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Telepath Tactics - opinions

Started by Ertxiem, May 29, 2011, 05:57:02 PM

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bugfartboy

Quote from: CraigStern on February 16, 2013, 02:47:16 PM
I've finished adding a new dialog trigger into the game, OnCharAttacked. This one works just like OnCharDeath, but it triggers before an attack is launched. It specifically looks for a non-Shield attack launched by an opponent, so you shouldn't accidentally trigger it by healing a character. Good for boss taunts! I'll be adding some more variations on this in the future as needed.
Thanks Craig! Will any of these variations allow for you to trigger it with a specific attack?

CraigStern

No, though I am planning to create one that looks for a specific attacker.

bugfartboy

I've been playing the demo a lot today, and I absolutely adore the music. It paints beautiful images across my mind's eye. You should congratulate Nick Perrin. It's exquisite.

ArtDrake

... I hate to say this, but having just now played the demo, I am thinking that this game is not really my cup of tea. I can't shake the feeling that the computer will always know what it's doing better than I do, and since unit placement and use are the most tangible advantages the player could have over the computer in this game [since units seem to share roughly equal capabilities]... I feel like I'm doomed to failure.

And then the permadeath scares me, because I hate surprises pertaining to the capabilities of certain units and their AI and the complex behaviour this leads them to, so in earlier games I'd rely on being able to load my game when my characters died while I learned enemy movement patterns. I mean, now there are a whole lot more emergent behaviours and yet the game makes it even harder to go back and try again knowing what you know.

I mean, I recognize that this is a multiplayer game first and a singleplayer game second. So I really shouldn't be kvetching about the campaign as much as I am. But the way you feel like the game punishes you a bit for experimenting [should the experiment result in drastic failure] is unpleasant, to say the least.

But then this doesn't really make sense given that I love roguelikes -- those games are unforgiving as all heck. But then again, it does. Roguelikes give you a quick start and don't represent a time investment in each game or run if you're not very good. In a game like TT, where you spend half an hour fighting a battle [or at least, that's my pace :L ], full restarts are a very, very scary thing.

Considering that I haven't played the game long enough to get a feel for the different classes [though I'll admit that this is because I broke down crying about five minutes into the battle], my concerns might not be particularly valid -- but these are they.

CraigStern

Hey Duckling, I wouldn't worry too much. Right now I'm focusing on making the AI as nasty as possible; this game is going to have difficulty settings which selectively turn off certain parts of the AI to make it a more accessible experience. ;)

bugfartboy

If you're trying to make the AI as nasty as possible, you may want to make the AI intelligent to move units out of the way of other units. Sometimes they clog, and the order stops several from them from moving. Sometimes, the AI will move towards item sacks and end their turn, when they could easily move more. Unless you're already working on that?

CraigStern


bugfartboy

Quote from: Craig
Update! Enemies now attack objects you've constructed if they don't have any other, higher priority targets to go after. The major takeaway from this is that you can no longer just wall yourself in with barricades and keep the computer at bay indefinitely--if there is no other way for the computer to get at you, it will bust down the barricades.
Will they break down walls coded into the map?

CraigStern

Quote from: bugfartboy on February 26, 2013, 04:21:36 PM
Quote from: Craig
Update! Enemies now attack objects you've constructed if they don't have any other, higher priority targets to go after. The major takeaway from this is that you can no longer just wall yourself in with barricades and keep the computer at bay indefinitely--if there is no other way for the computer to get at you, it will bust down the barricades.
Will they break down walls coded into the map?

Nope; the AI distinguishes between objects built by enemies and objects that come with the map. It only targets the ones you build.

ArtDrake

So, in the rare case that you could leave up existing barricades surrounding a defensible position, while just killing off the units inside with flying or teleporting units, enemy reinforcements would still be unable to do anything about the units inside that cleared-out enemy nest, non?

CraigStern

Barricades block flying units, so only units that can teleport would be able to do something like this. The only default units that teleport, in turn, are shadowlings, which are a little on the squishy side (especially against units with piercing attacks). IMHO, if you can pull off this sort of strategy successfully, you deserve to win. ;)


CraigStern


SmartyPants

Normally the Cavaliers and Bowmen can continue to move after attacking.  I was wondering if it was possible to modd those units so that they wouldn't be able to move after attacking. I would also like to know if it is possible to modd units like assassins or swordsmen to attack and retreat in the same manner as cavaliers and bowmen.

On a side note, I look forward to the start of a successful kickstarter campaign.

CraigStern

Hey Smarty, the answer to both of your questions is "yes." The game AI automatically has units retreat after attacking with any attack that allows a unit to move after attacking; thus, to disable that, you would actually edit the attacks the units have, not the units themselves.

To disable moving after attacking, you'd change the afterAtk attribute of the unit's attacks to to "EndTurn". Conversely, to enable moving after attacking, you'd change the afterAtk attribute of assassin and swordsman attacks from "EndTurn" to "CanMove". You can even stack things in the player's favor this way: if you want players to be able to move after attacking but not the enemy, just create two variants of each attack and assign one to enemy units (the "EndTurn" one) and the other to player characters (using "CanMove").