Another benefit of the OOP approach. Also, dice.

I just realized at work today that I am not sure how to get the grid to display. This actually means I can try something I’ve wanted to try with OOP: writing the game without a fundamental component, and seeing if it can be added later. I figure that if I can track everything on a grid, having a draw command go over the grid and display what is there shouldn’t be so hard after. It’s quite a change though from what I’m used to. Web design is all about the visuals, and you really can’t work without them. It will be strange not seeing instant gratification on a change, and passing a lot of numbers to the interpreter, but I think that may be the quickest way to get started.

A friend of mine made an interesting comment the other day at the craps table. We got to discussing RPGs, and he said that nearly all dice rolling is linear, even though it doesn’t have to be. Most RPGs probably have some roots in Pen and Paper (PnP) games, and those are often limited to dice with an even number of sides and modifiers. This didn’t need to be the case, but the alternative was usually more about number crunching than anything interesting. He surmised that it would be interesting if a game could use casino games for rolls. Imaging playing an RPG in which your actions correspond to actions at a table. You get into a battle with an orc. Behind the scenes, you are each dealt two cards for blackjack. You choose to attack. This puts you at the ready and in the blackjack game, signals that you want to stay. The orc takes a defensive stance, the equivalent to taking a hit, then staying. Both of you flip your cards at once! ooh, he busted, and his block fails. You had 21 (and didn’t know it), so you get a critical hit!

At the very least, it would make an interesting game. I’m not sure how practical it would actually be in practice.