Messages

31

Programming / Re: Dijkstra Map

« on: September 25, 2013, 04:32:34 PM »

Code: [Select]

#   #  #   #  #  #   #   #  #

@  1   2   3   4   5   6   m  #
                         
#  #   #  #    #   6   #  #  #

               #   7   #

Then it says:
"Multiply every value in the map by a negative number somewhere in the neighborhood of -1.2"

Code: [Select]

#    #    #     #     #    #   #   #   #

@ -1.2 -2.4 -3.6 -4.8 -6 -7.2  m   # 
                         
#   #    #    #   #  -7.2  #   #   #

                  #  -8.4  #


"Take the result and pass it back through the Dijkstra scanning function. "

That's what I am stuck on. The scanning function involves:
"If any floor tile has a value that is at least 2 greater than its lowest-value floor neighbor, set it to be exactly 1 greater than its lowest value neighbor."

But how will that ever be true? How will any tile be at least 2 greater than its lowest-value floor neighbour when I have multiplied them all by 1.2?

As it stands the monkey is just going to sit in that dead end as the player approaches rather than jump out and flee to the south.

I suspect I've misread something and got the wrong end of the stick concerning the -1.2 multiplication and the rescan. But I've read it again and again and nothing springs to mind.

Stick to integers when you multiply by -1.2. That is, multiply by -6 and then divide by 5, dropping any decimals as usual in integer math.
Let's change the diagram to demonstrate, by moving the player and extending that corridor:

Code: [Select]

  #    #    #    #   #    #    #   #   #

-4.8 -3.6 -2.4 -1.2  @  -1.2 -2.4  m   #  (monkey is at -3.6)
                         
  #    #    #    #   #  -2.4   #   #   #

                     #  -3.6   #                       (the scale is a little stretched here)

                     #  -4.8 -6.0 -7.2 -8.4 -9.6 -10.8 -12.0 -13.2 -14.4 -15.6 -16.8 -18.0  #


Which is actually this, since we're dealing with integers only:

Code: [Select]

  #    #    #    #   #    #    #   #   #

-4   -3   -2    -1    @  -1   -2    m   #  (monkey is at -3)
                         
  #    #    #    #   #  -2     #   #   #

                     #  -3     #

                     #  -4   -6   -7   -8   -9   -10   -12   -13   -14   -15   -16   -18    #


And which turns into this once you run the scan again:

Code: [Select]

  #    #    #    #   #    #    #   #   #

-4   -3   -2    -2    @  -4   -3    m   #  (monkey's tile is now -2)
                         
  #    #    #    #   #  -5     #   #   #

                     #  -6     #

                     #  -7   -8   -9   -10   -11   -12   -13   -14   -15   -16   -17   -18    #


Now you can kinda see what the multiplier does as the distances grow. Parts of the dungeon that are very far from the player will look more attractive - in this diagram, the monkey would now make a break for it because that -3 is lower than the monkey's current -2 (and therefore safer).


Notice, in the above diagram, what would happen if we had cut the corridor off 1 tile earlier. The tile that ended up as -17 would be -16 instead, and the floor right next to the monkey would be -2. The monkey wouldn't have a lower tile to step to. What if we want the monkey to run sooner, or with less space? The next diagram shows what happens if we increase the -1.2 multiplier to -1.5:

Code: [Select]

  #    #    #    #   #    #    #   #   #

 @   -1   -3    -4  -6   -7   -9    m   #  (monkey's tile is -10)
                         
  #    #    #    #   #   -9    #   #   #

                     #  -10    #

                     #  -12   -13   -15   -16   -18   -19   -21   -22   -24   -25   -27   -28    #


And the final result:

Code: [Select]

  #    #    #    #   #    #    #   #   #

 @   -10  -11  -12 -13  -14   -13  m   #  (monkey's tile is -12)
                         
  #    #    #    #   #  -15    #   #   #

                     #  -16    #

                     #  -17   -18   -19   -20   -21   -22   -23   -24   -25   -26   -27   -28    #


The monkey was just barely deciding to flee before (-3 vs -2) - even though the player was much closer in that instance! - but with a bigger multiplier, the monkey will start fleeing much sooner.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

32

Player's Plaza / Re: Your choice of rogueliking soundtrack

« on: September 15, 2013, 01:25:06 AM »

So many roguelikes operate in total silence, particularly the ASCII ones, that I find I often put on a bit of music to soothe my weary questing path. I can't be alone in that. So what do you like to listen to when the dungeon calls?

Personally I favour vaguely setting-appropriate things. For Infra Arcana I use the Eternal Darkness soundtrack. For fantasy/medieval ones it's usually either Oblivion or a load of stuff I found under 'medieval' on Grooveshark (such as this or this).

Anyone else?

Yeah, I go with setting-appropriate stuff too. Dark ambient for horror, Lovecraftian, etc.

Radio Rivendell is great for most fantasy games.

(for coding, I favor genres that make a state of flow easier to achieve, like Goa trance)

33

Other Announcements / Re: My current top five roguelikes

« on: August 24, 2013, 04:42:11 PM »

You are the Norrendrin dev?

Yes...quit playing and start coding. I've not played but I keep hearing about it. I'm not the end all and be all of RL news, but amongst future 'major' candidates you and SIL are being talked about.

I really should try Alphaman. I realize there are just so many great games out there.

I'll get right back to coding in a minute, but first I'll talk about Alphaman. You probably need dosbox to run it, but it's worth the trouble. I realized (years after I first played it) that it does a lot of things right: Berries are like potions (some can be thrown), with the added feature of berry aging - they gradually change color from red to purple, with the effect getting stronger toward purple. Red stat berries permanently reduce your capabilities, while purple ones are permanent boosts, but a purple acidic berry can do quite a lot of damage if you eat it. It makes the berry ID game pretty interesting.

Then, you have the tech devices. Since the setting is post-apocalyptic, that gun-shaped device might be a laser blaster, or a hair dryer. You can generally try repeatedly to figure these out, with a chance of the item being activated, and a smaller chance of it breaking.

Each character starts with a physical and a mental mutation, and they're fun to play around with. I'll admit to start-scumming quite a few times in this game. (I've just realized that a lot of this information is on the RB page: http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=Alphaman . There's also a wiki, incomplete but still useful: http://alphaman.wikia.com/wiki/Alphaman_Wiki )

The UI was ahead of its time, I think. Inventory, character info, world map, known items, etc., each get their own screen accessed with F1 through ~F5. Overall it's pretty sensible.

And then there's the humor: tech devices like lava lamps and answering machines (in addition to phasers and chainsaws), and mutant enemies like prairie chickens and gazelles that fire lasers. The first part of your mission has you find Elvis while fighting off Elvis impersonators.

It has multiple difficulty levels. Normal mode is quite difficult(I've never beaten it legitimately), so I think I'd recommend starting lower. Good luck. I'll get back to coding now.

34

Other Announcements / Re: My current top five roguelikes

« on: August 23, 2013, 08:28:05 PM »

This thread is making me realize I need to try all these games (or retry, in the case of Infra Arcana, Sil, DCSS, and AliensRL).

My current list is Brogue, DoomRL, ADOM, ToME 2 (specifically 2.3.5), and Alphaman (a classic!), in no particular order.
(also, I've gotta finish this next big update of Forays. Soon!)

35

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Pugnacious Wizards 2

« on: August 04, 2013, 09:56:01 PM »

Back for more:

-I found a "wall on track" room where the walls formed a solid barrier across the top of the room. I could fire jump past them, so I don't think it necessarily needs to be changed. (however, fire jump can't burn the door open, so perhaps you'd be unable to get into a room if all 4 entrances were like this?)
-A trap in another room seems to be able to hit me. I can see its animation hitting the wall (I haven't seen the trap at all yet), and if I stand in its apparent path, I take damage and start bleeding.
-On my 3rd or 4th run I got a bit farther, and I'm noticing that there are fewer doors connecting the rooms. This is definitely contributing to the challenge. Nice.
-Around the time I fire jumped into a heart container room to retrieve it, I caught fire (expected) but it took me from 102HP to 3HP before I healed and sought out a pool of water. I've never seen fire last that long.
-I managed to get out with all 3 pieces on that 4th run. I kinda want wizards to be trickier - perhaps less vulnerable to staying a knight's move away at all times.

That's all for now!

36

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Pugnacious Wizards 2

« on: August 02, 2013, 08:36:07 PM »

I just put up version 0.6 at http://trystans.blogspot.com/2013/08/pugnacious-wizards-2-version-06.html. New content and some performance improvements.

Oh, excellent - it's now playable, even if not quite as fast as the 7drl.
I'll make some notes as I play:
-Some of the message popup text can be seen through another popup if more than one happens on the same turn.
-The antimagic floor popup says "mysic". You'd probably catch that, but I'm trying to be complete.
-The frozen popup says "getting fr" on one line and "ozen" on the next.
-The way the spell list darkens in antimagic rooms is nice.
-The help screen could list the Buy Spells command.
-Healing fog is a nice balance change from healing burst. Blocking LOS and several spells can be dangerous.
-Doors taking 2 turns to burn is also a nice change and probably an important nerf to fire jump.

There's the end of my first run. I got caught between two freeze traps that constantly refroze me each time I thawed. Nasty. This version is awesome, Trystan, thanks!

37

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Pugnacious Wizards 2

« on: July 28, 2013, 07:09:09 AM »

The 7drl was so fun that I'm keeping an eye on this. However, right now it's about twice as slow as the 7drl version, and not really playable on my computer.

38

Programming / Re: Screenies of my cave generating algorythm

« on: July 17, 2013, 08:36:29 PM »

These look great. The scale seems about right for exploration, too.

39

Programming / Re: Cavern generation code

« on: July 08, 2013, 07:13:41 PM »

Does anyone know a simple algorithm to create irregular semi-round shapes? Something like a pond or lake.

Something like this? (http://i.imgur.com/4QGluRG.png  http://i.imgur.com/CFSk8bl.png )

If those are the sorts of shapes you want, here's the algorithm:

1. Choose a maximum radius for the shape, so you have a clear stopping point. (You could also experiment with other termination criteria, like the total number of cells, etc.)

2. Start with a single cell of "water" surrounded by plenty of empty space.

3. Choose a cell at random.

4. If the chosen cell is empty space AND is next to water, continue to 5. Otherwise, go back to step 3.

5. Randomly decide whether the chosen cell will become water. The probability should be based on distance from the center (the original water cell). For example, I used (100 - (euclidean_distance * 10))%, for a maximum radius of 10.

6. If you just changed the chosen cell to water AND the chosen cell was at the desired maximum radius, go to 7. Otherwise, the shape isn't finished yet - go back to 3.

7. Finally, smooth it out just once using the "4-5 rule" mentioned here: http://roguebasin.com/index.php?title=Cellular_Automata_Method_for_Generating_Random_Cave-Like_Levels .

Hope this helps.

40

Temple of the Roguelike / Re: How do I use NotEye?

« on: June 15, 2013, 11:04:59 PM »

I'm sorry for this dumb question... but it's been like a week and I still haven't found out how to use it properly, I can load a game listed there but I can't change the view nor the graphics... please, help me.
I've searched everywhere for something like a tutorial... something that'd help me, but I found nothing, I do know the commands to open the NotEye menu, but it doesn't open it. :/
So, could someone explain me how to use it? I've no clue...    

Start noteye, choose your game from the menu. This part you've done already, correct?

Then, did you try all 3 menu commands? F4, CTRL-[, and CTRL-M. (CTRL-[ opened the game's menu, not noteye's menu, when I tried it with Hydra Slayer, but the other 2 worked.)

The menu should come up, where you can press M to change graphical mode. Good luck.

41

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: The Obscure Games Thread!

« on: May 21, 2013, 11:09:40 PM »

Anyone here play artificial life games/simulations? My partner is a huge fan of AquaZone, what with its surprisingly accurate genetics, but everything since has just been "ooh look at the pretty fishes" without thinking about, you know, biology.

They're both older programs, but I used to enjoy a shareware game called Evolve!, as well as a program/screensaver called Primordial Life. They both had some interesting mechanics paired with genetics.

(here's a bit more info on each: http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=859  and  http://speciesdevblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/to-primordial-life/ )

42

7DRLs / Re: Any feedback for Pugnacious Wizards?

« on: May 01, 2013, 09:25:06 PM »

What did you think of the traps? Were you able to understand them and use them to your advantage? What about the rooms with floor traps?

What did you think of the magic? Were you able to use it without killing yourself too often? Was anything completely useless or too useful? Did it seem a bit chaotic - like magic has to be wielded carefully? Did you find a spell or tactic that was really fun? (my favorite is Bone-splode)

What did you think of the learning curve and complexity? Does it hold your hand too much or leave you guessing too much? Did you notice any emergent effects like freezing yourself to counter being on fire or setting trees and doors on fire?

The traps were easy to figure out - except for those floor traps. Because they set everything on fire, I never stayed long enough to see a pattern - if they triggered arrows instead I'd have experimented with them.

If one spell is too useful, it's the fire jump. (Healing burst is a close second.)

I had a good experience with the learning curve. I started by trying to fight guards directly, then figured out magic missile. I was able to get through several rooms this way. Then I figured out that fire jumping through rooms is really the way to go, rarely spending 2 turns in a single room.

43

7DRLs / Re: Can you find Rodney?

« on: March 27, 2013, 01:14:36 PM »

I enjoyed the few times I played, but both attempts ended with the game freezing up. Have you heard anyone else say this? If not, I'll play again and give a better description.

44

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Forays into Norrendrin 0.7.0 - major release!

« on: March 24, 2013, 05:44:37 PM »

Oh, hey. I've just figured out the "Show new replies" feature, so I didn't notice your post last month. Sorry about that!

You raise a lot of good points. Balance might be better than it was in 0.6.x, but there's a lot of room for improvement. It's posts like this that will eventually get it there.

On shrines: Since they appear every other level, you CAN get those secondary feats you mentioned. If you meant "early enough to matter", well, that's different.

On feats: I actually think Disarm Trap should be more powerful than it is - perhaps making you immune to it while still allowing monsters to trigger it. You said you didn't like Defense feats, but I consider Tumble to be a lot better than Disarm at the moment. Give that one a shot, if you haven't.

On resistance: Finding a resistance item would've made the boss trivial before I made this change. Dragonfire is scary stuff.

"OH THE IRONY." - Yeah. I *do* want to fix this. Perhaps I'll introduce more puzzle elements to the final fight.

Thanks a ton, Holsety.

45

Programming / Re: Cross-platform C# Console output lib, just in time for the 7DRLC

« on: March 24, 2013, 02:12:56 PM »

I certainly did! Thanks, DScreamer. It improved my 7DRL game significantly!

Only one issue: I'd love to see the string length limiter separate strings with newlines into their own strings. It currently doesn't respect newlines and that means anything with them will get truncated in what seems like an arbitrary fashion.

Great! I've added support for carriage returns, newlines, and wrapping. Here's the rundown:
Screen.wordwrap has been added, and defaults to false, which means text will be truncated at the edge of the screen/panel.
Carriage returns, \r, move printing to the start of the current line.
Newlines, \n, move printing to the start of the next line.

New download: http://code.google.com/p/parabola-console-lib/downloads/list