Profile for spyderbytes
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | spyderbytes |
| Member number | 4180 |
| Title | Shock Trooper |
| Postcount | 200 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| Will save files be compatabile across platforms? in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 18:39
Profile
<rant> We could argue this till we're blue in the face without either of us changing our opinion, but I think Java is overrated by those who claim it's underrated. :) It has its uses, to be sure, but game engines isn't one of them, IMO. And yes, I've programmed it (and at least a half-dozen other languages) professionally in my checkered career. If Java was really as hot as the vocal minority claims, why isn't everyone using it for x-platform development? It's not for a lack of programmers--professionals will learn what they need to land the paying jobs. You could blame some of it on project leads not knowing enough about it to specify it, but a project lead who doesn't do his homework won't be a project lead for long. Yes, there are plenty of options for simultaneous x-platform development, but you know what? This is Jeff's baby, and he has chosen not to use any of them for whatever reason. I could second-guess him if I was so inclined, but it wouldn't accomplish a thing. His living is the one that depends on it, so let him decide how to do it. I'm sure he's well aware he'll sink or swim based on his decisions of what to do and how to do it. :) That's business in the real world. Nothing personal, Nasarius... I guess I've just gotten a bit tired of the Jeff-sniping in the forums he provides as a courtesy to his customers. I find it to be in rather poor taste. Start alt.rec.we.hate.jeff.vogel on USENET or somesuch, if you really feel the need to spout off. That last is not really directed at you, Nasarius... just a general statement to those who seem to get their jollies from Jeff-bashing. Your straw just put too much strain on this camel's back... </rant> -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Will save files be compatabile across platforms? in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 18:39
Profile
<rant> We could argue this till we're blue in the face without either of us changing our opinion, but I think Java is overrated by those who claim it's underrated. :) It has its uses, to be sure, but game engines isn't one of them, IMO. And yes, I've programmed it (and at least a half-dozen other languages) professionally in my checkered career. If Java was really as hot as the vocal minority claims, why isn't everyone using it for x-platform development? It's not for a lack of programmers--professionals will learn what they need to land the paying jobs. You could blame some of it on project leads not knowing enough about it to specify it, but a project lead who doesn't do his homework won't be a project lead for long. Yes, there are plenty of options for simultaneous x-platform development, but you know what? This is Jeff's baby, and he has chosen not to use any of them for whatever reason. I could second-guess him if I was so inclined, but it wouldn't accomplish a thing. His living is the one that depends on it, so let him decide how to do it. I'm sure he's well aware he'll sink or swim based on his decisions of what to do and how to do it. :) That's business in the real world. Nothing personal, Nasarius... I guess I've just gotten a bit tired of the Jeff-sniping in the forums he provides as a courtesy to his customers. I find it to be in rather poor taste. Start alt.rec.we.hate.jeff.vogel on USENET or somesuch, if you really feel the need to spout off. That last is not really directed at you, Nasarius... just a general statement to those who seem to get their jollies from Jeff-bashing. Your straw just put too much strain on this camel's back... </rant> -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Question about Windows beta-testing in Blades of Avernum | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 16:59
Profile
No. See this thread. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 12:58
Profile
This is another thing I'll probably only see in my dreams, but it would be really nice to have a predefined END_TALK state for NPCs, called whenever dialog is exited (whether by "The conversation ends", "That's all for now" or ESC/the Done button). I've run into several situations where it would be beneficial to have an NPC react in some way to the player ending the conversation with them. EDIT: Just figured out a way to "kinda sorta" fake this reliably. Just have the character set a flag when the conversation starts (in a code block attached to the INTRO), then have the START_STATE of the character's script check for that flag being set. The character won't do anything from it's START_STATE until the conversation is over. A predefined state to catch it would still be much nicer, if for no other reason that it would (presumably) catch the conversation end in the current turn, instead of waiting for the next one. It would also be much cleaner... [ Thursday, April 29, 2004 13:12: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 12:58
Profile
This is another thing I'll probably only see in my dreams, but it would be really nice to have a predefined END_TALK state for NPCs, called whenever dialog is exited (whether by "The conversation ends", "That's all for now" or ESC/the Done button). I've run into several situations where it would be beneficial to have an NPC react in some way to the player ending the conversation with them. EDIT: Just figured out a way to "kinda sorta" fake this reliably. Just have the character set a flag when the conversation starts (in a code block attached to the INTRO), then have the START_STATE of the character's script check for that flag being set. The character won't do anything from it's START_STATE until the conversation is over. A predefined state to catch it would still be much nicer, if for no other reason that it would (presumably) catch the conversation end in the current turn, instead of waiting for the next one. It would also be much cleaner... [ Thursday, April 29, 2004 13:12: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Will save files be compatabile across platforms? in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 11:08
Profile
Considering that he's also making extensions to Avernumscript, not to mention bug fixes, and that he said recently Windows beta has been going on for a couple of weeks now, doesn't seem like it's taking him all that long at all. One thing I can pretty well guarantee: he's not taking longer than he needs, just to put off the sheer agony of getting paid by the Windows players. :D -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Will save files be compatabile across platforms? in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Thursday, April 29 2004 11:08
Profile
Considering that he's also making extensions to Avernumscript, not to mention bug fixes, and that he said recently Windows beta has been going on for a couple of weeks now, doesn't seem like it's taking him all that long at all. One thing I can pretty well guarantee: he's not taking longer than he needs, just to put off the sheer agony of getting paid by the Windows players. :D -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| thrown missile special abilities? in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 20:39
Profile
Thanks, Jeff. That's peachy keen! -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| thrown missile special abilities? in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 20:39
Profile
Thanks, Jeff. That's peachy keen! -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| thrown missile special abilities? in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 19:36
Profile
I've made a custom thrown missile that's supposed to be, in effect, a molotov cocktail (that is, small damage from thrown missile impact, big damage from fire). But the special ability for doing extra fire damage only applies to melee weapons or ammunition (NOT thrown missiles). Anyone have any brilliant ideas for some way to "fake" this? I'm coming up blank on this one. The best idea I've had so far is to make my thrown missile be, instead, ammunition for some sort of launcher. But I'd rather not do that if I can avoid it (that's getting a bit too 'hi-tech' for the tone of my scenario). EDIT: Ammunition for a launcher wouldn't really work, either. My launcher would either have to be specified a "bow" or a "crossbow". Meaning my missiles would be ammunition for any old bow or crossbow (which would be totaly nonsensical, given my missiles are shaped totally wrong). Not to mention my custom launcher would also fire either arrows or bolts. Humbug! :( EDIT 2: Anyone see the logic of not allowing thrown missiles to do extra damage like melee weapons and ammunition in the first place? They're essentially just ammunition delivered by hand. Any chance we could talk you into changing this, Jeff? I'd like to be able to come up with new and interesting variants of thrown missiles in just about any scenario I design... [ Wednesday, April 28, 2004 19:56: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| thrown missile special abilities? in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 19:36
Profile
I've made a custom thrown missile that's supposed to be, in effect, a molotov cocktail (that is, small damage from thrown missile impact, big damage from fire). But the special ability for doing extra fire damage only applies to melee weapons or ammunition (NOT thrown missiles). Anyone have any brilliant ideas for some way to "fake" this? I'm coming up blank on this one. The best idea I've had so far is to make my thrown missile be, instead, ammunition for some sort of launcher. But I'd rather not do that if I can avoid it (that's getting a bit too 'hi-tech' for the tone of my scenario). EDIT: Ammunition for a launcher wouldn't really work, either. My launcher would either have to be specified a "bow" or a "crossbow". Meaning my missiles would be ammunition for any old bow or crossbow (which would be totaly nonsensical, given my missiles are shaped totally wrong). Not to mention my custom launcher would also fire either arrows or bolts. Humbug! :( EDIT 2: Anyone see the logic of not allowing thrown missiles to do extra damage like melee weapons and ammunition in the first place? They're essentially just ammunition delivered by hand. Any chance we could talk you into changing this, Jeff? I'd like to be able to come up with new and interesting variants of thrown missiles in just about any scenario I design... [ Wednesday, April 28, 2004 19:56: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Horrors! My crime was seen! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 15:30
Profile
Whenever you're invisible and try to talk to someone, you get a message (via print_str()) telling you that you can't initiate conversation while you're invisible. It was either that or some really complex flag work to have NPCs react to "hearing voices". I tend to use up almost all of my dialog nodes without having two completely different trees for NPCs, based on whether the person addressing them is visible or invisible. :) EDIT: About the special ability bug... kinda makes it pointless for a designer to go to the trouble to designate something property. :rolleyes: I rather hope that hole gets plugged... [ Wednesday, April 28, 2004 15:34: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Horrors! My crime was seen! in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 15:30
Profile
Whenever you're invisible and try to talk to someone, you get a message (via print_str()) telling you that you can't initiate conversation while you're invisible. It was either that or some really complex flag work to have NPCs react to "hearing voices". I tend to use up almost all of my dialog nodes without having two completely different trees for NPCs, based on whether the person addressing them is visible or invisible. :) EDIT: About the special ability bug... kinda makes it pointless for a designer to go to the trouble to designate something property. :rolleyes: I rather hope that hole gets plugged... [ Wednesday, April 28, 2004 15:34: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| how does this work? in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 12:25
Profile
Last night, I added a special encounter rectangle to a town, and the only way I could get it to be recognized was to go back to a saved game before the party had ever entered that town. I just now added another, and simply leaving town and re-entering forces it to be recognized. Same town, same exact save file that last night didn't work, different special encounter rectangle (but actually quite near the one that didn't work). The only difference I can think of is that the one last night covered several squares, and the one today only one? So... someone (presumably Jeff), could you please explain to me the rules governing what forces special encounter rectangles to be reloaded and when? It gets rather frustrating, with my "design it as you need it" style, not having a clue whether what I just added isn't working because I have a bug in it, or because it doesn't init on every town entry. :confused: -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| how does this work? in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 12:25
Profile
Last night, I added a special encounter rectangle to a town, and the only way I could get it to be recognized was to go back to a saved game before the party had ever entered that town. I just now added another, and simply leaving town and re-entering forces it to be recognized. Same town, same exact save file that last night didn't work, different special encounter rectangle (but actually quite near the one that didn't work). The only difference I can think of is that the one last night covered several squares, and the one today only one? So... someone (presumably Jeff), could you please explain to me the rules governing what forces special encounter rectangles to be reloaded and when? It gets rather frustrating, with my "design it as you need it" style, not having a clue whether what I just added isn't working because I have a bug in it, or because it doesn't init on every town entry. :confused: -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 11:10
Profile
Well, there's also adding and removing special encounter rectangles to be accounted for; but again, that's nothing that would ever affect the player. This would be completely for the designer's convenience. EDIT: See this post for more on this subject. After that discovery, I felt the topic deserved its own thread. [ Wednesday, April 28, 2004 12:28: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 11:10
Profile
Well, there's also adding and removing special encounter rectangles to be accounted for; but again, that's nothing that would ever affect the player. This would be completely for the designer's convenience. EDIT: See this post for more on this subject. After that discovery, I felt the topic deserved its own thread. [ Wednesday, April 28, 2004 12:28: Message edited by: spyderbytes ] -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Horrors! My crime was seen! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 11:05
Profile
What's this? Special ability bug? Guess I missed that one... -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Horrors! My crime was seen! in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 11:05
Profile
What's this? Special ability bug? Guess I missed that one... -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Timers in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 11:01
Profile
If I'm understanding you correctly, and you're wanting an event that happens every nth tick, an alternative would be: if ((get_current_tick() % n) == 0) { // do stuff here } (where n is the number of ticks between occurences). Of course, that doesn't allow you to start on a particular tick and then every nth one after that... it just hits every nth one starting with the next multiple of n. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Timers in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 11:01
Profile
If I'm understanding you correctly, and you're wanting an event that happens every nth tick, an alternative would be: if ((get_current_tick() % n) == 0) { // do stuff here } (where n is the number of ticks between occurences). Of course, that doesn't allow you to start on a particular tick and then every nth one after that... it just hits every nth one starting with the next multiple of n. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Horrors! My crime was seen! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 02:15
Profile
I considered that, Drakefyre. It would certainly be easy enough to just call set_items_not_property() when they become invisible. But I couldn't figure out any (good, at least) way to make anything they hadn't gotten to property again when the invisibility wears off. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Horrors! My crime was seen! in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 02:15
Profile
I considered that, Drakefyre. It would certainly be easy enough to just call set_items_not_property() when they become invisible. But I couldn't figure out any (good, at least) way to make anything they hadn't gotten to property again when the invisibility wears off. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 01:31
Profile
Picky, picky, Thuryl! :D Good point I hadn't really thought of (I'm still thinking in designer mode, not player mode :) ). I was thinking more of the decision on what items to actually place and what are unnecessary junk (which can change significantly if you add a slew of new items, I suspect). But the location of a special encounter rectangle (and which scenario state it calls) shouldn't cause any such problems if they're re-inited every time the town is entered. Or not in any way I can see offhand, at least. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |
| Calls that we wish existed in Blades of Avernum | |
|
Shock Trooper
Member # 4180
|
written Wednesday, April 28 2004 01:31
Profile
Picky, picky, Thuryl! :D Good point I hadn't really thought of (I'm still thinking in designer mode, not player mode :) ). I was thinking more of the decision on what items to actually place and what are unnecessary junk (which can change significantly if you add a slew of new items, I suspect). But the location of a special encounter rectangle (and which scenario state it calls) shouldn't cause any such problems if they're re-inited every time the town is entered. Or not in any way I can see offhand, at least. -------------------- -spyderbytes Posts: 200 | Registered: Wednesday, March 31 2004 08:00 |