yeah, this reflects my thoughts too. i love it that in IVAN we are not on The Quest To Save The World, or something. it's just a nobody carrying a stupid letter, and i bet even Decos forgot about the player the very same moment the player moved out of his sight.

but! what if we polymorphed into some wizard? wizards should be able to use magic wands properly. at least trained wizards, i believe. as the player gets the stats of the creature he polimorphed into, i think that he should get at least some other traits too. apprentices are lame, but elder wizards…

so aiming prolly should be locked both with Int, and with character type. i have to think about it some more…

also, i wonder if with high Int the player should be able to target wands onto characters, not only in 8 directions?

it's not that hard to implement (i already have stupid and slow code to scan for nearby characters for Resting), and drawing an imaginary line on a tilemap is easy too. my biggest concern is "gameplay lore": i always had the idea that the player is Just Another Peasant, so he simply cannot use magic items properly; that's why only 8 directions. letting the player to aim in the early game simply doesn't feel right. or maybe he would, but will miss most of the time?

the same mechanics could be used for bows, btw. yet i'm not sure if i want bows in the game. besides, we already have kind of ranged weapons — we can throw daggers, for example. it is surprisingly effective (i always carry a bunch of daggers with me for that purpose). maybe simply use aiming code for throwing?

meanwhile, ported new beams (magic effects) from comm. fork, and most characters related to Aslona. so Aslona Castle is fully populated now. it is not possible to start main Aslona quest, though, and no Fungi Cave/Dwarf Fort/Pyramid yet. but we are close now. i prolly finish all new dungeons first, and then start looking for quest parts in the source.

i wonder if other continents should contain something interesting too, as we have a ship now…

as for "distant chating": priests should prolly check if the player is in adjacent square before healing him. or maybe not. tbh, i implemented it because i wanted to talk with prisoners in Attnam prison cells: it is strange that i cannot talk to them through bars. i haven't decided if "distant chats" should be limited to science talks only. for now any interaction is possible. also, it looks quite natural for me to talk with the smith standing in front the anvil, not on it!

it's great idea! but sadly, k8ivan has no fire system at all. i'd really like to see a wall of fire, though, so maybe i will hack something for it in the future. thank you!

actually, there is nothing really complicated there:

character *character::CheckWindowInDir (int dir) const {
  if (dir < 0 || dir >= 8) return 0;

  v2 pos = GetPos() + game::GetMoveVector(dir);
  if (!GetLevel()->IsValidPos(pos)) return 0;

  lsquare *lsq = GetNaturalNeighbourLSquare(dir);
  if (!lsq) return 0;
  if (!lsq->IsTransparent()) return 0;

  // if it is a window, check if there is somebody over there
  pos += game::GetMoveVector(dir);
  if (!GetLevel()->IsValidPos(pos)) return 0;
  lsq = GetLevel()->GetLSquare(pos);
  if (!lsq) return 0;

  return lsq->GetCharacter();
}

what this does is check if the square in the given direction is transparent (i.e. the player can see through it), and if it is, then check next square in the same direction to find a char. and Talk command becomes:

COMMAND(Talk) {
  if (!Char->CheckTalk()) return false;
  character *ToTalk = 0;
  int Characters = 0;
  for (int d = 0; d < 8; ++d) {
    lsquare *Square = Char->GetNaturalNeighbourLSquare(d);
    if (Square) {
      character *Dude = Square->GetCharacter();
      if (!Dude) Dude = Char->CheckWindowInDir(d);
      if (Dude) {
        ToTalk = Dude;
        ++Characters;
      }
    }
  }

  if (!Characters) {
    ADD_MESSAGE("Find yourself someone to talk to first!");
    return false;
  }

  if (Characters == 1) {
    return ToTalk->ChatMenu();
  }

  int Dir = game::DirectionQuestion(CONST_S("To whom do you wish to talk to? [press a direction key]"), false, true);
  if (Dir == DIR_ERROR || !Char->GetArea()->IsValidPos(Char->GetPos()+game::GetMoveVector(Dir))) {
    return false;
  }

  character *Dude = Char->GetNearSquare(Char->GetPos()+game::GetMoveVector(Dir))->GetCharacter();
  if (!Dude) Dude = Char->CheckWindowInDir(Dir);

  if (Dude == Char) {
    ADD_MESSAGE("You talk to yourself for some time.");
    Char->EditExperience(WISDOM, -50, 1<<7);
    Char->EditAP(-1000);
    return true;
  }

  if (Dude) return Dude->ChatMenu();

  ADD_MESSAGE("You get no response.");
  return false;
}

i just added two calls to the new method. that's it.

p.s.: side-effect: it is possible to chat while standing one square away from any character. i consider this as a good feature, but it is possible to check for windows specifically:

character *character::CheckWindowInDir (int dir) const {
  if (dir < 0 || dir >= 8) return 0;

  v2 pos = GetPos() + game::GetMoveVector(dir);
  if (!GetLevel()->IsValidPos(pos)) return 0;

  lsquare *lsq = GetNaturalNeighbourLSquare(dir);
  if (!lsq) return 0;
  if (!lsq->IsTransparent()) return 0;

  // if it is a window, check if there is somebody over there
  // >>>HERE<<<
  olterrain *terra = lsq->GetOLTerrain();
  if (!terra) return 0;
  if (!(terra->GetConfig() & WINDOW)) return 0;

  pos += game::GetMoveVector(dir);
  if (!GetLevel()->IsValidPos(pos)) return 0;
  lsq = GetLevel()->GetLSquare(pos);
  if (!lsq) return 0;

  return lsq->GetCharacter();
}

some k8ivan trivia, lost in the depth of the thead.

do you know that k8ivan has new array syntax?

arr := { … }

the difference is `:=`, and you don't need any counter, the game is able to count items on its own.

do you know that it is not only possible to include .dat files with `Include` command, but you can extend existing classes AND overworld terrains?

Extend owterrain
{
  Config ASLONA_CASTLE;
  {
    Probability = 100;
    CanBeSkipped = false;
    //NameSingular = "Alien Vessel";
    BitmapPos = 96, 128;
    NameStem = "mighty seaside castle";
    UsesLongArticle = false;
    AttachedDungeon = ASLONA_CASTLE;
    CanBeGenerated = true;
    NativeGTerrainType = LEAFY_FOREST;
    WantContinentWith = ATTNAM;

    RevealEnvironmentInitially = true; //for debug
  }

  Config REBEL_CAMP;
  {
    Probability = 100;
    BitmapPos = 16, 64;
    NameStem = "hidden camp";
    UsesLongArticle = false;
    AttachedDungeon = REBEL_CAMP;
    CanBeGenerated = true;
    NativeGTerrainType = STEPPE;
    WantContinentWith = ATTNAM;

    RevealEnvironmentInitially = true; //for debug
  }
}

this creates two new POIs for Alsona and Rebels. you still need C++ code to actually implement quests, but the dungeons are accessible with wizard mode.

and some new configurations too:

Extend smith
{
  Config ASLONA_CASTLE;
  {
    DefaultName = "Khalybs";
    TorsoBitmapPos = 48, 192;
    HeadBitmapPos = 112, 480;
    ArmBitmapPos = 64, 64;
    LegBitmapPos = 0, 96;
    HairColor = rgb16(44, 34, 43);
    ClothColor = rgb16(100, 100, 100);
    TotalVolume = 90000;
    TotalSize = 200;
    Cloak = SELKIE_SKIN cloak(CLOAK_OF_FIRE_RESISTANCE) { Enchantment = 1; }
    RightGauntlet = SELKIE_SKIN gauntlet(GAUNTLET_OF_DEXTERITY) { Enchantment = 4; }
    RightWielded = CHROME MAHOGANY_WOOD meleeweapon(HAMMER);
    LeftWielded = CHROME MAHOGANY_WOOD meleeweapon(HAMMER);
    Sex = FEMALE;
  }
}

k8ivan includes "Alien Mod", and it is competely optional. you can comment `Module "zone69";` in "scripts/module.dat", and there will be no Alien Nest dungeon. note that Alien Nest has unique monsters which never appears in other dungeons. there are some new features to support this: you can not only restrict monsters to some dungeons (which is possible in mainline too), but you can assign a "tag" to any level, and restrict monsters to levels with that tag. that's how Alien Queen is done. also, Enner Beast uses this system too.

this was already done 7 years ago, and while this won't allow you to create new quests and new monster classes (because doing that still requires C++ support code), you can extend existing classes, and easily design new optional dungeons, all without ever touching C++ compiler!

i guessed that from the indentation.

implemented long-time-awaited feature: it is now possible to chat through windows and bar walls. in the future we might have bars with bartenders, for example.

p.s.: also, it is possible to rest when paniced in small rooms with all doors closed and nobody inside.

also, i am pretty sure that you should be able to rest when paniced if the surroindings seem to be safe. previously you was able to rest in dead ends (long-time k8ivan feature). now i implemented more of it: you will be able to rest in the corridor, or in `[`-shaped place, if there are no hostile monsters around. this is because everybody just keep "." pressed until panic passes anyway (in case there are no other means to remove the state, of course), and to do that the player will find a "safe" space. so let the game help us here a little!