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cbx
Swordmaster
Canada
296 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 25 2005 : 3:39:29 PM
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Ok I have an easy question. Can anyone ever recall a in game console that asked you a question? Here is what I mean.
Lets pretend we are playing a game and that game has a in game console that you can bring down. So you bring down the console and start issuing the fallowing commands ...
1: ListCommands <- you try and find an exit or quit command
2: Clear <- the console screen is cluttered with commands so you clear the console
3: Quit < - You know there is a quit command so you try to use the quit command to quit the game
Now that you have typed the Quit command the game console then asks you a question!
> Are you sure you want to Quit? Y/N
Since the game console is asking you a question you respond by typing "Y" into the console and press enter. Because you specified "Y" the game now knows that "yes" you want to quit the game and that you are absolutly sure you want to quit.
To my knowledge Doom3, HL, HL2, Farcry, UT2004 do not have this ability to ask the user a question and wait for a responce. Does anybody know of any game engine with a in game console that has ever asked you a question before?
The reason I ask is because i am working on createing a reusable/extensible in game console system. And I was up until 6am last night coding it. I think it is awesome and to my knowledge has never been done before in a commercial game engine. IE: ask the user a question.
Not only is this cool, but it also gives any game incredible power, because now the console I have made can be utilized in scripting. You can imaging a script containing a series of commands. The user executes the script from the console and the script starts to run. Because the console has the ability to ask a question AND provide the last issued responce the user gave, you could make a non linear script. A script that can execute commands, and even if those commands ask a question, the script (knowing that the command will ask a question) can automatically reply to the question and continue execution. This allows for divergent code paths that the script can take! Sweet! |
Created by: X
http://www.createdbyx.com/ |
Edited by - cbx on Jun 25 2005 3:59:56 PM
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Sion
Warrior
Denmark
138 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2005 : 05:27:23 AM
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Sounds interesting, and to my knowledge consoles normally just take commands and parameters, sets options in the game and spits out various information. I haven't seen any games using a hierarchical structure that "asks" questions based on input.
Generally it just has a flat structure, and a quit command like you use in the example would be something like "Command Parameter1" such as "quit 1". The default for Parameter1 would be "0" here, and just calling "quit" would result in "quit 0" being trigged and the console outputting a description of why quit wasn't successfully called.
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Visit my personal blog at www.AndersNissen.com! |
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Eric Coleman
Gladiator
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2005 : 12:07:13 PM
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Asking if you really want to quit is to prevent someone from accidentally pressing the Escape key or clicking in the wrong place on the screen. I don't think someone can type "quit" by accident. If that command is typed I think the person has every intention of quiting the game. Could you imagine DOS if it asked you a question every time you typed a command?
dir
Are you sure you want a directory listing?
d:
Are you sure you want to change drives?
cd temp
Are you sure you want to change directories?
It doesn't make much sense to me.
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cbx
Swordmaster
Canada
296 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2005 : 12:28:40 PM
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| I only used the quit example for demonstration purposes. The possibility of having the console ask you a question would simply allow for much more intersting scenarios. For examle if you issued a command and the command failed. The command could ask you a question based on that failure. |
Created by: X
http://www.createdbyx.com/ |
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Threshold
Squire
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2005 : 5:56:51 PM
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This does sound interesting, but I think that it surpasses the true definition of an in-game console. In-game consoles are mainly for the use of debugging initially and are just kept around for users who like to tweak things. A console that asks questions isn't really a console but a full-blown, interactive, in-game tweaking utility. As far as I can tell, DOS never asks questions, other than the occasional "Are you sure you want to reformat your drive?" 
The definition of console in our context is "A central control panel for a mechanical, electrical, or electronic system." As far as my knowledge goes, a control panel isn't often interactive. You turn a knob, it does such-and-such. No questions asked.
However, the concept does sound interesting, though I think it warrants a new name. Nevertheless, I can't imagine any useful application of it in a game. Scripts, though, could be quite handy if you had a large enough array of commands. |
Life is short. They say "don't waste it, have fun." They're right, don't waste it...but DO redefine "fun." |
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cbx
Swordmaster
Canada
296 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2005 : 7:35:01 PM
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| Another idea I have about the console asking you questions is say you have built a game and in that game you walk up to a computer terminal and on the screen of that in game terminal is a console that is awating commands to be given to it. Think Doom3 in game consoles. But instead of having that in game terminal control aspect of the game, for example you use the terminal to activate a lift. I am thinking why no be able to walk up to a in game terminal and star typing commands just as if you were to brung down the game console using the ~ key. You would still be playing the game but instead of the console being rendered on top of the game and separate from it the game console would be rendered onto the terminal screen in the game. ... I should do a demo of that. That would be cool. |
Created by: X
http://www.createdbyx.com/ |
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dxgame
Knave
USA
73 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2005 : 03:15:38 AM
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Sounds VERY cool, but at what point does it move away from a console and into a script language, or is that what it basically will be?
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cbx
Swordmaster
Canada
296 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2005 : 04:18:02 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by dxgame
Sounds VERY cool, but at what point does it move away from a console and into a script language, or is that what it basically will be?
I'm not really sure. It's still in the discovery phase. I am thinking of adding in support for "functions" as well. For example your standard console command is designed to do something. And a function command would naturally return some value. So that you can use a combonation of commands and function commands. But i am still trying to figure out how to best accomplish this. |
Created by: X
http://www.createdbyx.com/ |
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Easy question: Games and in game consoles...
