When I first saw the “weighted dice” ingredient, I had half an idea for a really novel mechanic, but it didn’t quite congeal (to create that perfect Jello-like texture!) until after my first post today, when I thought some more about randomization and gameplay and came up with the other half. So, I drafted the opening scene of the game, which acts as a tutorial for the mechanic.
One problem I often have with tutorial scenes is that they’re kind of slow-paced and boring. Not this one. For instance:
You glance back to see figures on horseback drawing their reins, spread out along the ridge. The Ranger aims his revolver down at you, squinting through the sights.
(I promised you all an action scene; you all get an action scene.)
I am concerned that it’s too hard, or that players might bounce off the very beginning, but on the other hand I feel like making the solutions any more obvious would ruin a potentially very cool “aha! moment”. The beta testers are sure to tell me one way or the other.
Of course, making an action scene play smoothly in Adventuron is not easy, but with the right technical infrastructure, I think it can be made to work. Here’s part of the on_tick handler so you can see what I mean:
: clear "extended_scope";
: set_false "time_taken";
: iterate "time_consuming_verbs" {
: if (verb_is {(item())}) {
: set_true "time_taken";
}
}
: iterate "direction_verbs" {
: if (verb_is {(item())} && (current_location() == last_location) && !(has_trait {subject->(current_location()) trait->("large_t")})) {
: set_true "no_time_taken";
}
}
: if (no_time_taken) {
: set_false "time_taken";
}