Monday, July 25, 2011

Exits In

Oh yea!



One of the last things I need ALH for is the underworld walls. Foolishly, I had assumed that every adjacent hex is connected to every other (and x wraps, but y doesn't). Of course, once my units started exploring the underworld, I realized I was wrong.

So, I had been tabbing back and forth, entering orders into my client, while looking at ALH for walls.

No more!

I've also added some niceties, like the total number of men in a unit ("1 men").

Saturday, July 23, 2011

D20

(continuing discussion of game characteristics)

There is a subtle but important element into how you generate random numbers for your game (I'm assuming most games will have a random element).

There actually is a game system called "D20" (where all decisions are made by rolling one twenty sided die). I prefer the GURPS system, which uses (mostly) 3d6.

The two systems are superficially similar. The range is about 20, and the average is around 10.

These are the probability (PDF, blue) and cumulative (CDF, orange) distribution functions for a d20. Totally flat. This means that any number from one to twenty is equally likely, similarly going from N or lower to N+1 or lower is always a 5% increase in probability.

So, a bonus which gives +1 is always worth 5%, whether your an expert or a novice.


These are the PDF and CDF for 3d6. Notice the distinct bell curve for the PDF, and the CDF resembles a sigmoid (which has characteristics similar to an exponential curve at the bottom, and logarithmic at the top).
This captures ideas like "diminishing returns". It also means that an "expert" (someone who could make a roll at 16 or lower) is less affected by difficulties (say, -1 on the roll) - going from 16 to 15 is a drop of ~3%. The same -1 is a 12.5% drop for an average person (10 or lower).

GURPS is limited by the human element. People must roll and count the dice, and increasing the number makes it more likely that one will go off the table, etc. A computerized system can generate any curve we like, with any range we like.

I'm thinking either 1-100, or 1-1000 - with this same bell shape. Something like 17d6.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Drake

"When the Tide Rises" (David Drake) - Another Lt. Leary (now Commander). More solid work from Drake.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Atlantis Updates

Some good new stuff!

I've lightened the hex borders (due to a request by a potential user). I've also added icons for taxing, production, shafts, and buildings. I also modified the city icons to reflect the size: villages are '-', towns are '+', and cities are '*'.

The new window is for production. Currently, I am just showing the maximum production values. But you can sort on the production name and value columns.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Roads in!


With the near completion of the Rycdome-RathLuire highway, I needed to get that done :)

Monday, July 04, 2011

Stuff I've Read Lately

"The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (Michael Swanwick) - A collection of short stories. Not too bad. Nothing spectacular.

"When All Seems Lost" (William Dietz) - A fun mil-SF. The first two pages set the tone - after a page and a half of introducing the characters of a ship:
"What followed took place so quickly Tanaka and his crew, and the ship's computers were just beginning to process what was waiting for them when ten torpedoes scored direct hits on the destroyer escort and blew the ship to smithereens."