Update Tomorrow, Tags Now
Added 2020-02-28 20:54:44 +0000 UTCWork got me pinned down today, so it might be later tomorrow than morning. Still.
That said, since not much was accomplished today why don't we talk about a specific part of the inner workings of the game? One that was changed a bit to accommodate the variations of the coming events: Tags. (I won't get too technical and use too much terminology in this, don't worry)
If you are even passively familiar with programming, you have probably seen things like a simple html tag: <body></body>. Well, to get some of the game variables inside the text, I have been using a tag system of sorts.
The reason is simple. Typing this:
string text = "text about " + playerName + " goes here";
Is freaking stupid and terrible to read, besides not being versatile. But writing this:
string text = "text about {playerName} goes here.";
Is easy to read, write and change. But how does this tie into the coming update? You see, so far I had been only using tags for variables, but now I am using them for conditions. For example, if you had a pussy and I wanted to write a specific passage in reference to that, this is how I would go about it before:
string initialText = "You bump into someone on the street.";
string femalePassage = "The proximity of your bodies makes you pussy wet";
string restOfText = "Both of you apologize, and carry on.";
string finalText = initialText;
if(female){ finalText += female passage;}
finalText += restOfText;
Again: hard to read, not versatile and cumbersome. Now, imagine this amplified to a more complex scene. Yeah, things can get out of hand real fast. I have, however, created a new type of tag that can help with this, like so:
string oneText = " You bump into someone on the street. {flag:hasPussy="1" The proximity of your bodies makes you pussy wet. } Both of you apologize, and carry on. "
It does look a bit weird. But once you get accustomed to it, its is not too hard to read it. But the main point is: it is much easier to write and implement. This made the variations possible in the trio event so much easier to handle. This tag is working, but I wager there will probably be alterations and tweaks to it in the future, as with most things at this stage of the game's development, really.
The less text fiddling inside the code, the better. The code should only be handling the game variables and choice's effects, nothing else.
I also plan to use tags in the future to alter fonts and the colors to the text, and maybe add tooltips to certain words and people you find along the way. To help you keep track of things. But for now, the looks are not the priority. A game I am taking inspiration with this aspect of tags, and the others too, is Pyre. By the way, if you have not played it, do yourself a favor and go enjoy it right now; It is an amazing game.
So, hopefully that bit of insight can help you realize this month was an important step to speed up the game's development. Hope you enjoyed it! Look forward to the update soon!
