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[Fubb]

i got another question, even though everything is still beta, im interested in making my own adventure, i went through your files for the game (like 1.par) and i realized that the par files only had the scene descriptions and not the actions available, did you just make a single file that sees what scene is open and lists all available actions so you could have all scene actions in one place rather then have to go threw every par file to find actions available? Also, how did you actually make the game definitions (eg the core file with the opening for telling what your name is, telling your stats, etc etc, cause i could prolly just build off of that to make a game.

And now getting more complex, would it be possible to to intergrate and ASCII map into a game and add directional controls (n,e,s,w) and conditional events? that way one can actually choose there own adventure!

and ifnally, add a status bar of current health, inventory, etc etc

[Fubb]

im trying to figure out exactly how this works im using Notepad++ right now. In 1.lnk you have 9 lines...

ALWAYS
69
Open the gate
ALWAYS
95
Climb over the gate
ALWAYS
277
Walk along the wall looking for another way in

What do the numbers and ALWAYS correspond too? I assume ALWAYS is so the engine checks the module for this option everytime?

[Bejelith]

Tried it out too, I love the idea so far.
I saw a bit through the code and if I got this right, the "Grue" message is not a bug, just an absence of said paragraph file. No big problem then (Correct me if I'm wrong).

Originally Posted by Fubb

And now getting more complex, would it be possible to to intergrate and ASCII map into a game

I'd love to see that too. Doesn't sound difficult at first, but it sure would get more complex ahead.
One could index each paragraph to a separate map file, forming a random overmap with the rest of the paragraphs.
OR
Place each event to trigger on certain areas of a single overmap.
Just a little thought here Fifth, though I must confess that I'm not much used to C++.

[arete]

Yeah - Fifth's said the Grue thing is an error message :3

tired of being eaten by grues... ruins my hair.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Originally Posted by Fubb

i got another question, even though everything is still beta, im interested in making my own adventure, i went through your files for the game (like 1.par) and i realized that the par files only had the scene descriptions and not the actions available, did you just make a single file that sees what scene is open and lists all available actions so you could have all scene actions in one place rather then have to go threw every par file to find actions available?

Each paragraph has a .LNK file with the available actions. That way I can run the link parser on them without writing in extra code and markup for recognizing what's the paragraph and what's the links.

Also, how did you actually make the game definitions (eg the core file with the opening for telling what your name is, telling your stats, etc etc, cause i could prolly just build off of that to make a game.

The code handling player statistics and initialization is in dragonengine_player.h
If you're asking how to set these values for your module, the player.dat file is used for that.
My comments are after // - but don't belong in the actual file.

20 2 // Base Vigour (HP) + how many D6 rolls to add
3 1 // Base Agility + how many D6 rolls to add
3 1 // Base PSI + how many D6 rolls to add
10 // Starting Gold
Sword // Starting items (however many you like, each must be on a single line)
Leather Armour
Backpack

And now getting more complex, would it be possible to to intergrate and ASCII map into a game and add directional controls (n,e,s,w) and conditional events? that way one can actually choose there own adventure!

I'd love to see that too. Doesn't sound difficult at first, but it sure would get more complex ahead.
One could index each paragraph to a separate map file, forming a random overmap with the rest of the paragraphs.
OR
Place each event to trigger on certain areas of a single overmap.

It's is a possibility for a future branch of the engine.
As far as conditional events go, that is one of the things I intend to add into DE before releasing the final version, along with other tweaks (like the descriptions for each event and changing how the link system works).

and ifnally, add a status bar of current health, inventory, etc etc

It's already there, on top of the screen. player_brief() in dragonengine_player.h

Originally Posted by Fubb

What do the numbers and ALWAYS correspond too? I assume ALWAYS is so the engine checks the module for this option everytime?

As I explained in the original post, each option either has "ALWAYS" or a condition its' availability depends on
The numbers are the name (sans extension) of the paragraph file the engine loads when the player selects the option (again, no spaces).

Originally Posted by Bejelith

Tried it out too, I love the idea so far.
I saw a bit through the code and if I got this right, the "Grue" message is not a bug, just an absence of said paragraph file. No big problem then (Correct me if I'm wrong).

That is correct. No event, no paragraph, no link = Grue.
A paragraph can exist just with LNK, for victories and deaths just with EVT or just with PAR (a paragraph with no LNK sends you to paragraph "0" - which is a "game over" code for the engine)

[The Fifth Horseman]

Two questions.
1. Is "0" acceptable as the "breaker" (ie the "paragraph" which stops the engine's gameplay loop), or would you prefer a different one for that? Any text string is acceptable here, including ones which would be illegal in file names.
2. Do you want to be able to specify the starting paragraph in one of the configuration files?

[The Fifth Horseman]

The breaker now defaults to "!". It can be changed for each module, however. (a temporary measure to allow me to continue working on the engine without having to fix large parts of the current module to work with it; I can leave that override in the final version or remove if nobody needs it)

The starting paragraph can now be specified in the DEM file (Dragon Engine Module) for the module. If there's none, the game will default to "1".

The event/link system still has to be rewritten. Most of the current parsers will be trashed and replaced, while event handling will be moved to separate functions. This will mean that most of the Crypt Of The Vampire .EVT and .LNK files will have to be changed to conform to the new system. This is also why I haven't gone to finish the module yet.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Any suggestions for colors to use for the various texts, messages and statistics?
Do keep in mind I'm limited to the 16-color CGA palette (link), though.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Some basic text colors are in.
Text fade effects are in.
A rudimentary title screen is in.

New event system is partially in - it will need a new condition parser in order to work, though (besides rewriting the event parser).
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/3...gonengine7.png

It's partially based off how the current link system works (but improved), and in turn the new link system will be based off how the new event system works.

[The Fifth Horseman]

New event system is in. Link system to be rewritten shortly.