averagemoe
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 488
Registered: 03-22-2012
IP: Logged

So then I thought, what if there was a script command that could remotely modify the clear/unclear state of any room in the hold? Like maybe in your hold's story, the player first visits a level before it gets infested, but then monsters show up later. Why force architects to build a separate version for that first visit?

____________________________
There are two types of sheep in the world. Those who jump off a bridge when told to, and those who jump off a bridge when told not to. Don't be either.

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1064
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

I'm going to cut straight to my main problem with this idea: It's a very complicated solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

If you want to visit a level, then "revisit" it later with monsters, you can just make the monster-infested version, then copy over the rooms you want and remove all the monsters. In comparison, setting up a script to preemptively clear all the rooms, then another to de-clear them is probably going to take the same amount of effort, if not more. For any other rooms you want to de-clear, you have seeding beacons.

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

Xindaris
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1531
Registered: 06-13-2015
IP: Logged

I'll add that, even if you really, really want it to be the same actual level, it really isn't too hard to set up scripting that tests for a particular variable and zaps all the monsters away if that variable has a particular value.

____________________________
109th Skywatcher

Here are some links to Things!

---

[Last edited by Xindaris at 07-28-2021 08:59 PM]

averagemoe
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 488
Registered: 03-22-2012
IP: Logged

The problem with the seeding beacon solution is that re-infesting requires the player to go in and out of the cleared room so that they can find the monsters on their next visit. And if you're doing a lot of rooms at once, it'll lead to a boring cutscene of the camera going from room to room just to watch a beacon be built.

____________________________
There are two types of sheep in the world. Those who jump off a bridge when told to, and those who jump off a bridge when told not to. Don't be either.

Xindaris
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1531
Registered: 06-13-2015
IP: Logged

But I mean like...you can just put an inaccessible active seeding beacon in the room to begin with, have scripting attack tile kill all of the monsters on the first pass (but leave the room in an "uncleared" state) and then have the script not do that when the player returns and maybe have it deactivate or destroy the beacon instead. The only "price" is the presence of the seeding beacon, but that's...like 1-4 tiles of room space used up, maybe?

____________________________
109th Skywatcher

Here are some links to Things!