The strings and descriptions are wrapped up, so now I'm at the point where I can start to add actual functionality to the Beast Master abilities. This is infinitely more enjoyable to me then entering strings. =-)
I already know the modifier values for the various skill boxes, so adding them to the system is pretty easy. Besides, we're going to have to tweak the modifiers once we get all the beasts fully callable in a few days anyway.
Next, I "stub out" the actual commands like Attack, Revive Pet and the various pet heals and cures. I also have to enter strings and descriptions for those too. Then I determine the action costs for the various abilities at different levels, when they are granted, and set up the data that triggers the events. Last, I add the required scripting support for the abilities and voila!
While I was connecting everything, I played around with the commands for a while to make sure they feel right. Granted right now, they can be used without restrictions on whatever or whomever I want (in-game of course). The functionality for determining whether something is a "beast" or not, let alone if it's your beast, isn't in the game yet. But it's coming along pretty well so far!
It's been a busy week but all the pieces that were developed by the individual designers are now mostly integrated and it's starting to look close to being ready for prime time. You can gather materials and incubate an egg, hatch it into a beast, learn special abilities from wild creatures and then train your beast with the abilities you learned in the wild. There are lots of interesting mutations to discover (I'm partial to the mutant rancor). If you have invested in the combat portion of the expertise tree, your pet will tear stuff up for you (or die trying). For that, I've spent the last few days balancing creature power with expertise point investment to ensure that playing a profession that uses beast master as its primary combat expertise is viable, competitive and most importantly, fun.
All in all I think we have something that everyone will really enjoy here. We're all looking forward to beast master going live and we think you're all really going to enjoy it. I hope you all enjoyed this inside look into the development process.
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