I finally convinced Robert to stop coding and give me control. He’s finished the mini-games (bomb wire-cut game and gambling). And added a host of bar room encounters. And then he had to flesh out (snicker) the brothels, adding the parlor options and all the fun and games there. But wait, that wasn’t enough, he had to shake the screen during a burn.
So now it’s my turn. I just finished coding the mission start for space encounters. So now, if an event triggers for an encounter with another Free Trader, the Orbital Guard, or any other ship (or space encounter). The best part is that with the new encounter approach, adding new space encounters is easy. Really easy. Adding a comet or wreck or asteroid cluster is just adding some entries in the table.
Next, will be testing my code for starting encounters, then more testing of my older navigation code (so other ships can fly somewhat intelligently towards their targets), and then adding more code for mission actions – So that in addition to freighters delivering cargo (already coded / tested) other missions like escort, attack, rescue can be run…
Monthly Archives: December 2014
Solar Trader Goals
Just to be clear, it’s not a promise, nor commitment, nor anything like that – BUT I do have a goal, or perhaps a target of getting a version of Solar Trade solid enough for the next Beta release by year end.
This means Robert has to finish coding his mini games, I have to code space encounters, and we both have to get some test & play test time on the game.
And yes, my public posting of this is part of my kick myself in the tail to get it done.
Check back here on January 1 and see how we did.
Solar Trader – Another development update
Just to keep folks here in the loop – we (by which I mean Robert) has been coding like mad.
Remember the comment in the last update about the bomb? Well rather than a behind the scenes roll and an announced outcome, there will now be a new mini game to give you a chance to defuse the bomb. Are you going to cut the green wire or red? Cut the correct wire and the bomb is defused. Cut the wrong one and boom!!!
Once that mini game was created, gambling seemed too pale, so another mini game “Spacejack” was added. It’s a simpler version of blackjack – but watch out for cheats. Actually if you are daring, you can try cheating too – but folks get upset if they catch you.
Having created a mini game for gambling, a bunch of new gambling encounters were added to the tables to allow for different skill level opponents. In an entirely luck / odds driven game why worry about skill? Because that’s how good folks are at cheating and detecting cheating.
Finally, if we have these mini games, perhaps combat encounters should get more interesting too. Another mini game? Probably. Keep watching this space to see more.