Changelog 9/18/12

* Starship hulks!
* Respawn terminals for returning to starships, moons, etc
* Supply Expert skill command - REQ (allows the player to requisition items in the field):

* Quality control skill command - INSPECT (allows the player to view blueprints a material or component is used in):

Changelog 6/27/12

* flyers vehicles and most normal things now work perfectly on the new on demand planets
* new look for flyer cockpits:

* Some larger planets, too big for screenshots: CT-732 Planet Map, IT-1067 Planet Map, WY-1444 Planet Map
* a double (21 x 21) sized minimap for running around in the wilderness:

Updates 6/21/12

A whole slew of things will go unmentioned here, but at least here are a few recent updates:

* mostly finalized the "must do" for alpha 2/end of summer
* buffed dice regen a bit
* added a game error handler for printing nice messages in certain situations
* fixed bugs and exploits on the linkup terminal, added colony beacon
* implemented emergency teleporter gadget
* new pirate moon dungeon by Aphteroid (and several other space changes)
* implemented player built planetary shuttle networks for quick movement between prime locations:

* implemented lifesign scanners for vehicles:

Updates 4/20/12

* reroll storage locker for saving player gear between ascensions
* increased the consider output for products, weapons, armor
* added a repossession AI - instead of player vehicles and buildings being destroyed they will become purchaseable and hackable
* bug fixesss
* added player nicknames and nicknames unlocked by skill acquisition
* Data Pro no longer requires the off-world operation skill Data Operation.
* minor cleanups to the skills interface
* improved the starship landing interface with more information
* NPC equipping routines cleaned up
* couple of wildlife and products added
* added an advanced version of the basic tool that will prompt for materials instead of requiring manual addition:

* massive upgrade to the holo-vid generator, courtesy of Cheechlizard:

How to write a useable item in Hellcore/Wayfar

Step 1: create the item from an appropriate parent.

Step 2: add a verb on the item for the player to kick off the action, it should look like this:

@verb #itemid:use this none none
1: if(this.location != player)
2: return player:tell("You have to be holding this to use it!");
3: else
4: player:queue_action($actions.use, {this, #-1}, 1, "use "+this:name());
5: endif

Step 3: Write two new verbs on the item to handle the use action:

do_use_start(OBJ who, OBJ on)
do_use_finish(OBJ who, OBJ on)

In our example we are just using the item, we aren't using it on anything.  This would need a more complex verb on the item in the form of:
@verb #itemid use this on any

And then you'd need to match the any against and item or person.

Big Plans: social classes

Ever since playing Star Wars Galaxies, I've been keen on the idea of a skillset that lets players hang out in a cantina and roleplay a gay jedi disseminate news and buffs.

These professions will be represented in Wayfar with a set of skills, allowing the player to use the profession, and then increasing the power or duration of the buff.

Profession: Musician

A classic, the musician hands out battle and hunting buffs. Players listen to the musician to receive this buff.

* a player can sing/play once every 15 minutes. The sing/play action itself takes 10 minutes, leaving a 5 minute downtime.
* a player can listen to a musician once every 5 minutes, receiving a buff geared towards combat. Listening takes 3 minutes to receive the full buff.

Profession: Preacher

The preacher exhorts the faithful to do their duty, in good times and bad. This translates to an in-game effect of a single unit of "luck" - which is expended in special circumstances.

* a player can preach once a day for up to 60 minutes.
* a player can listen once a day for 3 minutes to receive luck.

Profession: Consultant

The consultant brings fabricators, scientists, and researchers up to speed with the latest developments, buffing crafting skills.

* a player can run a consultation session every 15 minutes, with the action taking 10 minutes.
* a player can listen to a consultation every 5 minutes, with the action taking 3 minutes.