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Re: A more sophisticated demonstration of change-type


On Sun, 2004-06-06 at 22:41, Eric McDonald wrote:
> > And now that Eric's introduced tabled wreck-types,
> > that'll allow for an exponential increase in units... 
> > First to 10,000 wins a donut.
> 
> You guys can fight over the donut. ;-)

I don't intend to write a game that involves 10,000 units unless I can
justify having 10,000 units.  The example below demonstrates that this
game could easily handle hundreds (if not thousands) of fairly
distinctive units, but 10,000 units seems ridiculous.

> 
> I take pride in the fact that each of Bellum II's 62 unique unit types
> is lovingly handcrafted, with attention paid to literally scores of
> tables and properties on a per unit type basis. The result: 5142 lines
> (and growing) of GDL (no maps or predefined units) across 4 files. I
> still have about another 7 unit types to add to make it to the release
> version. Then, after release, I'll maybe add advance types, and a tech
> tree, which will probably push the envelope past the 200 unique unit
> types mark.... Right now, I just have the "classic" generation of units,
> but I have ideas for the "modern", "post-modern", "future", and
> "far-future" generations. Of course, maybe I'll get burnt out before
> reaching the last generations. We'll see.

What I'm trying to do is work my new game so that its properties depend
partially on unit-specific properties (hp-max, cp), but mostly it
depends on what lists it is found on.  Take the dragon turtle for
example:

* It is a monster, so it can fight other units and capture cities,
citadels, and lairs (as can fighters).

* It is a level-9 unit, so it has a 50% chance to hit other level-9
units, and its chance to hit other units changes by 5% for each level it
is different from its opponent, and it does 2d4+9 damage when it hits.

* It is a dragon, so you need a special type of place (a draconomicon)
in order to build it.

* It is aquatic, so it can move through water with ease but cannot
survive on land (for most units, it's the other way around).

* It is a ranged combatant, so it can fire at enemies up to 6 cells
away.  Firing is resolved exactly the same way as melee attacks.


This makes it a lot easier to define lots of units and make them work
with little difficulty.*  Although the really weird things (lightning
bolts, walls of stone, etc.) still need a lot of code that is specific
to them.


* Assuming an adequate understanding of how lists work in GDL!

---
Lincoln Peters
<sampln@sbcglobal.net>

You will be misunderstood by everyone.


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