Re: [Wesnoth-dev] Dwarvish Runemaster and Wesnothian Philosophy

[Richard Kettering]

On Mar 1, 2005, at 10:00 PM, David White wrote:
> I have considered this, and I don't think I can support a proposal to 
> add units to CVS and the distribution simply because they 'might be 
> useful someday'. I think any units that are added should have an 
> imminent use. Every file in the Wesnoth distribution does have some 
> maintenance effort associated with it. Every file we add adds to the 
> complexity. Sure, a few more images might not seem like much, but it 
> is more files to be managed, more files that need to be converted if 
> we, say, wanted to convert all image files to a new format (this has 
> been done several times already in the project's history, so we can't 
> rule it out from happening again). Every file adds complexity to our 
> substantially-sized project for newcomers.
>
> However, that's not to say that the Wesnoth developers can't find new 
> ways to support building up libraries of images and other content for 
> campaign developers to use. This was in fact the original model that 
> Francisco and I used: he put his images up on a web page, and I would 
> pick and use any I liked and had a use for. The system worked well.
>
> The Wesnoth tarball doesn't have to be the only file the Wesnoth 
> developers distribute. We can make another package that we distribute 
> which contains additional content intended for use by campaign 
> developers. A developer could volunteer to maintain this, to collate 
> the data into a package, and regularly make releases of it which would 
> be posted onto the website. Alternatively, the developers could 
> maintain a web site which accepts submissions of content that would be 
> made available for campaign designers to use.

I think that would be a very, very good idea.  We don't have any need 
for an in-game content server, but somewhere a little easier to store 
things on than the forum would be a great place to put files.  The idea 
is to have a zip file, a description, and a preview image.  If we had 
an ftp server, with different directories, this would work very well.

There is a very important thing about this, in that this would be 
something only developers could add files to.  The units on here, would 
be fully animated, and fully scripted for use, and they would be 
approved for graphical quality by the official artists of the game.  
These would not be messy hacks, like the elven beast hunter.  That 
said, I should clarify that most units by, say, Sangel, fully exceed 
the level quality I would establish as a minimum threshold.  These 
would be put on this server, and made available to everyone.  If a good 
number of campaigns were using the unit, perhaps it could be included 
in the standard distribution.  Who knows.


This was the point I was trying to drive home:  that we should reduce 
the amount of work a potential campaign writer needs to use one of 
these units to an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM.  There is a barrier here - a 
barrier of work that seems imposing to many potential campaign authors. 
 Many potential authors, despite a good work ethic and skills, do not 
have the ambition/will (or whatever you choose to call it) to overcome 
this barrier - it intimidates them into not attempting the task, be 
that using the unit, or even making a campaign at all.

Once they pass this barrier, depending on the kind of person they are, 
they might become "trapped" inside - held to the task by routine and 
commitment to finishing a what they have started.  This is how people 
work on artistic endeavours, and as best I understand it, this is a key 
part of the KISS philosophy.  By reducing the barrier of work to 
getting some return on that work, you bind yourself to the work by 
making it enjoyable.  The joy of seeing your work in progress is the 
initial thing that pulls you into the job, and from there, commitment 
and wanting to see something through its due course take over.  (This 
is what I meant by "psychological things")


Anyhow, the specifics of the implementation of this server are not up 
to me.  I do want to stress that it would probably work best if this 
was not linked to files hosted on the forum.  We've tried that already, 
and it's a bit of a mess.  We don't necessarily need this to be on the 
wiki - I can write a webpage, and I could maintain this myself, since 
anything added to it would need to be polished and approved, likely by 
me.  This is just a suggestion, the specifics of where to host it are 
up to those who do host it - we take what we can get.

> If any developer(s) wants to work on creating and maintaining a 
> content library, then let us know. I think the Wesnoth development 
> team should and will support any such effort.
> The Wesnoth releases though, should be kept relatively lean: only 
> containing content that is actually used directly in the official 
> versions of the game.

I take it, based on responses previously received, that some people 
*really* want the standard distro to stay lean.  :)

> On the specific issue of the Dwarvish Runemaster line:
>
> This unit line is not something new; it has been discussed for close 
> to a year already. I am kinda sympathetic toward it, because I have 
> never liked the outlaws and dwarves being lumped together in the 
> Knalgan Alliance. I think it looks contrived and silly. The outlaws 
> were originally meant to be 'neutral units' -- weaker units that 
> aren't really part of any faction.
>
> On the other hand, I'm not sure exactly how much closer the Runemaster 
> will take the Dwarves to being able to 'declare independence' from the 
> outlaws. It seems to me that we'll basically have five dwarvish units 
> that all have similiar movement and defense values, with one being a 
> basic fighter, one being a ranged fighter, and the other three simply 
> having different 'cool' abilities.

Five dwarvish units that form some of the most versatile melee groups 
in the game - also, one of which always has a good defensive value.  I 
really like this idea, because it would make the dwarvish faction very 
unique - the dwarves don't have a lot of advantages that everyone else 
has, but they do have the advantage of being able to work like a roman 
legion in tortoise formation.  They move slowly.  They need to hold 
together, in formation, to have strength.  However, they are very 
difficult to break apart, and with this runemaster, they will now be 
able punch into things with *some* force.

Regarding other units in the knalgan alliance:
The footpad is useful only for his speed, and evasive defense.  He does 
very little damage, and even against undead, his damage is quite weak.
The thug really breaks the feel of the faction - all of his uses are 
eclipsed by the dwarven fighter, he is just cheaper.
The trapper is useful only for ranged attacks.  Doesn't do much damage. 
 Again, he is cheaper.
The gryphon rider is very useful as a heavy scout.

I think it would be nice it all except the gryphon could be replaced by 
two dwarven units:
A dwarven runner would provide the better part of the footpad's speed 
(six moves, rather than seven), with a split between ranged and melee 
attacks somewhat like the Javelineer.
Like most dwarves, he would be expensive, and unusually tough for his 
level.  Compared to most dwarves, he would have slightly lower 
resistances (a la berserker), but would also have better evasive 
defense on most terrain.  Perhaps he could be dwarven analog to the 
footpad, and get 20% better defense than a standard unit of the race on 
most terrain?
Also, perhaps he could carry throwing hammers instead of axes to fully 
eclipse the role of the footpad?  Hopefully, by being resilient enough, 
he would be able to eclipse the role of the trapper, as well, just by 
staying around long enough on the battlefield.

The runemaster would provide a magic, melee, impact attack, and 
potentially the damage-reducing aura I mentioned earlier.  His magic 
attack would, unlike most others, be somewhat pyrrhic in use, since 
most enemies have a melee attack.  He would do best at driving archers 
out of forest, especially the skeletal variety.  He would also give 
ghosts, and flying units a hard way to go.  He would achieve every 
capability of the thug, except that he would not be chaotic.
Also, if he had the aura I mentioned, he would have a much more 
powerful, and general effect.  Instead of using healing to hold the 
dwarven formation together, he would make them require healing less 
often.  This would be no different than leadership - something acquired 
at level-2.  But I think it would be a skill very uniquely appropriate 
for dwarves.


People have stated a wish to make factions unique.  If anything, it is 
the lack of uniqueness that I dislike about the knalgans - they are 
made like other factions by adding units from other races to them.  
Fortunately, our races are quite unique right now - I don't want that 
to change.  The proposed replacements for the trapper, footpad, and 
thug would be much more dwarvish in nature - slower, tougher, more 
expensive - than the units they replaced.