XXon

I have a functioning spawn engine and loot engine, I am starting the quest engine and thinking about different types of quests. So far, I have: fetch, collect, travel, find, kill, craft, grow, access (key) Also, free an area under enemy control and then use it as a base, destroy the evil monolith generating bad guys, defend an area from attack. Can you think of some I am missing? Escort quests are usually terrible. Basic idea: starter island has five beginner quests, each one of five players gets a different quest. High replay factor, first guy gets a random one of five, last player to join has his assigned. First quest is easy, but maybe takes a while, allowing others to join. Second quest begins, randomly you are sent to one of five islands, each guy gets a different island. On the island is a three part quest. Once again, the parts are interchangeable, 5 part A 5 part B 5 part C. Randomized. Once the quest is complete, all players go to the last island. Perhaps there is a fortress there to be freed and inside is crafting stations for high end armor.Solo players can begin the attack, but it takes everyone to win against the final boss. The end.

I accept and encourage diminishing returns, but 3 of the eight should hit you non-stop when you are surrounded. This is like a Steven Segal movie with 50 bad guys who attack you, only one at a time. VERY BORING. I realize you don't want to stun lock the player, but a cool down solves that. Once you see the effect, you can't unsee it. I would like to hear from a developer that this is what you aimed for and want. Or that this is the best you can do. Something more than speculation. I am a bit disturbed at the state of affairs at this late in the development. That is VERY broken.

This involves the attack target script. Try this game, it will show you the bug, it is easy to show, it takes five minutes or less. RAIN STORM (<<< that's two words) is the game. All the scripts are identical except as noted. The problem is easily replicated. The result of the bug is that enemies gather in a circle around you but don't attack. It is caused by Attack Target, I think. It only happens after dying once, sometime twice. Just try the game you will see.

If I could open two different script windows at once and copy/ paste it would save a lot of time and effort.

This problem isn't a big deal, you can work around it with Move to Target. What I think IS a big deal: One attack at a time no matter haw many there are. That is a complete game breaker right there. No matter how many enemies you see on the screen, there is only one. Every fight is one on one. If you picture a fight, a bunch of little guys, maybe a few medium guys and the big guy. The big guy is never ever going to hit you, just a few little guys. You will kill 4 or 5 at a time and only get hit once. Game breaker. My question is can this be remedied and, in all honesty, if it can't, I'm done. No point in going any further, because it's all just window dressing, then. No game at all. So, what about that?

Sorry, It's two words RAIN STORM, under games. It's just a small demonstration of the issue. And yes, this is related to SAND STORM, the other thread, I figured maybe this had crossed a line into bug territory.

I think I hit solid ground and it works, after stripping every last thing off. I will try to build it back up. I was worried it would never happen. I think I got it working. Oh I got it. I think I found a bug. To be continued under bugs.... Now I can make it work using Move to Target, not Attack Target, which seems bugged. Go play RAIN STORM and it will demonstrate the bug. Now that it might actually work, let's say I want to target you (and your friends) once you hit the trigger zone. What is the best way to do that in multiplayer? I am trying to target you through the entity template. Is the global variable PLAYER a way to do this or does multiplayer mess that up. Different players will be in different trigger zones sometimes. That's what the labels were for but they throw errors once you leave the zone. Maybe the errors don't really matter? Thanks Edit: SAND STORM has been modified and now works without that problem. I replaced all of the Attack scripts with Move to Target script. Now it works correctly, in a relative way. The engine is still broken, as you pointed out. I will fix that soon. But at least the enemies continue to attack, even if only one a time, which is pretty lame. Perhaps once the engine is fixed it will do better, but I don't think that one-at-a-time thing is caused by my pathetic scripting. It happens in RAIN STORM, too, which is stripped down. Whatever the cause of it, it sucks. You can't make a good game if only one thing attacks you (as you stand encircled by enemies), can you?

Mercy me. An amazing number of attempts later, here is an actual spawn engine. It is not graceful and errors pop up, but it's about the best I can do. There is also a loot engine, but it is quite clumsy. II think it takes waaaay to much work to make a functional game and it would be easier with some basic blocks. Spawn engine, loot engine, quest engine for a start. Class trainers, skill trees maybe.The end goal is for anyone to be able to use templates to make a multiplayer game with quests and enemies in an hour. I would love opinions and comments. Copy/paste 8 game logics, pick an enemy and you are done. You can easily adjust the spawn frequency, amount, and proximity, and also adjust the random range of each. The rest is done for you, just place the three possible spawn points where you like. Enemies will cross distance to find you and if they cannot, they despawn. Try my game, please. You can edit and poke around. I tried to make multiplayer possible, but I'm not sure how that will go. This engine evolved over the course of making the game, so the script at the end is better. SAND STORM

It seems random. They attack, you die, then they stand there.

Of course, you were right. In stripping it down if I figured that out, it needs nested time triggers. I fixed that. RAIN STORM It works better now, still throws up the targeting error. If I make a global variable PLAYER and when a player spawns, it refers to him, does that work in multiplayer. I figured it would get overwritten by the next guy to join? I need a way to target attacks to the nearest player, really. That's what I have been using the labels for (which is why i get the error)

Step into the trigger zone, get a label on you. I am using that label to target you for attack. I want this to be multiplayer, so I was targeting a random player within the trigger zone. Once you leave, the label comes off and they quit spawning. Overlapping trigger zones layer the effect. I was trying to spawn twice as many enemies for twice as many players, which I realize is a lot. Step into the jungle, get attacked by tigers. Leave the jungle the tigers slowly stop. More players, more tigers. That's the idea. The rest of it is all about where and when the tigers spawn and that part works great. I will see if I can strip it down more and still generate the issue.

This is all the script there is to the engine.

I made it so you can edit the game, I think. Here is another one, WIND STORM. (EDIT: Game Deleted) This took about 15 minutes to make, its a stock island I just copy pasted the spawn engine around and stuck some random enemies in. You still get the same effect as far as the circle of mobs around you, only one is allowed to attack. I wonder if, when the respawn happens, the one who's turn it is to smack you is missing or didn't get into the circle. So nothing hits you at all.

I put some guardian armor and a mythic sword, so you can skip to part three and be a tourist. Go all the way into the cave and just hang out. Funny things start to happen. Notice that the mobs take turns hitting you. It would seem you can't get hit by two things at once? They all stay aggressive though, they just can't always attack. So if you kill some, the remaining ones attack. Now die. I died funny one time and it didn't happen, but every other time when you respawn and kill the first few, they encircle you and stand there. That never happens without the respawn. Nothing special about the respawn, no script on it. So, what gives? You can recreate this effect all day. PS. Spawn engines are complex. You want spawns in waves, with breaks in between to heal, but not a big group all in the same spot or always the same number, and it has to be adjustable for different uses. If you spawn too close to the player, they can gank it while before it wakes up, plus it looks way better to have it run across the map toward you. I also found lots of restrictions on buildings, places that hang up enemies, like stairs and doorways. There are many rules to follow to get a good flow. They love ramps though, even really skinny ones, just not close to walls.

I have an issue and I can replicate this issue. If you start the game, you can skip to part two, then to part three. That's the goatman area. Put the armor on grab the hammer and kill goatmen, but they are tough and you will die. Now you respawn, not far away. You kill a few goatmen but then it will happen. They will all gather around you in a circle and not attack. What is happening here? Try this and it will happen to you.

oh, I wasn't intending that, I was posting it more for the general engine idea or maybe a proofreading for dumb mistakes. If I get to a finished product, I can make a logic composition, yes? That's what I was thinking.

Speculating about issues. blah blah It becomes more obvious below.

I can upload an editor game. That is about it. I cannot see the game, can't add a screenshot, can't update. I only have one game that shows on YlandsCreate, it's very old and blocked. I cannot delete it. "Unable to delete creation. This asset was blocked 03.03.2020 Please contact our support." Frostbite Hardcore Survival is what I cannot delete. Caverna Magika (broken script) and Caverna Magika03 (fixed) are both uploaded and playable, but I cannot see them, edit them, delete them or anything in YlandsCreate, All I get is the old, blocked game. I would really appreciate help. Thank you.

Create.ylands, log in. It shows me one very old, blocked game which I can't delete., "Frostbite Hardcore Survival" I uploaded Caverna Magika, but a script is broken which blocks further progress in the game. Can't see the game, it is not on my list, just the old blocked game. Couldn't update the changes, so I uploaded Caverna Magika 03 and waited for something to show up. It never did. Those games are invisible to me. I did notice hardcore seems to be a blocked word now. Is that my problem? Please help, I have another game, but I don't want to upload it when I have this problem. Thank you.

Ambush! You unwittingly step into the trigger zone and the horde spawns all around you, then most of them wander off without noticing you. Or, they just pause and think about their problems while you beat them on the head. That seems to be the way it naturally goes, even with all the AI set to highly aggressive. They are very slow witted and easily killed. It's hard to get good help, nowadays. Instead, when enemies spawn, just make them Move to Target, the target being You and instantly, they become teenage girls and you are the Beatles. I know it's not genius, but it took quite a while before that dawned on me and having dependable minions really makes the whole evil Overlord thing a lot less stressful, so I thought to post it. You would think it would just work, right out of the box, but no, it certainly does not. There should be an instant aggro box to click in the AI that moves to the nearest player automatically. For a long, long time I had figured that this game was just slow witted and incapable of targeting me. That's not the case at all, but the solution isn't obvious and I just stumbled across it. Please, make a clickable box in the AI for actual Instant Aggro. Thanks.

Okay, that was a lot of words, sorry. I stitched together two spawn engine experiments this afternoon and stuck it on the workshop. The first yland has a five layer spawn like I mentioned. The second yland has a different, earlier engine, enemies and loot are based on level. All of this is very sloppy and unrefined. If you look up in the sky you will see the spawn engine templates for each of the two ylands. The second yland is incomplete. It's a struggle to get one spawn engine which works well in both cave and open map, I was trying different ideas out. I wasn't going to publish this, but I feel I should show some work and the basic idea of the spawn engine so far. The game is called Caverna Magika. It's around an hour maybe. The scripting is really bad don't laugh. The first area takes a while then it picks up speed. If you are a true hero you will live to see the sun rise on the second yland without a single death. Good luck with that. Update: Caverna Magika 03. fixed some stuff. Can't seem to delete old game. Curious to know if the crabs follow you out of the first gate or not. They did for me, now they don't, but I have a crappy computer.

I think a lot about some type of an overlay which could be made for the explore game, like a skin. Or a template. It must easily transfer to another archipelago with minimal effort, utilizing all of the ylands through quests. It has to be random. the person who edited the map would be able to play without knowing all the answers and even someone not that familiar with it would be able to create a new map. It supports 10 players. It has an endgame, a boss which is challenging to both solo or large group. Saving is allowed, a full game might take days. It is easily customized with custom quests, bosses and loot. No block placement. No mount. No blueprint. No mining. Random quests with randomly placed solutions. Starting yland. NPC's, like a fisherman, a blacksmith, etc. and a random one has a quest for you. Another player gets a different one. Maybe there are 10 quests maybe 20. Let's call this your class quest, something that strengthens and defines your character. It's powerful and you get the reward item right before you fight the boss, so it's a long quest to get this item. Not a fetch quest, not going back and forth to places you have seen. There is a flaming bush. Find it. Bring the embers to the Temple and light the signal fire. NPC appears and gives you stuff. The flaming bush and the signal fire are mini boss fights. The result is that you have a special purpose and goal. You should be able to team up as a crew and the fights should scale to this, even though only one player might get the reward, he could then use his new weapon to help the team. Spawn engine is a wave or swarm. All original items and animals remain. Trigger zones are scattered around the map, maybe like an evil Vortex type thing, biome determines type of enemy which spawns (possible?). Player level determines the enemy hit points and damage. Players at various levels can fight together and experience is split evenly, but low level players must fight and might die. All these fights are likely melee. Enemy level may vary randomly and the fight has three to five levels. Each kill adds to a ticker. Kill 10, the enemy gets harder, spawns faster maybe and the rewards grow. Each wave is harder. You can run away, but it all resets at the start. The fight is complete, experience and gold are auto-split among the group. The fight trigger is disabled for a random time to prevent camping the spawn. Your goal is to get ore, that's the loot. Or maybe gold. The really tough fights that randomly go to level five might drop an item and the stats are based on the lowest level player who fought. Once all of these spawn points have been cleared of enemies, the yland is free of evil, the city gates or the vendors open and you spend your gold or smelt your ore and the yland is cleared. Players who have not cleared the yland cannot use vendors and you cannot trade or drop weapons and armor. You must earn it. The easiest yland is iron yland, then copper, zirconium etc. In addition, there is the cave with similar fights. At the end of the cave is an NPC. Maybe he is your class quest guy, maybe he is the village blacksmith or the chemist held prisoner. It should be random, but linked to quests which were given or special equipment. When the Flaming bush quest is randomly given, a flaming bush spawns. You must kill the wendigo and bring his head to the prince. The wendigo and price spawn in random locations. Top of this mountain, bottom of that cave, the person who makes the map doesn't know the answer. Even if someone kills your wendigo, it will respawn for you and only you will get a head from it because you have the quest. Once you kill the final boss, game over just for you. Other players are perhaps just joining and the spawns and quests will refresh for them as the world continues on without you unless you start over. It's a shared instance. Each player on their own arc, but together. Now, you have a new map. Place a quest NPC spawn on starting yland. Place Evil Vortexes, 3-4 per island randomized between eight possible spawns. A spawn at the end of each cave, find some cool places, put spawns there. A spawn for vendors or maybe a composition city. You are all set and it is all random, even to you, leaving you free to design a cool world for all this to take place in with custom quests and castles and loot, but it would be playable and random even for the creator. It's a game template that is adaptable. I have made the spawn engine and it works. Compelling and difficult fights are possible, at least for a solo player. But, it is not adaptable like the engine described here, it takes too much effort to tweak the drops and the resistances from fight to fight, level to level. It is difficult to maintain balance. It is very linear and must be fought in a certain order, which limits it to caves. Plus, my ideas keep evolving, so my projects are half finished. I am interested in comments and criticism of this approach or additional ideas. My scripting is horrible and slow, but I like can't shake this idea of an easy, adaptable overlay for the explore game to breathe more life into it and encourage co-op multiplayer, so I will continue messing with this. Maybe you have some ideas, too. I think the basic idea is sound, but it feels overwhelming and half baked.