It’s been over a month since I last posted about either Zafehouse 2 or the 4e Power Toolkit, so I was due. I don’t have a great deal to say, but I’m feeling a little disconnected from you guys and it’s making me sad.

Zafehouse 2: Development has been… slow. At work, we’re getting extremely close to the business end of development and I’m spending a lot of time doing the designer thing. It hasn’t left me with a lot of brain space or time for Zafehouse 2. This has compounded my aforementioned sadness.

Compounding the compounded sadness, I’ve hit a few roadblocks with the game, which I am methodically resolving. The biggest one was enemy/player placement in combat. Originally I was using pixel positioning, which seemed decent on the surface, but caused havoc with movement, path-finding and a bunch of other tiny things that grew into a series of big things with teeth, bad breath and mad, mad eyes. I’ve now switched to a grid system, and much of the pain has faded. I’m now refactoring the drawing code and logic so I can finish combat completely.

I’ve finally added the concept of stamina and I’m happy with the implementation. Stamina “units”, at their most basic level, are action points that carry between turns. When you don’t perform any strenuous activities, you regain half a stamina unit. Activities such as moving for extended periods, fighting and break (but not dismantling) furniture drain stamina. Having low stamina makes you move slower, while having close to no stamina stops you from barricading doors and making barricading supplies. Stimulants prevent stamina loss, but leave you with a stamina “debt” that must be repaid before you can regain it again.

Stamina also allows you to fight additional combat rounds before the zombies can act, giving you a small advantage when turds hit the turbines.

Survivor carry limits have been reduced, making your choice of stronghold even more important. Currently, survivors can carry 2 medicine, 2 alcohol and 5 barricades, down from 4, 4 and 10. On the upside, I realised 25 was a silly maximum for bullets – it’s been upped to 50. You’ll have a choice of one of five perks to increase your carrying capacities – one for each supply type that increases it a moderate amount (probably double), and one that increases them all by a small amount.

I’m still aiming for a July demo – working towards this has provided me with a goal that has helped crystalise the game’s direction. Expect the demo to have just one scenario (likely the tutorial one) and no high score uploading.

4e Power Toolkit: I’ve had plenty of requests for improvements recently, but I’m not sure if the current code can support these extensions. The program is reasonably modular, but only to the limits of the vanilla WotC power format. Various expansions, like the “Power” books and the new PHBs, have morphed the Power format into something that’s becoming harder to support with the current version of the 4ePT.

As such, I’m looking to recode large parts of the program to not only improve the interface (based mainly on user suggestions), but to increase the modularity of the Power format. Currently the 4ePT uses a tag replacement system to format the powers. It works well, but it’s grown harder to maintain as WotC’s powers has evolved. What the 4ePT needs is something component-based, but I’m still nutting out exactly how this would work. I’m also keen to add power “templates”, as the powers of a class often share sources, damage types and implements. Hopefully this will streamline the power creation process, especially for official classes.

I don’t have a timeline for this rewrite as my focus is on Zafehouse 2. I’m also keenly aware that WotC could release its own Power/Class Creator, much like it did for monsters. Obviously, if I hear news of an app like this, it’d effectively kill the 4ePT. Which equals more sad.

~ by Logan on April 6, 2010.

Posted in 4e, 4e D&D, Advice/Tools, Dungeons and Dragons, Zafehouse 2