World Map, Items, Dialogue Screen, Script Actions

[BlueSalamander]

Hello! In this update, we'll review the following subjects: world map, selection circles, items, item picking and dropping, dialogue screen, romances, and special script actions.

World map

I've spent a few days drawing a nice world map. Here it is: KotC 2 world map

I have not yet implemented the world-map code but I don't expect it to be very complicated.

A world map is like a standard map except that no creatures or items are shown, there's no fog of war, and there's an icon indicating the party's position. You click on a point of interest and the party is teleported there.

Points of interests can be made available from the start, or they can be set up to be displayed only when the story moves forward (e.g. when the party finds a map or learns about a secret location).

When travelling from point A to point B, the game will record the time spent travelling so that we can keep track of the success and failure of timed quests. Failing a timed quest might trigger a script that would apply to the game world the consequences of missing the deadline.

Although the world map image is huge, please note that I have no plans to do a single huge game that would cover all those locations, a la Baldur's Gate 2 or Divinity Original Sin. My plan is to use the engine to create small modules providing enough experience for three or four character levels. The time required for the creation of a small module could be six months or so.

Selection circles

Whenever the user mouses over a creature, a door, a portcullis, items on the floor, a campfire or an activable area, the game displays the standard rotating selection circle. (Click on a picture to enlarge it)



Activable areas can be anything, like a treasure chest, a lever, a secret button, a wardrobe, a pool, etc. A picture can be associated with the object. For example I've created a lever object which has two positions, up and down. The starting position is down. When you click on the lever, the lever's script is executed. It does something (like raise a portcullis) and then it updates the image associated with the object to reflect the new position of the lever.

Games like Baldur's Gate 2 allowed the user to highlight objects that can be interacted with. I'm not fond of this solution. For example, if there was a hidden button, I would rather keep the button hidden from the player's view entirely. Then, using a script, I would have all the player characters roll for intelligence whenever they walk within two or three squares of the button. If a character succeeds on the check, a dialogue box appears to inform the player, and the button appears on the wall. Characters will get a bonus on their search roll if they are a Rogue, a Dwarf or an Elf.

Items

Our artist has finished the main series of graphic icons for items, weapons and armour. In addition, I did magic glows for all the weapons. See the following screenshots to have a good idea of what items and weapons will look like.



By the way, the 'armour' category will include robes. They will belong in the 'clothing' category rather than the light, medium or heavy armour proficiency category. A standard robe does not provide any armour class bonus but it can be enchanted like other armour items, if it is of masterwork quality.

Speaking of enchantment, I have not yet created the screens/dialogue boxes for crafting. But I've created the buttons that will open those screens, from the inventory screen (see the next section for screenshots of the inventory screen). You will not be able to craft 'anywhere anytime'. It will be a service that clerics, druids and sorcerers can provide, together with healing services. Forging an item will require an ingot while enchanting an item or recharging a wand will require a specific magic gem.

In addition to items, we've completed the main series of creature graphics, here are a few screenshots. I'm also adding a screenshot showing the image preview when loading.



Item picking and dropping

In order to pick items up, you just click on those items. That is, if they are on the floor. The party will automatically move towards the items and pick them up.

Alternatively, move to the square occupied by the items and then open your inventory (shortcut 'I'). The items on the floor will appear in the bottom-right corner of the inventory screen, in the box called 'floor items'. Clicking on an item in that box moves the item from the floor to the character (as in Baldur's Gate).

Clicking the headline of the box ('floor items') moves all of the items from the floor to the character. You can also drop items onto the floor. To do so, just click-and-drag an item from the inventory screen onto the 'Floor items' box.



Also, items can be picked up from a container on the map, like a treasure chest. When you open a container (this is done through a script), the party leader's inventory screen appears and the items found inside the container are displayed in the bottom-right corner, in the same box that is normally used for floor items.

This functionality is available because I have expanded the 'activable object' code to allow it to store a list of items. In the editor, it's easy to place items inside a container.

Dialogue screen

For the dialogue screen I did something very similar to KotC 1. A scroll texture at the top for the NPC's text and a scroll texture at the bottom for the possible dialogue options. It is possible to have any number of dialogue answers. It is also possible to allow the player to type in an answer (as mentioned before in the update about the script editor). That way, we can have standard riddles requiring to type the right answer.



As in adventure games, it is also possible to have situations requiring the selection of a particular item. One of the script actions allows just that. It opens the party's inventory and waits for the user to select an item. Once an item is selected, the rest of the script can check whether the right item was selected. For example, in order to climb up or down (a wall, a well, a passage), the game might require the use of a grappling hook.

Romances and the avatar

Romances between the main character and an NPC seem quite popular in CRPGs like Baldur's Gate 2, so I wanted the game to support that. For it to work, there has to be a main character. However, party-based games do not have a permanent main character.

So I've decided that one of the characters created by the player will be the player's avatar, the main character. It is selected in the party-creation screen and cannot be changed afterwards. This way, whenever NPCs say something personal, it is intended to be addressed to the avatar character. Romance dialogue scripts will have to check that the avatar character is not dead, though.

Review of some special script actions

Any action that can be launched from a script is a script action. Let's review some interesting ones.

- Trading

Trading in KotC 2 will be pretty similar to that of KotC 1. First you click on the dialogue option that starts trading, then the inventory screen opens. The items available for purchase appear on the right side of the screen, in the box that is normally used for party items. Mouse over an item to know its price, right click to get more information. You can also sell an item with a click-and-drag onto the trading box.

- Move to position x,y on map z

That's the standard action to teleport the party from one map to another. It can also be used to move NPCs. In the following screenshots, the party has moved to another map, a cave system.



- Remove party equipment and place it onto square x,y

That's a script action for scenarios where the party is captured and temporarily loses its equipment. I always wanted to do this in KotC but couldn't because of technical limitations. Now it will be possible. Removing all possessions is a good way to create a challenge.

- Perform an ability check or attack roll

That's a script action for testing the success or failure of an action undertaken by one of the party members. The modifiers applying on the check can be displayed in the dialogue screen. Checks are based on the result of a d20 roll, so if you reload, you can get a different result. Simple checks of an ability amount (without d20 roll) can also be made.

- Display bubble speech



I call bubble speech the text given by NPCs directly in the main game view, in games like Baldur's Gate 2, when you are not specifically talking to any NPC. It is now possible to have NPCs do that in KotC 2. That's controlled in the non-combat script of the NPC. Usually, these scripts are used to assign a patrol path to an NPC. By assigning patrol paths to NPCs, we can make the game world of an RPG look less static than it would if all NPCs were immobile.

- Party split

A party split is a situation where one or several party members are separated from the rest of the party for the time of a fight or two. There's a script action to do that. For example, imagine that the party must go down a deep well using a rope or grappling hook.

The script for the well may ask the player to decide who will climb down first. It would then split the party, then start combat between the single character who has gone down and the monsters at the bottom that were waiting for a prey. Once this fight is over, the rest of the party could also be having a fight with other wandering monsters. Then once these two encounters are over, the party would be re-united.

- Decipher message screen

I don't know if you've played the adventure game Broken Sword. But in that game there was a cool mini-game where you were supposed to decipher a coded message. There were two alphabets, the normal one and the coded one. Secret messages were written using the coded alphabet.

To decipher them, you had to find the real letter associated with each coded symbol. So it's a simple substitution cipher based on a randomised alphabet, but it's fun to decode. Essentially, you have to make educated guesses until you win. I say 'educated' because it is expected that some letters, like E and T, would be more frequent than others in any message written in the English language. So you would try replacing the most-frequent symbol with the letter E first. Depending on the message, certain words could also be expected, like 'attack', 'kill', 'hidden' or 'secret'.

I haven't yet added an interface for this kind of deciphering in the game, but I would like to do it later on.

Next tasks

You guessed it, I haven't done any work in the combat department yet. I'm excited to start work on the meat of the project, but for the moment, my desire to complete the other parts has not allowed me to. There are some things I'd like to do first, including the world map code, the quest journal, the crafting screens and the update of the character screen. Then I'll work on the first elements of combat: initiative roll, moving in combat, skipping turns, etc.

Let's conclude this update with the creature tokens for the Tarrasque and Treant:

Feel free to post feedback. Cheers!

[getter77]

Definitely another robust update!

Somewhat surprised on the Romance inclusion front---if anything, I'd have moreso guessed something of a morale system for inter-party modifiers when it came to combat or questing situations. Still, there's nothing to say it has to fall into the cringing common tropes of late when it comes to this sort of thing, so good deal on having room to flex on yet another front.

Would it be possible to allow for something of a chaining or seamless mechanic when it came to modules? While you mention not wanting to do one huge module that covers the entirety of what is showcased in the world map, to say nothing of any manner of aerial, nautical, underground, or planar-trotting intrigue, it could make for interesting times to be able to bundle modules together cleanly such that there's no dumping out to the module selection screen and whatnot so as to maintain the unbroken ingame flow of the adventure---something like how the great Live A Live has you running a disparate assortment culminating in everything coming together at the end in grand fashion.

[BlueSalamander]

so good deal on having room to flex on yet another front.

Yeah, I'm just allowing for the possibility of having romances. I'm not planning to have a rule saying that each game must have at least one romance for male characters and one romance for female characters. But I'm planning to have some inter-party dialogues, unlike KotC. For example if your party recruits a rogue and that character has already visited the place the party is exploring, that rogue may have some dialogues to help the party.

As for a hard-coded morale system, I don't think it's really necessary as it could be handled with scripts. For example, you could have a script that creates a variable called 'attitude of the paladin to the party' and certain party actions could decrease that variable to the point that the recruited paladin might want to leave. Concerning the morale of enemy creatures when they're getting beaten up, we could have some creatures running away using a script depending on a condition like 'boss x has been slain'.

Would it be possible to allow for something of a chaining or seamless mechanic when it came to modules?

Definitely, when launching the second module of a chain, it will be possible to use the saved game of the first module in the chain. I don't know for sure how big the modules will be.

aerial, nautical, underground, or planar-trotting intrigue

Yes, it's possible. A single module could cover distant locations, I just don't expect that it would cover all locations in between. A chain of modules could also cover various places.

running a disparate assortment culminating in everything coming together at the end in grand fashion.

Sure, sounds interesting.

[Tiavals]

If I may comment, it's a terrible idea to have a main character forced on the player. It defeats the point of a create-your-party game. If you must have the player choose a single face for a romance, have him do it at a specified moment. Like "Who is interested in romancing this NPC?". That'd allow you to have a romance for more than one character, and overall make the creation of party dynamics far more interesting from a module making perspective. Or perhaps have the player choose a "romancer" character that isn't the main character. That way it's the same thing, but much clearer for the player when making the party. A main character implies far more than a romance, and a romance doesn't imply the need for a main character.

If a player has to choose a main character, does not the same apply in some sense to a module creator? Or is the main character thing just an optional thing, and if I make a module, I can treat the party members in any way I want? For instance, suppose that as a module creator I want to create two romances that are active at the same time, but affect two different members of the party? The sorceress of the party is romancing a knight and the barbarian is romancing an elf. To me, it'd be a truly wasted opportunity for interesting roleplaying if you must/can choose a single main character who is the only one who romances(and presumably does other stuff, like is the chosen one, bastard of the king, etc).

In theory I'd want to be able to make a module where(without excessive script-doctoring) the player gets to choose one character to be the child of the king, another character to be some grumpy immortal person, one to be the chosen one destined to save the universe, and so on. Realistically, I probably won't be doing a module like that, but if the opportunity is easy to include in module-creation, I'd appreciate it greatly.

[screeg]

Hey, BS. I'm going to dump a whole bunch of design opinions on you. Prepare yourself.

That's a very attractive map! But something bugs me about the titles. The yellow blends in too much with the overall yellowness of the map. IMO the map itself skews too much yellow (unless there's something wrong with my display), and the titles don't contrast enough. Maybe they'd be better in white, or black with a white outline? I'd also scale back the fuzziness/size of the drop shadows slightly. Here's a version where I de-yellowed it a bit.

Highlight circles also look good, but I think would look better if they had a crisp edge like a gear instead of the slightly fuzzy version you've got going on.

Artist did a great job on the weapons, but the glows could be more subtle. I think the deep red background rules out subtlety though, since any transparency would ruin the color choices for the magic glows. If you used a very faded grey brick wall for a background, the artist's color choices and the glows would look much more distinct. Also, better contrast! Which is always superior.

"You will not be able to craft 'anywhere anytime'." Yes! to that. But where will you be able to craft? Do you need access to an actual forge or lab, or just to be in town, or in camp?

In this screenshot I see you've cut down transparency, which is a big improvement. But what about making the general beige background (everything that's not a field or a button) darker, like a dark grey? Again, contrast would make it easier to read. Same suggestion for inventories and other interfaces.

Regarding the tokens and other artwork, everything's looking very promising. For tokens like the Tarrasque, though, I would recommend losing the "mist" sort of half-obscuring him. Because most tokens will be relatively small onscreen, creatures should be clear and (again) contrast with their backgrounds for ease of reading.

I agree with Tiavals that having a "main" character isn't a great idea, especially since the motivation is to make romances available. Surely a little scripting could resolve the issue rather than a major change to the game structure. I don't want to feel like one of the party is indispensable. Very very few modern games have a true party experience, without the main avatar. I think KotC2 should be one of them.

Hope I don't sound negative, because this is a stunning update, my favorite yet. Your concentration on details and logical systems really sets your games apart.

Last thing: you've got fans on places like rpgwatch, rpgcodex and irontower's forums who would love to see something like this. You should consider sharing one of these updates out in the wild. People would love to know that KotC2 is in the works.

Merry Christmas, BS!

[Tiavals]

I forgot to mention earlier that I do prefer the non-highlightable objects in a game like KOTC. Although I do prefer static checks to find hidden doors to random ones. Even if you have a super-searcher, some unlucky rolls will rob you of your deserved rewards, which feels cheap. In a pen and paper game, it works fine since you can't reload, but in a computer game, an obsessed player will reload until the secret door is found.(or walk back and forth if the check is made every time).

It'd be nice if there was a possibility to check the skill/stat score, rather than a roll, when making a module. Like, if your strength is 18(+4 modifier), you could check if there's a character in the party with a strength of 18 or higher. Or in case of a strength modifier, you could check if the total party strength modifier is large enough. For instance, say there's a boulder and the party put their strength together, you could add either the number(18) or the modifier(+4) for each character and see if it's the amount the module creator has specified. Like, if the party has a total strength of 70 or more, they can move the boulder, or if their strength modifier is over +10. The approach is pretty different, since if a character has a strength of 9 rather than 18, it's still half the result, but if you compare the modifiers, it's -1 compared to +4, which is a vast difference.

Oh, and I must say I absolutely love the idea of having the ability to use a text parser in dialogue, and to have the player choose objects to show to NPCs or use at some point. Very good. Gives you a lot of freedom when you're making the module, since KOTC2 will have a great combat engine, but having a text parser and an "item-chooser" gives a module creator the potential to have a great story too, since it's not constrained by some dumb problems. Kinda how the Shadowrun game was fairly difficult to work with a while ago, until they patched it to include the text parser and stuff like that, you can create much more interesting stories with it now.

[BlueSalamander]

it's a terrible idea to have a main character forced on the player

But it's no big deal, really. You just choose the avatar during party creation. Afterwards, it's up to the module itself whether the avatar has any significance at all. A module could ignore that information completely.

If you must have the player choose a single face for a romance, have him do it at a specified moment. Like "Who is interested in romancing this NPC?"

Actually, it depends on the module. What you are suggesting can be done with scripts. It's just much more complicated than the traditional model of allowing one avatar to have romances with a few NPCs. For each romanceable NPC, you will have to keep track of who they are involved with. Also, imagine the following. Party member A starts a romance with NPC X, then breaks up the relationship, then party member B starts a romance with NPC X. If the romance dialogue of NPC X is exactly the same with both party members, it will look very silly.

perhaps have the player choose a "romancer" character that isn't the main character.

You are right that the avatar could also be called 'romancer' and the game will make it clear that the main or only purpose of choosing the avatar is for romances.

is the main character thing just an optional thing, and if I make a module, I can treat the party members in any way I want?

You can treat the party members in any way you want when you create a module. You can kill any of the characters. The game does not stop when the avatar dies. The only thing with the avatar, as currently coded, is that he can't be de-activated (temporarily removed from the party) by the player, unlike any other character.

I want to create two romances that are active at the same time, but affect two different members of the party? The sorceress of the party is romancing a knight and the barbarian is romancing an elf.

Possible but it might be complicated as I explained above.

presumably does other stuff, like is the chosen one, bastard of the king

Chosen one or bastard of the king depends on the module but it's not my plan to do that. The avatar is just a normal character. Out of all the characters in the party, he may be the character that represents the player in the game world. That's all.

the player gets to choose one character to be the child of the king, another character to be some grumpy immortal person, one to be the chosen one destined to save the universe

It's for the module to determine those things. You could make the avatar the child of the king but you will have to take care of the fact that he could be any of the possible races. So if the king is human, having a half-giant be the child of the king sounds very weird. Immortal person sounds more like a flavour thing. All characters are already immortal in the sense that they can be resurrected with a Raise Dead spell. Chosen one prophecy is also a flavour thing so, yes, it's totally doable. Just not my plan. Of course, you could also have the player recruit NPCs who are those things. Then it's easier because it's all preset.

Here's a version where I de-yellowed it a bit.

Cool, thanks. A bit less yellow may be better. How did you do the change? A hue layer in photoshop? With what values?

if they had a crisp edge like a gear instead of the slightly fuzzy version you've got going on.

Actually, it's fuzzy on purpose. The circles are constantly rotating, so a crisp edge may produce some annoying pixel artefacts. I know I'm also using anti-aliasing, but I think I would rather not change them now.

If you used a very faded grey brick wall for a background

For contrast, the most important background will be that of the inventory screen, not the one of the editor. We're still working on the aspect of the interface but yes, contrast will be important especially in the inventory screen.

where will you be able to craft? Do you need access to an actual forge or lab, or just to be in town, or in camp?

You can craft anywhere that a NPC sorcerer, druid or cleric is willing to help you craft. You don't need a forge or lab but you do need ingots and special gems. I've just finished the code for the world map and crafting. I've also updated the list of enchantments (see http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=488&#41).

For the world map, there are now two possible settings: world map or city map. On a world map, travelling takes time depending on distance and mountains. On a city map, travelling is immediate. Clicking on a city in the world map may lead to a city map where you must again select a point of interest, which will open a normal map.

what about making the general beige background (everything that's not a field or a button) darker, like a dark grey?

All the windows will be changed. I've asked the artist to work on it.

For tokens like the Tarrasque, though, I would recommend losing the "mist" sort of half-obscuring him.

I think the mist here may be used to give an impression of the creature's really huge size. Other tokens don't have a mist like that. The Tarrasque is one of the biggest monsters if not the biggest.

People would love to know that KotC2 is in the works.

Well, maybe I'll move this update or the next one in the other forum then.

I do prefer static checks to find hidden doors to random ones.

You're probably right. I'll look into it. It could also be just a simple distance check, meaning that you automatically detect if you're within two or three squares.

if your strength is 18(+4 modifier), you could check if there's a character in the party with a strength of 18 or higher.

You can already do that using the script actions 'Set in variable ~ the name of the party member with highest ~ (Str, dex, etc)' and 'Set in variable ~ the amount of ~ (Str, etc) of the character ~'.

you could check if the total party strength modifier is large enough

Yes, I'll create a script action for that too, with a choice of adding the modifiers or the ability scores themselves.

use a text parser in dialogue, and to have the player choose objects to show to NPCs or use at some point. Very good. Gives you a lot of freedom when you're making the module

Definitely! It would be boring if a module contained only a sequence of combats. So it's important to have good puzzles, dialogues and riddles as well. Just because the main dialogue system is based on the selection of answers doesn't mean we can't have word-typing riddles from time to time.

Thank you for the feedback and Merry Christmas to you guys!

[Tiavals]

Thanks for the answers, everything sounds like it'll be great!

Merry Christmas from me too.

[screeg]

Regarding the world map, go to Image/Adjustments/Color Balance and add 20 to Blue. I tried to do it from memory and I *think* that's it. Variations is also very useful for tweaking overall color.

[Marinx]

BS Thanks for this great update.
I agree with Screeg that you need to share this with broader audience.

About main char, maybe you could include choice in editor whether you wanna main char or not because if module creator have nothing special in mind for that "main" char, it would be pointless to have one. Also it would be nice to include option whether you wanna create module with just a main char and add NPC to party later ingame, like in BG or create whole party from start. In some games I prefer former while in other the latter. This is useful especially if you wanna add romances.

About map I totally agree with Screeg. Map is beautiful but titles are too yellow.

It could also be just a simple distance check, meaning that you automatically detect if you're within two or three squares.

Doesn't that defeats the purpose of "secret" door/stuff?
Player will then go to every square because of that. It's almost the same as spamming back and forth or save/load method.
I prefer static checks as Tiavals suggested. Just make sure that game don't reveal this checks to player. IMO it's stupid when player sees that he needs another +2 to spot/search to find a "secret". If he doesn't have high enough check then he shouldn't have a slightest idea about there is any secret at all.

I also have couple of questions.
Will resting be hardcoded to campfires?
Will world map be hardcoded or we will be able to import our own world map to module?

English is not my native language and I also have trouble putting my thoughts to paper even in my native language so I apologize if my explanations are little confusing

BS, I wish you Happy New Year and keep up the good work. I can't wait for KotC2 to come out