Author Topic: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim  (Read 73930 times)

Jubal

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #45 on: August 09, 2018, 11:47:26 PM »
Yeah - at some point for prettification some more ground-level stuff might be good (little plants or a more varied grass texture), but that's far from at the urgent end of things. I certainly like the light/sharp look given the style of game. :)
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Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #46 on: August 20, 2018, 10:50:55 PM »
Yeah - at some point for prettification some more ground-level stuff might be good (little plants or a more varied grass texture), but that's far from at the urgent end of things. I certainly like the light/sharp look given the style of game. :)

Thanks! Yes over time more detail should be added in, although that being said I do want to be a little mindful of performance

So I ticked off all the goals from my last post so wanted to post a short update:

Couple of UI bits: I've added a context menu for the jousting tilt so it tells you who is competing this round, and who is fighting now



I added a small tooltip. There will be numerous small buttons that don't have text, and it might not be obvious what they are for, or might be ambiguous so this should help explain.



Worked on the spectators, they now want to spectate from stand, and also can food and drink whilst spectating. Using the context menu you can now upgrade the stand to have a canopy. This will mean that when it rains the spectators wont get wet and sad.



Next up, I really want to start adding in some more buildables since all the screenshots are getting a little "samey". So I will create an apothecary stand, which will sell tinctures and tonics which will have one shot effects in events. As well as that regular visitors will visit an apothecary which will earn you gold. AI controlled knights will periodically decide to buy / replace their tonics and if they have them they'll use them to try and win.
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Jubal

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #47 on: August 20, 2018, 11:40:24 PM »
How many people can you get per stand? They look a bit sparsely placed at the moment, which reduces the potential crowd feel.
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Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #48 on: August 21, 2018, 07:27:50 AM »
In that image there were 6. I need to be careful over the limit for a couple of reasons:

1) The first is that there needs to be some limit or there could end up being stands that look like that anyway.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

2) It looks better if they have space to walk out when they want to leave to do something else, because the crowd simulation code is not allowed to move static agents - in other words if someone is spectating someone in front of them wont be able to barge past to get out.

You're absolutely right, though. I've upped the limit somewhat to 17, which does look better



Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: August 21, 2018, 08:15:09 AM by Tusky »
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beebug_nic

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #49 on: August 21, 2018, 10:33:40 AM »
I think you hit a sweet spot with the stands - it looks a lot better with more folks inside - though this gives you an option for a nice bit of detail that 99% of people will probably ignore but would be cool - have the stands get fuller as you get to the end (no one wants to watch a less popular person, or the early stages, they want to see the juicer jousts where teeth are potentially being sprayed everywhere!) :-)

Jubal

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #50 on: August 21, 2018, 11:39:33 AM »
Yeah, that looks *vastly* better with the limit upped to 17, has much more the right feel now :)
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Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #51 on: September 05, 2018, 10:52:29 AM »
I think you hit a sweet spot with the stands - it looks a lot better with more folks inside - though this gives you an option for a nice bit of detail that 99% of people will probably ignore but would be cool - have the stands get fuller as you get to the end (no one wants to watch a less popular person, or the early stages, they want to see the juicer jousts where teeth are potentially being sprayed everywhere!) :-)

Yeah, that looks *vastly* better with the limit upped to 17, has much more the right feel now :)

I agree. Thanks for the suggestions!

I ticked off the big todo from my last post: I made and implemented an apothecary stand! This will sell tinctures and potions that help knights in events - although I didn't get around to putting the potions themselves in. However visitors do go over to it and buy invisible items.
I also added a ground texture for this and the beer keg outlet. I realised a ground texture was needed because otherwise it isn't clear why placement sometimes becomes invalid when you are trying to place something near them. The reason is that there is a space by the "vend point" that is forced to be clear of other buildings so that your punters can get there. Here's what it looks like:



It actually took a fair bit of time to remind myself on how the hell to make an outlet work and snap to the grid nicely, since it was so long since I did the beer keg. I came to the conclusion that I need to actually document how to do various things that I'll be doing multiple times, like setting up new outlets.
I also completed a bunch more UI elements. I included the main buildings group selection bar in the screenshot.

I did a lot of thinking and planning too, confirming a lot more details such as how many visitors will turn up, from where & how. I decided it made most sense to have a vehicle like a wagon and horse bring them (much like the bus would in theme park). Similarly I decided I need to add latrines (or would the best word be privy? or midden? Not sure).
I cleared up a few annoying bugs. The main one was if someones destination was where a building is placed, or if it's just plonked directly on their head then odd things would happen. Now they are teleported out of the way.

Some trees for the level 1 edge scenery have been completed and placed in the scene. I did some load testing and tweaking so it seems to perform ok with all the scenery, crowds and buildings. Despite being very careful I am still pessimistically expecting to notice a big game breaking performance problem I didn't account for right before completion - and have a big old cry.



Next:

Final level 1 "edge" scenery is going to be rolled out this month: a fence object and some ruins, meaning I can share some close to final looking screenshots.

I might finally have a track by the next update too

I also want to implement the system by which visitors are happy and sad about things. This will then lead on to making them want to leave, and adding a wagon which brings in new visitors.

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Jubal

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #52 on: September 05, 2018, 11:20:22 PM »
Lovely! Will the stalls/vendors actually have an NPC working at them/standing next to them, or will NPCs just look like they're using them like vending machines?
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Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #53 on: September 06, 2018, 03:40:28 PM »
Lovely! Will the stalls/vendors actually have an NPC working at them/standing next to them, or will NPCs just look like they're using them like vending machines?

Yes. At the moment they are using them like vending machines. I really do want to create a person to stand next to each outlet as the actual seller - but I just need to get round to making them.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2018, 08:09:20 PM by Tusky »
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Jubal

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #54 on: September 12, 2018, 11:26:25 PM »
Ah, OK, great :)
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Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #55 on: September 20, 2018, 02:59:54 PM »
Edge fence

I finished the fence model for the edge of the first level field! Here is is in action.



The first level is much more presentable now

Happiness

The visitors all have a happiness value now that goes up or down depending on various things - such as if they want to eat but cant, enjoyed a fight etc.

Whilst doing this I realised an issue: The visitors just wander to and fro & when they need anything they go right to any venue that can provide for that need. So if a new outlet is placed - they'll one by one go to it, and end up looking like a horde of zombies.

So what difference did it make where the player put anything?

I think the answer - like in all other simulation games... is to use paths to direct where people generally go.
It would have been nice to not use them just because it would have set tourney apart a little bit. More like real "crowd in field" situations, where people would just wander about. Still I think it is something people will "get" and provides a neat solutioon

Death

After a chat with Mr Jubal and Glaurung in the pub I have been persuaded against my original decision to not have knights die (I thought it might be too annoying).

Knights will be popping their clogs aplenty now in tourney >:D I think this will be better fun too, and true to history as well which is a nice bonus

What's next?

Paths

A new "basic knight" model

Complete accommodation tent texture. I've done the model - just not got round to doing all the different versions for each house.

« Last Edit: September 21, 2018, 05:31:06 AM by Tusky »
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beebug_nic

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #56 on: September 20, 2018, 05:53:17 PM »
Something I use in Fringe Planet (which might help you here) is the idea of dawdling (which has a chance to occur the more depressed a peon gets, as well an intelligence check). If I add an order (cut this tree down) - there is a chance that a peon will dawdle a little bit before actually doing the task. It's a very simple concept, but it makes things feel slightly more organic (i.e. peons not immediately running straight to whatever has been ordered to do). There are exceptions of course - orders than peons create themselves (get food, get warmth) won't be dawdled. Just a thought :-)

And very much rejoiced at the news of death happening, but I may be a twisted individual :-)

Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #57 on: September 21, 2018, 10:54:25 AM »
Something I use in Fringe Planet (which might help you here) is the idea of dawdling (which has a chance to occur the more depressed a peon gets, as well an intelligence check). If I add an order (cut this tree down) - there is a chance that a peon will dawdle a little bit before actually doing the task. It's a very simple concept, but it makes things feel slightly more organic (i.e. peons not immediately running straight to whatever has been ordered to do). There are exceptions of course - orders than peons create themselves (get food, get warmth) won't be dawdled. Just a thought :-)

Yes it's a nice nice idea. At the moment I have something similar - the pezzies have a "wander" state which they go into from time to time. So whilst it mitigates somewhat - they will eventually decide they want to visit the new shiny shop. And when you have 200 odd people it's very noticeable that where you put something was just completely arbitrary if they all just psychically know where what they want is located.

And very much rejoiced at the news of death happening, but I may be a twisted individual :-)

I must be as well because I think it will be a lot more interesting haha :)
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beebug_nic

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #58 on: September 21, 2018, 10:59:54 AM »
And when you have 200 odd people it's very noticeable that where you put something was just completely arbitrary if they all just psychically know where what they want is located.

Simpler solution: during the fights, allow equipment (weapons and armour) to be knocked off and impale/crush the crowd! Therefore reducing the number of agents and making things look more realistic :-D

Tusky

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Re: [Dev Log] Tourney: The medieval tournament sim
« Reply #59 on: September 21, 2018, 11:11:39 AM »
Simpler solution: during the fights, allow equipment (weapons and armour) to be knocked off and impale/crush the crowd! Therefore reducing the number of agents and making things look more realistic :-D

LOL! Yep problem solved
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