Re: The battle for Taiwan

[Lincoln Peters <sampln@sbcglobal.net>]

On Wed, 2004-07-28 at 17:18, Eric McDonald wrote:
> You guys are a bit twisted, IMO. :-)
> Just use the existing auto-upgrade mechanism with an unseen unit 
> that grows in size at the rate of one size point per turn (don't 
> require any materials for the growth). Once the target size/turn 
> is achieved, then auto-upgrade to a seen reinforcement unit.

Except that, if we do it your way, there is no variability in when the
units appear.  If you want barbarian invaders to start appearing at
random intervals but after at least 100 turns, you can add that
randomness by using Elijah's method.  Using your method, the barbarians
would all appear simultaneously.


I think that what Xconq should really have is a mechanism for generating
independent units that appear in random places at random times. 
Although in many cases, additional constraints would be required (it
would rarely make sense for a barbarian horde to spontaneously appear
adjacent to your capital city, for example).

In knights.g, or a derivative thereof, I might use such a mechanism to
cause monsters to appear semi-randomly.  Lowly monsters such as goblins
are pretty weak, and so could appear at any time without presenting an
overwhelming challenge.  A great red wyrm, on the other hand, could end
the game before it even begins if it appears before each side has at
least a few 20th-level knights.  And above all, such creatures should
never randomly appear within areas that have been explored by one or
more sides (since such areas are civilized and clear of monsters),
although a monster could randomly appear in an unexplored area and move
into an explored area.

---
Lincoln Peters
<sampln@sbcglobal.net>

This generation doesn't have emotional baggage.  We have emotional moving vans.
		-- Bruce Feirstein