OHRRPGCE feature requests/suggestions

[TMC]

Shop item descriptions which change based on tags is an interesting idea. I do not think I would go to the trouble of adding a set of options to the shop thing editor for that, however a much more powerful feature would be markup to hide/show parts of a block of text (anywhere that embed codes are supported) based on tags, such as
"Mysterious talisman.
${T14}You recognise it as the high priest's.${/T}${T14=0}Its purpose is unknown.${/T}"

I'm definitely implementing that! Could also have "${else}" as an alternative to "${/T}${T14=0}", and could do global variables too: ${V#=#} or <, >, <>, <=, >=, like "Costs 4 gems. You have ${V9}. ${V9<4}You're not getting in.${/V}"
${/V} or ${/T} at the end of a string could also be optional.

Also, there should be a setting to make tag-disabled shop stuff appear in the shop greyed out instead of being hidden. And another to make out-of-stock items appear greyed out.

[Bob the Hamster]

That is very cool! :D

[thecrimsondm]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but I would like to see a password system built into the OHR itself instead of needing scripting. Password meaning something like, "You walk to a door but you can't get in unless you know the four digit password' or 'There's a guy at a bar but he won't let the player in unless they know the code phrase."

[Bob the Hamster]

That would probably be easiest to implement as a textbox feature.

[Pepsi Ranger]

Shop item descriptions which change based on tags is an interesting idea. I do not think I would go to the trouble of adding a set of options to the shop thing editor for that, however a much more powerful feature would be markup to hide/show parts of a block of text (anywhere that embed codes are supported) based on tags, such as
"Mysterious talisman.
${T14}You recognise it as the high priest's.${/T}${T14=0}Its purpose is unknown.${/T}"

I'm definitely implementing that! Could also have "${else}" as an alternative to "${/T}${T14=0}", and could do global variables too: ${V#=#} or <, >, <>, <=, >=, like "Costs 4 gems. You have ${V9}. ${V9<4}You're not getting in.${/V}"
${/V} or ${/T} at the end of a string could also be optional.

Yes please and thank you very much.

Seriously, this is the best textbox feature since strings, and I don't know why I haven't thought of it in spite of needing it for years.

[TMC]

I forgot that I also want to support ${globalname} embed codes (where 'globalname' is the name of a global variable, obviously). HSpeak would print a warning if you name a global like "C0" which would be unembeddable because it clashes with a builtin embed.
Anyway, therefore I would also support ${globalname=42}, etc, and I think the closing tag would be just ${/} instead of ${/V} or ${/T}.

Also, an "else if"-like tag would be nice too:
"You have ${gems} gems. ${gems<4}You're not getting in.
${else gems=4}Just enough!
${else}You may enter.${/}"

The textbox file format still has to be replaced to remove the strict line length limit (and switch to autowrapped text) so that you actually have space to use embed codes like these. I want to make item and attack descriptions and attack captions much longer too but those could just be forced into the existing file formats.

[Pepsi Ranger]

Not really a new set of suggestions here, but just a bump toward hopeful implementation for these things in the near(ish) future. Been thinking about how to safely implement the first suggestion and why it should be done at all (instead of not done, which is the current implementation), and why it should be done sooner than later (hint: HotOHR final season):

Suggestion #1: Bigger Tilemaps and Independent Animation Maps

I know, I know: We have layers! Yes, we have 16 layers! That's plenty. Yes. Just combine them! I know!!! And you're not the first to ask for this! I know! And this is not the first time that you have asked for this! True...

But...

That's also a lot of shifting around tileset layers just to keep track of complex floor patterns, or 640x400 graphics, or...

You get the idea.

Essentially, larger tilemaps allow for greater detail per layer if that's what the designer needs. No more having to mash three or four layers together to design a complex building facade with all of the different storefronts, or an (gasp) interactive map!

"Okay, but that's sort of trivial for games that can get by on 30 tile types," is what you may be thinking right now.

But not in 1920 x 1080 HD!

Okay, again, we're unlikely to see a lot of HD games coming out any time soon. I get it.

But, we really should have more tileset flexibility, and I think it could be a matter of:

1. Backcompat bit for the standard 255 tile IDs (defaults to OFF for old games; scripts still read tile 160+ as animation tiles if set to OFF).
2. New games default to new style (ON) and can read tiles 160+ as non-animating.
3. Animation tiles get "B" layers, whereas non-animations get "A" layers (i.e. Layer 1a = ground flat tiles; Layer 1b = ground animation tiles).
4. Plotscripting Commands: "load tileset #"; "load animation tileset #"; "read/write map block ()"; "read/write animation block ()"; etc.
5. Allow for unlimited animation definitions.

Really, this should be a given. Tile and animation limits are getting old.

*Plus, Heart of the OHR 2020 is coming up soon, so...

I'd really like to have better animating trees with shadows along a waterfront, each susceptible to changing wind patterns.

Suggestion #2: External Tag and Slice Definitions

Okay, so this is actually more like an "import any textual thing to lists" request, but the main point is that sometimes I'd rather define my tag names, slice names, etc. in a text file and import it into CUSTOM. This is especially true if I'm scripting on the fly and need to log a name down somewhere but I don't want to fumble around the editor trying to find the next open slot for names. Keeping an external list and importing later can save some time. Not super important, but not super unimportant, either.

Suggestion #3: Slice Lookup Code Quick Access

An offshoot of Suggestion #2 and perhaps equally as important. I don't want to just open a random slice to access my list of lookup codes. In addition to the current behavior, I'd also like to access it from the main menu or a main slice menu. I always feel like I'm about to mess up a slice every time I try to access the list from within the slice itself, and I would like a more secure way to enter and modify that list.

Alternatively, a CUSTOM main menu selection for all custom names (tags, slice lookup codes, etc.) might work well.

Okay, that is all for now.

Again, bump.

[Nathan Karr]

I don't know if it's been reported yet, but out of battle my characters' self-target only healing spells can be used on allies.

[Hedera]

Would it be possible to add an attack animation that's just "strike" in reverse order?

[TMC]

'Strike' is an attacker animation. What you do mean by playing backwards? You mean otherwise same as Strike but the hero and weapon attack frames are played B, A instead of A, B?
I really hope to switch over to the new animation system in the next release, which would make custom animation patterns like that possible.

I forgot to reply to the other posts here, will do. The bug Nathan reported got fixed (after he filed it on the bug tracker)

[charbile]

arrays
2D arrays

[SwordPlay]

How about stuff for pathfinding:

- returning a value if there is no route to the destination
- not actually walking, just returning a value if it is possible
- only walking to destination, not to closest tile

EDIT:
something quasi-important but it bothers me a lot
when pathing to the nearest tile, there's situations (like an NPC blocking the path) where I'd prefer if it pathed to the nearest step in the path. not just the nearest tile.
If that makes sense? I guess it's difficult to tell it that there's actually a path, it's just blocked.

[The Wobbler]

Death animation request: Disappear instantly

[guo]

Oo I have another idea. Add jump/land to death animations, but also allow all death animations to be used as attacker animations in place of jump/land.

eg, attacker vanishes for a turn, then rematerializes to attack on the chain.

[TMC]

Death animation request: Disappear instantly

Set the death ticks to one tick.

arrays
2D arrays :v:

OK. Stay tuned.

Add jump/land to death animations, but also allow all death animations to be used as attacker animations in place of jump/land.

eg, attacker vanishes for a turn, then rematerializes to attack on the chain.

Hmm! So basically, Disappear and Reappear attacker animations, with an argument to tell how to disappear/reappear. Plus there should also be an attacker animation which does the disappear+reappear as one attack, no chaining required.

Jump to flee? I feel like the jump animation, upwards and a bit forwards (which IMO is ugly) isn't really quite the animation you want in general. Maybe you're looking for something like "take off and fly away"? This is probably a task for customisable death animations (which will be able to include movement) instead.

- returning a value if there is no route to the destination
- not actually walking, just returning a value if it is possible
- only walking to destination, not to closest tile

All good suggestions. Want pointers for adding new arguments to a script command? : )

when pathing to the nearest tile, there's situations (like an NPC blocking the path) where I'd prefer if it pathed to the nearest step in the path. not just the nearest tile.

There is already an "NPC pathfinding rule" setting to switch between NPCs obstructing or begin ignored. But I think there needs to be a third option, where there's a high cost to path through another NPC. That way the paths will still go around NPCs unless they're blocking a bottleneck, in which case the pathing NPC/hero will walk to the bottlenect, run into the NPC if it hasn't moved out of the way, and then stop there.