Not Used: Sacrificing

Can we make the act of sacrificing a VC command, please?

It would remove a script from the module (good thing), and we can keep the item itself and just change the description so players new to Aenea will still be able to examine it in their starting gear and be aware of how sacrificing works... and they will learn the basics of the player select tool quicker, too.

The added benefits for me would be removal of two pet peeves.... one... the "item use lag" that occurs when sacrificing a single item or set of remains (but the area sacrifice when performed by using the select tool on oneself then entering the vc command would still cause the "cutscene" delay as it does now).... and two.... sacrificing would no longer cause concentration failure resulting in unsummoning my black blade of disaster *grumbles*

I actually find the Sacrificial flames to be a huge draw for Aenea, as every character can help prevent lag to the server, and gains from it at the same time.

However, I can see where losing Concentration would be problematic now and again. Maybe this could be addressed to make a DC, as a 40th Lvl Paragon should be able to make it easily while an apprentice may have problems. Until then, perhaps the apprentice should be making the sacrifices for the Paragon.

Also, if sacrificing is made a VC command, shifters in their limited use per day forms would be able to sacrifice without having to shift back to normal form

I agree Elhanan, sacrificing is an all around win-win for everyone and everything... hence why we want to make it as attractive as possible

daveyeisley wrote:Also, if sacrificing is made a VC command, shifters in their limited use per day forms would be able to sacrifice without having to shift back to normal form

I thought this option was actually already in for shifters ?

Apropos to saccing, can we get a minimum of 1 piety per item sacced, if the diety isn't handing out gold or xp? It's odd that you can sac one item, or 50 bags filled with 10 items each, and still only get 1 piety point.

A VC for sacrificing has been in for a few months now. ;;sacrifice or ;;tool sacrifice I forget which offhand.

I would like the flame to remain myself. While I use the mass sac most of the time... It would really suck to have ONLY the option to eat up so much time to sac 1 bodybag with a mass sac cutscene.

Also, the flame needs to stay so items in inventory can be sacrificed as well.

Would be nice to have the option of using the radial chooser followed by a different vc sac command for individual items. Would then become a free action rather than a full one, esp. if you quick slot the two.

MannyJabrielle wrote:A VC for sacrificing has been in for a few months now. ;;sacrifice or ;;tool sacrifice I forget which offhand.

I would like the flame to remain myself. While I use the mass sac most of the time... It would really suck to have ONLY the option to eat up so much time to sac 1 bodybag with a mass sac cutscene.

Also, the flame needs to stay so items in inventory can be sacrificed as well.

The idea was for the flame to stay, for multiple reasons. It would just have its unique power and the accompanying script removed. New Players would still need to see the widget in their inventories to know they can sactifice... it would just use the select tool+vc command instead, which would be reflected in the description.

As for the time required to sac... my apologies if this wasnt clear in my post.... when the select tool is used on a single item or remains and then the command is used, it would have no cutscene and no item use lag. The cutscene would only kick in when the select tool is used on oneself and then the command is entered.

If it's modded to use the select tool, that'd be useful too. I was stating the "as currently is" situation. There's a mass sac VC command already implemented in game. There's no select item VC saccing command.

Although could be a real pain if someone forgets to select an item, especially since it will make it FAR easier to accidentally sacrifice items not meant to be sacced.

The select tool's last target persists as the selected target, even across logouts. Someone could very easily use the renaming/item description editing command, or use aurashift power, and forget to select a new target with the tool... later on, sacrifice, or even hit the wrong hotkey accidently... byebye favorite item/voucher goodie.

For saccing remains, the best bet would be to have both functions use the same vc vommand, and differentiate what happens based on what it currently selected.

To avoid the issue you mention, since it is very possible.... I think it is reasonable to assume that remains sacrificing happens WAY more often than folks sacrifice items in inventory... so ... if we make the command to sacrifice an item in inventory a different vc command and have the main sacrifice command ONLY work on remains, it should solve that issue. Just probably want to advise folks to avoid quickslotting the inventory item saccing command.

This is all good discussion ... I personally don't use the mass sacrifice, and am quite annoyed when my mouse decides that I need to. I would love to see a very clear, non-accidental way to select between the two. Two different commands for a mass remains sacrifice and a single remains sacrifice sounds like a solid path to me.

I don't use mass, because i don't like being locked into cutscenes, and I have found that singular sacrifices yield a much higher xp reward.

Eric of Atrophy wrote:This is all good discussion ... I personally don't use the mass sacrifice, and am quite annoyed when my mouse decides that I need to. I would love to see a very clear, non-accidental way to select between the two. Two different commands for a mass remains sacrifice and a single remains sacrifice sounds like a solid path to me.

I don't use mass, because i don't like being locked into cutscenes, and I have found that singular sacrifices yield a much higher xp reward.

I agree cutscenes suck... moose-butt.

The idea I was trying to clarify though, was the command for area sacrifice and single remains sacrifice would be the same. The different command would be made for when you want to sacrifice an item you are carrying.... to avoid the issue of having recently selected a favorite item you want to keep (maybe you changed its aura, or renamed it... whatever... the game still remembers this item as the last thing you selected) when you forget to use the select tool on the new target you want to sacrifice.... so you enter enter the sacrifice command and it sacrifices the item you last selected which happens to be the item you renamed/aura-changed.

If the command to sacrifice an item you are carrying is different, then it would in theory require the user to pay more attention, and make SURE they select the proper item for sacrificing before entering in the separate command..... and if they mess up and enter the main sacrifice command, or they mislick on a text macro they slotted with the remains sacrificing command... it will return an error because the last thing selected was not a set of remains, or the PC itself.

Let the flame work for inventory as it does now. Have the vc command only work on remains. This way, if you have a valid remains target selected, you get the single. If an inventory item is selected, you get nothing. If you as a PC are selected, you get the area sac/cutscene. If you want to sac something in your inventory, you must use the flame, so it's a separate action.

Things I'd like to see are (a) the rewards for area sac should be equal as to individual sacs; and (b) let the cutscene be an option. It can be the default, but having the option to turn it off would be awesome, IMO.

Was trying for a solution that did not involve keeping the script&unique power on the sacrificial flame item.... trying to eliminate at least one resource from the module.... ideally, we could get rid of both that script and the item itself... but then new players might not realize the fact that they can sacrifice remains/items.

For lowbies, the cut-scene for mass sacrifice can delay the incoming attack from multiple troops for a few seconds. This is not always beneficial; just saying it can be helpful to delay death.

But I also hate losing unsearched remains, esp when it is Orcs, and that body in the pile was bearing a Fortress Shield....

Depending on how things are coded, there doesn't need to be an extra resource.

I can still remember starting here, I found the vc commands to be quite confusing and/or hard to remember, and didn't use them for a long time. Aenea has a rich vc system, most other pws do not. So, I think having a non-vc way to sac will allow newbies the opportunity to learn Aenea, learn about the deities and sacking, learn about the vc system, each at their own pace, rather than requiring them to figure it out at the beginning, or not sac at all.

This is a rich and detailed world. It's a lot to take in at once. One option for something that's familiar (using an inventory item for an effect) means less starting confusion, IMO.

A_Vagabond wrote:Depending on how things are coded, there doesn't need to be an extra resource.

Oooooh... I *think* I get it... you're thinking that the vc command and the flame item's unique power could both be included in a single script (perhaps the vc command script)? So in essence the flame would work the same as it does now.... but there would ALSO be VC commands available?

How does the unique power on the item know what script to call? I am assuming it uses a variable, no? Can that variable be set up to call a sub-function of a larger script?

daveyeisley wrote:

A_Vagabond wrote:Depending on how things are coded, there doesn't need to be an extra resource.

Oooooh... I *think* I get it... you're thinking that the vc command and the flame item's unique power could both be included in a single script (perhaps the vc command script)? So in essence the flame would work the same as it does now.... but there would ALSO be VC commands available?

How does the unique power on the item know what script to call? I am assuming it uses a variable, no? Can that variable be set up to call a sub-function of a larger script?

There are many, many different ways to code things, and I have no idea how has done it.

Suffice it to say, I've been able to combine over 100 scripts into one comprehensive script during a clean-up of an inherited module.

As to the specifics of this: most scripting systems use some form of tag-based scripts for unique item powers. Within the OnUse script, the check can explicitly call a different script or subscript, so that the resources can be shared. It's fairly clear to me that already uses some form of script-combining; a missing 'break;' command causing a spell malfunction is the perfect clue I am certain that he can code the saccing command to be efficient and share a script between vc and flame object, however it is that he wants to do it.

daveyeisley wrote:
How does the unique power on the item know what script to call? I am assuming it uses a variable, no? Can that variable be set up to call a sub-function of a larger script?

Items with unique powers fire off scripts with the same name as the tag of the calling item.

Hmm... so there is no way for the sacrifical flame item to call a sub-script from one of 's larger consolidated scripts? It has to have its own specially named script?,,, can that specially named script be "embedded" as part of a larger script with other functions?

Hard to say without know what scripts are involved and doing what behind the scenes.

daveyeisley wrote:Hmm... so there is no way for the sacrifical flame item to call a sub-script from one of 's larger consolidated scripts? It has to have its own specially named script?,,, can that specially named script be "embedded" as part of a larger script with other functions?

I would think, generally, yes, such a thing should be possible ... it's been ages since I've done any scripting (and I relied mostly on Lilac Soul//Sharona Curves for a good deal of my goodies), but I seem to recall manufacturing a script that did more or less what dave just suggested ...