4.30 star(s) 40 Votes

Evangelion-01

Devoted Member
Apr 12, 2018
10,504
7,028
What I've been suggesting is the ability to add other parts to said screen first (i.e. click on the torso box first before selecting the AI core to see what torsos are available, then head/arms/legs) and perhaps 'pre-select' parts to see if you have a complete set of head/body/arms/legs in that grade first, BEFORE selecting the AI core. I'm not suggesting that you would actually save or do anyting with said parts UNTIL the AI core is selected, this is just a way to 'pre-check' that doesn't involve leaving said screen first. So eliminating the extra steps of having to back out of that screen to check your other options, and perhaps have to go over to the console to see what you have.
Why would you do this in the Bot Lab though? entering the Botlab advances time by 1 hour... you can simply check this in the console instead and loose none... you can also check the special offers of the day maybe buying something you are missing or get a military grade Upgrade chip.
Personally I only use the Bot Lab in order to actually build a bot AFTER confirming I have everything ready to do so.
I don't know why you'd want to do so in the Bot Lab as that is quiet tedious. Evn if you only have an A.I. core without any body parts yu'd have to cklick atleast 5 times to check each individual body part for your storage... while useing the console you can check any part you have filtered by Generation and Grade even... in 0.8 includeing body parts or upgrade chips
As for the 'higher quality' bot crates, you are still at the mercy of the dice, just because it's a smaller pool of parts, well there are still 10 different types of parts, then you have to factor in Tier and Grade, sure the higher tiers and Grades may be given a stronger weighting, but this is why a method of being able to get the part you need, rather than hoping the dice go your way each time, is desirable. As it stands right now, there's a lot of unneccessary grinding and screen scrolling going on to just get say an arm you need, when the dice rolls aren't going your way week after week...
Again that's already included... you should really start to work with the console more often
And as for the 'different repair costs based on quality' thing, that was a SUGGESTION. We already have a similar mechanism going on with Energy Pods and training (i.e. 5%/10%/20% per 10% of energy depending on if that bot likes or dislikes an activity), I was just suggesting extending that methodology to parts, i.e. low quality parts would require 4x the resources of 'nearly new' parts to repair.
Training always costs the same only the payout is dependent of wether the Bot has an affinity, dislike or is impartial to the act.
Energy Cells refill Energy to 100% and training cost 10% energy each time.
 

MarsUltor

Active Member
Aug 2, 2018
822
1,821
Hi,

Version 0.7, focusing on the rescue of Princess Seraphine will be coming up shortly (public release around 14th of July).

Here is a small render of Seraphine (not sure whether that image already got posted). You might remember her from somewhere... ;)

View attachment 2744703
Well played!!
(And at least we're not a goblin this time around . . . )
 

yv0751

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
Jul 8, 2017
1,149
3,336
Well played!!
(And at least we're not a goblin this time around . . . )
I found that continuing the Princess on the old code base would not be ideal and also divert my efforts away from SJX.
With the introduction of the holodeck in V0.8 I can revive the Castle on occasion. Seraphine fits the role of Irith (Vee standing in as the Evil Stepmother...)

And no Goblin but Captain Jim instead :)
 
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yv0751

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
Jul 8, 2017
1,149
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Well, my suggestions are targetted to the developer, not you. so if you don't understand what I'm trying to convey, that's a you problem.

---

AGAIN, once you've entered the bot creator screen (the one with the 10 slots), the ONLY way you can currently check which other parts are available is to select an AI core first, at which point you are essentially 'stuck' with that AI core which configures it's personality at that point.

What I've been suggesting is the ability to add other parts to said screen first (i.e. click on the torso box first before selecting the AI core to see what torsos are available, then head/arms/legs) and perhaps 'pre-select' parts to see if you have a complete set of head/body/arms/legs in that grade first, BEFORE selecting the AI core. I'm not suggesting that you would actually save or do anyting with said parts UNTIL the AI core is selected, this is just a way to 'pre-check' that doesn't involve leaving said screen first. So eliminating the extra steps of having to back out of that screen to check your other options, and perhaps have to go over to the console to see what you have.

NOTE that when you are on the Bot Configuration and Training screen, you currently can't do ANYTHING until you select an AI core, or select a bot that you already have in storage. THIS is the screen that I'm talking about, having to leave this screen to check your parts options at the console costs you an hour, even if you do NOTHING on this screen other than just hit Exit. Not to mention all of that extra clicking...

To reiterate, as it currently stands, you have to back out of this screen first to see your parts options UNLESS you select an AI core first or perhaps select another bot in storage and hope that they have empty slots to check your parts inventory, so that you can check your parts inventory from this screen, which takes extra time, and also extra time in game every single time you enter this screen, whether or not you do ANYTHING on this screen.

Using another bot to check your parts inventory while on the Configuration and Training screen is an unnecessary workaround IMHO, and then you also need to be mindful of what you click...

---

As for the 'higher quality' bot crates, you are still at the mercy of the dice, just because it's a smaller pool of parts, well there are still 10 different types of parts, then you have to factor in Tier and Grade, sure the higher tiers and Grades may be given a stronger weighting, but this is why a method of being able to get the part you need, rather than hoping the dice go your way each time, is desirable. As it stands right now, there's a lot of unneccessary grinding and screen scrolling going on to just get say an arm you need, when the dice rolls aren't going your way week after week...

---

And as for the 'different repair costs based on quality' thing, that was a SUGGESTION. We already have a similar mechanism going on with Energy Pods and training (i.e. 5%/10%/20% per 10% of energy depending on if that bot likes or dislikes an activity), I was just suggesting extending that methodology to parts, i.e. low quality parts would require 4x the resources of 'nearly new' parts to repair.

Otherwise, as you noted before, quality status essentially breaks down to 'new' and 'not new' and if all 'not new' parts cost the same to repair, this sort of defeats the purpose of having a condition system in the first place. As it stands now, once you realize that condition affects skills and asking price, you WILL repair your bot parts pretty much always, so that you can maximize your investment. Pods are cheap, so no reason NOT to!
The repair feature is a bit underutilized in V0.6 indeed.

In V0.7 bots in the arcade wear out gradually, reducing their income and you have to retrieve them for repair.
A good mechanics differentiating between "repair grades" without just adding grind i haven't found yet.

I am considering having a bot assembly skill of MC, once it gets better by making more bots he can repair also higher grade parts. That would give some sense of progression...
 
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y.king

Newbie
Jul 17, 2022
39
52
The Princess is back, goddamnit! :LOL:

Please tell me I can keep her instead of freeing her! Ideally I'd like to chain her to the pilot's chair, dressed in a leia outfit. (Like the arms dealer's slaves at the pirate station.) Please also provide options for a ball gag and a fully immobilizing rope bondage setup. Some sort of punishment droid to help her focus on being less irritating would also be nice.

It's true, I'm not entirely fond of the character. :D
 

yv0751

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
Jul 8, 2017
1,149
3,336
The Princess is back, goddamnit! :LOL:

Please tell me I can keep her instead of freeing her! Ideally I'd like to chain her to the pilot's chair, dressed in a leia outfit. (Like the arms dealer's slaves at the pirate station.) Please also provide options for a ball gag and a fully immobilizing rope bondage setup. Some sort of punishment droid to help her focus on being less irritating would also be nice.

It's true, I'm not entirely fond of the character. :D
Vee will be in charge of enforcing discipline on the Holodeck ;)
(V0.8+, just creating the NSFW art for the release...)

holo seraphine vee.jpg
 

Psykoman1978

Active Member
Mar 21, 2022
707
715
Quick question if you fight marauders etc can you repair your ship in battle? Or are Nanite pods only for your Bots?
 

OhWee

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yv0751

This is what I mean by 'different repair material costs based on condition':

Here's what I think is the associated code from 760_sexbot_lab.rpy starting at around line 2146, if I'm understanding things correctly:

Code:
        elif "repair" in _return:
            $ slot = _return[1]
            $ repairMatReq = {"cortex": "bio", "torso": "nano", "legs": "nano", "arms": "nano", "head": "nano" }
            $ mat = repairMatReq[slot]
            $ bot = GAME.lab.current
            if GAME.lab.status[mat] >= 20:
                queue sound "audio/install.wav"
                $ bot.parts[slot].wear = 0.0
                $ GAME.lab.status[mat] = max(0, GAME.lab.status[mat]-20)
            else:
                queue sound "audio/tech_fail.wav"
                call simple_notify("CONFIGURATOR", "20% {} required.".format(mat.title()), ["Continue"]) from _call_simple_notify_35
So the $ Game.lab.status[mat] = max(0, GAME.lab.status[mat]-20) line and the if GAME.lab.status[mat] >= 20:

I'm proposing (if I'm understanding things correctly):

$x = int(bot.parts[slot].wear * 40) + 1
#this is more than 20, go with me here...

if GAME.lab.status[mat] >= x:
#do you have enough material for this repair?

(snip)

$GAME.lab.status[mat] -= x
#not sure why you need a max here, do what you think is best, the point is to deduct x from the materials total.

So the idea here is that parts with higher wear cost more to repair in materials.

The reason I went with 40 instead of 20 is because 20 is an 'average' value, i.e. a wear state of 0.99 would cost 40 materials to repair, whereas a wear state of 0.01 would cost just 1 material to repair, this is what the + 1 is for, as int rounds down.

So you'd spend an average of 20-21 materials but may spend as little as 1 material if wear is negligible, or 40 if the part barely functions.

This makes the wear states of parts a bit more meaningful, giving you incentive to sell off the really worn parts while picking and repairing the parts with less wear to build your bot. Which is how it should work I would think...

Another suggestion 'while you are here' might be to allow players to accumulate up to 200 materials instead of 100, with a pod still replenishing 100 materials each time. This would allow players to replenish before the material total reaches 0, without losing the fractional amounts... testing this now on my end.

Another idea here might be to quadruple the material requirements for cortex/bio using an 'if' statement, as the other four part categories use nano, to 'balance' the need for bio pods vs nano pods.


That's my suggestion in a nutshell. You can probably code this better than me, should you like this idea...

Edit: Here are the code snippets I used in 760_sexbot_lab.rpy to get this idea working. Note that I'm allowing over 200% storage of bio/energy/nano materials, due to the Cortex needing up to 160 materials to repair...

Code:
line 276-ish:

        def charge(self,itemID):
            pod = itemID[6:].lower() # strip common ID item prefix
            GAME.lab.status[pod] += 100
            GAME.ship.unloadWare(itemID)
            return()

#only change here was = 100 to += 100

line 1721-ish:

            for k in ["Bio","Energy", "Nano"]:
                frame xsize 340 ysize 50 background Solid("#ffffff22"):
                    text "{}".format(k) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 20
                    text "{}".format(percentColorized(GAME.lab.status[k.lower()])) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 160 xalign 1.0
                    $ item = GAME.items["ITMPod{}".format(k)]
                    $ pods = GAME.ship.cargo.count(item)
                    if pods > 0:
                        frame xsize 120 ysize 30 xpos 200  background Solid("#0099ccff") yalign 0.5:
                            text "Cargo {}x".format(pods) xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 size FSIZE_MED
                            button:
                                if GAME.lab.status[k.lower()] < 160:
                                    action Return(["charge", item.ID])
                                else:
                                    action NullAction()

#main change here was adding the 'if less than 160 check, otherwise return NullAction()

line 2150-ish:

        elif "repair" in _return:
            $ slot = _return[1]
            $ repairMatReq = {"cortex": "bio", "torso": "nano", "legs": "nano", "arms": "nano", "head": "nano" }
            $ mat = repairMatReq[slot]
            $ bot = GAME.lab.current
            $rmc = int(bot.parts[slot].wear * 40) + 1
            if mat == "bio":
                $rmc = rmc * 4
            if GAME.lab.status[mat] >= rmc:
                queue sound "audio/install.wav"
                $ bot.parts[slot].wear = 0.0
                #$ GAME.lab.status[mat] = max(0, GAME.lab.status[mat]-20)
                $ GAME.lab.status[mat] -= rmc
            else:
                queue sound "audio/tech_fail.wav"
                call simple_notify("CONFIGURATOR", "[rmc]% {} required.".format(mat.title()), ["Continue"]) from _call_simple_notify_35

#this section replaces the 20 with the variable rmc of course!
This has a bit of a downside in that you can have up to 260% of materials, but that you can't max out materials to 260 (this could be coded, but the idea here is to maximize use of pods), but the upside would be freeing up a couple of extra tons of cargo by 'overcharging' your materials over 100%. I don't think that this is a bad thing, but the 'over 100% thing' is a bit odd. You could remove the percentage by making a new definition for def percentColorized that doesn't include the '%' character, and maybe allow up to 300 points of material storage with a 'if over 300, max at 300' check with the excess material being wasted as before, but yeah.

The other option here would be to reduce the recharge from +100 to + 50, reduce the training energy cost increment from 10 to 5, reduce the 'max repair multiplier' from 40 to 20, and still set the max storage to say 100 (so essentially the same as it was before). This would mean that you'd need 80% if bio to repair a cortex at 1%, which is less than 100. Trying this on my end.

I tested this in my 0.6.0 game, it works, so it's up to you if you like this idea!

Edit 2: Here's my 'revised' code going with my 'halve the values' idea incorporated:

Code:
#first off, recharge reduced from 100% to 50% per pod, with a 'max 100%' routine added:

#line 276-ish:

        def charge(self,itemID):
            pod = itemID[6:].lower() # strip common ID item prefix
            GAME.lab.status[pod] += 50
            if GAME.lab.status[pod] > 100:
                GAME.lab.status[pod] = 100

#next, this may actually not be a needed change now, essentially it just adds a NullAction if the material level is already at 100.

#line 1724-ish

            for k in ["Bio","Energy", "Nano"]:
                frame xsize 340 ysize 50 background Solid("#ffffff22"):
                    text "{}".format(k) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 20
                    text "{}".format(percentColorized(GAME.lab.status[k.lower()])) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 160 xalign 1.0
                    $ item = GAME.items["ITMPod{}".format(k)]
                    $ pods = GAME.ship.cargo.count(item)
                    if pods > 0:
                        frame xsize 120 ysize 30 xpos 200  background Solid("#0099ccff") yalign 0.5:
                            text "Cargo {}x".format(pods) xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 size FSIZE_MED
                            button:
                                if GAME.lab.status[k.lower()] < 100:
                                    action Return(["charge", item.ID])
                                else:
                                    action NullAction()

#Next, reduce training cost from 10 energy to 5, so that double the energy can be stored for training, which will help reduce the number of times you need to mouse back and forth between the training bars and recharging the energy storage:

#line 2200-ish:

        elif "train" in _return:
            $ skill = _return[1]
            $ bot = GAME.lab.current
            if not bot.isComplete():
                queue sound "audio/beep.wav"
                call simple_notify("CONFIGURATOR", "Complete configuration first.", ["Continue"]) from _call_simple_notify_37
            elif GAME.lab.status["energy"] >= 5:
(snip)

#and finally, the changes to the repair cost code, note that I increased the increment from 20 to 25, 'cuz I like the idea of repairing a cortex that is at 1-4% condition requiring two entire bio pods, but you could just reduce this to 20, which would put that at 80% biomass required if a cortex is at 1-4% instead of 100% biomass...

#line 2153-ish

        elif "repair" in _return:
            $ slot = _return[1]
            $ repairMatReq = {"cortex": "bio", "torso": "nano", "legs": "nano", "arms": "nano", "head": "nano" }
            $ mat = repairMatReq[slot]
            $ bot = GAME.lab.current
            $rmc = int(bot.parts[slot].wear * 25) + 1
            if mat == "bio":
                $rmc = rmc * 4
            if GAME.lab.status[mat] >= rmc:
                queue sound "audio/install.wav"
                $ bot.parts[slot].wear = 0.0
                #$ GAME.lab.status[mat] = max(0, GAME.lab.status[mat]-20)
                $ GAME.lab.status[mat] -= rmc
            else:
                queue sound "audio/tech_fail.wav"
                call simple_notify("CONFIGURATOR", "[rmc]% {} required.".format(mat.title()), ["Continue"]) from _call_simple_notify_35
Again, this is just a suggestion! Use or modify or ignore as you see fit!
 
Last edited:

Steppenwolf

Newbie
Jul 30, 2017
44
79
So you'd spend an average of 20-21 materials but may spend as little as 1 material if wear is negligible, or 40 if the part barely functions.

This makes the wear states of parts a bit more meaningful, giving you incentive to sell off the really worn parts while picking and repairing the parts with less wear to build your bot. Which is how it should work I would think...
I politely disagree with your opinion...
If I get a gen3 military grade worn off part I will not sell it and I will repair and use that part, If I get an excellent, in perfect health, gen1/gen2 military grade parts I will still scrape off because I'm not interested in making a low tier bot, what I do when I play the game is make 1/2 excellent bots and send them to arcade and call it a day. (My goal in the game is not to become a billionaire it's to play the it's story and corrupt the girls.)
When my top tier (~25.700.000 Cr) bot get worn out at the arcade I need to pull it out from arcade, repair it and send it back. I'll not sell it nor I'll change parts for other that bot is already good the way it is.

So my point is, in order to repair that bot I need to click click click click until every single parts is fully repaired, did that many mouse clicks add anything more to my game experience? I don't think so.
If you want the player to grind something (eg. Tris exhibitionism, sluttiness, ecc) you need to give something back to the player (eg. Tris' bj scene) otherwise is just a tedious thing to do.
Sure, your approach to the problem is more realistic, I agree on this, my question is: is it worth it?

Peace :)
 
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OhWee

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Jun 17, 2017
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I politely disagree with your opinion...
If I get a gen3 military grade worn off part I will not sell it and I will repair and use that part, If I get an excellent, in perfect health, gen1/gen2 military grade parts I will still scrape off because I'm not interested in making a low tier bot, what I do when I play the game is make 1/2 excellent bots and send them to arcade and call it a day. (My goal in the game is not to become a billionaire it's to play the it's story and corrupt the girls.)
When my top tier (~25.700.000 Cr) bot get worn out at the arcade I need to pull it out from arcade, repair it and send it back. I'll not sell it nor I'll change parts for other that bot is already good the way it is.

So my point is, in order to repair that bot I need to click click click click until every single parts is fully repaired, did that many mouse clicks add anything more to my game experience? I don't think so.
If you want the player to grind something (eg. Tris exhibitionism, sluttiness, ecc) you need to give something back to the player (eg. Tris' bj scene) otherwise is just a tedious thing to do.
Sure, your approach to the problem is more realistic, I agree on this, my question is: is it worth it?

Peace :)
The only thing this would do on your end is change the amount of material deducted when you hit the repair icon. No additional clicks necessary, except perhaps when recharging the bio/energy/nano levels over 100%. Note that I added an edit to my post that talks about reducing some values so that 100% can still be the 'max' charge. And note that my 'quadruple repair cost for cortex' so that more bio pods get used, as it stands now they get used at about 1/4 the rate of nano pods...

So on average it's still cost you the same, but very degraded parts will deduct more bio or nano material from your pool. On the upside, slightly worn parts will deduct less. And it will affect your gameplay only slightly.
 

OhWee

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Jun 17, 2017
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yv0751

So I figured out how a way that seems to work which allows players to view their parts inventory while in the Bot Configurator screen, without actually being able to 'choose' the various parts until a Cortex is chosen.

What I did was...

Code:
#line 1500-ish

            vbox pos 500,120 xsize 1200 spacing 5:
                for i in parts:
                    frame xsize 1200 ysize 80 background Solid("#0099cc88"):
                        image "{}{}".format(i.getPath(),i.getIco()) zoom 0.2 xpos 20 yalign 0.5
                        text i.getName() size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 160
                        text "{}".format(percentColorized(i.getGrade())) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 620
                        text "{:,} Cr".format(i.getPrice()) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 780 xalign 1.0
                        if not bot.hasComp("cortex") and partsKey != "cortex":
                            button action NullAction() tooltip i
                        else:
                            button action Return(i) tooltip i

                        if bot.hasComp("cortex"):
                            frame xsize 80 ysize 30 background Solid ("#0099ccff") yalign 0.5 xpos 900:
                                button action Return(i)
                                text "Use" xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 size FSIZE_MED
                        # frame xsize 80 ysize 30 background Solid ("#cc6600ff") yalign 0.5 xpos 1000:
                        #     button action Return(["scrap",i])
                        #     text "Scrap" xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 size FSIZE_MED

#essentially I added a check to see if there's a cortex yet, and if partsKey is cortex or not, which will do 'NullAction' if no Cortex installed yet and if the part list isn't the cortex list.  I'm also hiding the 'Use' button if a cortex hasn't been selected yet.

#line 2040-ish

        #####################################################################
        #                    PART ADDITION / MODULE ADDITION      
        #####################################################################
        #elif "add" in _return and not bot.hasComp("cortex"):
            #queue sound "audio/beep.wav"
            #call simple_notify("CONFIGURATION", "You need to insert a core first.", ["Continue"]) from _call_simple_notify_34

#I essentially commented this out for now, so that you can still access the other parts lists if a cortex isn't chosen yet.
So as I was requesting in my previous posts, this will allow you to view the parts available while in the BOT CONFIGURATOR SCREEN before selecting a cortex, but will not allow you to select any of the parts UNTIL a cortex is installed.

This is so that players won't need to exit the Bot Configurator Screen before choosing a cortex to review what parts they may have available at that point, if they don't remember, without incurring the 1 hour penalty to run over to the console just to check their parts list.

I mean, the parts are RIGHT THERE, the MC should be able to see the parts bins or the inventory list for said parts bins... not all of us have photographic memories, and if you have a thousand or more parts onhand, it's EASY to lose track...

It'd be cool if some sort of 'you need to choose a cortex first' message could be added to the parts list screen when you click on the parts when 'NullAction()' is being invoked as I've done here, to remind players that they need a cortex first, but I'll leave figuring such things out to the professionals!
 
Last edited:
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yv0751

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yv0751

So I figured out how a way that seems to work which allows players to view their parts inventory while in the Bot Configurator screen, without actually being able to 'choose' the various parts until a Cortex is chosen.

What I did was...

Code:
#line 1500-ish

            vbox pos 500,120 xsize 1200 spacing 5:
                for i in parts:
                    frame xsize 1200 ysize 80 background Solid("#0099cc88"):
                        image "{}{}".format(i.getPath(),i.getIco()) zoom 0.2 xpos 20 yalign 0.5
                        text i.getName() size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 160
                        text "{}".format(percentColorized(i.getGrade())) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 620
                        text "{:,} Cr".format(i.getPrice()) size FSIZE yalign 0.5 xpos 780 xalign 1.0
                        if not bot.hasComp("cortex") and partsKey != "cortex":
                            button action NullAction() tooltip i
                        else:
                            button action Return(i) tooltip i

                        if bot.hasComp("cortex"):
                            frame xsize 80 ysize 30 background Solid ("#0099ccff") yalign 0.5 xpos 900:
                                button action Return(i)
                                text "Use" xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 size FSIZE_MED
                        # frame xsize 80 ysize 30 background Solid ("#cc6600ff") yalign 0.5 xpos 1000:
                        #     button action Return(["scrap",i])
                        #     text "Scrap" xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 size FSIZE_MED

#essentially I added a check to see if there's a cortex yet, and if partsKey is cortex or not, which will do 'NullAction' if no Cortex installed yet and if the part list isn't the cortex list.  I'm also hiding the 'Use' button if a cortex hasn't been selected yet.

#line 2040-ish

        #####################################################################
        #                    PART ADDITION / MODULE ADDITION  
        #####################################################################
        #elif "add" in _return and not bot.hasComp("cortex"):
            #queue sound "audio/beep.wav"
            #call simple_notify("CONFIGURATION", "You need to insert a core first.", ["Continue"]) from _call_simple_notify_34

#I essentially commented this out for now, so that you can still access the other parts lists if a cortex isn't chosen yet.
So as I was requesting in my previous posts, this will allow you to view the parts available while in the BOT CONFIGURATOR SCREEN before selecting a cortex, but will not allow you to select any of the parts UNTIL a cortex is installed.

This is so that players won't need to exit the Bot Configurator Screen before choosing a cortex to review what parts they may have available at that point, if they don't remember, without incurring the 1 hour penalty to run over to the console just to check their parts list.

I mean, the parts are RIGHT THERE, the MC should be able to see the parts bins or the inventory list for said parts bins... not all of us have photographic memories, and if you have a thousand or more parts onhand, it's EASY to lose track...

It'd be cool if some sort of 'you need to choose a cortex first' message could be added to the parts list screen when you click on the parts when 'NullAction()' is being invoked as I've done here, to remind players that they need a cortex first, but I'll leave figuring such things out to the professionals!
Thanks for the suggestions.

as to the repair mechanics I am still unsure in which direction to take it (repair skill system, repair "grades", ...). Currently, the parts repair is just implemented for a quick "success" feeling seeing your bots value rise and, lateron, as maintenance feature for arcade bots. I like the idea of repair being limited to lower grade parts until the skill rises so i might combine bioth of those approaches.

as to starting assembly of a bot with other parts that will cause a ton of non-obvious problems. The cortex is used as a "leading" part for the parts list and all kinds of conditional features. This approach has impact into virtually every piece of bot code. So I won't touch that as the effort to revamp it would be massive.

That being said, to solve the problem of a convenient "lookup" feature, it would be easy to just activate the parts console screen from inside the configurator so you don't need to leave it. Especially considering configurator use uses up one hour playtime that might be worthwile adding. I made a CRQ to that respect.

Appreciate the suggestions, they always generate new ideas and drive for improvement!

y.v.

PS: Least intrusive solution may be to allow clicking on the parts slots, but only for "lookup" until a core is inserted. That is easy to implement and goes in the direction of one of your proposals.
 

OhWee

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Jun 17, 2017
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Thanks for the suggestions.

as to the repair mechanics I am still unsure in which direction to take it (repair skill system, repair "grades", ...). Currently, the parts repair is just implemented for a quick "success" feeling seeing your bots value rise and, lateron, as maintenance feature for arcade bots. I like the idea of repair being limited to lower grade parts until the skill rises so i might combine bioth of those approaches.

as to starting assembly of a bot with other parts that will cause a ton of non-obvious problems. The cortex is used as a "leading" part for the parts list and all kinds of conditional features. This approach has impact into virtually every piece of bot code. So I won't touch that as the effort to revamp it would be massive.

That being said, to solve the problem of a convenient "lookup" feature, it would be easy to just activate the parts console screen from inside the configurator so you don't need to leave it. Especially considering configurator use uses up one hour playtime that might be worthwile adding. I made a CRQ to that respect.

Appreciate the suggestions, they always generate new ideas and drive for improvement!

y.v.

PS: Least intrusive solution may be to allow clicking on the parts slots, but only for "lookup" until a core is inserted. That is easy to implement and goes in the direction of one of your proposals.
The cortex thing, yes I am aware that the cortex sets the 'baseline stats' which is why what I came up with allows you to view the other parts lists without actually being able to select any of them. So you are still 'locked out' from selecting any other parts, until you 'exit' the head/torso/arms/leg lists and enter/choose the cortex list instead.

I've tested this, it works, and no issues popped during multiple game days of gameplay.

So you can still 'tooltip' the other parts, you just can't 'choose' them. And of course, until the body is assembled, you still won't be able to view the upgrade modules, but those are 'optional' anyways.

Just looking for ways to reduce grind/clicks/mouse movements!

As for the 'variable repair costs' thing, I've tested that as well, and it works very well, but of course this is up to you. I did consider that the 'minimum repair cost' should be maybe 5-6 instead of 1, so say a 5-25 range instead of a 1-20 or 1-25 range, that just comes down to what 'feels right' in regards to your design philosophy.

The third thing (a system to request specific parts, if the dice rolls hate you), yeah that's a bit more involved.

An option to sort parts by condition and grade in the Bot Configurator (and perhaps select specific grades) would also be nice, not sure how much work that would be though.
 

Evangelion-01

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Apr 12, 2018
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This is so that players won't need to exit the Bot Configurator Screen before choosing a cortex to review what parts they may have available at that point, if they don't remember, without incurring the 1 hour penalty to run over to the console just to check their parts list.
...or they just do the sensible thing and check their Inventory BEFORE entering the Bot Lab in the first place.
I don't think there are that many that use the Bot Lab to micro manage their entire stock instead of the preped Console with additional functionality
The third thing (a system to request specific parts, if the dice rolls hate you), yeah that's a bit more involved.

An option to sort parts by condition and grade in the Bot Configurator (and perhaps select specific grades) would also be nice, not sure how much work that would be though.
All in the Console... why are you refuseing to use it and complain about those mechanics missing?

Most of your ideas seem to increase the clicks required to get anything done opposing to reduceing them as you claim is your goal.
 
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The cortex thing, yes I am aware that the cortex sets the 'baseline stats' which is why what I came up with allows you to view the other parts lists without actually being able to select any of them. So you are still 'locked out' from selecting any other parts, until you 'exit' the head/torso/arms/leg lists and enter/choose the cortex list instead.
I'm a beta tester. So are some others here. You are apparently not one. Why don't you become one and express your ideas in that, more appropriate, environment instead of long code posts on this thread? You might find that things being implemented are already working well. Your ideas will be heard more directly, there.
 
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