One of the features tested recently was the ability to _beat_ information out of a character using the non-lethal combat system, and complete a quest that way.
But, it revealed a jarring lack of consequence for beating them up.This is one of the reasons why I don't know if non-lethal combat can actually stay.
I upgraded the script system, so now people now can permanently _refuse_ to talk to you after you beat them within an inch of their lives. It is checked through a highly intuitive ShelterScript line: [GETMINDSTATE[SELF`M_MYBITCH]=TRUE]|BLURB[SELF`Go away, mean Player]|STOPTALK
This upgrade also allows the famed "barkstrings" to work properly, i.e. when walking around a settlement, you click on some "Loser" NPC, and they will blurb something that may have relevance to a recent event (or mudcrabs).
DISCLAIMER: no mudcrabs in Shelter.
This week I've been cleaning up the setting once again (some elements were extraneous garbage). I also fixed an elusive bug (this is a frequent occurrence).
Now I am finishing the loader for random Encounter system. Such mundane tasks comprise 90% of development and are about as exciting as my real job in a software company. I should really consider a change of profession to something much more lively and exciting, like, being a coroner or something.
Anyway, Encounters are circles of various radius on the BIG MAP, and they have different "weights". This system only works when there's more than one encounter overlapping the same map cell, and so it shall be. Otherwise, the lowest probability encounter will keep happening because there's no high-probability counterweight.
Calculations involved are similar to the test they gave me at Flagship Studios interview in August 2006, which involved calculating random loot drops with memory and CPU constraints of a 1980's electronic watch.
Let's finish this update with a random screenshot. Look ma, items on the ground!
