[A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More

Started by dburgdorf, February 22, 2017, 01:01:16 PM

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Rimrue

I uploaded them to Dropbox. There are 12 child and 12 adult backstories. They may need some tweaking to balance them better. A few are wholly my own, some are colonist backstories adapted to tribal, and some are "pirate king" stories that have been toned down a bit. Lol

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hcxyyqh848c7rm/Backstories_Tribal_Adult.xml?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gd0hq6rc52e0yl/Backstories_Tribal_Child.xml?dl=0

dburgdorf

Quote from: SpaceDorf on April 25, 2017, 03:48:55 AMGitHub or GoogleDocs

OK, I've never actually used either of those myself; my sole familiarity with both is that I've occasionally followed links to things uploaded by others.

GitHub: Ugh. I know I should put my code there, if only so others who are better coders than me -- which is to say, most any other coder -- can easily point out my mistakes and help me improve things. ;) But I tried last week, and frankly couldn't make head nor tail of the process of setting up my IDE (SharpDevelop) to actually upload to and download from a GitHub repository. I'm sure it's not really as difficult as it seemed, but I just got lost in the separate (and typically fairly minimalist) documentation files for the various pieces, all of which apparently need to be independently set up just right before any of them will work together.

But anyway, while it's great for sharing code, would it really be appropriate as a location for users just to upload and download various XML files?

Google Docs: I wouldn't want to force everything into a single document, not least because I wouldn't want to allow users to edit each other's entries. Rather than creating a single file, is it possible to set up a folder into which anyone can be allowed to upload documents for others to access?
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



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dburgdorf

Rimrue, your tribal tales are included in the a17 update of "Editable Backstories" I just uploaded.  ;)
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



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dburgdorf

I hadn't planned to bother with an a16 release for this one, but since there seems to be far more interest than I'd anticipated....



Last update: 5/18/2017

"Basic Bridges," as the name so subtly suggests, allows you to build bridges. (Well, technically, you could also create piers or even a boardwalk. It's really up to you.) No special research is required. All you need is wood or stone. And a bit of steel for reinforcement if you're building over deep water.

Bridges support light construction, so you can, for example, use a bridge to run a power conduit across a river.

It's also possible to create "fishing spots" on bridges or piers where pawns can relax and catch fish.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link

Dropbox Link

Compatibility:

"Basic Bridges" can safely be added to a game in progress, but if you try to remove it from a game in which you've actually built any bridges, you will of course make the map unplayable.

This mod may conflict with other mods that alter vanilla water tiles. It is compatible with my "Fertile Fields" mod, but you'll want to make sure that "Fertile Fields" loads last.

Credits:

The code in "Basic Bridges" borrows a bit from Sulusdacor's "[sd] Bridges" mod. And obviously, the mods are very similar on a conceptual level. I just decided that I wanted a simpler bridges mod, that would be fully compatible with my "Fertile Fields" mod.

As well, the ability to fish from bridges draws both conceptually and specifically from Rikiki's "FishIndustry," though what I've done here is far less elaborate than what's he's done in that mod.
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



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AngleWyrm

A thank you for the [A16] version of bridges

Editable Backstories {filterset1, filterset2, ...}
Consider the scenario where a client list includes a phone number field. If they are pre-assigned, such as {home, work, cell} then they become inflexible. What if a record needs a forth phone number? What if space is allocated for a bunch of unused phone numbers? This problem has come up enough times that it has been studied to the point of solution.

Fields that are repeated within a record are candidates for their own separate table. So in the client list example phone numbers are stored in a separate structure. In this way there are exactly the right number of phone numbers for every client's needs, no more and no less.

<phoneNumbers>
    <phoneNumber clientID="JohnDoe">123-4567</phoneNumber>
    <phoneNumber clientID="JohnDoe">123-0000</phoneNumber>
    <phoneNumber clientID="JaneDoe">123-9999</phoneNumber>
</phoneNumbers>

If we replace 'clientID' with a backstory defName, then any number of filter entries can apply.

Here's what a separate data structure could look like within a record

<filters>
    <filter>medieval</filter>
    <filter>pirate</filter>
</filters>
My 5-point rating system: Yay, Kay, Meh, Erm, Bleh

Gohihioh

So I have a visual bug with Basic Bridges on alpha 16.
I have Fertile Fields and I made sure I load Fertile Fields after it (I even tried loading it before just to see the difference and there was  no difference).
I don't have any other mod that alters water tiles.

I used to use sd Bridges but I would prefer to use Basic Bridges although the visual thing really bothers me and I'm not sure how to make it work.

Here is screenshot

dburgdorf

Quote from: AngleWyrm on May 17, 2017, 11:11:11 PMEditable Backstories....

Please, as I asked you the other day on my a17 thread, take your rants about the game's database design to one of the forum's "suggestions" threads. THEY DO NOT BELONG ON MY MOD THREADS. Even if I agreed with you that the current database design is desperately in need of fixing -- which I don't, as things are working fine, even if not "optimally" -- there isn't a damned thing I can do about it, as I'm not in a position to alter the game's base coding.

Quote from: Gohihioh on May 18, 2017, 07:17:51 AM
So I have a visual bug with Basic Bridges on alpha 16.

Ugh. I'm not sure how I missed the fact that bridge pieces weren't connecting visually. I know exactly why it's happening. I just copied over the bridge "atlas" graphic from the a17 version, forgetting that the "atlas" graphics are sized a bit differently in a17 than they were in a16. I should be able to get that fixed this evening.

I'll probably also make sure it works properly with all three water types in "Fertile Fields." I wasn't going to bother with that, but since I'll be mucking with it anyway.... :D
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



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Gohihioh

Quote from: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 09:34:55 AM
I should be able to get that fixed this evening.

I'll probably also make sure it works properly with all three water types in "Fertile Fields." I wasn't going to bother with that, but since I'll be mucking with it anyway.... :D

Awesome :) thanks for quick respond. I really enjoy your work.

AngleWyrm

Quote from: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 09:34:55 AM
take your rants about the game's database design to one of the forum's "suggestions" threads.
THEY DO NOT BELONG ON MY MOD THREADS...
I'm not in a position to alter the game's base coding.
  • There are 21 occurrances of "filterset1" in my installation of Rimworld
  • All 21 of them appear in two files in this mod's folders
  • They violate the 1st normal form of information structure, namely making one field serve two purposes
My 5-point rating system: Yay, Kay, Meh, Erm, Bleh

dburgdorf

Quote from: AngleWyrm on May 18, 2017, 11:39:39 AMThey violate the 1st normal form of information structure, namely making one field serve two purposes

As I've already explained to you in prior incarnations of this conversation, in order to add new backstory filter options, I had to adapt the only "filter" tag available within backstory XML files. I really couldn't care less that you don't like the fact that the "SpawnCategories" tag now serves as a general filter tag rather than as a specific one. And even if I did care, it wouldn't matter, as there's no other option. I can't just arbitrarily add new tags to XML defs. I have to work with the tags that the game recognizes.

"Editable Backstories" adds a few new options to backstory definition, WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS SET BY THE STRUCTURE OF THE BACKSTORY DEFINITION FILES. So, once again, and hopefully for the final time, if you have complaints or criticisms of that structure, I'll ask you to voice them on a "suggestions" thread, where your comments might be seen by someone who can do something to change the structure, and not on my mods' threads.
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



Buy me a Dr Pepper?

dburgdorf

- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



Buy me a Dr Pepper?

Goldenpotatoes

So apparently smoothed/etched walls can be sold by bulk traders.


This seems like a bug, considering they only weigh 1 kg.

dburgdorf

Quote from: Goldenpotatoes on May 19, 2017, 12:50:55 PMSo apparently smoothed/etched walls can be sold by bulk traders.

Oooh Kaaay....

Yeah, obviously, that's not intended to happen. Not sure *how* it's happening, since the walls are based off of base wall code, and base walls can't be bought or sold....

I'll definitely look into it.

And on a side note, I love your cartoon.  :D
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



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DariusWolfe

A couple things with smoothed walls:

First, a question; Should artistically etched walls give beauty? I have a crappy little artist who I've been having etch some walls, and it seems to fail more often than not (I get a basic etched wall) but I have two segments with pieces of art (a beer, and some cheese) but there's no beauty score. Is it because my artist isn't that good, or is it just a visible decoration for my own eyes?

Second: Probably to do with one of the recent A17 fixes for accessing corners, but when I smooth walls on a room, it leaves the corners unsmoothed, and apparently these unsmoothed corners still count as -2 beauty when you use the room inspector. I'm not sure if there's anything you can do about it, but it's a smidge aggravating.

dburgdorf

Quote from: DariusWolfe on May 19, 2017, 02:56:39 PM
Should artistically etched walls give beauty?

Decorative walls do have a beauty modifier, but in the case of poor-quality art (like beer and cheese pics) on basic walls (as opposed, for example, to marble walls), the modifier may not be enough to actually bump up the final beauty score. It's certainly something I can look at again, though, especially since it's possible that changes from a16 to a17 have affected the way the final totals are calculated.

As to the corners, yeah, I'm aware of the problem, but haven't had a chance yet to see if there's anything I can do about it. (I'm guessing there won't be, but I'll still take a look.)
- Rainbeau Flambe (aka Darryl Burgdorf) -
Old. Short. Grumpy. Bearded. "Yeah, I'm a dorf."



Buy me a Dr Pepper?