It's funny how you let things slide with certain aspects of a design until you notice something for the umpteenth time and then simply say to yourself, "No! That's enough!". I had a few experiences of this over the last two weeks, and so decided to deal with them all. From a couple of subtle area transition changes to GUI text layouts, it's been a hodgepodge of stuff. Couple that with working on another area that players will learn holds more secrets than when (likely) first discovered, and you have earned another blog post with two screenshots. Read on for more info ...
IMPORTANT: Any updates mentioned in this post will not take effect in module one until the v1.41E update.
In the last couple of weeks, I decided to jump back to another area I am working on because it links one section of play to the next. As I say in the intro, it's a key area that players will eventually learn holds a secret. In the process of working with it, I had to look at an area transition and it was while working with this area of code I determined to deal with two niggling points I had seen in my own play testing ...
1. Weather Changes: When moving from an outdoor area to another area, I originally had the timing of the weather changes occur as the game faded to black. This could be noticed if the changes were more significant, and so with a small timing adjustment, these changes are now not seen.
2. Time Changes: Similar to above, but often more noticeable, were if a rest altered the time of day from night to day. The selection would apply the change as the player faded to black, which I was not happy with. Now, the game fades to black before applying the time changes, which means the sudden light changes are not noticeable.
3. NPC Locations: On the back of these two VFX changes, I also looked at the NPC control code, which determined where NPCs will be located as a PC entered a new area. This area of code goes back to some of my very first coding ("Real Life" System) and it had been patched together with various functions throughout the years, until it reached the stage it is today. However, while it currently works for module one, it "fails" for module two. It fails because module two has more areas than module one, and the way I was currently handling area loops was not efficient enough for the number of areas module two comes with. To cut along story short, I repackaged four inefficient functions into two, which use far more efficient loops, as well as now use functions to "hide" creatures if they are not actually encountered anywhere else, but are simply absent. One of these new functions now handles the "de-populating" of NPCs if required (as a PC enters or leaves an area), while the second handles the NPC location upon a PC entering an area. The latter function had been the main issue, as loops had to consider NPCs returning to the PC's current area from any area in the module! The new system is really good, and much simpler for me to keep track of what is happening from area to area now.
NEW INVENTORY GUI TEXT
Another niggling point that I have been meaning to address for as long as I can remember is what an item's text says about its properties. I found that the so-called "unique" properties to be some of the most confusing both to use and/or have attached to an item's description. To make things clearer both for me as a builder, and for players, I edited the 2da files (itempropdef, iprp_spells, iprp_chargecost and spells with new tlk entries) to alter how the text displays when describing item properties. Whether it was simply to remove ambiguous or superfluous text, or even correct an official 2da entry (compare iprp_spells 359 with spells 386), where "Activate Item (Short Range)" would have been more appropriate had there not been two potential options that varied according to a power level. I ended up removing one option completely and reworded three to keep to a standard that I hope players can relate to more easily.
I also found the following frustrating to handle: having an item to be "Single Use", but able to be retried if "first usage" failed, without having the item used and removed from the PC's inventory due to its "single usage" activation. You could either (a) use the "Single Use" property, but code in a check to recreate the "used" item for the PC if it was used "inappropriately", or (b) use the "Unlimited" property, which allowed multiple uses until success, but could give the wrong impression about an item's usage if not clearly explained in it's description that it is actually a single use item!
Anyway, during my 2da rewording exercise, I came across iprp_chargecost entry 7, "0_Charges/Use", which at first glance, is good for nothing! However, it has a similar effect as the "Unlimited_Use" entry with respect to costs, but importantly, its useless description can be edited (as I have done) to now report "(One Use)". i.e. Like the "(Single Use)" equivalent, I now have a version of a 2da entry that allows me to say an item is a single (or one) usage item while allowing the principle of "Unlimited" attempts of that "one usage" without the need to recreate the item due to inappropriate usage! This means, I can now have "One Use" as part of the property description and even on a fail, the item is NOT recreated, meaning such an item will not be lost from a quick slot (if used). This is something I can make better use of moving forward, but I have also edited many campaign items that module one also uses. Basically, items that once read "(Unlimited)", but were actually single use items, will now read "(One Use)". I decided to stick with a subtle difference in wording from repeating "Single Use", as item usage is (in this sense) still subtly different.
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| New Special Properties Text Example |
MODULE TWO INFLUENCES
There were a couple of other minor updates to all campaign code due to the influence of module two:-
1. Spell Book Ownership: Upon testing module two, I noticed a wizard would think their spell book (named as theirs) was not belonging to them. It was a minor glitch due to variables being lost between module change overs, and could easily be "fixed" by the player having their PC read the book again. However, this is not meant to happen, and so I changed the code to detect ownership by the name already recorded with the book rather than check a variable. As names are carried between module, this was a better format to follow, and I made a mental note to watch for similar items.
2. Walk Waypoints: Another area that required a minor code tweak was when I noticed some NPCs of module two disappearing from the area upon a PC arrival - a good result proving that the new area transition NPC checking code mentioned above was working - but nevertheless, not a good result as far as what I needed these particular NPCs to do. It turned out that this was the first time I had used Waypoints for an NPC in a different area from where they are first encountered, which they move to after said initial encounter. It was an easy enough fix, which, as I do not employ area to area waypoints walking in this way, I decided to simply check via the current area the NPC was in and keep the checks separate instead.
NEW SEPIA IMAGES
Something else I have been keen to include starting from module two are DM information sepia images. (I include one without any wording as a screenshot below.) It's something I have been looking at for a while, and being reminded of them after playing a little Pillars of Eternity (which I hasten to add reminds me a lot of my own module in some ways), worked an idea which now works flawlessly. I am considering using it in a couple of ways, subject to what opportunities arise: Firstly, and primarily, they will be used simply as a means of introducing an area or object on importance. The idea being to present the sepia image with text and a voice-over as a kind of introduction to the object in question. My first test area (image without text below) works well as it fades into play, has a voice over and then fades into gameplay again, all the while allowing a player to click out of the event if preferred, and drop out of the image and stop the voice over. It took a bit of experimentation, but I eventually managed to succeed in being able to pull off the event using the conversation facility in full cutscene mode. Secondly, as I was able to employ the conversation facility, it also means I can employ these kind of DM sepia images as interactive events like those I was reminded of in Pillars. It could (if somebody wanted to render more images) even allow the scenes to change like they do in Pillars, but that is not something I intend to do at this time of writing. I just thought it useful that should I ever wish to add player choice text, which altered both outcome (and potential images), then that was still possible too.
THE END RESULTS
All these latest changes have had quite a visual effect to overall gameplay, as well as improve its efficiency again. Thankfully, I was also able to finish my "special" area transition link that started me along this path in the first place, and it works like a charm. Of course, I cannot tell you much about it, as that would be a spoiler! However, I hope you have appreciated the work that went behind something as simple as this piece of module two update.
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| A Secret Way Opens Up! |
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| New DM Information Sepia Images (Without spoiler text.) |
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