be better to just have 'type' as a variable in your topic class.

Memory isn't something you should worry about too much - If each string is only stored once (and you use pointers everywhere else you need to refer to it), you probably won't even use one MB: just make sure each guest has a reference to the global topic array, rather than a full copy of the array.

[Outcast Orange]

They don't have a copy of the list, but their own list with one item each that corresponds with the primary list.

Common Topics are anything that all the islanders will know of and discuss often.

The file currently holds this:

Code: [Select]

the house
the rain
escaping
searching the house
the island
going home
how they arrived
the fog
BREAK
Those will all appear in game as conversation topics.
The characters will have their own list of values which correspond to the topic list,
 allowing them to save opinions and other data.

[Org]

change rain to weather.
More generalized.

[Outcast Orange]

Maybe it only rains on this island always?
I love rainy settings.

----------------------------------------------

Anyways, I'm very excited to report my recent success.
There are now four text files in the game folder.

The first one is "Common Topics".

There is also a "Names M" and a "Names F".
The game feeds off of these for random names.

Finally, there is a file called "House".
You can modify the layout of the house, add your own rooms, and connect them all together.
You can specify the significance of each room with an integer, and whether or not someone can claim it as a bedroom.

Now that this thing is "interactive" (barely), I will clean it up and post it online.
I still have to fix that crash though, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

I'd appreciate any additions to my names lists, as I just grabbed a few dozen off the top of my head.

[Outcast Orange]

Okay, so I've finally found the crash, and it's fixed.
One value was capable of equating to zero, causing rand()% to lose its cool.

The game ran with 50 people in the house,
 for five minutes, without a crash.

I am very enthused.
This project has been really fun to program so far, and I hope there is interest.

When I get back to Cloud Scream there will be so many changes made.
I'll definitely tackle saving and loading convenience, and put a ton of options in the RAWs.
Is that what text files are usually called in this case?
Doesn't RAW refer to something more specific?

[Org]

Can people kill each other, and run away, later the corpse is found and causes a mystery investigation within the house?  Maybe soon?

[Outcast Orange]

I will definitely add that in.
That will be awesome.

Not soon though.

I have to get the conversation mechanics working to support that sort of thing.

I'll probably be adding "on the fly" conversation topic generation,
 and giving people opinions and stuffs.

Also, fleeing and "safe area detection" need in soon.

[Outcast Orange]

I think a major step forward would be to give characters an inventory,
 and have them carry something around.
Some characters will randomly be "thieves" and attempt to take things from sleeping characters.
Thieves will be created later on by giving characters a low "lawful" value.

I've added the ability for characters to ask others to leave the room,
 and they do this whenever they want to sleep and someone is in the room with them.

Next I'm going to give them the ability to lock the rooms.
Eventually I will add in proper portal locks and keys,
 but for now they will just be able to lock any room they want to sleep in.

[Org]

Lowest Lawful values should be murderers.

[Outcast Orange]

Yes, but you have to weigh other things.
There aren't people that break the law just because,
 people do what they want, and the law only gets in the way of lawful people.
You would still need a person with issues for murder to happen.

[Org]

Maybe a Sanity value?
Less sane. more willing they are to be crazy.

[Outcast Orange]

I agree with the sanity thing.
I think it will be a combination of factors,
 including desensitization and depression.
Hehe, that means if this ever got really deep
 people could slowly turn murderer
 by being exposed to lots of violence and hard times.

I've skipped the cheap method, and I'm going all out with the locks and doors.
There is now a connection class, which keeps track of values relating to doors.
Later on I can see doors being locked, jammed, broken, hidden, etcetera.

[magikarcher]

Intoxication. It could be an example of dynamic status effects. Depending on the substance and how much is consumed and individual tolerance levels it could have different effects.