keithh@bwdls40.bnr.ca (Keith Hanlan) (11/29/90)
I sent this to Adam and to conquer-news. I thought I'd post it here as well to try and stir up some discussion of the upcoming Conquer 5.0: Adam, I have been reading your docs for conquer 5.0b. I am delighted to see so many of the changes I have been hoping for already in place. Below is an annotated copy of the "Version 5.x Changes" section in Docs/General: >Version 5.x Changes > > There are many adjustments which have been made to conquer between the > release of Version 4.x and Version 5.x. In a way, conquer will be more > difficult for those players familiar with the earlier version, because they > will expect conquer to behave as it used to. So, in order to allow people to > become familiar with the new version as quickly as possible, I am providing > this summary of changes and enhancements. > > == The map used by conquer is no longer rectangular. It is now that > of a cylinder, where movement from left to right is wrapped, while > that from top to bottom is not. As I mentioned in my other note, I don't understand why you chose cylindrical instead of spherical. I hope that it is not too late to change. > == The numbering of the Y axis is reversed from version 4.x. So, the > value of Y will increase towards the north. I'm curious why you bothered changing it. Did it make curses calculations more convenient? > == If the "relative coordinates" option is enabled, each nation will > have a central reference point (usually the national Capitol), upon > which all other co-ordinate values will be based. {Ex., the sector > to the north and east of the reference sector is numbered [1][1] > and the sector to the west is numbered [-1][0].} Ok - I read your comment in GENESIS and like the idea of keeping unmet nations apart and un-informed. However, once nations have met, the question remains: how do they communicate with each other? > == If the "check logins" option is enable, only the owner of the > nation will be able to log into a nation, even if the password is > known. Except for God? > == The world generator is greatly enhanced, producing worlds that are > much more realistic in shaping. A new curses interface has also > been provided, which contains many more global options. I'm really looking forward to trying this out. It sounds great. > == The size of the world can be up to 256x256 in dimensions. If > desired, this limitation can be removed during compilation, and a > world of any size (within the scope of the platform on which > conquer is running) can be specified. {Note that changing this > particular compilation option will make previous world data > structures incompatible}. Are there any implications other than disk-space implied by this? > == A new altitude of valley (v) has been added. Great! Also, have you eliminated unrealistic elevation/vegetation combinations such as hilly swamps? > == Sectors now contain major and minor designations. This means that > a sector has a specified main use, and the minor designations > indicate attributes of the sector. So, it is now possible to > have a town sector which has roads going through it, and a > blacksmith in residence. Absolutely fantastic! Definitely one of the best new features. > == A new raw material of "wood" has been added. This is used mainly > in the construction of ships and fortifications. Good idea. I was wondering about that. > == Raw materials are no longer gathered on a national basis. They are > now located in stockades, towns, cities and the Capitol. This > means that production and distribution of resources will have to be > handled on a city by city, region by region basis. This also means > that sieges will have a greater effect, since a sector under siege > will have to depend on the its own resources until the siege is > broken. Another fantastic idea - this is going to substantially upset current playing strategies. :-( :-) > == Capturing of sectors now takes place only during updates. This > eliminates a number of "race conditions" which would cause serious > problems whenever two players tried to take the same sector on the > same turn. Oh well! There goes another strategy! :-) > == Sector capturing is now based on the population of the sector being > captured, not the population of the nation doing the capturing. Very sensible > == Non-city sectors may now be captured if an overwhelming force of > troops is within the sector. For city sectors, all defenders must > still be eliminated before a sector may be taken. I'd like to see a test whereby the ratio of defenders:citizens must exceed some multiple of attackers:defenders. This is to address the problem that it is very unrealistic for 50 troops to defend a city of 5000 against 500 military. Certainly, the fortification would factor. Also, you might consider permitting treason if the attacker has a spy in the city. Treason would diminish the value of the fortification. (The spy bribes a gate watchmen to leave the gate unwatched.) Offhand, I'd say that this could only be permitted if the adversaries were of the same race. *No* dwarf would ever commit treason for an Elf. > == Caravans have been added. Caravans are used like navies, to > transport goods along the land. They are of minimal effectiveness > in combat. I hope this doesn't slow down the game too much. I'm curious to see how this works. > == All of the data structures within conquer are now dynamic in > nature. There is no limit on the number of armies, navies, or > caravans a nation may possess, but the cost for units now includes > a base surcharge for each unit. This means that two army units of > 75 men each are more expensive than one army unit of the same type > with 150 men. {This was done for the sake of realism and out of a > need to discourage an excessive number of small units} Bummer you don't have DESCRIPTORS (a construct of our in-house language). You could have avoided all that list code and used dynamic tables. (A descriptor is essentially a pointer, a size, and an element stride) Dollars-to-donuts that list code causes you more headaches. (C is crummy with lists because of the lack of type enforcement) Sigh! I'm a language bigot. > == Monster units of the same type may now be grouped together. > Monsters still have a relative strength greater than that of a > normal soldier, but since that value is a constant, it need not be > indicated in the strength display of every monster. Erch! Just what we need - more gruesome adversaries! > == Leader units now earn experience. The strength of a leader will > increase as time goes on, reflecting greater skill in the leader. I was wondering about that 'wiser leader' comment in the 4.10 code. It is a good idea but it didn't seem to be implemented. > == Scouting is no longer an accessible army status. Scouts and spies > must always be drafted. Large groups of people usually make clumsy spys and scouts. What about a reconnaisance grouping that could have a chance to see through the subterfuge of a hidden army? > == Types are movement are now separate from statuses. The speed of a > unit may be any of Slow, Normal, March or Flight. MARCH and FLIGHT > have, therefore, been removed as statuses. Yeah! > == The status of AMBUSH has been added. Yeah! > == The magical enhancement of a troop is now separate from the status > of the unit. So, a unit may now be in magically enhanced garrison > mode. Yeah! I've got a wizard crying for this! > == The status of a group leader indicates the status of the group. > This means that a group is no longer a force for attacking alone. > == A unit Garrisoned in a wall sector may be moved to any neighboring > wall sector once per turn. [This implements patrolling along a > wall] Is this for when you have adjacent cities? Are adjacent cities assumed to be a single metropolis? > == Navies and caravans now possess statuses. > == Combat between land and naval forces is now possible. > == Extended commands (via the ESC-key in version 4.x) may now be > performed on navies and caravans as well as armies. > == There are many more extended commands available. Does this mean that the 'g' command is no longer necessary? Assuming the display is sorted by troop type, you should now always be able to merge troops without the 'g' command. > == The mail facility has been enhanced. > == It is now possible to bind keys, including multiple key strokes, > to conquer functions. > == The trading board has been removed; the new method of trading > requires the transportation of ships or caravans to the location of > where trading takes place. > == The production and budget screens have been rewritten and are now > geared around regional reports. Fantastic! Ok. I'll bite: What defines a region? > == Spells are cast by the individual leader units, whose spellcasting > ability is governed on an individual basis. Neat! > == The new designation of "shrine" is used as a location for the spell > casting leaders to regain their strength for spell casting. > == The new designation of "wall" is used as a defensive position to > limit the movement of enemy troops. Patrols may move along > neighboring wall sectors, extending defensive lines. Is this to get around the problem of fortify on diagonals? If I understand correctly, this is going to add some more realism. For example, if I have (1,1) and (2,2) designated as wall sectors, will this prohibit enemy troops from moving from (1,2) to (2,1)? > == Farms must now be cultivated in order to fully utilize the > production ability of the sector. A "farm" is designated during > the spring, becomes "fertile" during the summer, and "fruitful" > during the fall. An interruption of the cycle causes less > than optimal production during the summer and fall seasons. {This > means that sectors will have to be held during the entire year, or > captured unharmed, for the full fall yield to be realized} > == Minor designations are used to determine the sector status. The > "devastated" minor designation indicates a sector has been ruined, > and its production will by 1/4 of normal. A minor designation of > "sieged" is used to indicate a sector where enemy troops have > successfully blockaded the sector owner and allies. > > == Supply centers are able to supply and receive supplies from sectors > within "national communication range". This range is determined by > seasonal conditionals, national skills and other factors. Any > sectors outside the range of all supply centers must be supported > using navies or caravans or else the sector will be unsupported, and > people will starve and the structures decay. In summary, these changes imply that nations must grow much more slowly than currently. What about avian units? The game seems to be lacking a good defense against flying enemies. Perhaps Longbowmen or Dragons? Another idea to add realism. Cities should not be able to be constructed instantly. I'd suggest that there must be a progression from stockade->fortress->town->city->capital. Further, this progression should only be possible by making one redesignation per year. (Perhaps for playability this could be changed to one redesignation per season even if it is unrealistic to build a city in one year). In the same vein, construction of fortification in a single season should be limited in some way. I hope the suggestions prove useful - I'm sorry I missed the earlier discussions that must have occured. Regards, Keith Hanlan keithh@bnr.ca Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada 613-765-4645