Slowdive's Little Daily Blog

[slowdive]

I hope everyone is doing as well as possible. I have been fortunate to be able to work from home with my job (transmission planner). Schools are closed for the remainder of the year. My daughter and I have started playing through the original campaign of NWN2 (her first time) in parallel. I don't think you can do MP any more so we are just playing on two separate computers next to each other. We are also trying to stay near each other in the story. I am trying a male wood elf ranger/sorcerer build and my daughter is a female halfling monk. I also am using mods for the first time. I am trying the Tchos HD UI, some portrait additions, and the face lift pack. We are almost to high cliff.

[slowdive]

for IBbasic, I am looking to add some additional tactical combat mechanics. I want to add attack and/or defense bonuses based on the number of enemies and companions that are adjacent to the attacker/target. I used to play a game called "Lord's of Conquest" on my c64 that used similar mechanics and it was fun. It makes some of your moves/position on the battlefield more like a chess game. Karl had some square bonuses in combat that I would also like to use for things like ground elevation, coverage, etc. Also, some creatures that have regeneration features will be able to "respawn" on the battlefield unless a PC is stand on their square (like in the goldbox engine for trolls). This also could work for PCs not being able to pop back up (healed after being below 0 hp) if a creature is standing on top of them. I will also look to have some traits that will allow for moving without the "attack of opportunity" triggering (maybe for thief). Position of attacking a creature could provide bonuses such as front +0, side +1, and back +2 (or something like that).

[youngneil1]

These sound like great tactical options. I always enjoy pondering over the best placement on the battlefield. I think the first games of the Battle Isle series had such ruleset, too (support for neighbours for both sides), or my memory tricks me .

[slowdive]

So I am changing directs a little bit as I am now working on IBbasic Jr. for Kids (short diversion from IBbasic, but should help with ideas for IBbasic as well).

Both of my kiddos have been showing some interest in making IBbasic modules, but the learning curve is still steep so I am making a much simpler version for them. I am looking to have fewer options and focus on a more intuitive toolset. So there won't be as much flexibility, but it should be easier for kids to make something. I have the PC version mostly done and I am now working on adding the more complex combat AI and mechanics mentioned before. This will make those encounters more fun for the kiddos .

[youngneil1]

That is a great idea ! It brings you best of both worlds - fun with your kids and quality programming time. Also, I dont think there are many kid friendly rpgs, let alone toolsets.

[slowdive]

I am starting to add a feature to use a weapon in the off-hand. I have equipping the item working so far. I'll need to add the impact to combat (such as one additional attack per round) and traits (like two weapon fighting L1 and L2 to reduce the penalty for using two weapons). I'll also add a lower penalty if the off-hand weapon is "light". I'll need to add the new information text to the party screen to show the different attack info for both hands.

EDIT: I have the combat part working now for two weapon fighting and the party screen info showing MainHand and OffHand info. Just need the traits and "light" weapon parts for the penalty reductions.

OffHand01.PNG (146.9 KiB) Viewed 9040 times

[Dorateen]

I am starting to add a feature to use a weapon in the off-hand.

This is great, slowdive. Duel-wielding with a thief or ranger is something I missed in IceBlink.

[slowdive]

Thanks Dorateen!

Here is the code for checking what the two-weapon fighting penalty/modifier should be depending on having a trait and/or having a light weapon in the off-hand:

Code: Select all

public int CalcPcMeleeTwoWeaponModifier(Player pc, bool isMainHand)
        {
            if (gv.sf.hasTrait(pc, "twoweaponfighting2"))
            {
                if (isMainHand)
                {
                    if (gv.cc.getItemByResRefForInfo(pc.OffHandRefs.resref).isLightWeapon)
                    {
                        return 0;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return -2;
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (gv.cc.getItemByResRefForInfo(pc.OffHandRefs.resref).isLightWeapon)
                    {
                        return 0;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return -2;
                    }
                }
            }
            else if (gv.sf.hasTrait(pc, "twoweaponfighting1"))
            {
                if (isMainHand)
                {
                    if (gv.cc.getItemByResRefForInfo(pc.OffHandRefs.resref).isLightWeapon)
                    {
                        return -2;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return -4;
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (gv.cc.getItemByResRefForInfo(pc.OffHandRefs.resref).isLightWeapon)
                    {
                        return -2;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return -4;
                    }
                }
            }
            else
            {
                if (isMainHand)
                {
                    if (gv.cc.getItemByResRefForInfo(pc.OffHandRefs.resref).isLightWeapon)
                    {
                        return -4;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return -6;
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (gv.cc.getItemByResRefForInfo(pc.OffHandRefs.resref).isLightWeapon)
                    {
                        return -8;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return -10;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

[youngneil1]

Good work there . Dual-wielding was always missing and it's a classic staple of many D&D settings.

[slowdive]

For IBbasic Jr, I needed to create an editor for working on the default PlayerClasses, Races, Effects, Spells, Traits, creatures, and Items. So that is what I have been working on the past few days. I am pretty much done and now I am ready to start creating the needed two-weapon fighting traits and flag any light weapons. I'll also need to go through all the default creatures, items, spells, and traits to create all the default ones for builders to use. Lots of cleaning and organizing ahead