Martial Arts Questions and Modding

Game Talk The Lab
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Hello! I’m AB0. I’ve been playing DDA since… wow for a few years on and off now.

I realize its mostly a faux pas to be asking for stuff with post 1, but I’m at my ropes end with my little modification project.

I’m trying to implement a custom martial art. At the moment, I have been just editing the martialarts and technique json, and have yet (and in honestly trying to avoid) decompileing. During my little project, I have run into a few snags.

I seem to be unable to find a way to implement a fully new martial art. At the moment I’m simply replacing Zui Quan (as I never use it and am not a fan of the 100 dodges).

Is there a way to add to the list of MA in character generation? In the json’s I don’t see any flags or entry fields that indicate which advantage the MA is associated with (Personal Defense Training, or Martial Art Training). Because of this, the MA I’m working on can’t be chosen at character creation w/o replacing another MA.

How would one implement a MA manual? I would actually prefer the MA not be able to be learned at generation, and one would have to find a “feature” NPC to train them, or a book. Looking at the manual json, there doesn’t seem to be any actual link between a MA manual and the MA it teaches. I assume that is handled with some ‘on use’ type event in the compiled code?

The MA I’m working on, I wish to be highly dependent on user interaction. Requiring the user to be reactive to short term buffs, and strategize three or four turns ahead.

EX: On dodge the user gets a 2 round buff called “Predators Smile”. If the user lands a critical while the buff is active, they have a chance of triggering “Predators Fangs” which provides a massive bonus to damage. The thing is, I always want the “Predators Fang” to decrease speed the next turn (representative of a ‘haymaker’ type attack). But “ “speed_mult” : 1.5, “ doesnt actually seem to be working as though I thought it did. (I have tried both positive and negative floats.)

Another issue I’m having is the feint technique not triggering. According to the combat log, I’m getting a feint, but not the technique associated with the MA.

I’m also looking for some decent documentation on the MA system and the mechanics of speed. I’ve tried the wiki, (though I may have missed it) but most of the info seems to be dated.

I have some very minor coding experience (read: Uber Newb). And this is really the first time I’m looking into the mechanics of the game beyond a cursory glance. Add on that I have no idea how to use github, and this entire thing is starting to feel like I accepted a Jabberwock quest without realizing it.

[spoiler]In case your interested, a concept outline of the MA I wish to build.

Based on the used of claw like weapons and bionics, Predators Claw concentrates on steady attention to detail and waiting until the enemy leaves an opening, then unleashing a series of gut rending blows. Predators Claw was developed a decade before the end times in New York, by a woman named Naomi Zhong.

Naomi lived in a violent area, where gangs ruled the streets. She wished to develop a system of martial arts that was accessible to the layman. She drew inspiration from fictional characters such as “Wolverine” and the titular “Predator” movie franchise and pulling from real world martial arts such as Leopard style Kung Fu, boxing, and Jeet Kune Do.

Predators Claw was first fully conceived when Naomi signed up for a human experimentation program testing a new CBM, which would allow the integration of claw like weapons into the human skeleton.

Predators Claw is a patient but ultra-violent style of combat, designed to disable an opponent in the quickest and most bloody of ways.

MA concept.

Predators Claw (Zhao Yushi) focuses on dodging enemy attacks, waiting patiently for an opening.

When and opening is presented, a focus on delivering the most damage possible in a single blow.

If the single blow is unable to incapacitate the enemy, the fighter focuses on a rapid one-two combo, aimed at the face and neck of the opponent.

Once the fundamentals are well ingrained into the practitioner, the next focus is that of increasing the speed at which the martial artist is able to attack, typically by training with weighted wrist bands, or while holding gallon jugs of water (or sand for the extremely strong).

At the pinnacle of their art, a practitioner is trained to never allow and enemy to flee, and to disable the opponent at all costs. The Predators Hunt throws caution to the wind, and running an enemy down in a brief but powerful charge.

MA concept 2.

Way of the Fist
(Death Punch!!!)Hand Style. Unarmed. SLOW, Brutal. Toad like movement buff.[/spoiler]

http://pastebin.com/ai2Gt5FP techniques.json
http://pastebin.com/5ysDxwAm martialarts.json

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The wiki is dated, yeah. I wrote that guide back when I was just starting to get involved. It’s hell getting old in DDA, lemme tell you. :-/

Chargen traits are defined in the C++; specifically newcharacter.cpp. You’re gonna have to compile if you want to add yours. MA manuals work much the same way, though I’m not sure where they’re handled. (Would recommend doing a find-in-files for style_karate or somesuch and checking the results.)

If you want the speed effect to kick in independently of the Fang, then it’s probably better to have it attached to the Smile. Feints are just “you missed, but lost half the time”. If you want a custom message, you’d have to write it in, and feinting’s message may also be hard-coded (I’ve never actually looked).

And welcome to the forums. :slight_smile:

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Thank you much KA101.

It looks like I’m gonna have to break into the compiled code if I wish to see this come to fruition. I have never even looked at C++ code (only ever do a bit of python). I’m honestly not sure if I want a new MA that badly. On the other had, it may be a great gateway into C++…

The Fang technique and the feint are actually independent of each other. Though, I wonder if I can remove the defensive tag from the feint, and keep the required buff. That may be a dirty way of handling the slow down… though, I’m pretty sure it would still trigger on a miss. Which could be an amusing mechanic in itself, bring on the arm encumbrance!

Speaking of the techniques, is there a way to add an element of randomness to the technique triggering? How about a buff? The idea behind the Predators Smile, is that the martial artists sees an opening (the same as the flavor text for snake style or boxing imply) But, realistically, the opening wouldn’t always be there/ be seen, so the “ondodge_buffs” wouldn’t always trigger. If there is an extra element of randomness I could add, this would force the user to pay more attention to each round of combat… and limit that ability to spam the hell out of the impale technique.

I had the Fang trigger three times in a row on a zombie hulk (melee/unarmed skill lvl 6) and nearly killed it outright. No bueno. The idea is for it to be devastating but rare. I’m thinking 1 in 3 critical should be an impale (but still dependent on the on_dodge buff).

I also wonder if there is a way to check the enemy state? There is is a technique in the style that implies it has a reliance on the enemy being knocked prone. I would love a requirement for that. It may also allow development of a “pressure point” MA style.

EX: on_hit buff that is required for a nerve pinch technique (a simple stun with the critical tag). Then a technique to to check if an enemy is stunned (also with the crit tag) then apply another debuff to them like a long duration knockdown. Vulcan nerve pinch all the things! Other applications would be a more powerful critical if enemy is ‘X’ (knocked down, stunned, on fire!) You could do such awesome stuff with checking the enemy state (or players for that matter).

I hope I’m not being a bother, or it doesn’t sound like I’m trying to denigrate the MA system as it stands. The work that was done on the system as is awesome.

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If you know Python, you’ll understand dependancies - and if your code is good, it will eventually get tested in the experimentals.