[Adonthell-devel] Item categories

[Mike Avery]

Kai, have item categories been defined?  I can't seem to find reference to a
convention.

I see the template for weapons and I have a question about wieldable items.

Is the intention to have the wielded weapon visible on the character? This
is a graphics question, but I think it has deeper meaning.  If the player
changes from a sword to a mace, is the avatar changed to reflect this
graphically?

The reason I ask..

It seems from looking a the code, that implementation of items is in early
stages, so I'd like to suggest a few things and ask a few questions.

First, will the avatar be updated to reflect the type of item / weapon in
hand?  This represents a good chunk of work for the artists, but everyone
would agree that it would be cool.  There are fringe benefits as well which
could effect how items are defined....  Think seeing your avatar wield a
candlestick, or a pitchfork, or a pan if need be in a  fight.  That would be
very cool indeed!

Technically though, this possibility raises question insofar as how item
categories are defined.  If we want to be able to let the player use unusual
objects as weapons (such as a candle-stick), what is the check to find out
if it is wieldable, or how much damage it does?  In some cases, the category
of item could not be used to determine reliability.  Obviously a
Candle-stick's primary purpose is as a light source, but if wieldable, we
also need weapon-type stats for it for melee number crunching.

Going back to graphics, the idea of wielding a rolling pin to clobber
someone over the head would be greatly diminished if the on-screen avatar is
shown holding sword.  While actually using a frying pan as a weapon is cool,
as a player I REALLY want to see my avatar whack someone with a cast iron
pan in hand instead of a mis-matched weapon.  So for me at least, the
feasibility of allowing common items to be used as weapons hinges on our
ability to give the player the satisfaction of watching their character
skewer their enemy with the ice pick!

Let's assume that the artists are enthused by this possibility (I don't know
if this has been discussed), we need a way to have common items carry
attributes required for melee combat.

Do we have the base item template adopt the melee attributes (base damage,
requirements etc) as well, and use bool item.weildable and character.slot?
Should in the interest of the above have item_base incorporate weapon-type
members as well?

Do we stick to having weapons defined as weapons only, and that is that?


Mike