Blades of Avernum Center

Hi! I just wanted to let you know that I've made a little update to my Development Journal. Among other things, its title is announced. :)

Go here!

Added another article:

Tips for Creating Challenging Monsters (by Drakefyre) : At some point, you'll get tired of the general types of monsters and want to create something more interesting, more challenging, and more innovative. These are some general tips to make your monsters more difficult without making them boring or repetitive.

New script added:

• Creature script

sniper (by Terror's Martyr) : This script is best used with monsters with an archer graphic. It has the creature select a target randomly, checks if it dislikes the target, and fires an arrow accordingly. It will never run out of ammo (although perhaps you can code that in), and has no intelligent method of selecting its targets. It doesn't even vaguely behave like basicnpc.

Hello! I bring to you the following scripts:

• Creature Scripts:

respawn v.1.0 (by Stareye) : Like basicnpc.txt, but is part of a group and respawns a group member when killed once too many of that group have been killed.

Self-Destructer v1.0.0 (by Kelandon) : Like basicnpc, but attacks differently. The character runs up to the party and explodes, destroying itself and doing some damage. A small thing: if this character's death flag is set when the party enters the town, the character will erase. This is helpful to keep self-destructed creatures dead and prevent revival.

Spit States v1.0.0 (by Kelandon) : A very simple, naive text. Creature attacks anything it hates nearby. Once it has won, it returns to its home. For debugging purposes, it prints the name of each state as they are called.

teleportboss (by Terror's Martyr) : Uses the combat behavior of hunter.txt, the monster will hunt party actively. When slain, monster will "teleport away" to another location, revealing another "phase" of the boss. Allows objects to be cleared, assuring that boss will not land on an already-existing character.

Happy designing.

Terror Martyr's Beam Shooter was updated to its version 1.1.

Added the following articles:

Don't Draw Focus! (by The Creator) : Got a killer idea for a scenario? One of those ones that sets the imagination churning? One that makes people unable to wait to play it? Great! Now, don't mess it up. (...)

why? (by Drakefyre) : For every prospective scenario designer, the most important question that they can ask themselves is 'Why?' At every step in the scenario design process, the author needs to question his/her work, the plot, and everything in-between. Answering the questions will lead to a cohesive scenario that makes sense and is fun to play. (...)

Read carefully and learn. :)

I've uploaded some more scripts. I hope they will be useful for your scenario design:

Terrain Script:

taketerrain (by Terror's Martyr) : A script that allows terrain objects to be "taken" by the party, displayed as a special item. This object can be taken by searching the object, or not.

Creature scripts:

goblin punch (by Terror's Martyr) : This script causes the creature to be immobile, but the creature will seek out and hit a few enemies per turn with a "punch" that does random damage of a random type, with a random boom type and a random zap type. Can cause "interesting" combat if used.

group guard (by Keep) : A more advanced guard script. Retains all the functionality of the original while giving it the ability to work together with other guards. When attacking, the guard will issue a call out to all the other characters in its group, which will hopefully respond by coming to its aid. When the guard receives a message, he will attempt to approach the calling character while noting the distressed character's latest location. If that character should die, the guard still tries to go to the deceased's position. For no real reason except to make the guards more lively, I made them fidget and patrol much more often. These guards will drop treasure unless you un-comment the summon level line in the INIT_STATE.

group guard 1.02 (by Keep) : An improved group guard script, from the same author.

merchant (by Terror's Martyr) : A very simple, naive text. Merchant attacks anything it hates nearby. Once it has won, it returns to its home. When talked to, Merchant skips talking and moves directly onto shopping with a generic, terse description of his/her goods.

Enjoy!

Here two more articles uploaded:

Basic Scripting For Complete Beginners (by Kelandon) : Did you read the BoA docs and not understand a word? Are you new to programming but have a great idea for a BoA scenario, if only you could learn to script? Have you never made a scenario before and don't quite know where to start amidst those hundreds upon hundreds of calls in the Appendices? If so, this article is for you. It has some of the basic scripting techniques to get you going. [Completely new, check it out!]

Your First Scenario (by The Creator) : Some useful tips if you're just finishing your first scenario.

Enjoy.