BATTLE ENGINE ALITA


Okay!

@p So, i have retail outlets done, it was fun! I tried to model nethacks model for shopping, you buy stuff, you pay for stuff at the counter (or you try to leave without paying, ha!)

@p There will have to be some fun ways to shoplift in the final analysis, right now it just doesn't let you leave without paying.

@p I even was able to implement a simple shopping cart system, so items you pick up leave the store shelf but don't actually appear in your inventory until you pay for them.

@p What else hmn....

@p Now, I have to work on the battle engine. This is sort of a fun diversion, a simple DQ-alike battle engine whereby you fight monsters in caves, etc.

@p It is the main purpose for a mine, but also an important part of gameplay because it controls a lot of NPC interactions. Hopefully, when this is done, the battle engine will feature destructable environments, improvised weaponry, phrase-engine-generated taunts, etc.! All within the context of a text adventure! Really the flexibility the text adventure system is great, I don't have to worry about graphics or animation, and in teh end I can add a huge, cute, dimension to gameplay. Instead, I can hopefully do a lot of mix and match within the phrase engine/autogen/etc. in order to get monsters which all act a little different, give different descriptions (for how they look, behave, etc.) and have different strategies. Another fun experiment for autogen!

@p Vex is really coming together!

@p Badly missing will be monsters (i.e., what you shoot with your plane). Other big things missing are vegetation/rocks/etc., weather systems, a bit better system for ships flying around/ship battle/weapons. Basically, a fair chunk of stuff taking place in the main engine. I also still need to work on some overarching story framework, though that is coming together in my mind right now.

@p Lots to do! Hehehe....

2004-02-21


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