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:

*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!)

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.

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.