RTC monster AI and NPC

[Seriously Unserious]

i don't know what Ocarina of Time is...

skoal

Ocarina of Time is the first Legend of Zelda game to be released in 3D, on the Nintendo 64. It is arguably the best video game ever produced (or at least one of...! DM is clearly No.1...!). There is a cool sequence where your character, Link, is in the end sequence of a dungeon, and his enemy is a 'dark mirror' version of him. So if you move left, he moves right, if you do an action, his action is the opposite. He's you, but he's an evil dark 'mirrored' version of you. It makes for a great face-off and puzzle sequence. I was thinking that your AI would be able to set this relationship up quite well perhaps in DM...!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend ... na_of_Time

What you're talking about shouldn't be too difficult to do. I could see a system of teleporters and party activated triggers controlling something like that, so when the party moves, the monsters (evil mirror of party) gets moved in a way that is opposite to direction the party moved in. A monster activated trigger could operate teleporters on all adjacent tiles to force the monster to stay put, or a monster attractor could be activated to attract the monster to the right tile (the one its already on) so it won't move. This would probably work best in a limited area as something like this could be labor intensive to set up, with all those triggers, teleporters and monster attractors going on.

[Chaos-Shaman]

What you need to do is set up a counter for your speech relays to test against.

hmmm, i'll fool with it. it is amazing what can be done when a relay and a counter work together, unfortunately a relay parameters are limited to the first relay, relay can't check relay parameters... i'll send you the link now.

[Chaos-Shaman]

i don't know what Ocarina of Time is...

skoal

Ocarina of Time is the first Legend of Zelda game to be released in 3D, on the Nintendo 64. It is arguably the best video game ever produced (or at least one of...! DM is clearly No.1...!). There is a cool sequence where your character, Link, is in the end sequence of a dungeon, and his enemy is a 'dark mirror' version of him. So if you move left, he moves right, if you do an action, his action is the opposite. He's you, but he's an evil dark 'mirrored' version of you. It makes for a great face-off and puzzle sequence. I was thinking that your AI would be able to set this relationship up quite well perhaps in DM...!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend ... na_of_Time

thanks, i'll have a look at that. i never played nintendo, or even a console game except pong

[Seriously Unserious]

What you need to do is set up a counter for your speech relays to test against.

hmmm, i'll fool with it. it is amazing what can be done when a relay and a counter work together, unfortunately a relay parameters are limited to the first relay, relay can't check relay parameters... i'll send you the link now.

I guess I didn't explain it right, the rest of the relays all check against the same counter. As soon as any relay activates the first thing it needs to do is activate that counter to it's value gets decreased to 0. The next relay, should it activate on the random chance, will then check the counter, find it's not greater then 0 (ie 0 > 0 is false) so it won't activate, same as all relays after the one that activated. At the end of the event you then need to reset the counter back to 1. Thus only 1 relay can ever activate at a time.

So since relays don't really have any value that can be checked against, the counter fills this role for the relays.

[Chaos-Shaman]

What you need to do is set up a counter for your speech relays to test against.

hmmm, i'll fool with it. it is amazing what can be done when a relay and a counter work together, unfortunately a relay parameters are limited to the first relay, relay can't check relay parameters... i'll send you the link now.

I guess I didn't explain it right, the rest of the relays all check against the same counter. As soon as any relay activates the first thing it needs to do is activate that counter to it's value gets decreased to 0. The next relay, should it activate on the random chance, will then check the counter, find it's not greater then 0 (ie 0 > 0 is false) so it won't activate, same as all relays after the one that activated. At the end of the event you then need to reset the counter back to 1. Thus only 1 relay can ever activate at a time.

So since relays don't really have any value that can be checked against, the counter fills this role for the relays.

you explained it right, i was just adding a fact that i learned while trying to combine two relays. i understood you, i was adding a tid bit of info that might help others trying to figure out without having to do it the hard way. i didn't give a good enough reply to seperate that, i'll do it right this time

What you need to do is set up a counter for your speech relays to test against.

hmmm, i'll fool with it. it is amazing what can be done when a relay and a counter work together.

unfortunately a relay parameters are limited to the first relay, relay can't check relay parameters.

imagine how great it would be if they did work, would be easier to programme.

[Seriously Unserious]

for sure. It would also be easier to program if a relay could compare more then just 2 parameters too.

[Chaos-Shaman]

for sure. It would also be easier to program if a relay could compare more then just 2 parameters too.

yes, it's the same deal. so what i have done is used a clone of the definitive relay and got around that problem that way. it isn't the easiest way to do it, but it works just fine. i'd love to see what GG has done to RTC since. he did have a .5 around which a fortunate few had a chance to look at. let's get a good working dungeon out there and he just may pop his head up for a moment. i asked Santa for v.5 but Santa must have thought i was naughty and gave me two lumps of coal for the harsh winter instead iff topic, right now outside my window is 3 i can say pet crows hudled together, they look like coal in the snow. they remind me of Fulcrum, and Fulcrom will be in our dungeons in the future, we'll find him on sign posts and logs, on top of trees, he'll be carrying messages too crows are eating the bologna i tossed to them earlier, i can see their breath it's so cold. magnificent birds, they know who i am, they yap down my chimney for food, one is missing a foot it's been so cold. i have had them since last spring when they were babies. i have quite a few crow pics to work with, i have already done some work on them. staying off topic here, i watched a hawk come in and try and snag a dove yesterday but he missed, then the crows yelled out and attacked the much bigger hawk, they teamed up and went to town on the hawk. i love nature, crows are here to protect me as i see it

how about making a crow an NPC and having him join the party too? Fulcrum in the party, that's new i know he's a Raven but they look alike, just a slight bit bigger and bit larger beak.

[Seriously Unserious]

Hmm, perhaps a Ravenman for a PC in the next dungeon... Hmm, yes, I'll see if I can come up with a portrait for that.

Yeah, go ahead and do a fulcrum, it would be cool to be able to have him in as a friendly monster.

[Chaos-Shaman]

sure would, he can have the power to send messages when removed from party, the power to see maps and find items and monsters etc. this seems doable. i know there is a few winged monsters and characters already, but none look good enough to be fulcrum. let's get Clodius on it.

[Ser Xav]

Have been testing the latest release from the great Mr. C.Shaman, and can report that the Monster AI and NPC development is going from strength to strength. This is spectacular stuff for RTC.

Now available is better NPC interaction in terms of mechanics and options, better features such as merchants (think mobile shops), better NPCs with better character interactions - stay friends or stay enemies if you don't do what they want, bribe them for useful items, get rumours, get missions, etc - and overall a greatly overhauled and improved NPC and AI interaction.

All this is on top of the features implemented previously, as described in my 'review' above in this post. This is powerful stuff. Now specific conditions and specific occurrences can be achieved with NPC characters. Now multiple outcomes can be achieved through discussion with NPCs that change the dungeon environment, give you powers or objects, or simply provide an additional layer of interaction.

Chaos has questioned - quite rightly - what could have been, should GG ever have 'finished' RTC. I wasn't on the forums at the time, but I understand the question. GG, if you're reading, at least try this out, contact Chaos Shaman! It's taken your RTC to levels this community has not seen as of yet AFAIK, but maybe you'd envisioned when you programmed RTC.

I do not for one moment understand how Chaos has programmed the relays, triggers, conditions, and whatever else to achieve this , but it has the potential to transform DM into a totally new entity. As I said before, it takes DM to a new 'scale'. The world can be bigger, the interaction bigger, the possibilities bigger.

What I am intrigued about is how this should (or could) be packaged up in a brave new dungeon project, in that the plethora of possibilities and new directions this takes DM in calls for an implementation with full re-skin or total graphic overhaul - it has the potential to change the main DM experience beyond the base DM mechanics and look/feel/experience. DM doesn't feel the same with all of these additional possibilities - and that statement is intended as a compliment to this fine work.

[Wizard Zedd]

This all sounds exciting...how long would it take to get a whole new dungeon programmed? Seems like it would be a lot of work for just one or two people.

[Chaos-Shaman]

thank you for testing it ebs

Now available is better NPC interaction in terms of mechanics and options, better features such as merchants (think mobile shops), better NPCs with better character interactions - stay friends or stay enemies if you don't do what they want, bribe them for useful items, get rumours, get missions, etc - and overall a greatly overhauled and improved NPC and AI interaction.

I was having trouble with the attack action screens staying open for selection, it's fixed. the npc will stay fixed until player is done. makes interaction much smooooother. that pesky screen won't close, hooked up to party's tile this time. it's a big improvement from the last one.

All this is on top of the features implemented previously, as described in my 'review' above in this post. This is powerful stuff. Now specific conditions and specific occurrences can be achieved with NPC characters. Now multiple outcomes can be achieved through discussion with NPCs that change the dungeon environment, give you powers or objects, or simply provide an additional layer of interaction.

with no documentation on how to use the info screen or anyone I could ask, I had to fiddle with it for a few dayz to figure it out. I knew it wasn't broken, just had no idea how to get it to function. using the slow step by step method, it was constructed. there is more to be done with it. infinite number of info screens can be used all linked to one. this part is what makes that info screen so fantastic. stories can and will be told through it. I need info on the info screen. so far the kind and thoughtful ebeneezergude has seen no problems, just waiting for Ameena to weigh in before going on to the next challenge with the engine. I know the critiquing from Ameena will find the problem areas. yes, joining two EQUALS TO: relays made the difference. I could use most of the operations and join the relays but could not join the equals to, but I farted with it and found a way.

Chaos has questioned - quite rightly - what could have been, should GG ever have 'finished' RTC. I wasn't on the forums at the time, but I understand the question. GG, if you're reading, at least try this out, contact Chaos Shaman! It's taken your RTC to levels this community has not seen as of yet AFAIK, but maybe you'd envisioned when you programmed RTC.

it does not appear he'll ever come back ebs. it blows me away that he was almost 100% done and then just abandons the project. guess there was not enough interest or love for the game, maybe money, who knows. he has most the engine done, that what was thought to be broken is not so. it needs tweaking. the engine can already do more than most games I've played or seen played. it does leave me wonder why GG himself has not built a dungeon with his own engine. that really puzzles me.

I do not for one moment understand how Chaos has programmed the relays, triggers, conditions, and whatever else to achieve this , but it has the potential to transform DM into a totally new entity. As I said before, it takes DM to a new 'scale'. The world can be bigger, the interaction bigger, the possibilities bigger.

two way thinking, it's two way. one way brings the game to a halt, inside the box, two way brings the programmer outside the box with multiple possibilities, imagination knows no boundaries going two way. that's the best that I can answer that one

What I am intrigued about is how this should (or could) be packaged up in a brave new dungeon project, in that the plethora of possibilities and new directions this takes DM in calls for an implementation with full re-skin or total graphic overhaul - it has the potential to change the main DM experience beyond the base DM mechanics and look/feel/experience. DM doesn't feel the same with all of these additional possibilities - and that statement is intended as a compliment to this fine work.

this has me thinking quite a bit ebeneezer. I am not a line programmer, not sure I could be creative with it anyway BUT if there is another program like the editor and there is a need I'd be happy to help. I know very little about commands, common sense does most of the work for me, not schooling, I've no training other than some college course never completed in the 80s on basic programming. to me that part makes sense 1 2 3 a b c. so with that in mind I have to wonder if somebody sees the potential for growth. I'd be very interested in what others have to say about it. in the name of DM I'd do quite a bit for it. I think what GG was trying to do with the engine is allow the player to tell their story.

future project under construction, the awesome work of Clodius on the characters for the npcs, this is what will make all the work worth it. it takes him a couple days work to do just one character, but when it is done it is amazing. he'll post some pics again soon. when these get put into the dungeon, everything will become more clear.

if anyone who reads this would like to partake, test the project that we'd be happy to have such help. I only know half of the engine, there is quite a bit I don't know, could really use the help from those who do know, it would help the old game DM come back to life. silence is just not doing DM any good. it is almost like nobody cares or wants to see DM grow, it's awful to see DM slip away to silence. whatever it is that is the cause, let's speak up about it, get the enthused back to work on their projects. it does no good for DM fans to not help others, it looks bad on us. if I could I'd pour some gasoline on it to get it started

[Chaos-Shaman]

WZ, I estimate that it will take at least 6 months for the NPC characters to be finished, in that time the engine will be set up for the new characters. my problem is I don't know what others want for the character to be like. everyone has stories that could describe what they need to be like. SU has stories but is currently very busy with his new company. Clodius has a story that involves the original, it involves the journey to the mountain as written in the little story that is offered from the original. have you read that story WZ?

[Wizard Zedd]

Clodius has a story that involves the original, it involves the journey to the mountain as written in the little story that is offered from the original. have you read that story WZ?

No I haven't I assume I can find it in the Encyclopedia?

[Chaos-Shaman]

it does, also found in rtceditor I think

[Clodius_one]

Hi folks,

Thanks to ebs & WZ for your encouragement. CS work very hard alone with the codes cause I know less of him in programming, zero, nada. Then I can't help him. CS is right. If any DM fan take a look on what we've done so far. I think the torch of our heart will ignite all the community. Everyone will find his good. It's up to each of us.

Here's a picture of the champions I completed most of the movements so far. Some characters are fully completed and ready to put in a dungeon.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/151 ... 9c64_b.jpg

Yes, there is still a lot to do and thanks CS for the pressure, 6 months! I did 10 champions since a year from now

Here's the post of my French novel for those who did not read my postings. The first part is with Halk, Nabi, Syra & Alex and I also involved Zed near the Mount Anaias. I describe them leaving their home and reach with a lot of ambushes the entrance of the Mount Ananais. The second part I intruduce Theron and involved half of a dozen of champions. I was over 215 pages when I switched to drawing mode in august last year.
http://dungeon-master.com/forum/viewtop ... =2&t=29691

[Chaos-Shaman]

love all your work Clodios, and from what you have shown me, I think if I tried hard enough, I could do it. you taught me. I think you could do a spider man cartoon because you do it so well.
sorry for the six months pressure, it was a guess. I have 3 out of the 4 characters ready, just need Halk. I have Zed put in already.
I will begin to work on the wallsets for the journey that is described, but for now I must finish with info screens.
need some graphics help with the info screens, I'm not that great at design or should I better put it as, looks.

long live DM and this community.

[This post was edited by an administrator as it did not abide by the forum rules]

[Clodius_one]

To draw these champions is a real challenge. I never believed at the beginning that I was able to draw them, but the skill which I possess allow me to look farther and try in spite of the pitfalls that I met. It is completely different from the architecture which I studied in my young age. I know that certain drawings are not perfected but later I will improve them. For every champion completed, we getting closer. I think that all Azizi's poses are complete. She is not in my novel but I'm very satisfied by my work that I would certainly write a small appearance to her . She was easy to draw, lots of work but at least easy.I returned on Halk's drawing sheet. He was my first attempt but I was not satisfied by the result. After his new transformation, I appreciate him better. He will be another great challenge to draw.

[Ser Xav]

Why was Chaos's post edited...??

[Gambit37]

Posts that break the forum rules may be edited or deleted by the forum staff. Staff do not discuss these changes with anyone except the author of the post, for obvious reasons.

Please continue to observe the forum rules to keep this a fun and safe place, thank you. Now, back on topic.

[Chaos-Shaman]

just private message me ebs, i'll repost it (i kept all messages referring to this for later) and will try to explain why, otherwise it will dead end for another forum thread which this place does not need right now, I think the forum deserves more traffic. it needs a boost which we are trying to do, so follow whatever rules he is referring to. it's not my fault or your fault, it's the rules and that is that, we have no choice. I do have one question, my last post was a warning to everyone else and it was taken away AGAIN, i was warning everyone for Gambit, doing his bidding, just stick to the topic.

I have done some improvements ebs, and I think you'll like it. thank goodness for the party's tile, it solved that stupid weapon menu closing for good monsters pay attention to the party until the party is done or tells the npc or pc to stand guard. this is turning out better than I thought. complete control does seem possible, the engine can do even more, I just hove to get inside it and snoop around. little things add up.

what do you think of Clodios work? what i have so far is really going to work well with the characters he is providing. he has done such fantastic work, for every one of those characters he has at least 10 expressions\many poses for, this will make them look alive, not just wiggling and shaking, but all the expressions a face can do. Clodios has offered to help with the info screen graphics, but I'd like him to continue on the characters. it would be great to have someone else help with the setup of the info screens. can you or do you know anyone interested ebs?

[beowuuf]

Last edit mine, a word substitution. Consider editing your own post more to show some respect and allow this thread to actually be for positive things.

[Chaos-Shaman]

I'm doing my best beowuuf, I am tired of dancing around perfectly good posts being shot down by a bully. I'm not the only one seeing this, I am surprised you have not noticed it yourself. if you wish, i'll close this one down too. positive, I think the work shows that, I doubt I can do more than that. you have no idea how many others I have explained and shown these actions to and their reactions which i'll save for later. right now, I care about how to inform others how great the engine I am working with is, how to interest them in DM, how to bring others to this forum. it's not just me beowuuf. how would you like your thought out messages being deleted? I know I meant well. wait another year and you'll see the efforts. if we keep on seeing message editing then there is a MAJOR problem somewhere, perhaps we should find it together and fix it, heh, I spent 5 years trying to do that beowuuf, do I need to show it, NO, but there has to be something done to allow the flow, to let people do what they wanted to do in the first place, create a decent engine. we are all adults, right?

beowuuf, please look at the last while and you tell me with your heart what you see has happened, be honest, tell the truth. a private message would be the adult way to handle this. how about a little adult respect for a change, adult behavior is prized by most of us. I should post all the nasty messages I got, but I won't cause I am an adult.
let's get over it, I think you need to do some revamping on how the forum operates, how to join others into a common goal. right now how it is does not seem to be working. I think it's time I started inviting some friends to join DM, people who want to create a dungeon. it is what the forum needs beowuuf. if gambit had left things alone, THERE WOULD BE NO PROBLEM, keep that in mind the next time my messages get deleted or edited. let's hope that common sense reins which is not so common, and we can build dungeons. how can anyone argue with that. I've had more than a dozen messages deleted, I bet I take the prize on the hatred being spewed.

you've been a friend for years beowuuf, and I still respect that. tell me what to do and it'll be done.

[Chaos-Shaman]

Clodius

so far so good, I hope you are making out well with Halk, he seems as difficult as Darouu. is it the hair that makes him hard to pose? both have lots of hair. I love all the faces you're doing. these will work well with standing positions while the party chats and uses the menu. that's a surprise as I did not expect that kind of professional work for such an old game, well done man. you say you have delved into the story in which the party reached Mt Anaias with mix matching stories, I think beowuufs. let's get to it. I am sure there are a lot of sub stories to do with it, so we'll have to do some research into what people have already done.

[Chaos-Shaman]

I tried to send you a private message beowuuf, unfortunate I couldn't

[Clodius_one]

As you can see, I completely had redone his body. My first attempt was too weak. I gave him some steroids . I'm always fighting with myself questioning if I can evolve a character or stick closer to the original appearance. I like his new dark hair but if I change them too much, maybe people couldn't recognized the characters.

I put my novel aside for a while. I can't draw and write in the same time. Creating Lo Res characters on very limited dimensions, demand a lot of brain's energy; a certain kind of stress to perform a nice drawing with a minimum of pixels, and I don't count the huge time spending on the Web for ideas. Don't forget my drawing experience was completely different; from architecture's geometric forms to the nice curb of Syra . The only point in common is the desire of creation. When I'm writing, I'm relaxing a lot like smoking pot . I like this picture even if I don't smoke at all. I can't imagin what kind of character I could draw on pot effect .

Guidelines for Halk and Nabi are already established in my book. From now on, their fates are bound. For Syra and Alex it is a little more complicated. I still have to lay the table for a good conflict, make them love each other and then push them into their graves, end of part one.

[Chaos-Shaman]

I think he looks great man. his son is an excellent story to incorporate. I agree, keep the look of him similar to the mirror. to me he looked handsome. if I were a cave women I'd be asking him to drag me back to the cave.

I see, you use the stress reward system to accomplish your tasks, my spouse does exactly the same. thanks for showing me your work, when you say drawing from square triangle rectangle and make a curve, that's quite a jump. you have a knack for viewing an object and melding one to the other, similar to blending accept you're doing it by hand drawing. when you take monsters like Incredible Hulk and use him to create Halk, that is stunning. because you have added the steps, you could teach it to just about anyone.

I've never tried to write a story, would you be kind enough to send me your story you're working on. it will help me design the AI for each character if I knew it. there are plenty of new abilities to give, and plenty more to make up once I know the story. send part 1, I don't use xml

[Clodius_one]

his son is an excellent story to incorporate

It's wonderful how you open my mind in different ways. Yes it's a good idea to create alternate stories.

I tough it was not a coincident if Halk's name and his body shape are similar with the incredible Hulk. I gave him the same type of aggressiveness in my novel. In DM intro, I tough he has simply no match and prove his real value against Chaos.

This novel is my fist attempt as well. Writers said the most difficult part it's to start putting down a few sentences on a sheet then the flow of ideas should follow. Well it's work with me
I don't mind sending part one but it's in French. I hope you have a friend to translate it.

[Chaos-Shaman]

I do think we can do a Halk side story, for sure. we'll use Halk as the tester. if your ideas are flowing then let's keep them flowing. I think Chaos, Order, Grey, already have been covered somewhat, the other champions leave a lot to imagination, go for it. I have never tried to write a story, but if you start it and leave a small path, I hope to elaborate on it, intensify it, that I am good at.

about your story, isn't there a way to translate it, I am sorry I can't read it, it's an ignorance that I can do little about. my spouse can sorta read it. i'll figure it out. send it to me.

[Clodius_one]

For sure Halk is a good subject for Inexhaustible and interesting stories. If I did it, anybody can do it I have no experience but got good advises from real writers.
Making a story: Before I started writing my novel, I set up all characters I wanted in the story and created a personal sheet for everyone: personality, what they think, what they like/dislike, their goals in life, what I want to evolve with each of them before the end. Every details that will help me to develop them with their environment. secondly I wrote down some guideline's events I want to see in the story and then the first words 'once upon a time' and let goes your imagination. The good thing with a computer is you can go back and forth in your story to add or modify the links between events.

Translation: I already sent you the first part by e-mail yesterday. What I can do is to write down in English a condensed of my novel.

I am so excited. I can't wait to see were we're going .