Code removed.

I posted a stacked-items script that I thought people might find useful because it's short, stable, and makes commands like "eat 4 apples" work without messing about with callbacks.

I don't know what was wrong with my code, but this isn't fun any more. If I get so much hate for sharing an idea, I'll keep it to myself.

Easiest way I found to do it is turn on volumes for inventory and increase volume of object each time you pick one up and decrease volume each time you use one.

How does that let you pick up or drop multiple items? It seems a lot less flexible than the system I originally shared.

Technically, these easiest way is to make one of your items a container the old fashioned way, and do it that way. Not many people do it, and if you, say, have an item that's inside an item that's inside an item, it takes a while to find it.

But still worth mentioning.

Problems with those types of things are why you make Gold and potions into status attributes, or at least I do.

I was going to say “Of course, items like that don't work if you have inventory limits” ... then I looked at it again.

It just works.

If you have a shopkeeper who looks at a chest's contents to calculate the price when buying or selling it, they'll also give you the right price for a bundle of sticks.
If your 'eat' command gives you the right amount of health for a pie plus its filling, it'll do the right thing when the player types "eat 6 apples".

Just about any command that works for a container-and-contents, will also work for a stack of items. Or a container that has stacks inside it. Without needing any extra work. I think that's surprisingly elegant :-)

Yes.
Stacks of items actually are containers. Or at least, that's what I read from that one guys' stacking potions code...
Which I didn't get the point of. It looked like a mixing potions code rather than stacking potions...
Note to self: mixing potions, Oblivion, Skyrim...

Here is what you want to add to the "Take" tab

if (not Got(mushroom)) {
  RemoveObject (this)
  AddToInventory (mushroom)
  IncreaseObjectCounter (mushroom, "volume")
}
else if (Got(mushroom)) {
  IncreaseObjectCounter (mushroom, "volume")
  RemoveObject (this)
}

And then add this to the "Drop" tab on item

if (Got(mushroom)) {
  if (GetInt(mushroom, "volume") >= 2) {
    DecreaseObjectCounter (mushroom, "volume")
    CloneObjectAndMove (mushroom, player.parent)
  }
  else if (GetInt(mushroom, "volume") = 1) {
    MoveObject (mushroom, Items)
    DecreaseObjectCounter (mushroom, "volume")
    CloneObjectAndMove (mushroom, player.parent)
  }
}

Of course change mushroom to object you want but rest is the same. You don't want to actually use the objects in game, you will use clones and just 1 main object.

I think I'd rather stick with my original script. The biggest benefit of that system is that the user can "get 3 mushrooms" or "sell 8 bananas" or whatever, without requiring additional code for every command. It would be simple enough to modify your system to prompt for a number, but by the time you've accounted for all the edge cases you'd have code as long as what I originally posted, and a lot harder to maintain.

Also, you should be aware that your drop script is broken. (You should always use game.pov rather than "player", so it doesn't break if you change the name of the player object; although in this case you should actually be using the variable destination, which refers to game.pov.parent if called from the "drop" command, or object2 if the drop script is called from the "put #object1# in #object2#" command).

I said in the first post, this is an easy way to modify the stack-as-container system so that commands like "drop 6 mushrooms" work without having to change the commands.
It also has the benefit of working nicely with the builtin volume system, which wasn't intentional but is a nice bonus (I hadn't realised until you mentioned volume).
The name adjustment could use some polishing, but I think it works neatly enough.

Mrangel here this should work on drop feature but have not tried

msg ("Type in the number you wish to drop. EX: 1, 3, or 5")
get input {
  s = ToInt(result)
  for (i, 1, s) {
    DecreaseObjectCounter (mushroom, "volume")
    CloneObjectAndMove (mushroom, player.parent)
  }
  msg ("You dropped " +s+ " mushrooms")
}

and also call player game.pov then player can be what ever!

Fine, I give up.

I'm still using the method I described in the first post, but I've removed the code from this post. I don't want to offend people, so I won't share ideas here any more.

No!!!

I was crazy busy, and I didn't copy it yet!

(KV cries like a little girl with a skinned knee.)

Sorry, I'm doing this as a way to relieve stress. I shared this method because I thought a complete stacking system in 55 lines of code was pretty compact, and I like the features it adds.

I don't want to upset anybody. I'll continue using my own version, because I prefer "take 3 bananas" over a convoluted mess of 'ask' scripts. But I won't ask anybody else to look at it, because I'm on like day 5 of continuous panic attacks over work stuff (I'm likely to lose my home unless people start buying my books before the end of the year), and I'm just not in the right state of mind to deal with being told I'm doing it wrong.

Oh, I'm sorry, mrangel.

I wouldn't have used the exclamation points, had I known the particulars. (I'm in a similar boat, which I know is no consolation, but it's true.)

I've used quite a few of the codes you've posted, and I've even messed a couple of them up!

I would like to take 3 bananas (and I'd be even more excited to be able to drop 2 bananas), but that's neither here nor there.

Stress is a terrible thing. (I can't really expound without cursing.)

What sort of books are they?

No worries. I'm just a bit fragile right now.
In the stupid, bureaucratic situation of being prohibited from looking for work on medical grounds, but still too healthy for full disability benefits. So self employment as an artist is my only remaining option. I've got one novel out now, and a dozen books of sf/fantasy short stories. Sometimes I think I'm doing well, sometimes looking at my own work makes me feel worthless. But at present trying to build up a larger catalogue as that seems to be the best option if you don't have a large group of supporters or a fortune to sink in advertising, so I keep on trying. Take a look for Angel Wedge on amazon.

Hey Angel, you don't need money to advertise these days.
If you have free time you can create your own advertising via Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media you can think of.

Put your frustrations into creative cost-effective solutions. Looks like you already have a fan on Amazon, gave you good reviews.

Join an online book club, recommend your books. Stuff like that. Word of mouth will take you far... and its free!

Quest pretty much helped bring me back out of a bad place, too.

I'll show some literate, economically viable, impulse-buyers I know your stuff, and you may notice a bump or two in sales.

I hope everything works out well, and I also hope you start posting again soon. (The latter is just me being selfish, though.)

Best wishes, mrangel!

Sorry, mrangel.

You might be able to post about your writings here, and see if someone might buy them.

" looking for work on medical grounds, but still too healthy for full disability benefits. "
Mind telling me what country you live in?
I heard the UK had some crummy disability benefits. If it was an accident, that's why you have insurance, but insurance can't do everything.
My dad always said people in wheel chairs should go get a typing job. He is a bigoted person, and even if he doesn't say it aloud he's practically a socialist/communist. The real kind, not the theory/Marxist kind... But nonetheless, using what talents you have left is good advice.

Is this it?
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Cn%3A17%2Ck%3AAngel+wedge&bbn=17&keywords=Angel+wedge&ie=UTF8&qid=1507546833

Mr. Angel.

Ha... I always wanted to think it was m rangel...

Here is a good website to sign up for and post your books:

https://www.goodreads.com/

I know lots of women love this site.

Which of your dozen books would you recommend as the best read?

I would like to take 3 bananas (and I'd be even more excited to be able to drop 2 bananas), but that's neither here nor there.

Thanks :-D
I think onimike offered some code that can do that (though without undesirable fluff like specifying numbers in the command or working with other commands). Should take less than half an hour to remove the bugs and make it work.

Is this it?
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Cn%3A17%2Ck%3AAngel+wedge&bbn=17&keywords=Angel+wedge&ie=UTF8&qid=1507546833

Yep. Or http://hyperurl.co/angelwedge

(I also publish fetish romance as Angel Raymond; so as not to embarrass anyone related to me)

If you have free time you can create your own advertising via Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media you can think of.

Yeah, most of my marketing hours are spent on facebook/goodreads/G+/etc.
I'm convinced that FB campaigns are the most cost-effective way to turn a hundred fans into three hundred. For building up the initial base, not so much. Out of the other folks in my writing groups, online and RL, the ones who've had success with social media advertising all have one thing in common: their definition of success is a number of likes or follows. Whether those followers ever buy books seems to be a unanimous "no" until you've got a significant core of fans to help with the reshare thing.

I keep on trying, though.

The one time I tried putting more money into FB advertising, the results were enlightening. A post saying I was giving the proceeds from Sandpaper Kiss to charity for a month. Twenty thousand views. Nearly a thousand likes, a hundred reshares, sixty comments, a dozen comments saying they loved the book. Lots of engagement, but nobody engaged enough to actually click the link to Amazon, or to buy the book.

Which of your dozen books would you recommend as the best read?

I'd probably recommend the newer ones; I don't know if the writing's improving much, but I think my later books are getting more polished, which probably gives a better impression. I'm currently being mostly-optimistic about the possibilities of A Dozen Comedies; given the number of people who asked for a collection of the humour stories. Although it looks like more people liked A Dozen Nightmares; I get a lot of compliments on my horror stories, but maybe I don't see the potential myself because that's not what I normally read.

Or Into Dreams for more variety. I started out with "A Dozen _____" collections because they came to about what people were saying is the optimal size for a Kindle book, but they weren't long enough to be a paperback release, so I gathered the first three fantasy sets together, with some extra stories, to make a larger one for people who prefer a physical book.

... wow, wasn't expecting this to turn into advertising :S Hope it's not too spammy ...

Ha... I always wanted to think it was m rangel..

In most places I capitalise the username as MrAngel; not sure why I didn't here. I originally added the "Mr" because people on IRC kept assuming I'm female. Somehow, it didn't help.

Not spammy at all. I think this is good info for any of us interested in writing and selling books as well.

Sounds like you are doing everything right.
Now all you can do is let your writing sell itself.

I've wanted to become a writer, professionally. If only to someday make my own animes.

These are my two main ideas. I have more, but I really want them to become TV shows instead.

"
The first one is about a man who adopts five daughters. It's a comedy. It's a Christian comedy. It's like a slice of life comedy. Also drama.
Back when he was a teenager, he was an atheist. His father was abusive to him. He tried non-successfully to commit suicide a few times and so on his mother separated him from his father, and he got treatment for his bipolar disorder that he was diagnosed with. He converted to Christianity. He graduates out of high school, may or may not do a few odd jobs I suppose, and starts his own book publishing company. A rich man buys his company, and he becomes the owner of the most successful Christian book publishing book company in the US. Over time, he adopts five girls. And that's where our story starts. The jokes and set-up comprise mainly of the girls going to school and the man going to work. The girls, especially the middle child, pick on him because of his state of transgender-ism which make up some of the drama/jokes. He cross-dresses. But his life, religion, society, and other things won't let him be who he wants to be. Also the man's life and past gets subtly pulled into there.
The story is usually about the girls' lives, and has some sort of moral to the stories usually.
I could go on about all their lives, that man's workplace and boss, the girls' teachers and friends, but that would take way too long and I am too lazy to write it.

And this one is just drama. (With a bit of comedy because I wanted to)
So a long time ago some girl was dating some guy. The guy was abusive to her, and her brother and family disapproved of the relationship. But they thought they loved each other. They got married nonetheless. She became pregnant. The brother convinced her that the husband's violent outbursts would harm or kill the unborn child, and so somehow both he and the woman escaped from the abusive boyfriend. They called police. They got a divorce. No action could be made however, the man fled state and wound somewhere in Florida with another woman. Then the woman and her brother just lived together, and the brother got a job at a factory. The woman was in college. She gave birth to a boy. They name the boy Johnathon. Johnathon was cute and they both loved him very much. The brother could not live with the boy for long forever however. He had a secret. He was a pedophile. It was not that he was afraid of you know, just afraid of... how should I say... unwanted arousal. Nonetheless, when the kid was 5, he left. He said his goodbyes, and he left. He only told his sister his secret. He told his sister to tell the boy when he got old enough. He told no one else. There was one other reason he left too. He wanted to become a playwright. One of those guys that create plays. And he did. Well, years past. The boy aged to 15 years. His friends from school abandoned him, as friends sometimes do for some reason or another. We all have periods in our life like that. He is absolutely "normal," meaning untalented, C and B average, Straight, cisgender. This is the time his mother and him move closer to his uncle, in some big city like Fort Wayne or Indianapolis in Indiana. This is where the show takes plays. The show then goes about the daily life of the boy as he tries to fit into High School. And his uncle helps him. Also the boy gets a friend who is asexual male. And also he gets a girlfriend who becomes a main character, but she ends up betraying him by listening to her friends more than him. He joins a basketball team. Some hijinks happen.
I want to add spice to the story and increase sales, in case you're wondering. Controversy is a good way to do that, at the cost of temporarily turning off your TV and living like a hermit for about a month.

If you wanna know more about pedophilia just google it. My autism/Aspergers makes me obsess over things, my determination gives me arrogance. Or ask me and I'll google it. I've probably googled it already and got it stuck in my head already.
"

This is one I want to turn into a TV show.
Gangs/hired hands
War between two (or 3) gangs. Main characters are 3 paid men fighting for one side. One is faster than a speeding horse, the sharpest shooter around, tall and wears all black to blend into the night, and... a zoophile.
Also, humans and vampires are the same. Those that resist their urges are called "dhampires", Romanian for half vampire, and those who have never became sadists are called virgins.
Like Hellsing and Vampire Hunter D, mixed with old mafia movies

As you can tell, I'm practically insane. But I like being insane!

Not insane, JM, just eccentric ^.^

Thanks! :)

I have tons of ideas; more than I'll ever manage to write. The ones that bug me most are the ones that cry out to be told in illustrated form, because I suck at drawing and don't have time to practise enough.

Like: Hearts Desire. A scientist (for some never-quite-explained reason) is offered a wish by a fairy queen. He will get one wish; but he's scared of wording it wrong. So she reads his heart, and gives him exactly what he wants more than anything else. It comes in a large holdall, which puzzles him a bit, but he resolves to open it after work (he's already late). They put it in the garage until then. During the day, his wife/fiancee opens it because she can't restrain her curiosity.

The holdall contains an eight-year-old girl, curled up in foetal position, sleeping. Wife is shocked and disturbed. Scientist guy is just as surprised, because he has no idea why their household suddenly includes a child. Eventually they figure out that the girl made a wish in 1888, and the only way for both wishes to be granted is for them to live together.

[[Scientist guy's wish was for the reliable, clean cold fusion device his team has been working on to be a success. Girl's wish, having a famous scientist father, was to be the one to realise her father's ambitions and invent such a device; which was impossible because the technology to support that invention didn't yet exist. So she had to be placed in suspended animation in order for her wish to be possible; she had to be awakened in order to join Scientist Dude's team and make the invention a reality; but she could only do that if she had a family to support her, and a social situation that would allow her to play around in his lab occasionally. Hence the girl in a holdall]]

(Tell me you can't see that as a manga plot)

Wait, is the girl dead? Or is she in a 'cryogenic sleep'? Or did they find a coffin?

I'd freak out too, if I found a dead girl's body in a box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh no, she was just sleeping. For more than a hundred years.

So for the most part, the story is kind of comedic. A girl who's grown up without modern technology, she's 8 but never even heard of computers so doesn't fit in that well at school. (With a few reversals because her knowledge of physics is basically university-level for the late 19th century; so she knows more than her classmates in maths/science, but some of it is outdated)

At the same time, we have some friction between this couple, based around the theme of "Why the heck is your heart's greatest desire a little girl?" / "I don't know! I was expecting a miniature nuclear reactor!"; which could be mostly played for lauhs but with touching moments.

And of course, the girl getting to know both of their social groups; slowly finding a place in society, and the various ruses she has to think up to be allowed to look at scientists' research (because they don't want a kid poking around in the lab).

With occasional drama episodes where the police or social services or whoever (woman's parents?) want to know why they've suddenly got a kid; and the neighbours who've seen enough to know the girl's happy all rally round to concoct some elaborate story so that she can stay there.

I hope you know what you're doing.

Isn't there a magic law that says you can't interrupt a mortal's mortality? That's way up there with no killing, no "forcing" love, and no bringing back the dead.

The audience may expect the same.

But hey, if a story's good, they'll overlook it...

(That, and I think it's stupid to keep a girl in suspended animation for over a century, with no air holes...)

I've never come across that one. Suspended animation in this case looks directly equivalent to sending someone forward in time (and without a fairy around to ask, you can't really tell which was used).

For all of the above, when I see them in fiction I normally assume that the reason is to force the hero into a wish that tells a more interesting story; or to head off readers asking "Why didn't he just wish for (……)?"

Off the top of my head, I can think of at least three anime series that have the main character wishing for someone to fall in love with him in the first episode, and then still has trials to overcome. (For example: being kicked out of a dorm that's restricted to single guys; being stalked by both his crazy ex and hers; or dealing with her obsession because he thought "fall in love with me" was just an easy way to get a princess to do what he wanted)
[bonus nerd points if you can identify any of the three series I'm thinking of from that]

Sounds a bit like Buffy's love for Angel in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and then Spikes love for Buffy in the same series, and also Dave Lister's love for Kochanski in Red Dwarf.
I need to get out more!!!
Or Kryten wooing Camille, where he E5A908B7 her, (The machine code equivalent of the word LOVE utilising Z80012, using hex rather than binary notation and converting to a basic ASCII code).
I really do need to get out more!!!

....here I thought I was a nerd.
/Bows before Dr Agon

Im not worthy!