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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& |
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A New EXPERIENCE/SKILLS system for CF |
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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& |
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This patch represents a "developer's" version of the exp/skills |
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system. While I have now achieved all of the objectives |
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in sections "B" and "C" of the coding proposal (see README.PROPOSAL) |
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and have play-tested as much of the code as possible, I am sure some |
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big bugs must remain. (One for sure is that exp gained when using |
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rod/horn/wand is wrong.) |
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Below this section I outline 1) coding philosophy, 2) gross |
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description of how the code impinges/interacts within older |
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code. 3) designer's notes on the changes to the code. |
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Comments on any area of this coding would be appreciated. Personally, |
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I would like to see the Pow stat and a 2-type system of magic |
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come into being. After all of you check out the code, I would |
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like to discuss enhancements/bug fixes/implementation. For instance, |
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is it too hard to figure out how to use the code! |
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Sometime tomorrow exp2.tar.gz will be available in pub/thomas on |
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ftp.astro.psu.edu. |
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b.t. |
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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& |
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CODE PHILOSOPHY - |
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To move CF over to a new skills-based experience system. In |
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this implementation several kinds of experience will exist. Players |
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will gain experience in each kind of experience (or category) |
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based on their actions in the game. The sum of all the various |
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categories of experience equals the player "score", from which |
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dam, wc, and hp are determined. |
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All experience gaining actions will be through the use of |
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certain skills -- so called "associated skills". Associated skills |
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are each related to 1 kind of experience. Thus, for example, |
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"stealing" is a skill associated with "agility" experience. |
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There exists also "miscellaneous" skills which allow the use |
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of a unique skill, but which are not related to any kind of |
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experience and whose use does not generate experience points. |
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In this implementation, skills and objects are both treated |
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as objects in the inventory of the user. Experience "objects" |
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each represent one kind of experience and are always invisible. |
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Skills objects each represent one kind of skill available in the |
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game. Skills objects may either be invisible or have an associated |
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bitmap (in which case they are "tools"). |
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All experience gaining actions will be through the use of |
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certain skills -- called "associated skills". Associated skills |
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are each related to 1 kind of experience. Thus, for example, |
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"stealing" is a skill associated with "agility" experience. |
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Both Players and NPC's may only use skills which are in their |
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inventories. NPC's do not use experience objects. |
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A breakdown of the properties of skills and exp objects objects is |
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as follows: |
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Object Property NPC use? |
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------ ----------------------------------- ------- |
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Experience Each represents a different kind of NO |
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experience in the game. The object |
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in the player inventory keeps track |
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of player experience in that category. |
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Always is invisible. |
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Skill- Represents a skill the player may YES |
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associated perform. May be either invisible or |
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visible as a "tool". Successful use |
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of this skill generates experience. |
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Experience is allocated to appropriate |
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experience object. |
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Skill- Same as above, *but* this skill is not YES |
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miscell. related to any experience category, and |
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use of this skill generates *no* |
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experience. |
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Linking of associated skills to experience categories is done |
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during initialization of the code (in init()) based on the |
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shared stats of both. |
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How skills and experience categories are named and linked may be |
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changed by editing the skills/experience object archetypes. |
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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& |
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CODE STRUCTURE and IMPLEMENTATION - |
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The most important thing is that I moved most of the code into |
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the server/skills.c and server/skill_util.c files. The skills code |
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is loosely implemented along the lines of the spell code. This is |
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to say that: |
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1. skills use (do_skill) is called from fire(). |
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2. there is a skills[] table similar to spells[]. |
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3. server files skills.c and skill_util.c parallel |
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spell_effect.c and spell_util.c in respective |
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functionallity. |
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Particular notes about the implementation are outlined below. |
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Defines |
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------- |
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#define MAX_EXP_CAT maximum number of exp categories. Must |
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be >= number in the game. Always include |
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the "NULL" exp object - EXP_NONE. |
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#define EXP_NONE (MAX_EXP_CAT - 1) |
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#define NROFSKILLS Equal to the number of elements in the |
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skills[] array. See skillist.h for more |
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info. |
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#define MAX_EXP_IN_OBJ (MAX_EXPERIENCE/MAX_EXP_CAT) the maximum |
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experience that an experience object |
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may have. See fuller description in |
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common/living.c |
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Dump switch |
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----------- |
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How the experience and skills archetypes are configured in |
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any CF session can be seen by using the "-m5" flag. You must have |
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DUMP_SWITCHES defined. |
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Global parameters |
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----------------- |
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Unfortunately, I had to make use of several global parameters. |
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These are: |
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exp_cat[] - the default experience objects |
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nrofexpcat - number of exp categories in the |
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current session. |
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New Flags used by the code |
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-------------------------- |
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FLAG_IS_WOODED -- needed by the woodsman skill. Should be set |
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on all "wooded" terrain (eg woods2, swamp, etc.) |
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FLAG_IS_HILLY -- needed by the mountaineer skill. Should be |
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set on all "mountainous" terrain. |
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FLAG_READY_WEAPON -- Code needs this for both players and monsters, |
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and its use differs for each. |
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FLAG_READY_SKILL -- Code needs this for both players and monsters, |
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and its use differs for each. |
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New structures |
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-------------- |
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A couple of changes to the object structure where made: |
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(following excerpt taken from structs.h) |
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/* These are used by the skills code */ |
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struct obj *chosen_skill; /* the skill chosen to use */ |
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struct obj *exp_obj; /* the exp. obj (category) assoc. w/ this object */ |
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uint32 hide; /* The object is hidden, not invisible */ |
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And the 'skill' structure used by the skills[] table is: |
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typedef struct skill_struct { |
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char *name; /* how to describe it to the player */ |
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short category; /* the experience category to which this skill belongs */ |
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long time; /* How many ticks it takes to use the skill */ |
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long bexp; /* base exp gain for this skill */ |
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float lexp; /* level multiplier of exp gain for using this skill */ |
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short stat1; /* primary stat effecting use of this skill */ |
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short stat2; /* secondary stat for this skill */ |
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short stat3; /* tertiary stat for this skill */ |
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} skill; |
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Interaction of the skills patch with older code |
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----------------------------------------------- |
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Interaction of the skills "patch" with older code is minimized. |
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below is an outline of how skills/exp code impinges on older CF |
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code (did I miss anything here??)): |
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-- in apply() and apply_special() changes were made to allow |
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the use of skill "tools" and to better handle the readying of |
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combat weapons (swords, bows, etc). |
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-- in hit_player() changes made to allow skills control attacking. |
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-- cosmetic changes (as in c_object.c to make pick_up() routine |
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monster friendly) Changes in c_wiz.c, input.c fall into this |
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category. |
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-- new commands are inserted into the code 'skills' and |
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'use_skills'. |
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-- In init() init_new_exp_system() is called. Linking of |
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exp objects/skills is done here. |
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-- add_exp() was rewritten to accommodate changes needed. |
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new add_exp() is called from all same locations as before, |
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plus it is called by do_skill(). See calc_skill_exp() in |
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skills_util.c for details of how experience is calculated |
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in skill use. |
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-- fix_player() changed to allow skills to affect player/monster |
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status. |
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-- skill_attack() is called by hit_player(). |
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-- do_skill() is called from fire(). This is the core routine for |
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the use of skills. Only other way to use skills is by player |
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undertaking an action requiring a skill (a "key" skill). These |
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are currently: |
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(unimplemented skills in parenthesis) |
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action skill(s) auto-readied Notes |
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------ --------------------- ---------------------- |
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combat - hand_weapons, Occurs when player: |
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missile_weapons. 1. readies a weapon |
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2. runs into opponent |
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*and* has ready weapon |
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wand/rod/horn- use magic item Occurs when player zaps |
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approprite item. |
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magic use - spellcasting, Occurs when player |
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(praying) attempts to cast a |
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spell of appropriate nature |
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rod/horn/wand - (magic item use) Occurs when player |
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use uses wand/rod/horn. |
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In all of these cases, skills are used merely as "keys" needed |
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by the player in order to perform an action. For example, if |
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a player doesn't have "spellcasting", they are unable to cast |
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spells. |
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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& |
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DESIGNER'S NOTES - more nitty gritty |
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I have just taken the objectives from the crossfire proposal I |
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made earlier. Each is discussed one-by-one: |
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> Part B - Multiple experience categories |
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> -------- |
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> B1 - Multiple categories in which a player may gain experience. |
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Experience objects owned by the player are not directly |
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viewed. The "skills" command does give some information. |
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> B3 - Each experience category will have an associated stat(s)- |
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There must exist an experience category with Str and Int |
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set. Otherwise, no wc, or sp will be gained after 1st |
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level. Multiple Str, Int experience objects could exist, |
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but will only accelerate player wc, sp gains. |
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> B4 - Wc, hp and dam will become related to the appropriate |
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Right now hp are related to the player "score" which |
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is the total of all player experience. |
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> Part C - Skills |
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> -------- |
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> C1 - Two kinds of skills will be available: "associated" skills |
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Implemented. Seems to work well. |
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> C2 - Skills will be objects in the character inventory. These |
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Implemented. Seems to work well. |
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> C3 - experience will be now only be gained through the use of |
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> skills associated to one of the categories of experience. |
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Implemented. Seems to work well. |
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> C4 - Both NPC and players will be able to use skills. |
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Implemented. Seems to work well. |
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> C5 - Players will be able to learn skills by reading scrolls of |
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Fixed a minor bug in this. |
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General background note on why experience objects change stats from |
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Brian Thomas, Aug 20, 1997: |
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Nope. Stats are used by experience objects to 'tag' the |
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category of experience, ie |
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"physique" exp objects have Str 1 |
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"wisdom" exp object have Wis 1 |
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There shouldnt be an increase in the stat in question. |
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[ now for a bit of explaination, longish...] |
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This setup seems a bit arcane I know..so why this way? |
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Why not hardcode the experience archetypes, eg have type |
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EXP_FIGHTING, EXP_MAGIC, and so on? |
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Well... at the time I did this, there was some debate about |
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what experience system was the best, as some ppl wanted to |
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have only 4 instead of 6 categories, and so on .. (*sigh*). |
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In the attempt to make the experience system as flexible as |
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possible, I coded the experience 'categories' to be defined |
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by the archetypes and using various stats to differentiate |
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them. Properities of the experience categories are set by the |
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stat(s) they have defined. To my knowledge the stats have |
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the following properties: |
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str --> gains experience, from fighting |
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con --> controls hp progression somewhat (if a define |
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in living.c is set). |
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dex --> gains exp from agility skills |
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wis --> gains exp from priest skills, effects grace |
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calculation |
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int --> gain exp from mental skills |
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cha --> gain exp from personality skills |
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pow --> gain exp from wizard skills, effects mana calc. |
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So, If you didnt like the current 6 experience catagories and |
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wanted only 3 for your server, say "fighting" "presense" and |
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"holyness" you could remove all of the old experience archetypes |
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and define the following new ones: |
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Name Properties Explaination |
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fighting Str 1, Con 1, Dex 1 Combines old physique, agility exp |
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presence Pow 1, Cha 1 Combines old magic, personality exp |
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holyness Wis 1 same as old wisdom exp |
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So, every player on this server would only see 3 types of |
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experience to be gained. If you fight or steal something, then |
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experience points go to the "fighting" category. |
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And note, since we DIDNT design an arch with Int 1, there will be |
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NO experience gained for use of mental skills (at least in theory |
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this should be the case. I dont recogmend leaving out a stat, |
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eg you should have a every stat covered between all of your new |
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experience archetypes). |
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Even though I wrote a doc to help explain how to do this, probably |
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nobody but me (or maybe Peter) really is knowledgeable enough (and |
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has the desire) to reconfigure the game experience to suit their |
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individual tastes. This might be some code we could 'simplify' |
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(heh, remove it). |
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