Need volunteer to create simple item generator for Flare

[Danimal]

Hello everyone, im developing a mod for Flare:
https://forum.freegamedev.net/viewtopic ... 22&t=14397

The biggest headache of it all is item creation. Every single item must be created by hand, numbered, named and given its properties. Its pure hell, and its pretty obvious ingame with items repeating a lot, sadly the engine doesnt have nor will have in the short future a random item generator. But it can be given a fake sense of randomness with lots of pre-created items; i tried making one but failed miserably, at the very least i got a mock-up of what i wanted.

If someone is interested in helping, it should be relatively easy for someone who knows programming, only requeriment is that it must run on Windows, ill fill on the details anyone interested.

[bzt]

Here you go. This is an extremely simple, GPL-licensed, Open Source templater to generate random items for flare. Precompiled binaries for Linux and Windows included in the zip.

This is a command line tool, so invoke it from "cmd.exe". Has three arguments: a json file, a starting id, and a last id. It will use the field definitions in the json to generate the items to stdout, which you can redirect to a file or append to items.txt. Basically you want to create as many json files as many item types you want. There's no restriction, you're absolutely free to create these as you like. Documentation included with an example json of course.

Cheers,
bzt

[Danimal]

Hello BZT, even thought its a nice basic generator is too limited.

You see, the idea i had is being able to input the item level, plus the stat gain per level (like Lv3 sword with gains of Min 1-Max 3 gives swords of damage ranging 3-9 points at random), since there are basically 3 damage types on Flare i would check the weapon circle button and then Melee/magic/ranged damage in the now empty combox under weapon (or any kind of similar control object). Armor is similar in which instead of having damage ranges (like dmg=melee,3,9; dmg=ment,3,9; dmg=ranged,3,9) has Absortion (abs=2,4). "Others" just means its not a weapon or amor so it doesnt need those values (more on this later); You got pretty well the starting and finish id.

The middle column with requeriment need to check any of the four stats and press 70%,50%,30% button. This outputs the item 70%,50%,30% level * 5 (char stat gain per lv) of the needed stat to wear, as a line into the extra input data textbox. Ex:

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[item]
id=287
name=Hunter shortbow
INCLUDE items/base/weapons/ranged/shortbow.txt
level=2
price=600
dmg=ranged,6,10
requires_stat=offense,7
requires_stat=physical,3
...

5*2 = 10 -> 70% =7
5*2 = 10 -> 30% =3
So if i press Dextery 75% and Strenght 30%, this should appear into the extra input data textbox.
requires_stat=offense,7
requires_stat=physical,3

Why that mysterious extra input data textbox? That box would contain any object declaration or requeriments i add in the future and doesnt exist yet. And would get dumped into the body of every item created (say, i started creating chitin armor sets) i just put the declaration in there so every item gets it along with requeriments or any thing i add in there:

INCLUDE items/base/armor/chitin_light/chest.txt

Ideally, there would be buttoms for the most used item definitions in the empty space over the textbox, so i can just press it and it gets added (like rings or swords definition).

So after that, the quality button needs to be pressed with common being the default. What does it do? upon generation time it picks from a list of magical properties (cant repeat same property twice, Flare cant do that, common has no magical properties, its just the base item) as many times as quality allows (2,3,5), the property X variable gets replaced by the number generated depending on item level and gain ratio like the weapons. Also adds quality tag: quality=magic; quality=rare; quality=unique.

Ideally it would also contain a box for item basic name, if any of the magicals is selected, its get and abjective by ramdon from a list ("Short sword" "of carnage". Also a price box with min and max values, ideally ,it would get multiplied if quality is superior to common x1.20,x1.30,x1.50.
I would provide all needed lists with names, extra properties...

Sadly if its not this complex, its not useful.

[bzt]

Hello BZT, even thought its a nice basic generator is too limited.

No, it's not you just didn't understood how it works. It can be used to generate any item configuration you want.

You see, the idea i had is being able to input the item level, plus the stat gain per level (like Lv3 sword with gains of Min 1-Max 3 gives swords of damage ranging 3-9 points at random), since there are basically 3 damage types on Flare i would check the weapon circle button and then Melee/magic/ranged damage in the now empty combox under weapon (or any kind of similar control object). Armor is similar in which instead of having damage ranges (like dmg=melee,3,9; dmg=ment,3,9; dmg=ranged,3,9) has Absortion (abs=2,4). "Others" just means its not a weapon or amor so it doesnt need those values (more on this later); You got pretty well the starting and finish id.

You should have a json for each of those. Values can be generated randomly, and they can be shifted by an offset using the "add" field if needed.

The middle column with requeriment need to check any of the four stats and press 70%,50%,30% button. This outputs the item 70%,50%,30% level * 5 (char stat gain per lv) of the needed stat to wear, as a line into the extra input data textbox. Ex:

This means you'll have to create a json for each of these combinations. Where you say you a press a 70%,50%,30% button, I say pick one of the jsons.

So if i press Dextery 75% and Strenght 30%, this should appear into the extra input data textbox.
requires_stat=offense,7
requires_stat=physical,3

You should have a json with

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"name": "requires_stat", "value": "offense,7"
"name": "requires_stat", "value": "physical,3"

Since you're using only 4 percentages, there are not so many combinations. But if I were you, I'd use an INCLUDE for each combination, that would simplify your items greatly.

Why that mysterious extra input data textbox? That box would contain any object declaration or requeriments i add in the future and doesnt exist yet.

Yeah, I've figured that. That's why I've told you that you haven't understood how my tool works. It has NOTHING hadwired, except for the id of course. If in the future you want to add new declarations, just add them to the json, and those fields will be dumped to the output as well.

Ideally, there would be buttoms for the most used item definitions in the empty space over the textbox, so i can just press it and it gets added (like rings or swords definition).

For those most used combinations you should have an INCLUDE. But you can just as well create one json for each, like ring.json, sword.json, etc.

For example, you could also create 20 different combinations, and then generate 1000 items out of those randomly with

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}

"name": "INCLUDE", "value": "items/types/combination%d.txt", "min": 1, "max": "20"

This works too.

As I've said, you have complete freedom how you create those jsons and what fields you define in them, flaregen makes no assumptions and does not tie your hands.



If you want more complex things like fields depending on each other and have calulcated values for example, then I'd recommend to pick a scripting language and use that script as a template. My pick would be php, because in CLI mode it runs out-of-the-box under Windows and Linux too, easy to install, simple to use (no need to install Apache for the CLI php) and has templater capabilities. For example:

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<?php
/* get arguments from command line */
$lvl = $_SERVER['argv'][1];    // first is the level
$off = $_SERVER['argv'][2];    // second is the offense percentage
$phy = $_SERVER[argv][3];      // third is the physical percentage
?>
level=<?=$lvl?>
dmg=ranged,<?=($lvl * 3)?>,<?=($lvl * 3 + 4)?>
requires_stat=offense,<?=$off?>
requires_stat=physical,<?=$phy?>


As you see, here "dmg" has calculated values which depend on the level for example. Random goes like this:

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price=<?=rand(100, 500)?>

You could also add conditional blocks.

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<? if($off >= 3) { ?>
requires_stat=offense,<?=$off?>
<? } ?>

But php would be just my choice, feel free to use any scripting language, I'm sure all of them can print strings and calculated values. For example python would work as well.

Cheers,
bzt

[Danimal]

Thanks, but the thing is i cant code for my life...
Ill try to chew this slowly

[bzt]

Thanks, but the thing is i cant code for my life...
Ill try to chew this slowly

That's why I've recommended php. You see, unlike other programming languages, php works as a templater by default. This means everything that's not inside a <? ?> block gets copied to the output verbatim, so it is particularly usable for generating item files. No programming skills needed, the first block just gets the arguments and places them in named variables, otherwise all you need is <?=...?> which calculates an expression and outputs its value. For these only mathematical expressions needed, like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and grouping with parenthesis. Just the basic things. About the programming stuff, all you need to know is that variables are prefixed by '$', and that you can get a random number with "rand(min,max)", that's all.

But I've come up with an even better solution for you. Just copy'n'paste this one liner to the start of your template:

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<?php foreach($_SERVER['argv'] as $k=>$v)if($k>0){$a=explode("=",$v)[0];$$a=explode("=",$v)[1];}for($id=$startid;$id<=$endid;$id++){?>

and end it with

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<?}?>

Don't try to understand this, don't let it frighten you. Think of it as a one line magic. What this does is allowing you to specify variables directly from the command line.

For example (everything between the first and the last line are freely modifiable by you):

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<?php foreach($_SERVER['argv'] as $k=>$v)if($k>0){$a=explode("=",$v)[0];$$a=explode("=",$v)[1];}for($id=$startid;$id<=$endid;$id++){?>
[item]
id=<?=$id?>
name=Hunter shortbow
INCLUDE items/base/weapons/ranged/shortbow.txt
level=<?=$level?>
price=<?=rand(100 * $level, 150 * $level)?>
dmg=ranged,6,10
requires_stat=offense,7
requires_stat=physical,3

<?}?>

Now you can generate items with it like this:

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php.exe template.php startid=287 endid=299 level=2

As you see, the first two arguments needed to execute the interpreter and name the template file. Everything else are variable=value pairs. You always must specify "startid" and "endid" and you can always refer to the actual id with "$id", but the rest depends on what variables you were using in the template. In this little example the one and only variable referenced was "$level", so you must give a value to it (otherwise you'll get a php warning) on the command line, in this example "level=2". Note: I've added an empty line at the end so that in the output the items will be separated, not needed, just for visibility.

This might seem a bit complex at first, but it is not. I'm doing it this way because I don't want to tell you what variables and fields to use for your items. I want to give you the freedom to create your templates as you like, and to modify them later as you need. You can create as many templates as you want with this method, just make sure that all starts with that one-liner and ends in "<?}?>".

Cheers,
bzt

[Danimal]

I think, I get php a bit better than JavaScript, maybe because of having more samples, can the same calculations be done in the one you sent me?
Like im guessing i should go like this to make random damage values and requires:

<?php foreach($_SERVER['argv'] as $k=>$v)if($k>0){$a=explode("=",$v)[0];$$a=explode("=",$v)[1];}for($id=$startid;$id<=$endid;$id++){?>
[item]
id=<?=$id?>
name=Hunter shortbow
INCLUDE items/base/weapons/ranged/shortbow.txt
level=<?=$level?>
price=<?=rand(100 * $level, 150 * $level)?>
dmg=ranged,<?=rand(0, 1 * $level)?>, <?=rand(1 * $level, 3 * $level)?> (for min-max damage random values )
requires_stat=offense,<?=$level *= 5 *= 70 /= 100?> (i have no idea if thats how you nest operations on php, and top of it, it needs to return an integer
requires_stat=physical,<?=$level *= 5 *= 30 /= 100?>

<?}?>

Could i do the same with your teamplater? it would be much less hassle for me just creating/modifying .jsons; but it doesnt accept level variables? And how would i go with name variations? like i said before base name + random abjective from a list: "Shortbow" "of poachers", same for random magical properties, i dont understand what you are telling me here:

For example, you could also create 20 different combinations, and then generate 1000 items out of those randomly with

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}
"name": "INCLUDE", "value": "items/types/combination%d.txt", "min": 1, "max": "20"

Would it be better to try php?

[bzt]

I think, I get php a bit better than JavaScript, maybe because of having more samples, can the same calculations be done in the one you sent me?
Like im guessing i should go like this to make random damage values and requires:

Yes, you got that right!

requires_stat=offense,<?=$level *= 5 *= 70 /= 100?> (i have no idea if thats how you nest operations on php, and top of it, it needs to return an integer

Not sure what you wanted, but all you need is simple algebra. The calculated number is automatically converted to a string and added to the output, you don't have to worry about that. For example <?=$level * 5 * 70 / 100?> returns the 70% of 5 times level. But <?=$level * 5 * 0.7?> would do too. About those, it reminded me that you might need to convert floating point numbers to integers, for that use "floor()" (rounds down) and "ceil()" (rounds up). So for example <?=floor(1.7)?> will print "1" to the output, while <?=ceil(1.7)?> will print "2".

Could i do the same with your teamplater? it would be much less hassle for me just creating/modifying .jsons; but it doesnt accept level variables?

Sadly no. All it can do is add, but no complex expressions and no variables (except an implicit one). That's why I've said if you need calculated things, you should use a scripting language.

And how would i go with name variations? like i said before base name + random abjective from a list: "Shortbow" "of poachers", same for random magical properties, i dont understand what you are telling me here:

Ah ok, with my templater you create several txt with "name=something" variations, name them "nameX.txt" and use a random INCLUDE. But I guess you want more complex expressions anyway, so here's how you can do it with php: <?=["a","b","c"][rand(0,2)]?> (might look ugly, I admit). So here in the first [] block, you list the strings. In the second, as the parameter to rand, you use 0 and the number of strings minus 1.

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name=<?=["Short","Long","Recursive","Asymmetric","Mongol"][rand(0,4)]?>bow

Would it be better to try php?

Yes. If you want calculated expressions and variables, then definitely a scripting language is the way to go. If you were on Linux, I'd say use shell script with HEREDOC or awk, but on Windows I'd recommend to download php, probably that's the simplest (for templating, simpler than python or batch files).

Cheers,
bzt