Random Time and Random Messages/Events

Posted by: Orionshaolin (10-08-2002) on the AOW2 Scenario Forum

Based on the suggestions of others, I derived a few cute suggestions I thought I’d throw into the mix.

Random time is my favorite thus far.

Using Talon Thorns counter based on Binary, which you can find here, you can add the condition random (50) as an additional condition to each counter flag, and the result is that the counter is stalled at each flag every turn that the random (50) condition does not generate a % that meets the condition. In essence, you have added an indeterminate delay, and a degree of randomness to the passage of the counters. Remove the resets, and you have an indeterminate countdown to whatever event you like.

I am using such an idea in my next Coming of Age campaign map, to add a little variety to the SP map, as well as a few random city, guard unit, and item placements, that way the experience will be somewhat different for each person who plays the map. You found a cloak and a frostling city, he found a sword and a dwarf city, but the major cities and events are the same, but this quest took me 30 days to complete, or this event happend to me right away, how come not you!… on and on…

You can use similar randomness in a series of events to make a complex event oriented quest narrow to a simple path for any given game, thus adding a level of randomness to the sub-adventures within maps.

Imagine an event where you want to send a player to retrieve an item. There may be several underground passages to the desired destination, but you can randomize the information the player gets using the random number generator in TalonThorn’s earlier mentioned post, or simply use the random condition to determine which of two messages the player gets, something like so:

Event: control flag=true (once);
Name:whichway;
FlagID (whatever#youlike);
Trigger: enter area xyz radius 2,
Condition: random (50)

(This gives the flag a 50% chance of being true, and a 50% chance of being false, and sets the flag right before the player enters the radius to receive the message at the same xyz coordinates.)

Event: show message (once);
Title: find the thing!;
Message: go to the south cave to find your way!,
Trigger: enter area xyz radius 1,
Condition and flag (#Uchose)
(if flag is determined to be true, then this message is shown)
Event: show message (once); title: find the thing!;
Message: go to the north cave to find your way!,
Trigger: enter area xyz radius 1,
Condition and not flag (#Uchose)
(if flag is determined to be false, then this message is shown)

Now, using the initial control flag you can determine two completely different paths for the sub quest just by setting a condition using this flag to each series of messages and events.

of course if you REALLY want to mess with this random thing, you can substitute the random condition for a series of binary-counter random-number flags, a-la TalonThorn.

I love making people wonder… Hence the name of the Game!

orionshaolin 😛

(For discussion on this script, post comments and queries here.)

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