Legendary Tales - Refresh

[Grimston]

A master server would not be required to play, it would just allow you to view open and running games. You would be able to configure the master server in the config file.

I'm thinking more and more about having the editor compile the game into an executable, instead of relying on another application to run the games.

Update on the progress of the editor:
Editing of races - Complete
Editing of classes - Need to finish the skill editor, and then add skills to classes, doing that now

Structure Changes:
One difference so far from the original Legendary Tales, is how "built-in" classes and skills work. Instead of being in a check box list, there is a Shared folder for Races, Classes, Skills, Packages

You can add your own files into these folders, either by hand or by the Tools>Export menu

I decided to go this direction as it will allow you to share your definitions across projects.

Packages, is a collection of all sorts of items, NPCs, Items, Scripts, Sounds, Music and will be compressed to save space


What do you think about the Shared data approach, in place of the set built-in system of LT?

[Throndir]

I like the idea of having an executable created rather than importing a game into the client. I remember there was a time when one of the LT members packaged up both LT and their project into a exe which simply extracts the files... but it wasn't really that elegant. At least distributing people's creations becomes a lot easier, rather than having to rely on the extra step of someone needing to install LT then the game.

The way LT does it has it benefits too, since it's nice having all the LT games in one place. Perhaps to get the best of both worlds, a standalone .exe can be generated when publishing a game. The computer wouldn't need to have LT already installed, but if it is installed have the game open-able in there. The title of the game and perhaps the version number. Small little thing, but helps in making things seem organized.

[Grimston]

Good idea, a sort of launcher/manager for the games, goes well with an idea I had, The games will support auto updating, again they will use a config file so you can point to different servers to check. A launcher will make the process easier, background checks for updates.

[Hasabushi]

Well we can always host the "master server" on FWC, since I have tons of webspace for that. Also I like where this is going, you might even consider changing the name as it appears your going to be adding features, that will change how the engine works all together. Just saying. Perhaps doing a complete rewrite of the underlying code or creating a separate project with the same goals would be a good way to go, especially if your seriously considering multiplayer. The original LT is getting a bit up there, perhaps this could be what draws more members to our site. :)

[Grimston]

I was going to host in on my server npipes.net, but we can have more then 1 master server in case one is down.


And you might be right  ;)
I take a look at the online page every now and then and i can see lots of guests looking at this topic then going to make an account.

A name change might be best for it, Its made from scratch, so the only thing that needs to change is the front end items, and a few back end refactors.


I'm thinking about making it only turn based, it would work a lot smoother with multiplayer. and to stop people from ruining the game by going afk, and not making a turn, a time-out would be in place. or maybe some sort of AI to pick-up for the player...


which gives me another idea, AI controlled party members?  :P



Anyway, once I finish the skill and script editor, I will release a copy of the editor, this way you can get a chance to play with it, and create your races, classes and skills.

[Throndir]

Oh that's a genius idea right there. As long as the AI is scriptable of course! :D

[Grimston]

It would have to be, since how else will the AI know which skills to use, can you imagine, in a fight someone goes AFK, and has a spell called Mega Heal. AI comes along, and uses it on the nasty creature which is almost dead and then everyone dies.

mind you that would be funny to see :p

[Hasabushi]

That would be hilarious lol. I have something similar in the game I'm working on Hero's Legends, although the AI is kind of dumb, I'm still learning how to do those type of algorithms lol

[Grimston]

That's always the hardest part, I will probably use something similar to fuzzy logic for the AI and would probably need to add extra properties for the AI to work with. This way I can provide an out of the box AI.

[Hasabushi]

Hey never though of that, you could also make it to where the AI has "plugins" for different actions, I mean for the end user to use not the coder.

[Grimston]

Well now I have made an account again... since I must have gotten lost :p

I will be continuing working on the program soon, I just need to recover from having being punched 7 times to my skull, and get a MRI done to see if anything has happened, I have either a tumor, growth or cysts on my brain, I have been told each of these, so I know have no idea what's actually up there...

I have been thinking on how the AI will function, to make it easier, skills will need to have extra variables set for the AI to read, such as isHeal, isDamage, isTargetable. It will also see if it needs mana of course.

The AI will then workout what it thinks to be the next skill to use, and then raise a event, which you can hook into with the scripting, and decide otherwise if you wish, or you can choose to leave the event data alone, and the internal AI will continue what it thinks is best.

I think this would be better, as you can spend less time on AI, and this will also mean NPC's have an automatic AI system to make the games more dynamic and interesting.

Another idea was to allow "Roles" such as, Healing, Damage, Protection, so the AI will attempt to play that role for you, so you can then have the game allow 4 starting characters, but the player only uses 1 of them, and the AI plays the rest.

Again all planing and ideas what do you think about it?

(On another note, when I was creating my account again I was asked "How many years between each Olympics?" I had no idea, so a quick Google gave me two different answers.... Winter = 2 or Summer = 4? Ended up being 4, just a guess but still... silly question :p )

[Hasabushi]

Well now I have made an account again... since I must have gotten lost :p

That's very odd, I'm not sure what's causing it though it could be the updated version of FastCGI, although that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. For some reason the DB keeps gets getting corrupted although the problem is most likely due to all the "hacks" I had to do to get the forums up and running. Won't be a problem with the new ones, so I apologize for any inconvenience up front.

I will be continuing working on the program soon, I just need to recover from having being punched 7 times to my skull, and get a MRI done to see if anything has happened, I have either a tumor, growth or cysts on my brain, I have been told each of these, so I know have no idea what's actually up there...

...I have no idea how to respond to this, except that I wish you the best in those tests.

I have been thinking on how the AI will function, to make it easier, skills will need to have extra variables set for the AI to read, such as isHeal, isDamage, isTargetable. It will also see if it needs mana of course.

The AI will then workout what it thinks to be the next skill to use, and then raise a event, which you can hook into with the scripting, and decide otherwise if you wish, or you can choose to leave the event data alone, and the internal AI will continue what it thinks is best.

I think this would be better, as you can spend less time on AI, and this will also mean NPC's have an automatic AI system to make the games more dynamic and interesting.

Another idea was to allow "Roles" such as, Healing, Damage, Protection, so the AI will attempt to play that role for you, so you can then have the game allow 4 starting characters, but the player only uses 1 of them, and the AI plays the rest.

Again all planing and ideas what do you think about it?

Those are some really good ideas, I think having a plugin AI, would allow a designer to conscript their own AI design by just using simple logic (fuzzy logic) to create their own algorithms. Similar to how the game "life" works. for example you could have flags as "in battle", "under curse", "uses spears", "has head protection" and etc. Then as mentioned above you could assign roles such as buffer, healer, tank, ranged and etc. This would allow for some serious hands on AI creations by other game authors, and I think it would be a major draw to newbie game designers as not being super intimidating.

Think of it you could create an AI that runs when it sees a particular animal or monster, or forgets to cast a spell due to fear or intimidation. Possibilities are limitless :D I think this could be accomplished easily with a switch/case statment (or dictionary/result, if/elif/else) equivalent in python. Although the user would only see a flow chart into which they can drag and drop traits, flaws & roles. :D

(On another note, when I was creating my account again I was asked "How many years between each Olympics?" I had no idea, so a quick Google gave me two different answers.... Winter = 2 or Summer = 4? Ended up being 4, just a guess but still... silly question :p )

Yeah that's the super random question captcha lol

[Grimston]

If its a MySQL Database (which I'm almost certain it is), use PhpMyAdmin, Analyse, Repair, Optimize the database tables. Might fix some of the issues. if not it would probably make it faster either way ;D

In other news, Skill Editor is almost finished, I'm going to leave the "Messages" editor for now, and get the script editor up and running, then implement the automatic updater, and then I'll release a copy for testing, and feedback. It will probably error a lot, I have not added much error handling yet. I tend to leave that till last, and then after I cant see any more, I wrap a nice big error handle around the entire app for anything else.

I hope to have it ready for testing this weekend.

[Hasabushi]

Yeah I've done all the optimizing but it's not inherit to the database itself but how php uses it.

Looking forward to your  programs debut :D

[Throndir]

Make a loud bang on the official LT forums if you can too. I'm thinking of sending an email to past LT people, and see if they're willing to come back and give it a shot again.

Looking forward for this! Spent yesterday trying to find and recover my old project files. This weekend will be the rebirth of my old projects! Wooo.