Explanation needed

[DoctorJ]

I'm not entirely sure where to post this, since it's not really a bug, but I was wondering if I could get a more complete explanation of a few of the customization options in the Action Editor. I looked in the 1.6 manual, but couldn't find anything on these.

1) For category and item repetition, it asks us to enter a number. Is that the number of times this action will be repeated in a typical game? I'm not altogether clear of the impact of choosing a "1" versus a "3" or "5" or "10."
2) Under custom situation, there are three fields that must be filled in. "Name" is pretty self-explanatory. What do "Context" and "Service" do?
3) When you test player states, does it test for all of them or just one of them? For example, if you have "exotic dancing" and "stripping" both checked, will the program test if both of them are checked or just that one of them is checked? In other words, is it an "AND" or and "OR" check?
4) Finally, is there some way to load a graphic for a new "situation" (property) so it will be inserted on the board?

Thanks for all of your work on this new version, Don. I'm looked forward to trying out the new features. I'm intrigued by the new possibilities raised by both the player state options and the new situations, but it would be nice to have a little more documentation on these.

[Don]

1) For category and item repetition, it asks us to enter a number. Is that the number of times this action will be repeated in a typical game? I'm not altogether clear of the impact of choosing a "1" versus a "3" or "5" or "10."

This number indicates how many turns must elapse before this item can be used again. So if it is set to 1, it could be used every turn. A turn is a roll of the dice. So I usually use odd numbers. The reason is that if you use an even number (2 for instance) The item could repeat on the same players next turn. An odd number makes it more likely to go to the other player.

2) Under custom situation, there are three fields that must be filled in. "Name" is pretty self-explanatory. What do "Context" and "Service" do?

If you choose one of the standard buildable properties from the game, you can see these in use. The are used in the game to supply the text to be filled in under various situations. For instance, if you created a custom property of a bar, you might put "a Bar" for context and "a drink" for service.

3) When you test player states, does it test for all of them or just one of them? For example, if you have "exotic dancing" and "stripping" both checked, will the program test if both of them are checked or just that one of them is checked? In other words, is it an "AND" or and "OR" check?

It is an "AND"

4) Finally, is there some way to load a graphic for a new "situation" (property) so it will be inserted on the board?

Create a bitmap image (.bmp) that is exactly 77 pixels wide x 77 pixels high and name it EXACTLY the same as the name in the Custom Situations. Place that bitmap in the "Actions" folder (where the .bjf files are). The image should be a Gray Scale image

What the game actually does is that it uses the the image you supply to do a mix between Black and (pink, blue or white). So lets just say it is a Female owned property. Any pixel that is 100% white will come out as pure pink. Any Pixel that is 100%black will come out as pure black. A pixel that is at 50% gray will come out as a mix of 50% black and 50% gray. This is called alpha blending for the graphics gurus out ther.

[tonguetease]

Finally, is there some way to load a graphic for a new "situation" (property) so it will be inserted on the board?
Create a bitmap image (.bmp) that is exactly 77 pixels wide x 77 pixels high and name it EXACTLY the same as the name in the Custom Situations. Place that bitmap in the "Actions" folder (where the .bjf files are). The image should be a Gray Scale image

Don, I've done this -- created custom situations, created bitmap images 77 x 77 pixels, named them the same as the name in custom situations, placed them in Actions folder, but nothing loads on the board. What am I doing wrong?

[Don]

Finally, is there some way to load a graphic for a new "situation" (property) so it will be inserted on the board?
Create a bitmap image (.bmp) that is exactly 77 pixels wide x 77 pixels high and name it EXACTLY the same as the name in the Custom Situations. Place that bitmap in the "Actions" folder (where the .bjf files are). The image should be a Gray Scale image

Don, I've done this -- created custom situations, created bitmap images 77 x 77 pixels, named them the same as the name in custom situations, placed them in Actions folder, but nothing loads on the board. What am I doing wrong?

If you would like to send me the Action File and the bitmap(s) at supportATgamesforlovingDOTcom I will see if I can see what is wrong.

Thanks,

Don

[DoctorJ]

Hi Don:

Thanks for the extremely helpful replies. I think I get it now.