Ask the developer a question!

[Duskling]

Any updates on True Messiah? As I mentioned before, the concept intrigues me greatly - please don't keep us in the dark, Craig! ;)

[CraigStern]

How has been your experience with GoDaddy as the SinisterDesign.net Domain Name Registrar?

Fine; I don't have any major complaints, really.

Any updates on True Messiah? As I mentioned before, the concept intrigues me greatly - please don't keep us in the dark, Craig! ;)

Nope; believe me, if I had news, I'd share it! As it is, I'm still waiting for Blackbox to make room in their line-up to handle warehousing, shipping, and fulfillment of the game. Until that happens (or I get tired of waiting and simply give it to a publisher), I'm afraid it's not going anywhere.

[bugfartboy]

Will The Beginner's Guide to Programming RPGs ever be released on its own?  Or will it be a well kept secret, shared only with the 17 souls who picked it during the last Telepath Tactics Kickstarter Campaign?

[CraigStern]

I don't presently have any plans to release it publicly.

[bugfartboy]

Does the new engine support actual 3-D maps, or is it purely visual?  That is, are there actually three dimensions a unit can potentially move in?

[CraigStern]

The maps in the new engine are actual, for-real 3D; it's not apparent in the most recent screenshots only because I've been keeping them flat for aesthetic reasons, as I have yet to commission proper 3D tiles.

[bugfartboy]

Looking through the new engine's developer log, and seeing the inclusion of nicknames, dynamically generated character portraits, preferences, special skills, and now complex sounding nighttime scenes, I must ask: is the new engine a more deterministic (knowing your aversion to too much RNG in games) D&D-esque party simulator?

[CraigStern]

Not quite, no. There is something like party simulation involved, but...well, you'll see! :)

[Ertxiem]

Just a small provocation:  :)

Regarding the new game, you worte:

[...]
-- came up with a calendar system (the game world features a 10-month calendar, with each month 36 days in length)
[...]

So, I deduct that in the game, the full Moon will occur each 36 days, instead of the usual 29.53 days (the synodic month, currently on Earth).

[CraigStern]

It's almost as if the game doesn't actually take place on earth! ;)

[bugfartboy]

Not quite, no. There is something like party simulation involved, but...well, you'll see! :)

-- lines of generated dialogue can now have specific facial expressions that the speaker will adopt while saying them. (I've also added this as a new parameter for AddSpeakerPortrait, whose parameters are now: (1) facing, (2) facial expression, and (3) force portrait name. Accepted strings for facial expression parameter include: Angry, Blank, Concerned, Confused, Excited, Focused, Happy, Irritated, Kind, Mean, Nervous, Pained, Sad, Tired, and Wink)

-- characters who get along can now pair up to Clean or Practice together at night, with the probability of a character attempting to pair up with another character impacted by a character's introversion or extraversion. (Characters will only choose other characters they're at least a little bit friendly with for such a pair-up.)

-- made it so only one character can choose to perform the activity Clean each night, though they may find a partner to help based on the factors above. (Compulsive characters are now moved to the front of the activity-choosing queue so they have a chance to choose Clean before this limitation comes into play).

-- wrote a method that analyzes character portrait data to generate a number ("genes") that determines whom the character may potentially be attracted to among their preferred species/gender. (For humans, nose type is determinative; for lissit, snout type; for spriggats, horn type; for shadowlings, plume type.) Thus, even if two characters have the right species and genders compatible with one anothers' gender preferences, they might still not find one another attractive based on intangible genetic factors. Quasi-pheromones, if you will.

-- wrote a second method to check for romantic compatibility between characters based on the above-mentioned factors.

Now I see: it's a world simulator set in the Telepathaverse!  Will it include cats drinking themselves to death?

[CraigStern]

Ha! Nothing so ambitious as Dwarf Fortress; I'm mainly interested in simulating character personalities and relationships with this. ;)

[bugfartboy]

Is modding/scripting support for the new engine going to be as extensive as the currently released Telepath Tactics engine?

[CraigStern]

Is modding/scripting support for the new engine going to be as extensive as the currently released Telepath Tactics engine?

I'm aiming to keep scripting support at about the same level, with the addition of being able to customize AI behavior. The one thing I'm pretty sure I won't be able to support in the new version is custom graphics--Unity bakes all that stuff right into the executable, unfortunately, and it seems it doesn't support pulling graphical assets in from outside the way Flash did.

[bugfartboy]

Would the ability to more directly manage inventory via scripting be a possibility?  If you're storing a unit's inventory in memory in an array (or anything else that implements System.Collections.Generic.IList(T)), perhaps actions to get/set values using the inventory to manage, the item's index within that inventory, and the item property you want to access?  (I'm making the very broad assumption that inventory in save files will continue to store the individual stats of every item in that inventory, such as below from the old engine.)

Code Select Expand


<Inv>Practice Sword,Weapon Hand,c:Swordsman::Fencer::Hero::Champion,,,Sword,16,25,0,0,0,0,0,0,-1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,20,0,10,,Sword Wooden,Flimsy practice sword. Strength -1.||Bandages,triggered,,,,,2,16,12,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,20,,Bandages,Restores 12 health.</Inv>