HUZZAH! Thank you, CMJ! This new system sounds like it will be awesome!
Are Clan Halls going to be Structures too, by chance?
(Edit: Oh! Maniak asked this already too! Ha!)Okay folks, it's time to rewrite the dwellings system. We're going to replace it with a Structures system, that'll be a lot more flexible and will let you add much more detail than you could previously. In addition to implementing the vast majority of your suggestions in Buddleia's thread, Currently there are two Big Differences between the new system and the current system that aren't detailed in that thread.
The first change is a third level of location precision. Whereas before we had:
-Map Square
--House
---Room
Now, we'll have:
-Map Square
--Structure
---Room
----Page
What are Pages useful for? Two examples.
Let's say you have a room with a desk and a grandfather clock. The desk and grandfather clock are Pages, with their own descriptions, that the player can explore by clicking a nav link. In the current system, to put in this level of detail, the clock and desk would have to be Rooms of their own - they'd have to have doors, and chat rooms, and be built with carpentry and masonry kits, which doesn't really make sense. Here are the chat options for a Page:
1. Unique (this Page has its own chat).
2. Room (this Page shows chat from the Room it's in)
3. Disabled (no Chat)
Similarly, Pages can be shown in nav links or be hidden, according to the whims of the building owner.
Second example. Text adventures! There's no bloody reason at all to have the effects of "EXAMINE MOOSE HEAD" take you to an entirely different room, when Pages will make much more sense. This way, we get rid of the cognitive disconnect that happens when the program thinks you're moving to a different room, and the player (and building owner!) think you're staying in the same room and looking at something.
And speaking of text adventures, that brings us nicely to the second Big Change, which is Structure Programming. Without having to learn any code, you'll be able to set up events and experiences that happen to players based on criteria you choose, including a new system of Structure Prefs - data unique to player, structure, room and page, that building owners can change depending on whatever criteria they like. This is very powerful, but the easiest way to think of it is as though it were an invisible Memento, one that represented something that happened to you or something that you did, rather than something that you own. FOR EXAMPLE:
Player enters a room.
Your program - which you made via a simple point-and-click interface inside the room, no coding required - checks a pref that you called "howmanytimesentered".
If the pref is less than ten, then the program increments it by one.
If the pref is ten or more, then the program appends the following text to the room description:
That's how powerful this new system is going to be - Sheila's will be a Structure, eBoy's will be a Structure, and we'll be able to easily add detail any time we like.
*froths with excitement*
*or maybe that's just rabies*
Oh my. Exciting!
Does likely means more RP spaces, such as in restaurants, doesn't it?
And a chat page in the entrance of the PSK? And people could rent a private room in the PSK?
And clan halls could get a banter/RP space?
Thank you and GOOD LUCK!
*Throws confetti*
HUZZAH! Thank you, CMJ! This new system sounds like it will be awesome!
Are Clan Halls going to be Structures too, by chance? (Edit: Oh! Maniak asked this already too! Ha!)
*Throws confetti*
HUZZAH! Thank you, CMJ! This new system sounds like it will be awesome!
Are Clan Halls going to be Structures too, by chance? (Edit: Oh! Maniak asked this already too! Ha!)
Good lord! And good luck to you sir, as requested.
I've been slowly (very slowly) trying to design a puzzley type dwelling, not quite a text adventure, but certainly containing elements along those lines. Secret rooms in particular have been crying out for this for ages.
What you're talking about is exactly the areas that I was having problems with. Rooms and secret rooms work, but pages would be better.
I'd considered using memento, but decided against it. What you're talking about is amazing.
Now all I need is more imagination. Short of learning brain surgery and then coming round to give me a brain transplant, there's not much you can do about that. 
Small question, I'm guessing that the navigation options from a page will be the same as those from the main room of which it's a part? Possibly with the link to that page shaded out or some such?
Also, could there be some way to include clan membership in structure prefs? I can imagine some clans wanting to build their own HQ with a public area for everyone, and a private area for clan members only, possibly changing this for special occasions.
Had to say that, even though it makes me feel like somebody's offered me my own tropical island, and I'm grumbling because the six inch wing span butterflies are a slightly different colour of red to my ideal. 
This is going to be amazing.
THIS SOUNDS SO COOL. CMJ, you rock!
ALL OF THIS IS AMAZING
Just, you know, in case that hadn't been said yet. (It has.)
Though, question: will pages be visible through a menu, or will they be hidden through keywords? Or, it sounds like, an option for either or?
Holy shit there are going to be nine database tables for this. :-/
Pages can be set to visible or hidden. When visible, they'll be seen in the nav links - when hidden, the player will have to access them through one of your Conditions.
This all sounds amazing. I'm super excited.
OOOOOOOH MYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOD
this will be so awesome!
i need to donate more!
MAKE IT!!!!
CAVEAT:
This is progressing nicely, now - I've got the basic getter and setter functions for a faster, more stable Places system underway.
However, here's the bad news. The current Dwellings in the game will likely not be compatible with the new system. It's looking like there's not going to be a reliable way to convert them over.
So, we'll handle the changeover like we handled the Dwellings Cataclysm - with a Stamina item giving free building actions for a day. Combined with new "build x5/x10/until exhausted/until the job's done" options, it shouldn't be too painful - and this'll give you a chance to reconfigure your Dwellings and rebuild them with the benefit of the awesome new things right from the start. Which is cool.
This is probably gonna take about a month.
Honestly?
I'm okay with this.
CAVEAT: ....here's the bad news....
This is going to be holy shit levels of awesome.
Is there anything we can do to help? Ideas, typo-hunting, testing, staying out of the way?
And, I'm ok with the rebuilding too. I'd been meaning to reorganise my house ... I assume houses won't just die, that owners will have an option to convert if they want. (Also, I bet there'll be such a huge flurry of everyone building that everywhere except IC will go into breach!)
I am impressed. Very impressed. This is the big stuff!
if our current dwelling aint compatible, we must have free building for a day items for the big ones! oh, and make it a everything-item. masonary, woodcutting and decorating in one so that we dun have to use ciggies all the time and get failboated so much. like me. i am building an Improbable inn at 22, 12, and thanks to Sylvie it has progressed extremely much. I NEED IT TO STAY! FIND A WAY TO SAFELY CONVERT THEM! I DONATED 40 USD JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING THIS! FIIIIIIND A WAAAAAAY!
please.
Artists Dragon, I suggest reading what CavemanJoe wrote before screaming. There will be a Stamina item giving free building actions for a day. From what I know of the cataclysm, people with an effected dwelling were given an extremely powerful Builders Brew and nigh-infinite stamina.
More on topic, will we have the option to export and save our dwelling when the time comes?
I'm dizzy with the prospects of all this coming wonderment!
Question about clan halls as dwellings. Will they still exist on some ethereal plane as they do now? Accessible from other dwellings?
We have a quite a large project in the works - thankfully nothing built yet so the timing is perfect.
Wohoo! This is gonna be awesome!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.....!!!
Almost not daring to ask... Will there be a feature for linking rooms, like different ways leading to the same room? And maybe deleting unwanted rooms? (Sorry, if I missed it in the list)
Even without it, it sounds like a huuuuge improvement!Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.....!
Just wondering, will there still be furniture, complete with stamina buffs? Would this be a separate 'page' or would the same structure as before still be in place?
ALSO, thank you so very, very much!
We'll keep the old Slots concept alongside Pages - but they'll be easier to work with from a coding standpoint (items can belong to houses, now).
CAVEAT:
This is progressing nicely, now - I've got the basic getter and setter functions for a faster, more stable Places system underway.
However, here's the bad news. The current Dwellings in the game will likely not be compatible with the new system. It's looking like there's not going to be a reliable way to convert them over.
So, we'll handle the changeover like we handled the Dwellings Cataclysm - with a Stamina item giving free building actions for a day. Combined with new "build x5/x10/until exhausted/until the job's done" options, it shouldn't be too painful - and this'll give you a chance to reconfigure your Dwellings and rebuild them with the benefit of the awesome new things right from the start. Which is cool.
This is probably gonna take about a month.
The conditions... Time... Weather... Amount of visits....
The page system...
This... This is beautiful CMJ... You are a genius.
Holy crap on toast YES! 
I can make use of every one of the currently planned Structure Programming outputs! Dispense Memento? More like "Here's your room key, sir!" Replace room description and lock doors based on current weather? More like, "Sorry, sir, the Tennis courts and Pool are closed until the storm passes." This is going to be so much fun!
Now....who's going to be the first to finish a simple playable game in their "Structure" with this system when it's released? 
If only there was some random output generator in there....
....also means I should probably just keep my Rocket "under construction" in the meantime. *shrug*
I really must say something here.
In addition to implementing the vast majority of your suggestions in Buddleia's thread, Currently there are two Big Differences between the new system and the current system that aren't detailed in that thread.
The first change is a third level of location precision.
I have some questions:
Should I start saving all my room descriptions?
Should I stop working on the Golf Course?
I don't have money, so can I thank you with a sacrifice?
If so, will my landlord count?
If I run out of time to finish fixing the tent after the switch, will I be able to get another kit to finish it?
Will this change reset the action rankings for building and material gathering?
Will we have rudimentary HP stats? (I suppose I should wait until I can play with existing triggers.) 
Since there's going to be a cataclysm style new start, then this ties rather neatly in with this thread here, wherin is discussed abandoned dwellings and what to do about them.
In particular, what's going to happen to all the great buildings that we'd like to keep, but whose owner has departed? Maybe we could organise some work gangs between us to get the work done or something?
Wow, seems abandoned dwellings were originally brought up over a year ago, too.
Nice thing about perusing old threads is seeing that many ideas have been hashed and rehashed several times.
I really must say something here.
In addition to implementing the vast majority of your suggestions in Buddleia's thread, Currently there are two Big Differences between the new system and the current system that aren't detailed in that thread.
The first change is a third level of location precision.
The actual announcement will come fairly soon, and I'll likely leave the site up in read-only mode, but there are better places to discuss LotGD development.Nah, that's totally understandable. Generally, this was just something I felt should be mentioned - Especially since I've been working "with" the II team recently - And, should it actually get to a point of completeness, I didn't want it to be some sort of nasty surprise.
Handling a community for code that has as much control over a player as the base engine is hardly a simple task, and I recognize this. You'd need someone intimately familiar with the LotGD engine and your own modifications, that you could trust with upload access and had a solid idea of what your vision of the Island is dedicated to handling a community like that. Every module would have to be read over carefully, tested extensively for balance issues, so on and so on and so on... It's a daunting task. I'm sad to hear that it'll be going away, but the truth is that there also wasn't a lot going on there. It was a damnably dead forum. If I could make a request, I would like to see some form of final word on the few modules still waiting for feedback.
As for Structures/Mementos... That's just a personal pride thing. You spend a lot of effort planning out and describing a system and when something really, really similar pops up shortly after, it's hard not to get jealous when people start applauding the other person. (Sounds like an after-school special or something.)
Since there's going to be a cataclysm style new start, then this ties rather neatly in with this thread here, wherin is discussed abandoned dwellings and what to do about them.
In particular, what's going to happen to all the great buildings that we'd like to keep, but whose owner has departed? Maybe we could organise some work gangs between us to get the work done or something?
Well, I can honestly say that I didn't pinch the idea, 'cause... *guilty look left and right* I kinda tl:dr'd that post. 
Will there be an option to link Dwellings?
I love this. Now I can finally get the Watch HQ seem more alive.
Igor in the basement greeting you.
CMOT Dibbler following you around, trying to sell his genuine pork products.
A few questions:
A couple questions, sorry to keep beating this to death: Things were less complicated last round of cataclysm. How will you determine how many supporter points to give back for lost secret rooms, because of the price drop? Along the same vein, how do you handle the custom furniture? A simple list of furniture won't suffice anymore.
Mods will be able to handle refunds manually if we don't have an automagical way of doing it.
There won't be refunds. Things like soundproofing and secret-ifying will be turned into Items and given to the dwelling owner for re-use.
Wow. Just now reading this. Impressive array of improvements! If even half of those improvements are put into place, I see a good bit of editing in my future to take advantage of them! Thank you!
I can definitely use the new system to better work through my story arcs and base dwelling now. I'm sure my recent construction efforts won't be terribly inconvenienced by this, especially if given the ability to re-make the dwelling in a day. If not, well, it is just game after all .
Very good luck wished to you, CMJ. I look forward to seeing what you can make of this...
There won't be refunds. Things like soundproofing and secret-ifying will be turned into Items and given to the dwelling owner for re-use.
Same for furniture?
Same for furniture?[/p]There won't be refunds. Things like soundproofing and secret-ifying will be turned into Items and given to the dwelling owner for re-use.
I am not convinced that manual conversion is the only option. What's the obstacle? What part can't be implemented, and why not? Why can't there be a tool that will do a partial conversion of at least the basic tree-structure of current rooms and descriptions?
What can't be converted? Custom furniture? No, we're still going to have the equivalent of slots that will offer stamina boosts. Secret rooms? Okay, they might not have a real equivalent; they might have to go back to being ordinary rooms -- but with all the fancy new facilities we're going to have, in a lot of cases that might be perfectly fine.
It seems to me that owners should be able to choose. One size doesn't fit all. Some owners will be delighted to start over, planning anew! For others, even an imperfect conversion tool that only copies over whatever can be copied would be a godsend.
If such a tool exists, I will use it to preserve places like The Abandoned Waystation.
...though, lacking it, I will still preserve them. It'll take me longer.
There won't be refunds. Things like soundproofing and secret-ifying will be turned into Items and given to the dwelling owner for re-use.
There won't be refunds. Things like soundproofing and secret-ifying will be turned into Items and given to the dwelling owner for re-use.
I have a sixty plus room maze with endings... >_> If you'd like to do that for me, I'd be forever grateful. Foreverever...
First, some statistics. As of last night, we had 814 dwellings. That includes 68 empty plots, 156 one-room dwellings, 112 with two rooms, 93 with three rooms. Those numbers add up to 429, so over half of the dwellings are pretty simple.
There's also a very long tail. 31 dwellings have more than 50 rooms. Nine of them have over 100 rooms. Dunbernarding, at 342 rooms and counting, is almost large enough to have its own gravity! ... and even if you take the Bingo Hall out of the mix, the average number of rooms is 9.2 rooms per building.
One size does not fit all.
I think owners should be given a choice. Something like this...
Option 1: "No, please, there's too much! (Or I don't have the time to deal this right now! Or some other reason.) Anyway, I like my place the way it is. Just copy it over as is, the best you can, give me the secret-ifying items and stuff, then I'll add back in anything you couldn't get, maybe even throw in a few of those fancy touches, and we'll call it square."
Option 2: "Wow! Urban redevelopment here I come! I've been wanting to scrap everything and redo the place for ages. I have huge plans! Give me one of those god-like infinite-stamina-day gadgets for, hm... for... okay, let's say, one for each 50 rooms in my current dwelling, the items for soundproofing and secret rooms and such, and a readable record of what I've got now, and just let me at 'em!"
Option 3: "This is all very exciting, and yes, I'd like to rebuild from scratch -- but I want to take it slow. Do a bit, think about it, do a bit more, explore the full potential. Give me Option 2, but I'd rather take my stamina bonus in builders' brews instead, so I can spread the work out."
If Option 1 is available, then I will be able to use it to preserve those abandoned but wonderful dwellings.
For the... Three people who've seen the interior of my dwelling, it's almost entirely designed for this system. It's a single-room shack with over 100 rooms in it. Of these, only two are actually places you can go. And one is locked, only there for flavour. Everything else is a description of an object in the room. You can actually shuffle through the drawers on my tool box.
It's because Beeps keeps it locked, lol. It's the billboard between IC and NH, if I'm not mistaken.
I like Sessine's idea of the options. I could totally use Option 2 since I only have a finite number of rooms, some of which will probably be replaced with Pages this time around.
One size does not fit all.
One size does not fit all.
Yeah. It's close enough to NH that I've been paranoid about having slews of rookies hanging out in my dwelling, since there's no way to remove them in the current system. Until recently, most of the rooms were unfinished, as well. However, with it now having all but a few areas filled in, I think it's about ready to be opened up.
One size does not fit all.
We'll have some way of partially automating the transfer - but that's a long way off, yet.
Current dev status:
Tables designed. Independent tables for places, rooms, pages, settings of above, build jobs, doors, programs, userprefs.
Get and set functions done.
Programs will be made using metal and a new skill, page text using Decorating.
You can now take a land claim stake and put in in the map.
Doors are no longer linked to rooms. They cost 10 wood to make. The cost of making a room has been reduced to 60 wood to compensate. Doors have their own build job type. A door can link any two rooms together.
Room nav titles are stored separately from room titles...
using metal and a new skill
I'm still sitting here drooling over this.
One small request, as well as handing out mementos, is it possible to take them back again? So you can require people to 'use' objects in various ways?
Doors are no longer linked to rooms. They cost 10 wood to make. The cost of making a room has been reduced to 60 wood to compensate. Doors have their own build job type. A door can link any two rooms together.
No, you won't be able to take back a Memento.
Quinn, for those purposes, write a Program instead of using a Door.
Just had to take a break in order to diagnose yet ANOTHER FUCKING BROKEN LAPTOP. 
Emily's machine had its screen go all wonky, and after dismantling and prodding with my multimeter, I spent fifty bucks on a new screen when I'm only 80% certain that that's the problem. Bastard fucking things breaking all the fucking time.
Back to work.
Oh, lord, CMJ. You have my great sympathy for computer problems. It's a pretty impressive record of disasters minor and major.
Oh, and, THANK YOU for telling us all this - it really really makes us much much happier to know what's going on and how things are going.
Generally I post "what I'm doing" type stuff to Twitter, because it stops me from spending too much time telling people what I'm working on (as opposed to working).
Generally I post "what I'm doing" type stuff to Twitter, because it stops me from spending too much time telling people what I'm working on (as opposed to working).
Generally I post "what I'm doing" type stuff to Twitter, because it stops me from spending too much time telling people what I'm working on (as opposed to working).
... {fantastically fun stuff} ...
this is ridiculously ambitious
... {fantastically fun stuff} ...
this is ridiculously ambitious
Oh, quite possibly.
Update: on my dev machine, you can now complete the initial build job and get yourself an undecorated one-room dwelling.
one checks that the player is at full health
(Thinking about it, multiple programs would make things one HELL of a lot simpler for you in coding wouldn't they.)
Is it ok to be slightly terrified and excited at the same time?
Mostly excited?
-Rosemoo
Progress report:
Working on the updated Decorate function. New version compares new description with old, and adjusts Decoration Job cost accordingly. Minor changes and additions are priced proportionally. Typo fixes should be very cheap.
Okay, that works. Rooms can now be decorated.
Before too long I'll probably set up a public test server for this...
EDIT: Before then, I'll have to stop naming my test areas things like "Wanky Shit Room."
Wow just wow.... I cannot even begin to imagine the programming nightmare this must be, but I thank you a thousand time over for this. (Mostly because I have wanted to literally create almost an entire world in my Dwelling... I have too many ideas.)
Two questions though,
1. Can the system be used to make Combat encounters?
2. Can you make things permanent for just one person? (Like someone unlocks a door with a "key" and can enter, even if they leave the dwelling, but someone who hasn't found or used the "key" cannot until they do so?)
Wow just wow.... I cannot even begin to imagine the programming nightmare this must be, but I thank you a thousand time over for this. (Mostly because I have wanted to literally create almost an entire world in my Dwelling... I have too many ideas.)
Two questions though,
1. Can the system be used to make Combat encounters?
2. Can you make things permanent for just one person? (Like someone unlocks a door with a "key" and can enter, even if they leave the dwelling, but someone who hasn't found or used the "key" cannot until they do so?)
Wow just wow.... I cannot even begin to imagine the programming nightmare this must be, but I thank you a thousand time over for this. (Mostly because I have wanted to literally create almost an entire world in my Dwelling... I have too many ideas.)
Two questions though,
1. Can the system be used to make Combat encounters?
2. Can you make things permanent for just one person? (Like someone unlocks a door with a "key" and can enter, even if they leave the dwelling, but someone who hasn't found or used the "key" cannot until they do so?)
Progress:
Decoration is done, both inside and out. Both work beautifully.
I quite like the new Job system, too. All of the Jobs in the Place (decoration, expansion, addition - all the jobs) are now shown on one page, with full details of what you need for each job, and options to take materials from the stock or use your own. All jobs have x1, x5, x10 and until-it's-done-or-I-am options. No need to be in the room you want to help with.
(I'll probably add a "private" option for Jobs that makes them work like in the current system, where you have to be in the Room affected)
Quick before bed:
I've been thinking a bit more about how to handle the changeover, too. Since all the jobs have x1/x5/x10/to-completion iteration options, rebuilding will be a hell of a lot easier than it was around the Cataclysm, but we can make it easier still.
Right now I'm thinking we'll recreate all the Rooms and their descriptions automatically, but leave the Doors up to the player (after putting the required Wood in their house stores), so they can shuffle things around if they like. All the Furniture from the house will go into the Place's central storage too, so you can rearrange beds and such if you want. So basically, rather than your house being knocked the fuck down, it'll be shaken the fuck up and you'll be invited to put things back the way they were or change them to fit the new system as you please.
I'm pretty sure that someone already asked about this, but could there be something like a permissions system? To elaborate, could there be a way to allow some people into certain areas of a dwelling while keeping others out? Every time I run out of stamina or almost die while traveling and don't have any more saved days I always come across places where I'm not allowed to enter. I'm assuming that this applies to everybody and there is no way to let a certain, hand-picked few into your house. It would be interesting to make a remote, secret clan headquarters outside of an outpost.
What you describe already exists, keys can do exactly what you want and more.
Keys allow you to lock your dwelling, but the dwelling owner can give keys to whomever, allowing them entry. You can lock the entire dwelling, or lock certain parts of it.
I love the updates, keep em coming.
Update: I can now make Pages! Working on decorating and handling them soon - maybe I should sort out the admin menu for each room/page/place...
Just a heads up - Gmail seems to be marking forum notifications from here as spam. So if you, like me, thought that it's been rather quiet the last few days, check your spam folder.
Just a heads up - Gmail seems to be marking forum notifications from here as spam. So if you, like me, thought that it's been rather quiet the last few days, check your spam folder.
Just a heads up - Gmail seems to be marking forum notifications from here as spam. So if you, like me, thought that it's been rather quiet the last few days, check your spam folder.
Trowa, you don't need a Twitter account to actually see his tweets. Just hit the Twitter link at the top of every Island page and you'll see our beloved caveman ramble about cats, coding, and whatnot.
Progress:
Beginning the Keybearer Menu. So far, rooms can have their chat areas toggled between single/dual/disabled...
So, here's how we're gonna handle obtaining metal and components with which to build Machines.
Folks who were around in S1 will remember the Scrapyard in CC404. I built a new Scrapyard to go with ScrapBots (still languishing in my "one day, when I make it more fun" drawer). I really, really dig the mechanic of rummaging around in a big pile of scrap, dragging out a whole load of shite that may or may not be useful someday, until you find the part you actually need.
Tying that into Places will make the mechanic a bit more social, 'cause by the time you've found the part you want, you've gotten a shitload of other irrelevant crap as well. One man's irrelevant crap is another's vital component, so you'll be able to go around to your mates' houses and give them the bits you don't need.
So, you'll buy a Scrapyard Day Pass (for ciggies or supporter points, I haven't figured out which yet) and then grab as much Scrap as you can carry. Some components will be ready to use, others may require assembly or repair before they work properly, with a higher "Tinkering" Stamina action level resulting in more frequent success.
This will be fun.
Progress: Keybearer menu done for Pages, with the following options:
Show/Hide Nav Link
Show/Hide Room Description when Page Description is shown
Next, I should probably sort out a key system, since my permissions checking functions all just return true right now. But honestly I'm more tempted to do the Slots and Items stuff.
Not being here first time around for scrapbots but this sounds totally amazing.
I want to say awesome but that word doesn't quite cover it - instead I'll settle for a phrase 'panting with the excitement of anticipation'
Nope, doesn't quite cut it either.
Hot diggidy doo dang day!
Ooh, that feels better.
I just had a thought about conversion to the Places system. Conversion has been worrying me. Instead of shaking all of the buildings up, all at once, all over the Island, and then trying to deal with the fallout all at once... do the conversion as planned, yes. Create the shaken-up versions, that's important.
But: also have a 'useold' setting for the new Places. As part of the conversion, set this to True. When the 'useold' setting is True, people walking into the dwelling from the map will be shunted over to the old Dwelling. It will work exactly as it did before.
Create a 'now I'm ready!' function , which will show up in an old Dwelling for the owner -- and will work in any Dwelling for someone appointed as a dwelling-admin (can we make that a module_pref, please?). This function will simply turn that setting to False, thus making the new Place the one that people walk into.
What this will do:
1. It will keep the trains running until I have time to make a Trains system that will work in Places. The current Trains, as written now, will shatter so bad... a million tiny shards. We need some sort of stopgap to get us through.
2. It will let owners rework their dwellings after they have their plans ready, and the real-world time to plunge into the job. This will result in better Places and happier owners.
3. It will let me get a work-list of Places that have not yet been moved over, so that I can run around when I get the time, converting abandoned Dwellings and bringing them over into the new system -- without having the urgency to do both that and re-writing Trains as emergency panic jobs.
Yay! Thanks for all the work you are putting into this!
Small request. The `c tag for centre justification doesn't work in dwellings anymore. It won't let you enter this. It stopped working at the same time that the different typefaces were removed, so I'm guessing it was part of that. Was this because it screws something up? If not, would it be possible to have that back?
I said before that what I really needed was imagination. Well all this new dwelling stuff has been truly inspirational, and I've been putting a lot of my spare time into writing a dwelling full of puzzles. What has been especially helpful is the way I keep thinking 'I wonder if there's some way I can do this', then going and looking at your ToDo list and finding something that does exactly this. I'm really enjoying this new dwellings module, and it hasn't even arrived yet.
So, you'll buy a Scrapyard Day Pass (for ciggies or supporter points, I haven't figured out which yet) and then grab as much Scrap as you can carry.
Ok.. Sorry, I know this has been talked about profusely, but I read the entire thread and am still a bit confused. I'm rather new to the whole building thing. My dwelling has maybe.... 35 rooms, perhaps. With the switch... Would they all be demolished automatically so I have to start from scratch? Or would I have to demolish rooms myself so I can start over with the new system? Or, from a more recent post, will they stay there, but just be hanging in space until I build doors between them...? Quite frankly, any of those options is fine with me, I'd just like to know if I need to copy and paste all my descriptions to a text file.
Also, I agree the scrapyard stuff should be cigs. It sounds so fun! I'm super excited!
We'll figure out the final transition details when we have a system to transition to.
Current status:
The core of the system is almost complete. Current extra features:
* All build jobs on one page, with x5/x10/xetc links.
* Doors, with which you can build Rooms in circles if that's what tickles yer fancy.
* Pages, with all that that entails.
* Single/Dual/Disabled chat options per room.
Things that need sorting before it works like the old core system:
* Keys
* Sleep Slots
Sleep Slots
Sleep Slots
Progress: Working on the Places Inventory system and Slots system, now.
All the hot girls, put your hands up and say "Om Shanti Om..."
You can now move Items from Slot to Slot in Rooms. Next up, making those items usable. Dhoom Machale.
Or I might tinker with the latest part of the Watcher story...
Working on the Slots system, which will let us be a lot more flexible with adding different sorts of things to Furniture slots in the future.
Salaam e Ishq, Ishq, Ishq, Salaam e Ishq.
Oh hey, would you look at that - the beds are a separate module, now.
Listening to this. Not a Bollywood song this time, honest. I can now sleep in a bed! I have to rewrite the New Day Menu module a bit, which is honestly probably gonna be a complete bitch, but I'm getting closer every day.
No more ghosts!
So, an ETA? Well, it's gonna take, I'd say, three weeks at least until the core Places stuff is ready - that is to say, until we can replace the entire current Dwellings system with Places. Pages programming... well, that's gonna take a while.
There will be a test server for the core system, so we can fix any bugs before the system goes live.
Also, this is a beautiful song. It's trance, mind, so you might just wanna skip the first minute and a half. Or, there's always the acoustic version.
A bit of elaboration on how the new Slots work:
A Slot contains an Item. That Item has a pref that says "Hey mister Slot, when the player clicks on me, just go to this page. Dead easy." So we can put pretty much what we want into Slots, with the idea that any furniture item will be a separate module and Item, as simple or as complicated as we like, without the need to make any changes to Places to create new furniture items.
(Players won't be able to sleep on the floor any more. Sorry.)
(actually no I'm not)
Wait, really? So empty sleep spots will kind of just sit there and mock you? Well, I guess it is motivation to buy all sorts of awesome custom furniture for a dwelling (or should I say a Place, now?).
Man I am so excited for this whole thing. I can't wait to see what people do with the ability to do Goddamn Anything.
"I'm sorry, Ms Watcher, m'am, I can't go kill monsters right now, I'm busy designing and building my new house."
THUMP
.......
Coming soon on Network television! Home Improvement, starring everybody's favorite DIY'er, Grim Talon!
Okay, I rewrote all our current Beds to work in the new system, and fiddled with the Chronospheres module so that it once again works properly.
Keys system, now...
EDIT: Ah yes, I remember now why I was putting this off. I was putting this off because it's boring as hell.
There are only 22 DeadBolt keys on the entire Island. I think I can quite safely leave those out...
Keys.
D:
Keys.
They're so boring, you guys. So, so very boring to work on.
Keys.
D:
Keys.
They're so boring, you guys. So, so very boring to work on.
There are only 22 DeadBolt keys on the entire Island. I think I can quite safely leave those out...
I'd gone through similar thought processes to Trowa, I can't really think of any use for them. Even his idea of having an officers meeting. and then letting everyone see it would be easier to do by having a seperate room and then just leaving it unlocked.
I can't help suspecting that a goodly portion of those 22 that have been used were used because they were there and people wanted to play with all the toys that there are.
I certainly wouldn't miss them.
Ok.. Sorry, I know this has been talked about profusely, but I read the entire thread and am still a bit confused. I'm rather new to the whole building thing. My dwelling has maybe.... 35 rooms, perhaps. With the switch... Would they all be demolished automatically so I have to start from scratch? Or would I have to demolish rooms myself so I can start over with the new system? Or, from a more recent post, will they stay there, but just be hanging in space until I build doors between them...? Quite frankly, any of those options is fine with me, I'd just like to know if I need to copy and paste all my descriptions to a text file.
Also, I agree the scrapyard stuff should be cigs. It sounds so fun! I'm super excited!
Ok.. Sorry, I know this has been talked about profusely, but I read the entire thread and am still a bit confused. I'm rather new to the whole building thing. My dwelling has maybe.... 35 rooms, perhaps. With the switch... Would they all be demolished automatically so I have to start from scratch? Or would I have to demolish rooms myself so I can start over with the new system? Or, from a more recent post, will they stay there, but just be hanging in space until I build doors between them...? Quite frankly, any of those options is fine with me, I'd just like to know if I need to copy and paste all my descriptions to a text file.
Also, I agree the scrapyard stuff should be cigs. It sounds so fun! I'm super excited!
This new dwelling system looks FANTASTIC. It's a shame I hardly ever get to play anymore.
Two (or three, sort of) suggestions/questions. Not being a coder myself, I have no idea if these are even feasible.
-Could dwellings be made to give out Mementos? I recently rewrote Syd's map shack (since that was shite anyway) into a Machine of Death testing center, and I'd LOVE to be able to let people walk away with an actual prediction card. (For those unfamiliar with the Machine of Death, it's the concept of CMJ's WCG rival, Ryan North. Check it out here) This also has the potential to make stores available, with a sort of "currency," in essence trading mementos with the dwelling.
-Could certain pages be made to output random choices from a list of options? This was my other potential solution to the MoD center. A list of options to put in a part of, or the whole, page?
-The third, kind of a mash up between the two, would be giving out one random memento from a "bank" of possible mementos.
Just thoughts... feel free to shoot them down at any time.
~Syd
This new dwelling system looks FANTASTIC. It's a shame I hardly ever get to play anymore.
Two (or three, sort of) suggestions/questions. Not being a coder myself, I have no idea if these are even feasible.
-Could dwellings be made to give out Mementos? [...]
-Could certain pages be made to output random choices from a list of options? [...]
-The third, kind of a mash up between the two, would be giving out one random memento from a "bank" of possible mementos. [...]
~Syd
Ah. How silly of me. Upon rereading the first post, I do indeed see that. Well, my other two ideas still stand, I think. Random text and random mementos.
It looks like since the memento-dispensing function is lined up, the random stuff shouldn't be too hard to implement... I think...
Oh yeah, I just realized that if it isn't already in mind, a "remove memento X" function to match the "dispense memento X" could be very useful, though I don't know if there's a way to prevent misuse... like maybe a permission from the memento's creator? Idunno.
I'll throw this out there - I'd be willing to give making a converter a go. The main thing that this would need is a solid layout of what the database structure is for the new system - Once it's done, obviously. But I've done database output to various formats and converting data from one table to another for work, and I've got some experience converting a semi-complex PHP object into a collection of database entries from my work on the Shift Engine.
If this meant creating something to output a computer-readable backup of the data so that the tables can be wiped and replaced with the new ones, that would work too, since I could focus on doing the output now, and have that somewhat ready when the new system rolls in to simply make the other half.
I'll throw this out there - I'd be willing to give making a converter a go. The main thing that this would need is a solid layout of what the database structure is for the new system - Once it's done, obviously. But I've done database output to various formats and converting data from one table to another for work, and I've got some experience converting a semi-complex PHP object into a collection of database entries from my work on the Shift Engine.
If this meant creating something to output a computer-readable backup of the data so that the tables can be wiped and replaced with the new ones, that would work too, since I could focus on doing the output now, and have that somewhat ready when the new system rolls in to simply make the other half.
IMO, Trains would benefit from some downtime to reconsider their impact on the Island -- even their current iteration seems unbalanced to me, and they're a major contributor to how we got to a state of imbalance in the first place. Players (and power players especially) have been very spoiled.
IMO, Trains would benefit from some downtime to reconsider their impact on the Island -- even their current iteration seems unbalanced to me, and they're a major contributor to how we got to a state of imbalance in the first place. Players (and power players especially) have been very spoiled.
Sudden thought: will we be able... to put sleeping spots in Pages?
Sudden thought: will we be able... to put sleeping spots in Pages?
Well darn, there goes that idea...
Also, what is so horrible about keys?
Listening to this. Not a Bollywood song this time, honest.
Okay, the creation of new Keys is done. Now, the locking and unlocking of doors...
...it's really daunting how much there is left to do.
Okay, door locking and keys pretty much done. Now, to make a start on the programming system.
Yeah! The big bad boring bit that you weren't looking forward to is done.
I already massively appreciate the effort that you're putting into this and can't wait. I've been (slowly) writing a whole rather large new dwelling to take advantage of all this, and I've been putting possible new rooms for an old dwelling (the Moonshine Mansions) on hold to wait for it. I know that I'm not the only one.
Just letting you know.
Currently working on the lib files for CONTRAPTIONS and CONTRIVANCES.
Yeah! The big bad boring bit that you weren't looking forward to is done.
I already massively appreciate the effort that you're putting into this and can't wait. I've been (slowly) writing a whole rather large new dwelling to take advantage of all this, and I've been putting possible new rooms for an old dwelling (the Moonshine Mansions) on hold to wait for it. I know that I'm not the only one.
Just letting you know.
Just a quick question on secret rooms and the like and I apologise if I have managed to miss a previous post that has already answered my question, I have looked but may have misread a vital sentence that answers this:
If I have 2 Rooms, A and B for instance and A and B are connected I can make the connection/door between them a secret one, in the Dwellings System, Room A would be visible from Room B. In the Places System would it be hidden from both rooms A and B?
I can work around this by introducing Room C, where Room A has a secret door to Room C and Room B has a secret door to Room C as well. But I was wondering if I would need to buy 2 secret doors and build an extra room to create a secret passage between 2 otherwise accessible rooms.
Soooo looking forward to this... Just had to write a thanks and a keep it up. Truly wish I had time to help... damn RL. 
Just a quick question on secret rooms and the like and I apologise if I have managed to miss a previous post that has already answered my question, I have looked but may have misread a vital sentence that answers this:
If I have 2 Rooms, A and B for instance and A and B are connected I can make the connection/door between them a secret one, in the Dwellings System, Room A would be visible from Room B. In the Places System would it be hidden from both rooms A and B?
I can work around this by introducing Room C, where Room A has a secret door to Room C and Room B has a secret door to Room C as well. But I was wondering if I would need to buy 2 secret doors and build an extra room to create a secret passage between 2 otherwise accessible rooms.
So, secret rooms will be reimbursed? Or simply lost?
Um... neither?
No, no. The ones that supporter points were spent on, which will disappear in the remake. Those will be lost, I'm guessing?
Secret rooms were described as become 'items' later, to be used once the dwelling system has been rewritten, with this new way of secret-ifying (Which is awesome, don't get me wrong, I love it), they'll simply be-- lost?
You'll get the materials you need to recover them, and their descriptions, and it's up to you to decide if you want to stick with them the way they are or if you want to rejigger them.
In the new system, a Secret Room is basically a Room without a door, or with the door hidden, so you can set any trigger event you like using Contraptions and Contrivances. They needn't be triggered by a code word alone - a Memento could open them up, or having enough hitpoints, or having gone and done something else in the dwelling. So when we convert over, you'll get all your Rooms back, including descriptions, but without Doors, and you can arrange 'em as you see fit. You'll have to decide how you want your secret rooms to be accessed.
There's no special treatment for Secret rooms in the new system - everything's just a Room. In fact, all Rooms start off Secret because they start without Doors.
This will all make sense when you get your hands on the interface, I promise...
I think the question is, to put it a bit more bluntly: what about the points we spent on secret rooms before? Tough shit, I guess?
Not complaining- we were paying for the privilege before it became outdated. It's not like we're suddenly not getting our money's worth anymore, I'd think.
I think the question is, to put it a bit more bluntly: what about the points we spent on secret rooms before? Tough shit, I guess?
Not complaining- we were paying for the privilege before it became outdated. It's not like we're suddenly not getting our money's worth anymore, I'd think.
Good lord, no, this is far better. Was simply wondering, is all. For those who have sunk quite a few SP into them (and I've heard of a few), it might be a bit disappointing if they thought they would be saved as items, prior.
Don't worry, I was just curious. This is far, far better.
You paid a hundred SP for a secret room, you got a secret room, months before folks who didn't wanna pay for one.
Don't worry - things like this will come up.
Ideas that we're used to will be replaced with other things. For example, Memento Effects and Secret Rooms will both become part of the same system of Pure Awesomeness. Whereas once we had all these things that were different interfaces, different modules, different experiences - they'll all be part of the same simple mechanism.
Here are a pair of testing Contrivances. These graphics are preliminary, and the finished thing will probably be a bit different:
Those are Contrivances for Commentary Commands and Hitpoints.
To replicate the functionality of a Secret Room inside the new system, you'll do something like this:
Make a new Room, fill out its Description, but don't add a Door.
Obtain a Commentary Commands Contrivance and a Room Redirect Contraption (you'll get one of these for every secret room you had in the old system).
Click on the Commentary Commands Contrivance and edit the list of Commands that the Contrivance can accept.
Click on the Room Redirect Contraption and tell it the room you want to redirect to.
Enter the Contrivances and Contraptions menu of the Room or Page in which you want to listen for the Commentary Command (aye, you can apply this to a Page too if you like! Set it up like this, and your player has to be looking at the bookcase before typing TAKE RED BOOK or whatever - it's extra secret).
You'll be presented with a Logic Grid.
Place the Commentary Commands Contrivance at the top of the Logic Grid.
Place the Room Redirect Contraption at the bottom of the Logic Grid.
All done!
Simple things to remember:
* Contrivances check things, Contraptions do things.
* Contrivances are wooden. Contraptions are metal.
* Flow in the Logic Grid always goes from top to bottom. If two Contrivances are placed side by side, then if either of the checks are successful then the Contraption will trigger (if the Contraption is right below the Contrivances we're talking about - if there are more Contrivances below the top two, then obviously those need to pass okay as well).
* An example of the above reasoning would be to set a secret room to trigger if a key phrase is said OR if the player has a particular Memento (Contrivances side-by-side). Alternatively, require a particular Memento AS WELL AS knowledge of the trigger phrase (Contrivances arranged in a vertical line).
* Contraptions and Contrivances can be re-used. You can take them off the Logic Grid and put them back into the building's Inventory and then use them again for another program.
I really, really can't wait to see what you guys come up with using this stuff.
Also, about Place Prefs:
Place Prefs are data stored about a player, pertaining to your Place (yeah, first it was Dwellings, then it was Buildings, then it was Structures, now it's Places). These are the only new thing about Places that you'll need Supporter Points for.
Lemme think of an example, how you'd go about using these...
Okay, so say you've got a player who's going through your museum, getting deeper and deeper in, admiring all the portrait of long-dead people that you've meticulously described in Pages. Eventually they come across a display cabinet, with some shiny thingy inside that they want. They try to take the shiny thingy, and it makes Bad Things Happen.
To do this, you'd pay your SP's and make a new Place Pref (I'll come up with a better name later) called "Bad Times" with a default value of 0.
When they try to take the shiny thingy (by clicking on a link to a Page, or by typing in TRY TO TAKE SHINY THINGY, however you want to handle that), your Contraption sets the "Bad Times" pref to 1.
In every Page you've made containing a portrait, you've also put a Logic Grid that checks the "Bad Times" pref and, if it's set to 1, shows a different Page instead - and in these Pages, all the portraits look very angry.
Just an example for ya.
Oh, and I should probably clarify:
This will all make a lot more sense with the interface in front of you.
Flow in the Logic Grid always goes from top to bottom. If two Contrivances are placed side by side, then if either of the checks are successful then the Contraption will trigger (if the Contraption is right below the Contrivances we're talking about - if there are more Contrivances below the top two, then obviously those need to pass okay as well).
To do this, you'd pay your SP's and make a new Place Pref (I'll come up with a better name later) called "Bad Times" with a default value of 0.
Will it be possible to link different rooms of different Places together (on the same square or adjacent)?
If not, will it be possible to change the permanent heading of the Place you're in (to denote a different building or area)?
Flow in the Logic Grid always goes from top to bottom. If two Contrivances are placed side by side, then if either of the checks are successful then the Contraption will trigger (if the Contraption is right below the Contrivances we're talking about - if there are more Contrivances below the top two, then obviously those need to pass okay as well).
How long after the system comes out that someone designs a calculator and then a computer out of this computer game?
How long after the system comes out that someone designs a calculator and then a computer out of this computer game?
Flow in the Logic Grid always goes from top to bottom. If two Contrivances are placed side by side, then if either of the checks are successful then the Contraption will trigger (if the Contraption is right below the Contrivances we're talking about - if there are more Contrivances below the top two, then obviously those need to pass okay as well).
How long after the system comes out that someone designs a calculator and then a computer out of this computer game?
How long after the system comes out that someone designs a calculator and then a computer out of this computer game?
I'm going all "SQEEEEEE!" inside now, imagining all the horrible, horrible things we will be able to do with the hapless victims of the Bingo Hall with this.
I swear, that building is going to EAT people. Which reminds me, can we make the exit links disappear? Aww? Pretty please? *grins* I've always wanted to depopulate the island.
To do this, you'd pay your SP's and make a new Place Pref (I'll come up with a better name later) called "Bad Times" with a default value of 0.
I've got the basics for arranging Contrivances on the Logic Grid all sorted.
If I really go for it, knuckle down and stay up late most days this week... I might be able to have something ready for testing on a beta server by next week sometime.
So far I have Contrivances made for checking male and female gender.
The code for working through the Logic Grid and firing or aborting the program is DONE!
Now I'm building the ScrapYard from which you'll be getting these awesome thingies.
The Scrapyard is DONE!
This is all coming together nicely!
So far I have Contrivances made for checking male and female gender.
The code for working through the Logic Grid and firing or aborting the program is DONE!
Now I'm building the ScrapYard from which you'll be getting these awesome thingies.
So far I have Contrivances made for checking male and female gender.
The code for working through the Logic Grid and firing or aborting the program is DONE!
Now I'm building the ScrapYard from which you'll be getting these awesome thingies.
So far I have Contrivances made for checking male and female gender.
The code for working through the Logic Grid and firing or aborting the program is DONE!
Now I'm building the ScrapYard from which you'll be getting these awesome thingies.
Wanna make it rain inside your new Dwelling? You'll be wanting one of these Contraptions, then...
Rain in my dwelling!? Eeee.
Thought of a better name for Place Prefs - Memories.
You pay your SP to enable the memory of the very walls. 1,000 SP lets the walls remember one extra thing about each player.
(yeah, it's expensive - but you can be use one Memory to remember a few different things if you're clever and careful. It's expensive because each Memory is a whole shitload of extra data that needs to be kept track of)
I'm going all "SQEEEEEE!" inside now, imagining all the horrible, horrible things we will be able to do with the hapless victims of the Bingo Hall with this.
I swear, that building is going to EAT people. Which reminds me, can we make the exit links disappear? Aww? Pretty please? *grins* I've always wanted to depopulate the island.
Would you please put in a shared chatspace function between rooms (one or multiple-way)?
Like, say if you wanted paper-thin walls dividing a room, or to speak into an intercom (you'll never know the name, but all colors are mostly intact).
There was me planning on using memories with gay abandon. I'm going to have to be clever and careful.
So memories, I'm guessing that they can store a (non-negative) integer. How big can they get?
I'm going all "SQEEEEEE!" inside now, imagining all the horrible, horrible things we will be able to do with the hapless victims of the Bingo Hall with this.
I swear, that building is going to EAT people. Which reminds me, can we make the exit links disappear? Aww? Pretty please? *grins* I've always wanted to depopulate the island.
Well hate might be too much, severe dislike then.
And I once did explore it completely. All logic seems gone from it.
There are rooms just for the sake off adding more rooms.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but bigger isn't always better.
But I agree, if there is one place which should eat contestants, it is Bingo Hall
Sorry for getting this off-topic.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but bigger isn't always better.
There's a little preview at http://www.improbableisland.com/placesbeta for you - this isn't ready by any means, but it shows at least some of the concepts we're gonna be working with (and proof that I've actually been doing something these past two months).
Either i'm being stupid, or it gets stuck on implant selection. (Seeing as you cannot log in with an old character due to missing text box)
At this time of day, both are about equally possible. mMmNhh. Coffee...
Just to say, I am also having the same problem with Firefox 5, IE 9 and Chrome.
White background.
So, I apologize if this is not the right place to bring this up and whatnot, but pertaining to dwellings and the upcoming semi-cataclysm, I was sort of given a dwelling by an account that no longer exists. I have a master key, and for all intents and purposes, I control it and run the place. However, on the raw data, the "ownedBy" flag is certainly not the same as my own personally built dwelling.
When it comes to rebuild everything, am I just going to have to use whatever bonuses I might have leftover from my own dwelling and whatnot in order to rebuild this one? For that matter, am I still going to have a master-key level control of this place after the conversion, or can it be sorted out via petition ahead of time?
So, I apologize if this is not the right place to bring this up and whatnot, but pertaining to dwellings and the upcoming semi-cataclysm, I was sort of given a dwelling by an account that no longer exists. I have a master key, and for all intents and purposes, I control it and run the place. However, on the raw data, the "ownedBy" flag is certainly not the same as my own personally built dwelling.
When it comes to rebuild everything, am I just going to have to use whatever bonuses I might have leftover from my own dwelling and whatnot in order to rebuild this one? For that matter, am I still going to have a master-key level control of this place after the conversion, or can it be sorted out via petition ahead of time?
So, I apologize if this is not the right place to bring this up and whatnot, but pertaining to dwellings and the upcoming semi-cataclysm, I was sort of given a dwelling by an account that no longer exists. I have a master key, and for all intents and purposes, I control it and run the place. However, on the raw data, the "ownedBy" flag is certainly not the same as my own personally built dwelling.
When it comes to rebuild everything, am I just going to have to use whatever bonuses I might have leftover from my own dwelling and whatnot in order to rebuild this one? For that matter, am I still going to have a master-key level control of this place after the conversion, or can it be sorted out via petition ahead of time?
All right, you'll notice there's a test server up and you'll notice that some things that didn't work this afternoon now do work, and you'll also notice that it's half five in the morning and I'm very tired, so I'm going to bed. 'night all!
This isn't a bug but a suggestion, I'm not quite sure where to put it.
At the moment, doors go from somewhere to somewhere else. For a given room, there's two lists. "Explore Further" and "Return". Would it be possible to just have one list, "Exits"?
Also, could we keep contraptions and contrivances in our storage as well as wood and stone?
I'd like to second the above - if "Returns" is used, I'd recommend it just go back to the most recent room.
Contraptions and Contrivances will be things that you can put in your Place's Inventory, yes.
There's a new Contraption lurking in the Scrapyard - this one shows a selected page when its needs are met.
And another Contraption; this one simply adds a link to a page when its needs are met.
[offtopic]After the rewrite, somebody should make a one/two room dwelling called "Internet" or "Intranet" or "IRC", or possibly slap Server on the end of any one of those, and have a memory for the place that tracks which dwelling somebody came to it from. The idea being a chatroom kinda like the common ground, accessible from multiple dwellings that happen to have computers.
Actually, I think "IRC Server" sounds the best for improbable island, with the enterable part being a lobby for the building, with a possible third room connected to it that's basically an "IRC Cafe", allowing you to access the IRC room from that dwelling, and the actual IRC room not having any doors to it, instead using contraptions and contrivances to handle how you get to that room. Maybe there'd be a fourth, "Staff Only" server room as well.
Wait, I'm getting into way too much bloody detail with this. I should just stop that idea right here.[/offtopic]
Doing a partial rewrite of the Places backend. Some of it is a bit messy and could be laid out more logically; by editing as I go, we should be able to avoid doing this again in the future.
Eliminated the Door Destruction menu, 'cause there are better ways we can hide unneeded Rooms (via Contraption, probably).
Added a "Kick out players" menu.
Fixed commentary-related bugs that only showed up when the game was installed on a URL with a / in it...
Eliminated the Door Destruction menu, 'cause there are better ways we can hide unneeded Rooms (via Contraption, probably).
Eliminated the Door Destruction menu, 'cause there are better ways we can hide unneeded Rooms (via Contraption, probably).
Eliminated the Door Destruction menu, 'cause there are better ways we can hide unneeded Rooms (via Contraption, probably).
Eliminated the Door Destruction menu, 'cause there are better ways we can hide unneeded Rooms (via Contraption, probably).
I must confess I'm sorry to see this feature go. It's been one of the high points of the new system for me. It's not just a case of hiding rooms from sight. Being able to destroy a door allows the place-owner to completely re-purpose any room, and easily re-structure the place. Which takes away that "must get the layout right first time" worry when building something complicated, and will allow places to be tweaked and improved after they've been built.
Will this still be possible if doors can no longer be destroyed, and a Contraption is used to hide rooms instead?
I agree. It is not only about hiding rooms, but also being able to adjust your building layout.
I also agree with the above two people. I liked the prospect of being able to adjust the layout of my dwelling if I decided it needed to be done.
Eliminated the Door Destruction menu, 'cause there are better ways we can hide unneeded Rooms (via Contraption, probably).
I must confess I'm sorry to see this feature go. It's been one of the high points of the new system for me. It's not just a case of hiding rooms from sight. Being able to destroy a door allows the place-owner to completely re-purpose any room, and easily re-structure the place. Which takes away that "must get the layout right first time" worry when building something complicated, and will allow places to be tweaked and improved after they've been built.
Will this still be possible if doors can no longer be destroyed, and a Contraption is used to hide rooms instead?
I agree. It is not only about hiding rooms, but also being able to adjust your building layout.
I also agree with the above two people. I liked the prospect of being able to adjust the layout of my dwelling if I decided it needed to be done.
Forthed. Please don't get rid of door destruction. Or, if you must, how about making it a construction action instead - Brick Up Doorway, costing the same as building a door in the first place? That would still have the "Oh, hmm, I need to think about whether to do this or not" feeling, but have the same function of, when completed, deleting the door.
Guys, guys, guys. D'you really think I'd take out such a useful function if I wasn't going to make a better and easier way of accomplishing the same thing?
(like with a door setting for "Hidden" or "Visible" via the Settings menu, and Contraptions to flip between the two modes...)
Guys, guys, guys. D'you really think I'd take out such a useful function if I wasn't going to make a better and easier way of accomplishing the same thing?
(like with a door setting for "Hidden" or "Visible" via the Settings menu, and Contraptions to flip between the two modes...)
I humbly withdraw my complaint and eagerly await the next round of improvements!
This isn't a bug but a suggestion, I'm not quite sure where to put it.
At the moment, doors go from somewhere to somewhere else. For a given room, there's two lists. "Explore Further" and "Return". Would it be possible to just have one list, "Exits"?
Test server updated! No support for the last thing I said, just yet, but you can now edit the link text of your Doors.
you can now edit the link text of your Doors.
There should be an option/contraption to change the link text to the page from different pages. But this is pretty good so far.
Now to finish up the in dwelling recreation of Basic Training.
I'd like one-way doors.
Like a hole in the floor on one floor, and a hole in the ceiling on the floor beneath it? Logically, you could only go through the door once, but not back.
Probably best done via some contraption.. if you came here via room x, close door y.
That'd be a very powerful contraption. A must-have, I think.
Another example I can think of for that contraption:
if you came here via room x, display text y.
(You'll slide down the banister, rather than climbing the stairs.)
(You now recognize painting X as the land-lady.)
(You are certain that vase wasn't there before.)
(The innkeeper looks at you with tired eyes, wanting you to make up your mind already.)
The first statement would be doable with a "If previous room was..." contrivance, and a "Hide Door" contraption, and the second would be doable with the same contrivance above, with a "Show Page" contraption instead.
Test server updated with the ability to customize nav headers (in Room and Page Settings, which really should now just be called Settings).
if you came here via room x, display text y.
I didn't see if anyone has commented on this yet (but might have missed it), so here goes: the current Keys setup makes me sad. I should like very much to give someone multiple Magic Dwelling Powers without having to spend 150 cigs on that one person.
The new Key features are pretty awesome, but they'd be even more awesome if they could do more than one thing at a time.
It would be quite helpful if, on top of the million stamina and 1,000 ciggies, the test items also paid out 10,000 Req, i need it for beds and such. Is this a possibility?
It would be quite helpful if, on top of the million stamina and 1,000 ciggies, the test items also paid out 10,000 Req, i need it for beds and such. Is this a possibility?
The new Key features are pretty awesome, but they'd be even more awesome if they could do more than one thing at a time.
Key costs reduced, build menu tarted up a bit, test items more useful. None of this is on the test server yet.
Working on Place Memories, now...
Memories system all sorted, apart from the items which interact with it.
In my first post I said I thought this'd take about a month. Ha. Haha.
Nearly done, now.
Perhaps I've missed it, but will it also be possible to link a contraption to a room instead of a page?
That certain rooms are only available under certain conditions?
As a simple example:
A swimming pool with separate changing rooms for men and women leading to it?
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but a program i have for comedic effect shows a page whenever midgets walk in the door. I have one male and one female. First of all, the female one, of which I fulfill neither of the contrivances being a male kittymorph is showing up whenever I enter. Secondly, I was wondering if there was any way to make it so that it is only triggered when coming through a specific door (e.g. from the outside) and if I could make it only happen the first time, or only once per newday or something
-edit- also, what happened to floor spaces? will they be put back in or are they leaving?
Also, for as long as the places test items are still the way they are, how about a fresh crate drop on the beta server? I could just round up my own money then. Admittedly, it IS taking away from valuble time that i could be in my home building wonderful new things, but still faster than beating it out of monsters.
Perhaps I've missed it, but will it also be possible to link a contraption to a room instead of a page?
That certain rooms are only available under certain conditions?
Not really a bug, so I'm not posting it in that thread, but I noticed a sore lack of a Back to the Dwelling Entrance feature on the test server. Will that be in the final iteration?
And if not, well... could there be? Or is it not feasible with how the Doors work?
Perhaps I've missed it, but will it also be possible to link a contraption to a room instead of a page?
That certain rooms are only available under certain conditions?
As a simple example:
A swimming pool with separate changing rooms for men and women leading to it?
Not really a bug, so I'm not posting it in that thread, but I noticed a sore lack of a Back to the Dwelling Entrance feature on the test server. Will that be in the final iteration?
And if not, well... could there be? Or is it not feasible with how the Doors work?
New graphics for Contraptions, and a nicer background. That's what I'm working on today.
(for some reason I find it much easier to do graphics work during the day, and coding at night)
(for some reason I find it much easier to do graphics work during the day, and coding at night)
MAJOR UPDATE to the test server! Go check it out!
All currently-standing Places have been erased, for testing of the new stuff. We've got a bunch of new settings available for Places, Rooms, Doors and Pages, we've got the Memories system up and running, and we've got SO MANY new Contraptions and Contrivances for you to play with!
Gonna start on Double Beds tonight; that's our new cuddly/romantic thing for the Island...
Gonna start on Double Beds tonight; that's our new cuddly/romantic thing for the Island...
So as one additional request for a contraption, how about that lovely bit of forest scenery that shows up in Kittania?
So as one additional request for a contraption, how about that lovely bit of forest scenery that shows up in Kittania?
No test server update tonight, maybe tomorrow - it's coming up on five AM, and I'm exhausted.
Things accomplished today:
Core:
Aesthetic and usability spiffing-up of a bunch of menus.
Added correct SP costs to Programs (first one in each Room or Page is free).
Added ability to add more rows and columns to Programs.
Contrivances:
Clan
Weather Condition
Pass Through (for those rare occasions when you just want a row to pass regardless)
Previous Room
Drive Kills ==
Drive Kills
Previous Room
Contraptions:
Warp to Room (thinking of all the ways people could fuck things up with this was fun)
Show Debug Output (even for those without the proper Key)
Hide Current Room Description
Have I mentioned lately how ready I am for this to be finished?
Implemented all the stuff in my previous post, fixed a few bugs, plus Commentary Command support (both exact and partial matches).
Added Contraptions for:
Page Brightness +;
Page Brightness -;
Page Brightness --;
Tree Shadows;
Modified Contraptions for Rain and Heavy Rain so that they no longer affect the page brightness; this resulted in a new "override" switch to timeandweather.php that might come in handy for special effects later.
Oh dear.
I'd better add caching to itemprefs retrieval, or we're gonna have serious performance problems. :-/
Hey, so I dont know if this is where I should ask, but currently I have a master key for a dwelling that I have done pretty much all the building, material collecting and decorating for... I've talked to the dwelling's owner and we've decided that he will send me the builders item in order to rebuild, since I spend all my time there anyway. Thing is, I realized that in redoing the system, all cigs spent on keys will be returned... Will this mean I technically wont have a master key anymore once the system is redone? In this case, I wont be able to rebuild, will I? Is there any way to get the dwelling changed over to me?
If I'm not misunderstanding, I believe all Master Keys have now become Keys of Keys, so you should still have privileges. Lesser keys are refunded.
What I'd like to know is if it's possible, or if it will be possible, to turn in a Key. I had a Master Key to someone's place, but now I think it's best if I don't have the Key of Keys. Will there be a way to get rid of it? It's alright if it's not on the agenda; just wondering.
Is there a control page somewhere for the doors, so you can see what's locked? I'm probably just being stupid, but I can't see one...
Not sure if this is the right space but.... ref Buddleia's thread
Can we have an update on what's done, what's being done and what won't/can't be done?
For me, specifically, will places linking and a clan hall link be done?
Largeish project in the works and these two things will have an effect on the basic framework.
Thanks.
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