Re: crossfire 0.86

[Frank Tore Johansen <frankj>]

> o	I would sure like to see quests in crossfire, I realize that
> 	these are hard to implement in a general manner but with the
> 	proposed 'sub-language' it should be possible...

Two features which should arrive in the near future will make it easier
to make quests.  The first is messages, stored as writing in a book, on a
sign, or spoken by a magic mouth/npc.  That will add alot to the "feeling"
of the game.  The second is custom-made keys which will only fit one door.

> o	Another thing would be a decent line of sight. The run and
> 	hack-style that dominates the game now would be a memory of
> 	the past if one couldn't see what's around the bend.

That has already been added to the game.  I'll try to release 0.87 soon...

According to local player-testers crossfire is now a new game due to that 8)

> o	A scenic type so one wouldn't have to see the grass etc.

What exactly do you mean?

> o	Unique objects, I hate to see XXX no. of Stormbringers.
> 	Should also lower the chance to just find an artifact.

That is getting better and better since more and more items are being
added to the game all the time. 
It is very difficult to avoid having more than one of any artifact.
Consider two players playing a separate game, both finding the same
artifact, both saving (soon possible), then later restoring their
players to the same game.

> o	Possibility to bind text to bitmaps. Any text bound to a
> 	bitmap should be overrided by text bound to a map-location.

The game uses objects.  It doesn't store names in map-locations, but in
objects.  The objects are usually made from archetypes, and usually only
one archetype use a specific bitmap.  The archetypes can have any name.
Thus if you change the name of the archetype "grass" to "plains", it
would change the names of all occurences of the grass bitmap.
The archetype file is stored at "LIBDIR/archetypes".

> o	Separate characters more. At the moment there is no vital
> 	difference between mages/wizards and priests/clerics which
> 	it should be since the latter hasn't learned to cast a spell
> 	they merely ask their god for a miracle. So wizards/mages
> 	should have high int to suceed but priests/clerics should
> 	have high int. One can also draw this further, healing 
> 	spells should be hard for a mage/wizard to learn but easy
> 	for a cleric/priest.

The spell system will continue to be expanded, probably into different classes
of spells (for instance mentalist/god-granted/evocation/etc).
Got to do one thing at the time though 8)

> o	A more consistent map? I don't really like the idea of shops inside
> 	mansions or forests for that matter.

Maps aren't my departement 8)
I have absolutely no quality control of now, the local players here can
edit any map they like.  Of course this leads to chaos...  Hopefully
a nice map can be collected from various places around the world before
v1.0 is released.
One of the reasons I haven't bothered much about how the maps look, is that
there are constantly added new features.  A map which looks great today
might look ancient and boring tomorrow.

> o	Magic spells tied to objects? Mjollnir for instance should be
> 	able to cast lightning. This is a nice feature later when fighters
> 	will have difficulty learning spells.

Indeed, I had just that in mind 8)

> Hope you don't take this as critizism because the game is GOLD and
> the work you have done is remarkable.

Thanx!  I like to get feedback from anyone, no matter how harsh 8)

-Frank.