Conent is King / Evil

[Burzmali]

Content is the driving force behind any game.  A game with the hotest engine on the market can still flop if the content isn't up to par.  The problem is that content is easy to imagine but hard and tedious to implement.  One of the most innovative games that I have played in the last decade was Darwinia, its engine was smooth and fresh, the storyline was engaging, but the content was thin and resulted in fairly repetitive gameplay.  One of the developers quipped that "Content is Evil" during an interview.

A lot of the problems people have with GH2 deal more with a lack of content than with specific problems with the game.  Mysticism sucks?  Well, duh, more spiritual content is needed.  Cyberware underpowered?  Well, make more available.  Martial Arts underpowered vs. Armed Combat? Add a high level talents for it that replaces Kung Fu.

Sure, problems like exploiting Mecha Repair and Performance aren't content issues, but I would guess that 4 out of 5 problems can be solved with more content.

That brings up the fundamental problem that Content is Evil.  I've tried to add my own content, but I struggle with the scripting language.  I can read it, but creating new scenarios would require that I spend several hours trying to unravel how the scripting language works.

Am I alone, or is anyone else interested in creating new missions and plots if they could better understand the scripting language?

[Crucifix]

Hah. If I understood how to, I'd already be busily providing coding/mods for almost every idea I've posted to date, from biotech bodymodding to a special intrumental weapon that uses the power of music to emit powerful disintegration waves of sound...

[unback]

well, items/monsters/mecha and things like those aint much problem i think, plots seems to be more of a challenge thus i never really checked them cos i feel more like technican than artist. thus yea, helping to create new content is what i would like to do from time to time.

[Jafet]

Is there some sort of manual or other useful reference for the scripting language? If you want content, you'll have to make people want to make content...

[Burzmali]

There are a couple of files in doc directory if you download the code.  However, to my knowledge, there isn't a complete reference for the scripting language.  I was hoping that this thread would show some support for the concept and those of us who do know something of the scripting language could collaborate and toss something up on the wiki.  For example, I took a crack at the triggers a while back.

[CCC]

Well, I can put together a simple conversation with an NPC, maybe a stat change or two... I could probably set up a variable for future use (i.e. make an encounter appear) and have conversation options based on skills/skill rolls (there are plenty of useful examples to copy from in the series directory). The question is what to do with this...

[Crucifix]

That's problem #2 methinks. Is there anything that needs doing and is worth someone of a non-Hewitt persuasion doing?

Would it be appreciated/integrated, or would it be feared and generally loathed for its inherent risks towards game balance? How about its congruity with current game plot and world setting?

Even something as simple as, say.... a personal scale beam sword might not be considered Gearhead kosher - maybe the "lore" about it is that the tech involved can only generate a short contained field unless it's larger? Only Joseph knows after all.

Make all the quests, weapons, armours you like, if it needs thorough checking through, that's a whole new kind of workload.

[Francisco Munoz]

Easy improvements will be:

- Update the treasures in the hotel rooms to use the new furniture and maybe add some random stuff to it.

- Change the donation to the orphanage quest to acknowledge that the player could be native to the spinner and orphan too.

- Add a Medicine/First Aid roll to the Bounty hunter missions to save your target at last moment after borking him/her. (Maybe only a % of times) This will help also to make the skills more useful. Use the "Faint" event.

.... I'll try to find more places to add improvements easily

[EarthquakeDamage]

Quoting: Burzmali

Am I alone, or is anyone else interested in creating new missions and plots if they could better understand the scripting language?

Even without the language barrier, some (many?  most?) of use lack the creativity and/or dialogue writing skills to come up with anything.

The extent of my creativity:  I've been trying to build a "Fight the Random Megabeast" Arena mission, myself (just an excuse to fight Aigaion, Cetus, Typhon, and anything I might come up with -- Ugh-Zan III from Serious Sam maybe).  Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to generate a random monster for the appropriate team or faction.  The best I've done is create separate missions with one fixed monster each, which is hardly elegant.

I suppose I should request the following syntax for Elements be allowed, since it would make this so much easier (and has precedent with Scenes):
Element2 <New *Monster.FOO>

Or something to that effect.  Monster definitions would need to be able to use the Requires <...> statement, of course.

Quoting: Francisco Munoz

- Add a Medicine/First Aid roll to the Bounty hunter missions to save your target at last moment after borking him/her. (Maybe only a % of times) This will help also to make the skills more useful. Use the "Faint" event.

That's not a bad idea.  As is, the only way to take bounties alive is a NONLETHAL weapon, of which there are two.  They're pretty hard to find in my experience, so when I do run across some I buy a dozen or two and stockpile them somewhere.

[Francisco Munoz]

Quoting: EarthquakeDamage

That's not a bad idea. As is, the only way to take bounties alive is a NONLETHAL weapon, of which there are two. They're pretty hard to find in my experience, so when I do run across some I buy a dozen or two and stockpile them somewhere.

Currently you can buy spare rubber ammo for most small guns.

[jefftest]

Or, as someone mentioned here and I have had very good results with - in personal combat called shots destroying 2 legs and 1 arm cause an immediate surrender...

[EarthquakeDamage]

Quoting: jefftest

Or, as someone mentioned here and I have had very good results with - in personal combat called shots destroying 2 legs and 1 arm cause an immediate surrender...

Doesn't the raw HP damage often kill them before you can disable their limbs?

[CCC]

You could always take a character with amazingly high conversation/intimidation skills and persuade the county to surrender...

[jefftest]

Quoting: EarthquakeDamage

Doesn't the raw HP damage often kill them before you can disable their limbs?

I thought that would be a problem too, but actually killing em was relatively rare.  Granted this was with only moderately skilled personal combat guys  and non-uber lancemates.  Most of the times I had Armed Combat around 6-7 and Heavy Weapons 6 or so, with Cone Rifle + extended Sickle or Rapier + maybe a backup Boomerang.

All the PCs did have at least some Intim/Taunt as I've been trying it out, so about 20% did surrender right off the bat.  Also it was more exercise for Medicine and Repair, as any after the 1st 5 or so would frequently kill off at least one and often both lancemates :p

[Burzmali]

Damage doesn't overflow in personal combat.  Hitting a limb never does HP damage.