Strategy Mode Discussion

I believe it would be much better to explain what you want to happen than to write some difficult to write pseudo-code. Unless that code alredy runs in the engine (which it doesent).

That way, it would be much easier to understaund, as we dont need to take out every if, and translate the variables into sensible expresions.

@Inca

It's better to come up with numbers first and then revise. Speeds up the process. Let's just put it at 15 seconds for now.

For other tribes, that depends on how we will handle AI Nations. We can either use shortcuts to simulate them while they are off screen, such as math equations with certain elements of randomness to see how much they advance, or we can simulate them in real time like the player. As a question to the coders, which one is more viable and easier on the system?

@Daniferrito

Sure thing.

Basically, we have to start by identifying an organism as under attack. To do this certain conditions need to be met.

The organism (the target) must receive contact from another organism (the attacker) that causes damage.
The attacker must not be the same species as the target.
The attacker must be equal to the species of the player.
Cooperation must not have been discovered. (Nevermind we don't need this)

Then, we set the target with a tag called "Attacked" for 15 seconds.

Next, we need to see if an organism comes to aid the attacker. The conditions for this are:

The 2nd attacker is equal to the species of the 1st attacker.
The 2nd attacker is not the 1st attacker.
The 2nd attacker is the player's organism.

Then, if those conditions are met, the computer generates 3-5 RP for the player towards the Research "Socialisation".

Does this sounds like something that could work? Any loopholes?

Just going to make a quick change, we need to multiply all the values we have by 10, because I did some testing and right now Researches are discovered waayy too fast.

So anyways, at the pace we are going right now we'll be lucky to finish the stone age techs by the end of summer. So instead of doing each Research and Invention separately, let's do each Research at the same time as all of its inventions. Also, instead of coming up with the specific wording for the triggers, let's just try and come up with more of them, so that if one or two don't work, there are still several other triggers that can be used.

So to wrap up Socialisation:

Name:
Research or Invention:
Cost:
Triggers:
...
Enables:
...

Socialisation
Research
400 RP
Triggers:
Communicating with other species members (10-40 RP)
Giving food or items to other species members (30-50 RP)
Mutually attacking other species members (20-30 RP)
Enables:
Recruiting pack members. (Pack follows you around, but does their own thing)

Here are all of the inventions under Socialisation. I'll put them all in the same format as the above:

Language
Invention
900 RP
Triggers:
Recruiting pack members (10-30 RP)
...
Enables:
Can assign tasks to pack members (May not comply).

Cooperation
Invention
1200 RP
Triggers:
Assigning tasks to species members through Language (30-60 RP)
...
Enables:
Other species members can contribute RP from actions
Strategy Mode

Communities
Invention
1200 RP
Triggers:
...
Enables:
Nation Editor
Citizens (All units automatically become citizens)

So can you guys come up with some triggers for these Inventions? Also, does Socialisation look complete?

Okay, I'm going to suspend the talk of researches, inventions, and their triggers (not that there was much recently) to quickly discuss gathering. This is what I've written up for it so far.

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The compound system exists and applies in all stages of the game. In the stages after achieving intelligence and unlocking the Strategy Mode (often called the ‘Strategy Stages’), compounds are more commonly referred to as resources. This follows RTS convention.

Resources will already exist in the environment by the time the strategy stages begin. The player can, however, create resources themselves, and with higher technology they can even synthesize new ones. Resource gathering is one of the essential pillars to the strategy stages.

To gather resources, the player must select the units they want, click G, and then select the resource to get the units to gather. Once the order is issued, the units immediately set out to the nearest natural stockpiles of those resources and begin to gather. The player can save “Quick Commands” for his units when selecting what resources to gather, so that the next time the player can just select the units, click the quick command button on their interface, and they will all automatically begin to gather wood (or whatever resource was designated).

Buildings can also dispatch units to gather resources. Buildings with storage FPs can have quick commands assigned to them in the Technology Editor. Quick commands are basically hotkeys, or buttons on the interface of the building, that when clicked issue several orders at once.

When a building has a storage FP placed in it in the Technology Editor, the player will be prompted to assign quick gather commands to the building. If they accept, the player will select a resource, select a specialist (or several specialists), and select a “Tool” Tech Object. Finally, the quick command is named.

The way this would be used in game would be via the interface of that building. The interface of any building with a storage FP will have a “Gather” button in it. This button, when selected, will open a list. This list will only have options to click on if the player, in the Technology Editor, assigned quick commands to the building. The player can assign as many quick commands to a building as they like, even for the same resource. So, the player would click the “Gather” button, and select one of the quick commands from the list. They would type in a number, telling the building how many units to dispatch to gather under the conditions set in the quick command.

Here we will demonstrate this tool with an example. A player builds a building in the Technology Editor and places a stockpile in the building. They are prompted to assign quick commands. They assign one quick command, in which they select wood as the resource, gatherers as the specialists, and axes as the tech object. They name this quick command “Axe – Wood”. They then place this building somewhere in the game world and select it, clicking the gather button. A list opens, showing the quick command “Axe – Wood”. They select this quick command, type in the number 10, and hit okay. 10 idle gatherers are automatically dispatched to the building, where they auto-equip axe TO’s, and then go out to begin gathering wood wherever they find it. Priority is always given to the closest sources. Also, if there had not been enough idle gatherers when the quick command was issued, gatherers would be pulled from the nearest SC (Gatherers that were populated would be deployed), and then they would be sent to the building to execute the command.

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So as you can see its quite messy, long, and complicated, but its better than nothing. We need to lay down how gathering resources will work in the strategy mode, because thats kinda the pillar of all RTS games.

The reason this is so complex and not just a simple RTS based system is because we need to include all of the following features:

• There will not be preset models for wood, stone, minerals, etc., like there normally are in RTS games. There won't be a predefined "tree" model, or "iron ore rocks" model. Instead, a plant may contain several resources. There may be stockpiles of minerals underground. Soil, sand, clay, and other resources also exist in natural stockpiles "in" the ground. So there are no specific entities to click on.
  
• Whatever the controls we agree on, they need to be quick, intuitive, and something that people can learn to do quickly and as a habit.
  
• Buildings need to be able to automate gathering via your units, so that in the later game when the player is focused more on larger problems, it can be easy to manage gathering on a large scale.
  

Discuss.

Guys, I know this may not be the most interesting thing in the world, but without a system for gathering, we can't have a strategy mode, or anything past the Aware stage. Do you guys have ideas on how it could be done based on what I said above?

Sadly, i dont have any sugestions, other than predefining most quick actions ourselves, instead of prompting the player to define them himself. Overall, i see this system as over-complicated for the user, but i dont know how could we do it easier.

How about, when a group of units is selected, you click G to go into Gather mode, and then you select any model or area of the ground. If you select a model, it will display a list of all the compounds in that model, and the player just selects the one he wants the units to gather. The units will proceed to collect all of that compound in that model, and then continue to find and gather other sources of that compound elsewhere.

If the player clicks G and then clicks on the ground, a menu appears displaying all of the compounds available in the ground (like minerals and types of soil) in that specific area and to a certain depth below it. Again, once the player selects one of the resources from the list, the units begin gathering first from that spot and then from neighbouring spots.

How does that sound?

That makes sense to me and isn't too complicated for the user.