Ok, time is getting on and I still haven't started on the main things for SE namely the quest giving, Spell book and Journal, so basicly I want to know whats to be done and in some cases get help from those who know what there doing (Janis). -First off, quest giving. -Do you want these to be written in the journal and they come of in some sort of order? -Are they even going ot be in the journal? -How would I go about getting it to work, would the quests all be in a file like the convos (e.g. Map1.qst)? -Spell book. -How do you want it to work? -Journal. -Are we keeping the existing journal or are we doing what ever it was you said about in some other topic? -If we keep this one what needs to be added/changed. -Shop. -Do you want it like the exsiting one or should I make a nice menu driven on like the speech? I'll probabally add more later but for now that'll do.

A quest section should be in the journal, a single page might be sufficient with a quest being a single line. And no, you shouldn't split them by map, first because there aren't that many, and second because most of them will be cross-maps. Spell book works the same way the journal does (I'm not sure, Camper maybe even duplicated that part of the code for this exact purpose), just with a different graphical background. The only real difference is that once you found the spell you want to cast, you can cast it by pressing a certain key (whereas in the journal no page can be "activated"). - What was said about a journal in another topic? Where? Shopping system is already in the code according to Camper, i.e. buying is the same principle as in KMOD, selling is even more crude, you walk up to the shopkeeper, press the SPACE key, browse your inventory, and the first item you "activate" (hitting ENTER) will be sold to the shopkeeper to the price he gives you. If you find this in the code, you could enhance it a little by adding an extra step in both buying and selling: before the item is actually traded, a message pops up telling you you're about to buy/sell this and that item for this and that amount, are you sure you want to do it? If you press Y, you do it, else you're back at the previous step, i.e. you can browse your inventory for something to sell resp. you can walk away from the object you nearly bought and go to others.

About the other journal type you said somthing like:

Journal: just leave it be in its current form, unless it proves to be impossible I plan an HTML implementation, Camper said it should be theoretically possible. That'd mean I could just design HTML pages, that'd make the journal very easy to create with a vast amount of info (you most probably already saw how circumvential it currently is to add a new page with content to it). Since Janis already pushed resolution way up, we could work with 640x480 at least, which makes for much more detailed journal pages than 320x200.

True, that's what I really wanted to do... but it's one of those things that aren't essential and so I'd say let the journal have the absolute minimum, and if time allows, then let's take it to the next level... after all, the more features we leave for TSP, the better it will be. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> Seriously, the journal needs following things as a minimum: - overview page (like which day it is, what level your character is etc.) - stats/attributes page - automap page - quests list page - optional: monster and item description pages

You asked about quests implementation. This can be easely done with builtin list of quests. And then add to the player structure an integer variable for quest(s). If at a moment of time player can have only one active quest, this can be quest index, if multiple, it can be a bit mask with each bit indicating wether this quest is currently active (this also limits number of quests to 32, but possibly that's enough).

For SE, 32 will be more than enough.

Maybe a good idea would be to have hand sketches of monsters instead of a frame of his sprites. It would look more like a real journal, and as I said, hand drawings aren't a prob in terms of time (unless the bigger ones). As for the missions, please RamnbOrc, if you are the one who will be writting them, make LOTS of them. Specially the small, everyday adventures type, so people can be busy in our mod! We could even add one of those tupes of adventures the player has to repeat over and over again for necessity, specially in yhe beginning of the game (I remember, back in Shadowrun, for Genesis, I had to enter this foul abandoned building in the first city and fight lots of ghouls with my shotgun, because everyone that I killed worth money that I needed to pay my hotel and buy bullets to advance in the game). Actually, this game could be a good model as it is the first I played that really had a deep environment, and covered all types of quests (small ones, like killing a gang, or being a body-guard; medium, like searching for someone around many cities and sidequests, while all the time you were advancing in your way through the main quest, the big one).

mAGO - sURE IF YOU CAN MAKE (sorry just noticed CAPs) enemy and item sketches quickly I think I'll look good but don't forget our limited time. Oh and I've started on the Journal do you want me to add the new enemys? If so could I have a description for them.

No prob-just send me a list of all needed drawings. As for the quests, I don't know exactly, but I think you should make them work as a script with a start and an end. Example: you have to get bread and wine to old miss Something, who is too old and sick, etc. When you accept the mission, the quest would trigger. Then, when you buy the goods, there could be a quest step that would be completed, and maybe a message saying that would appear. Finnally, when you deliver the food to the old woman, the quest is completed and finished. It's now that should come the "reward" system, when the player get the treasure for his effort (automaticly), that may be money, an item, a message, exp points, increasing points for a stats, etc...

A list of enemys, well so far in the journal there is: -Ettin -Afrit -Centaur -Forest Chaos Serpent -Wasteland Chaos Serpent -Death Wyvern I don't know what other enemys Rambo wants added, but I guess that he wants to leave some out.

If you do B&W drawings, you need only one per monster type, a red, green or brown serpent looks the same if there are no colors on the pic. Also, you can make an entry for all monsters, since there won't be any at the beginning, they'll be added only if you find out about them (e.g. while browsing the books in the city library). Oh and Mago, could you also create a graphical design for the whole journal? <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.korax-heritage.com/images/history/journal.jpg">http://www.korax-heritage.com/images/hi ... ournal.jpg</a><!-- m --> This is how it looked before Janis increased the base screen resolution from 320x200 to 640x480. The left-side quarter of the screen is a kind of navigation bar which never changes, and the right 3/4 is the content part. You're free to try any kind of idea how to make a journal look, it's one single 640x480 image upon which text is printed (sprites too).

Oh and don't forget there are now 6 things down the side.

Yes, I already have two ideas, and as soon as I can, I'll send the two examples for you two. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> I'll begin the b&W drawings imediatly, since I can't work on pc right now.Expect the first ones anytime soon. If I don't reply, that's because I'm too busy with the next deliver of college works, but don't worry.

I got a little suggestion, how about the first time that the player gets into a shop, the shop guy explains all the details about selling/buying items? and also if you neeed me to make anything for the spell book/journal or something else just tell me... <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->

I have been doing the damage skins really well, maybe the next week I can show you something from it, also I have been thinking, how much time do we have left??

There is no such thing as a release day set in stone, but I really would like to get out at least the beta before Summer, as over Summer not much happens, most people are offline for weeks and months, and that'd be nearly a quarter year lost. I very much hope the internal Alpha test can be out and sent to testers in April - which doesn't mean everything has to be finished by then, the only requirement is that all maps can be traveled in the set order, and the game itself works. Nevermind missing quests/graphics/whatever.

April? OK, I'll try my best and finish as much as possible, even though it isn't really necessary. -Firebrand: as for helping me with the journal: you don't even need to ask me if you can help. Every topic/demand I discuss with moose or RambOrc can be made by us both, or you, if you make it faster than me. Just choose what you want to make and drop me a line. If I'm not working on it for the moment, or if I don't plan to work on it personnally, there's no problem at all. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> As for the journal: I'm working on the hand drawings for the monsters. All the rest is there for you to try! (The actual journal pages, graphics, etc..):)

OK aswell as all the enemys could you also do the items. Oh and Rambo could you send me the descripions you want each enemy to have.

That should be the last step, especially if you use Camper's system where I just put all descriptions in TXT files which was real fine with me, the only thing that pissed me off somewhat was that I had to put the linebreaks myself (and they were always somewhere else with the Hexen font than one would think). BTW Mago, Firebrand, I hope you don't forget I plan to bring out KMOD 2.5 *before* SE - ideally somewhen between the Alpha and the Beta release - as a way to further interest in Scattered Evil (not many people come here nowadays, nearly a year after the last playable release). And if people love damage skins the way they should, they'll want SE the much more with the new monsters. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

[quote="RambOrc":3qqg0ffe]That should be the last step, especially if you use Camper's system where I just put all descriptions in TXT files which was real fine with me, the only thing that pissed me off somewhat was that I had to put the linebreaks myself (and they were always somewhere else with the Hexen font than one would think). We are both talking about the Enemy Descripions for the Journal, yes? Because it seems to me like I have to add the descriptions into the journal with the source code.

Well I don't know, back in Spring 2001 I just made a TXT file for the entries and gave it to Camper, dunno what he did with it. But if it's directly compiled into the source code, than that should be changed, it's a not very useful implementation then.

OK I'll see what I can do.

-Firebrand: as for helping me with the journal: you don't even need to ask me if you can help. Every topic/demand I discuss with moose or RambOrc can be made by us both, or you, if you make it faster than me. Just choose what you want to make and drop me a line. If I'm not working on it for the moment, or if I don't plan to work on it personnally, there's no problem at all. As for the journal: I'm working on the hand drawings for the monsters. All the rest is there for you to try! (The actual journal pages, graphics, etc..)

OK, I will try to make the journal/spell book pages, what other graphics can be made?? and I really apreciate the way in which we both work, I think that we should continue this way of working for the next MODs... And about KMOD 2.5, believe me, I will try to work as fast as my time allows me, actually I have been working a bit slow because there are some things I have to make for school, nothing to hard though, but that slows a bit the work for me, don't worry, I will try to make something for the next week, if we continue this way, I think that all the damage skins will be finished by Mid-April or begining May <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Sounds good, releasing KMOD 2.5 in May would be good to increase interest in SE, and May is also a good month to release (June too; July/August isn't and September is questionable - meaning if SE isn't out by late June, it can as well be postponed until late September).

The attributes page in the journal is coming along nicely, one question thou what should I do about the controls seem as up and down can't be used? Actually anougher, what to you want the max values to be for each class.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean? For adding skill points? As for max values, just make it 50 for everything at the moment.

Well usually for the attributes 'up' and 'down' are used to cycle through the attributes you can change and ok, but now there in the journal 'up' and 'down' are used to cycle through the pages.

Use PgUP/PgDn. For more info, check out the latest version of the Design Guide (see new topic).

Here's what you wanted to do more than 4 years ago <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: --> So, what is our Quests/Journal concept at this moment?

It hasn't changed. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> While HTML would be nice, it can basically be any kind of system where it's relatively easy to add a large number of pages to the categories. Also, given the higher resolution, the layout might be different, but that doesn't change the code much I guess.

The graphics for the spellbook and journal are done, I'll look for them and post links to them, or if you like browsing through my files, it's OK too, heh! <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->

I think I saw them in main SE.wad