Cyclopean Updates

[Jason]

Tags: Cyclopean; Iron Tower

Scott of the Iron Tower gang let us know about some of the recent <b><a href="http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,485.0.html" target="blank">Cyclopean</a></b> updates. <a href="http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,1172.0.html" target="blank">First up</a> is some engine talk:
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<blockquote>Now... prior to getting the engine, I was doing a lot of what I called 'flowcharting', which specifically meant (or ended up meaning) outlining some of the functions I would need to write and how I thought the general structure of parts of the engine would look (the dialogue section, the combat section, the levelup section etc). There were a few false starts as I realised how much of what I had in mind wouldn't have to be done from scratrch but could be done with the existing functionality of the engine (such as I am able to understand it without full documentation) and along the way I also moved from working on the dialogue side of things (which will involve accessing text files of some sort, which is way outside my comfort zone atm) to the combat side of things (which will involve writing and calling lots of functions and is where my experience lies). I've also been cataloguing, as it were, the various different states a character might be in (asleep, prone, unconscious, bleeding etc etc etc) and which of Scott's many skills and traits affect what, and when exactly to calculate AC / damage / to hit etc etc etc, and what will have to be carried forward to where, and asking Scott lots of obscure questions, and slowly inching forward.</blockquote>
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They've also got a handful of basic <a href="http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,1140.0.html" target="blank">screenshots</a> to examine and another <a href="http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,1173.0.html" target="blank">writing example</a>:
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<blockquote>By the light of my lonely candle, I witnessed Mr. Jukes’s final repose. He sat propped up on his cot as ever, his eyes were closed, his expression serene. The dust here too was undisturbed. The poor mad fool had not even stood from his bed to save himself. I returned the handkerchief to my pocket and tentatively sniffed the air. The room smelled of damp, but that was all. I bowed my head a moment in prayer.
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“Hello, Doctor.” Mr. Jukes opened his eyes, and though he did not turn from contemplating the bare brick wall opposite, a slight grin creased his visage, as much emotion as I’d ever seen from him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
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I felt the blood drain from my face, and it seemed from my body as well, pouring out my feet and into the earth. If there had been some way of bricking up that corridor again in an instant, I would have done just that. But I could not have borne another moment so close to the thing in that room. Clutching Ming by one arm, I fled.</blockquote>

 

[shihonage]

The screenshots look great, but I continue failing to understand how these rather large and dynamically unalterable writing examples can be stuffed into the gameplay itself.

 

[Fat Dragon]

The screenshots look great, but I continue failing to understand how these rather large and dynamically unalterable writing examples can be stuffed into the gameplay itself.

Scott's said before that some of them introduce characters that will appear in the game or events the game will refer to at some parts, if I remember correctly.

Anyways, nice to see that this game has finally made it off the ground.

 

[Davaris]

The screenshots look great, but I continue failing to understand how these rather large and dynamically unalterable writing examples can be stuffed into the gameplay itself.

It might work if a voice actor reads the text to the player, as he moves through certain areas the game. It could be creepy, if its done right.

 

[shihonage]

Or as a loading screen perhaps.

 

[DefJam101]

Unless this is going to be the next Necrovision I doubt you will have time to read all that.

Assuming they won't space it out considerably, which seems difficult to implement.

 

[screeg]

How massive blocks of baroque text will work in game:
> There will probably be around a dozen short story length texts in the game, of varying lengths. Some are as short as two typewritten pages.
> Since there are several different routes to take in game, no one would be expected to read them all in one playthru.
> For cumbersomely long entries (like all of the ones posted online), crucial facts will be summarized in the journal. There was some pushback on this in the ITS forums, a few folks saying I should force players to read everything and synthesize the important details themselves.
> Not all the stories posted on the forums will be included in-game, including An Excess of Radium, which is wayyy too long.

The point is, although there will be a lot of writing in the game, particularly in dialogue, I'm not going to force people to slog through story-length text entries. You will be able to skip them altogether and refer to your journal, or put them aside and review them later when you're tired of exploring the Elf Duchy on your level 50 Shoggoth mount.