Twilight Forums

Hi,

I noticed that lots of monsters and villains just have:

"Your opponent attacks...{it} hits you for X damage."

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

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"A wise man benefits from his enemies far more than a fool dreams of gaining from his friends."
~ Baltasar Gracian (1601-58)

Yes. Kill it before it hits you.

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Buying Stainless steelbreaker, n-barrelled shotgun and Seppia's cephalopod skullcap. Pm me here or ingame!

.....

You know that that reply should be reserved for the non-TH board. What I'm saying is, there are too many enemies which produce that generic line. Is there something I can do to make it less repetitive?

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"A wise man benefits from his enemies far more than a fool dreams of gaining from his friends."
~ Baltasar Gracian (1601-58)

It's just a matter of taking the time to write descriptions for the attacks.

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

Basically only two (well, two and a half) people have written any significant content text for the game, because I'm really picky about text and humor, and making sure things fit the tone. And even when I'm not doing the writing, the text goes through me for editing and consistency. This unfortunately means outside help isn't always helpful (because I've still got to take time to edit/apply the text), or at worst can actually slow development down, if I get really caught up trying to edit or rewrite stuff that doesn't fit what I'm looking for.

It's very hard for me to be convinced that someone else will write the kind of things I'm looking for. This isn't meant to slight you or anyone else who has volunteered over the years, because you can be a good writer and still not write something that I think fits here.

It's definitely tougher with writing. With coding, if someone wants to volunteer to help I can just ask them to code something, and then decide from there whether I can use what's written. I don't really have an equivalent for writing. I guess if I did, writing a handful of sample hit/miss messages for a few monsters might be the right way to start. I hate to suggest that, though, because while I can probably use most code sent my way (even if it needs some cleanup), I know I'm likely to be a lot pickier about the writing and would probably throw far more out than I would keep. And what I throw out just slows me down from working on other stuff, and would probably disappoint the volunteer who's just trying to help, and I'm not really looking to promote either of those things..

We should probably have a contest for missing hit/miss messages, but I'm so darn horrible at wrapping up contests properly and giving the promised rewards, I just feel bad every time I consider such ideas. We've had some fantastic additions to the game based on contests, but I always feel like a jerk when I can't follow through on the wrap-up in a timely fashion. And with retcon looming, I know being timely about anything else just isn't going to happen.

For any psychic-based character:

"Your opponent thinks about attacking you...{it} succeeds, and hits you for X damage."

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I've won the 100k DD bet so many times, I should have the title "Mr. Luck"

Good, I'll start off with the Grumpy Grey Giant, although I admit that I'm not so well-versed with comics (which I think is better for Twilight) as opposed to other things.

And in Corrupt Shadow's line:

Your opponent is incensed at you. It hits your for X damage.
ALTERNATE: Your opponent gives you a taste of its smoldering fury by hitting you for X damage.
The icy-cold hatred of your opponent freezes you with fear. Literally. For X damage.
ALTERNATE: Your oponent cold-bloodedly deals X damage to you.
Your opponent launches a surprise attack that shocks you to the core for X damage.
Little by little, your opponent corrodes your defenses to hit for X damage.

I've already figured out one for the GGG:

"The Grumpy Grey Giant tries to make with you like a tin opener with a tin. Since they don't have tin openers out here, it uses a hammer and chisel instead, dealing X damage."
"The Grumpy Grey Giant begins to attack, but is sued by NCI Live lawyers on joint behalf of a tinned food conglomerate and an Asian hypermarket chain for trademark infringment. It calls a ceasefire so that it find a defense attorney."
(maybe a chip gain?)

"The Grumpy Grey Giant bellows "Fee Fie Foe Fum!" and then proceeds to grind you down for X damage."
"The Grumpy Grey Giant bellows "Fee Fie Foe Fum!" but you duck out of the way in time by climbing down a nearby beanstalk."

"The Grumpy Grey Giant yells, "I reckon you oughta get off my giant property!" before firing a giant shotgun shell at you."
"This Grumpy Grey Giant is a bit senile. It wanders off to ask how Marie died and if there is any jello around."

"A small boy passes by and points a toy gun at the Grumpy Grey Giant. It responds in self-defense by unleashing a deadly laser beam at the kid. You heroically push the kid out of harm's way but are singed by the laser as it locks on to you instead."
"Before it could even attack, some kid passes by and points a toy gun at the Grumpy Grey Giant. It locks on to the kid and unleashes a deadly laser beam at him, but you heroically manage to push the kid out of harm's way."

_________________
"A wise man benefits from his enemies far more than a fool dreams of gaining from his friends."
~ Baltasar Gracian (1601-58)