I know there is a possibility for weather effects, but is there an easy way to make terrain effects?
The idea came to me while I was on my way home from my vacation, my father and I were driving from Provo, Utah to our home in Oregon, and we were driving through areas that had been burnt by brushfire. So I'm thinking, is there a fairly easy way to have spells or abilities that have an effect on certain terrains? ie, your fire spell misses and lands in a patch of dried-up grass. Can the grass catch fire and chance the terrain to burnt grass when it dies out, with the fire spreading in a wave towards you, as you also stand on the dried grass?

Just imagine a player's horror when they have just finished killing a slime devil when one of their flame spells backfires because they are on dry grass and the wind is at a high speed... (note that to get out of that situation, you might try searching for a nearby patch of ground with no dry grass in it to avoid the deadly flames. This applies to real life, tho you would nedd a large patch and something to filter the smoke out of you breath intake)

Also, altho this is probly a pretty stupid question, can we have smoke clouds make the character sick(or at least cough and start to lose health after a while)? Nevermind, of course it's possible. Just make a thing similar to flame, use a graphic that is like smoke, and set the effects to slow the player, play a coughing sound, and after x time in the effect area, start doing 1-2 hp damage every few seconds, right?

------------------

Although I am uncertain, probably both can be done. AS with most trick scripting you'd just make sprites that are of a brushfire, then when the sprite animation ends it's loop (fires die down) then you have a finish still of the sprite of burnt ground that is on the layer just above the ground/map pict but the layer under the player and monster layers. Plus it seems you already figured out the answer to the other. It's hard to tell right now how to work all that stuff, cause Coldstone isn't out yet, and who knows what kind of conditionals and other scripting can be done.

Now that we're on the scripting end of things, I read that the keyboard can now be fully implemented for character movement and everything else people care to use it for. An idea for this is, can we set up the keyboard so two users can play two different characters on the same comp, at the same time, using the same window? Wouldn't that be an interesting RPG? It was done similair to what I'm talking about in the SNES game Mystical Ninja, and if one player left the screen, both went. It would be a cool way to get around the whole "no multiplayer" thing for those of you out there that wanted that option. Also perhaps a way to go about a possible party based type of game. Just some thoughts.

------------------
-Bratt99
Liquid Squid
ProductionsŠ
e-mail: moocowgame@aol.com

I'm not talking about putting "burnt grass" on top of the dried grass, I'm talking about having the dried grass terrain tile become a burnt grass tile. Well, actually, probly more like replacing the ground object(or whatever it's called), "dried grass" with "burnt grass."
That brings up another question from me. Will we be able to add a terrain discription feature? I mean, can we have a modifier key down, and when you click down upon a terrain(bush, grass, tree, wall, etc.), it will pull up a small box with the name of the terrain type, and sometimes a discription(like a book would show what it says on the back, or the page it is opened to). And when the mouse is let up, the box dissapears(and/or when the mod. key is let up). A game example(note that a right-click feature was used) : Heros of Might and Magic III, you could right-click on just about anything to get info/help on it, and when right-clicking on terrains, it would pull up a box saying the terrain-type's name, and sometimes it's simple properties.
So, is it possible?

------------------
Heh. I can too spell. Most of the time...
(see title)

Quote

Originally posted by Deamon:
**I'm not talking about putting "burnt grass" on top of the dried grass, I'm talking about having the dried grass terrain tile become a burnt grass tile. Well, actually, probly more like replacing the ground object(or whatever it's called), "dried grass" with "burnt grass."
**

If it looks and behaves the same either way, does it matter? That is, as far as the user is concerned, is there any difference between a dried grass tile covered with a burnt grass image which behaves like burnt grass, and an actual burnt grass tile? Either way, that's probably possible.

Quote

That brings up another question from me. Will we be able to add a terrain discription feature?

With enough event scripting, it's probably possible. Whether it's feasible, of course, is another matter.

------------------
(url="http://"http://www.cjr.org/owners/aoltimewarner.asp")AOLTimeWarnerICQSportsIllustratedCNNAtlantaBravesHawksandThrashersDCComicsNetscapeHBO owns you.(/url)

Is a burnt grass tile really necessary? Everything looks pretty similar after it's been burnt if you ask me.

Anyway, I was wondering if a flood effect would be reasonably possible to try to pull off without RAM overkill? Like first it's a grass tile, which is permeable, then it's a flooded grass tile, which is semi-permiable, then it's just muddy flood water, which will kill you.

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by Kireck L:
Is a burnt grass tile really necessary? Everything looks pretty similar after it's been burnt if you ask me.

It was just an example.
**

Quote

Anyway, I was wondering if a flood effect would be reasonably possible to try to pull off without RAM overkill? Like first it's a grass tile, which is permeable, then it's a flooded grass tile, which is semi-permiable, then it's just muddy flood water, which will kill you.

**

Quote

Originally posted by Kireck L:
**Anyway, I was wondering if a flood effect would be reasonably possible to try to pull off without RAM overkill? Like first it's a grass tile, which is permeable, then it's a flooded grass tile, which is semi-permiable, then it's just muddy flood water, which will kill you.
**

that's really a question of how you make the graphics for your flood. depending on your bit-depth, resolution, and the number of variations on a single graphic you use it could take a wide range of memory requirements.

------------------
Do not follow me for I may not lead. Do not lead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
-Jedi

Quote

Originally posted by Deamon:
**How would muddy water kill you? And even so, why not simply make it unwalkable(exept with a raft/boat of course:) )?
**

If you're standing in the grass and then it becomes muddy water, chances are that you're going to die from inhaling too much water or just not being able to swim long enough to find any land(the whole place is flooded), so why not just make you die.

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by Kireck L:
**If you're standing in the grass and then it becomes muddy water, chances are that you're going to die from inhaling too much water or just not being able to swim long enough to find any land(the whole place is flooded), so why not just make you die.

**

Ok, that makes sense. Just as long as they can't walk onto the muddy water later if they do survive, plus you should give them a chance to swim to shore(with an auto-swim thing if player's don't normally get to swim, perhaps). Nevermind, I'm not makeing sense, am I?

------------------
Heh. I can too spell. Most of the time...
(see title)

Quote

Originally posted by Deamon:
**Ok, that makes sense. Just as long as they can't walk onto the muddy water later if they do survive, plus you should give them a chance to swim to shore(with an auto-swim thing if player's don't normally get to swim, perhaps). Nevermind, I'm not makeing sense, am I?
**

Yeah, it makes perfect sense, the best bet is to get away as soon as the Eternal Rain begins, but that's getting deep into my game, I just hope that it won't be TOO difficult to pull that off.

------------------