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As Alcritas so eloquently explained, a severe detriment of the editor is its inability to hold more than 256 terrain types. Though Ian’s suggestions on ways around this remain excellent, I thought I’d throw in a new idea that in my preliminary testing has worked fine:
Turning terrain types into items. Simple graphical editing can remove the floors from chairs, leaving the graphic no more than the chair itself on a white background. Numerous other terrains that depict items — from the household to the otherworldly — can be treated the same way. Take the now-floorless object, put it in your custom graphics file, and, edit your item list accordingly. Not only does this turn five terrain types into one (i.e., the four chair graphics as well as the plain floor graphic are now simply the floor), it creates a much greater sense of realism. Why can’t you pick up a chair and move it somewhere else? Why shouldn’t a rug be literally pulled out from underneath someone? By “itemizing” (no, not in the tax return sense) these terrains, Blades becomes, to use a terribly trite word, much more interactive. Of course, setting items to someone’s property is key, as it always is. Pulling a king’s throne out from under his royal behind should have ramifications. In addition, weight and value of these items should be taken into strong consideration — maybe you should be able to steal a magical anvil, for example, but it ought to weigh an enormous amount, have tremendous encumberment, and great value. Giving these items their own Stuff Done Flag can add any number of twists and turns to the scenario. One problem is that, like everything else, there is a limit to the maximum number of set items in a town. However, it has been my design experience that I run out of terrain far, far more frequently than I place too many items. A further difficulty is the issue of the somewhat meager 400-item limit (as any designer knows, it’s awfully easy to run out, considering Blades has 380 default items). My first (and currently only) scenario, To the Quick, had this problem, although in retrospect I may have overdone the customized goodies. Unfortunately, using the plan I illustrate above, running out of item list space becomes very easy. The answer, of course, is picking and choosing what stock Blades items you need (e.g., will you use Demonslayer? or any of the other unique weapons and items? Maybe, but it’s doubtful you’ll use them all). In addition, deleting standard Blades items not only makes room for chairs and carpets, it forces the designer to include his or her own tools, armors, and so forth. Why have an undead-killing “Mace of Disruption” when you can have a, I don’t know, always-poisoned “Arsenic Axe?” It has been my experience that the more individuality in a scenario, and in life, the better. Overall, I think the perks of my plan most certainly outweigh the liabilities. One last advantage is that using this concept, previously incompatible terrain types can now be combined easily. As long as this is done in a logical, aesthetically pleasing manner, the combinations are nearly endless and beneficial to designer and player alike. You want a round rug on a gray floor? It’s yours. “Evil” throne on “good” flooring? Piece of cake. Admittedly, for the typical designer, my itemization idea may not be required. But for the likes of topnotch Blades artisans, or those who simply want a large, diversely graphical adventure, this trick could be the answer to your 256-graphic blues. |
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