Message-ID: <333865D8.255F@ns.computer.net>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 18:55:04 -0500
From: "M. Abrams" <mabrams@ns.computer.net>
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Subject: Re: My pants are full of useful objects.
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Bill wrote:
> 
> Gerry Quinn <gerryq@indigo.ie> wrote in article
> <5gurke$7if@news.indigo.ie>...
> > I wonder if you could use a sort of object AI - if it knew a sword was a
> metal
> >  swung weapon weighing five pounds, it might be able to deduce properties
> like
> > a bit sharp, can write on stone, cannot be eaten, hurts when thrown etc.
> and
> > can give sensible messages in these contexts.  I'm thinking of a neural
> net or
> > a deductive language, for example.
> 
> Actually it woundn't be all that hard to define "metarules" for object
> properties that would derive abilities from other characteristics.  For
> example the damage as a weapon property could be defined as a function of
> weight, unless overridden by a specific method.
> 

Interesting thought concerning "meta-rules".  Weapons could be
"assembled" by various criteria:
Weight
Material (wood, stone, metal, sound, light)
Sharpness
Impact

etc.

I am considering a physics engine that would in a simplified manner
calculate the the results of such variables.  

Example:

Toadmonger has a sword of Iron.  It weighs 4.5 pounds.  It has a
sharpness of (80%).  Toadmonger's strength is 24 so he strikes with +4
impact.  He is attacking Clarence the Cleric who has no armor.  He is
striking flesh, hardness: 1.  (Other flesh attributes that relate to
armor?).  

Calculation:  4.5 * .8 +4 / 1 = full damage * int(rnd*6+1)

Or something along these lines.  It would require of course the use of
physics formulas that could take these relationships into account. 
That's no mean task, but it would result in a pretty fantastic game.  I
think.

Mark Abrams
