Bay 12 Games Forum

Unfortunately (well, not really), work has picked up again so I'll be taking another hiatus. I will make this game eventually, but it doesn't have a high priority for me.

The wineglass interface is as laggy as heck.

I can certainly imagine that (I have a pretty nice computer, so I often don't notice things like that). I generate the images on the fly, which can be pretty slow. I guess I could just generate at the beginning and reuse - the ever-present balance between memory and CPU.

The in-game instructions still say to use the arrow keys to move in cocktail mode.

Oops, yeah. That should be an easy fix.


What should I be focusing on implementing next? I feel somewhat directionless.

Quote from: Kofthefens on March 28, 2014, 04:52:48 pm

I promise that I will update soon! I've just been rather busy lately.

Hope you make it so objects don't clip through the hand.

I've been working a lot on that. It's being annoying. Either the fork becomes too "slippery" to pick up, it acts like it's glued to your hand, or it goes flying 20 feet into the air and hits a diplomat in the face.

I've also messed with the controls - I think that they're better now.

Just notifying you guys that I haven't abandoned this project. However, I am taking a brief break from it (why is it that I either have no clients or a whole herd of clients at once?). I should wrap up work for one project this week and another in 2 weeks, so I'm hoping to start work on this again relatively soon, but not immediately.

Release 4 is here
It's in the usual place

New Features
The main new features were adding in a basic dinner stage and a GUI. You can see the instructions if you hit esc or pause the game.

What's next
The dinner stage is a fine proof of concept right now, but it's not a game. I'll add various objectives, such as having to pick up some food or pour some wine before the next release.

Want something implemented?
I've set up a google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kiJFw2GR8wVLfn_mrOS2cDILSWEJ82g5ZW4YoE-YMTw/edit?usp=sharing. Please add ideas here. While this thread is great, it sometimes doesn't give me very concrete objectives.

Version 3 is here. As usual, download here

It is no longer just "fill the wine glass a random amount" but rather watching other diplomat's interactions first. New features include:
Fixed bug of multiple mouseovers displaying
Update graphics for mousovers
Graphic for how full the wine glass is (completed so I can use that code in other conversations)
Graphic for where to hold wine glass (now I can use those in other conversations)
Create structure for conversations (not just one popup, but a series)
Trimmed the maximum number of logs down further, to 3.
Added function to create a dynamic popup from a texture
Let you “view” other country’s interactions much more. It showed whether they’re happy or sad, but what they did was only known through the logs (which we’ve established is a mess). Now it shows what they did and then a reaction.

I decided to make some music for this.
I can provide an OGG version on request and stuff like that. I thought something jazzy might fit the mood . . .

I would really like an ogg of this when you get a moment.


I'm planning on shifting my focus now from the cocktail stage to the dinner stage. The dinner stage will look a lot more like surgeon simulator.

I decided to make some music for this.

I can provide an OGG version on request and stuff like that. I thought something jazzy might fit the mood . . .

This music fits the tone perfectly. I'll definitely implement it soon, so I would love an ogg. If inspiration hits again, please make more music. A minute and a half loop will probably grate on people's nerves after a while of gameplay, so more would be great.

I love creating concept art and pitching ideas

Come up with ideas for more things that a diplomat would look for. I only have two things.

New Release
It's still unplayable, but I've added a host of new features:
Checking for duplicate names
Interactions affect country’s allies
Space dismisses one notification, as they tend to pile up
Added a maximum of logs to display of 10
Prevented you from interacting with a country repeatedly. Otherwise, you can find out what gives a boost and just take that action repeatedly and increase your relations forever.
Interactions between other countries. This will give you a clue as to what the proper response should be, instead of just random guessing.
Have other countries mill about. Right now the only way to get them to interact is to knock them into another diplomat.
Have other countries pause their movement when talking to another country
Have small popups to show happy or sad with other country’s interactions. The logs are an incomprehensible mess.
Have mouseovers on other diplomats that shows what they think of you.

The download link is on the same page


Tomorrow I'm to get to work on improving the "mingling" stage (all that's in so far) to a point where understanding what's going on is reasonable, even if it's lacking in content and not polished. That will pave the way for the "dinner" stage, which will look much more like surgeon simulator.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Something like that? I did those in a few minutes and if you would like I could make some more, better, ones.

Those would be great. The logs get crowded fast, so those would be perfect for representing what's going on. Right now I could use some for Very Happy, Happy, Neutral, Angry, Very Angry.

Are there still plans to do a Surgeon Simulator-esque "eat dinner without breaking any etiquette" stage?

Yes. That will probably be in a later stage though.

An update on what I've done / what I'm doing

Planned (near future)
Graphic for how full the wine glass is
Have small popups to show happy or sad with other country’s interactions. The logs are an incomprehensible mess.
Have mouseovers on other diplomats that shows what they think of you.
Give other countries intelligent interactions. Right now they just use random etiquette.

Complete
Generation of country names
Generation of country preferences
Generation of country relations
Interface to display country relations
Interface to interact with other countries 
Checking for duplicate names
Interactions affect country’s allies
Space dismisses one notification, as they tend to pile up
Added a maximum of logs to display of 10
Prevented you from interacting with a country repeatedly. Otherwise, you can find out what gives a boost and just take that action repeatedly and increase your relations forever.
Interactions between other countries. This will give you a clue as to what the proper response should be, instead of just random guessing.
Have other countries mill about. Right now the only way to get them to interact is to knock them into another diplomat.
Have other countries pause their movement when talking to another country