*LAMIAE IS CURRENTLY IN ALPHA*
*WHILE IT IS STABLE, AND IN A HIGHLY USABLE STATE, THINGS ARE IN A STATE OF SEMI-FLUX*


What is Lamiae
==============

Lamiae is a fork of Platinum Arts Sandbox meant to showcase my work on the RPG module since 2009.
Sandbox is in turn a fork of cube 2, which is a fantastic octree-based first person engine, naturally this isn't ideal for RPG-style gameplay, so getting to where we are now has been a significant challenge.
Cube 2 fork, Tesseract is also bundled, providing a state of the art lighting model and other advanced rendering features, including SSAO, HDR w/ tonemapping, Radiance Hints (Global Illumination) and more!

Lamiae builds upon cube 2 technologies, providing a highly flexible framework for RPGs more than capable of simulating many games from ages long past.
Check the "Inspiration" and the "Features" sections for a general idea.


Inspiration
===========
Note that these are taken at a cursory look at the games in question, with no knowledge of their actual inner workings.

Arcanum
* File structure - we also use numbered "prototypes," albeit in plaintext.
* Dialogue Tree format - partially true, our dialogue nodes are named and use named destinations, not numbers.
* Status effects centred around polymorphing targets.
* Global flags and variables.

Fallout
* Trade/barter menu - similar layout
* Dual Wielding - Allowed you to have 2 items equipped and swap between then, basically where I got the idea for more or less the same system used in Skyrim.
* "Use" system - A "knife" could be used to both slash and thrust, Lamiae allows equal flexibility.

DnD
* Experience thresholds for levelling up.

Nethack
* Shopping - nethack allowed you to accrue store credit.

Diablo
* Item System - items from the same base can have wildly differing properties; They are always stacked where possible.

Oblivion
* A large number of status effect primitives, including ones which use arbitrary scripts
* Served as the inspiration for weapons with an effect for an area for an extended period of time.
* AI's Directives system; giving an NPC instructions and having them execute to the best of their ability, simultaneously if possible, and with prioritisation.


List of Features
================
If you want a list of Sauerbraten's or Tesseract's respective features, visit their webpages.
Suffice to say cube 2 features a very easy to use WYSIWYG-style map-editor.

* Dedicated PC interface.
* Highly Performant - cube 2 and derived projects pride themselves on their fast and stable codebases.
* Stable enough for hardcore-roguelikes.
* Expansive RPG library built atop of cubescript with significant emphasis on flexibility and free-form mechanics.
* Signal based scripting system, allows both hard-coded and arbitrary named signals, very extensible.
* A simple yet flexible AI system which can be directed via directives and by tagging world objects (in progress).
* A wide variety of status effect primitives, including script types.
* A highly flexible template system for items, critters, triggers, objects, containers and more.
* No combat music
* Open Source and with Plain-Text, easy to modify formats - Makes modding a cinch.


Origin of the name, "Lamiae"
============================
The name "Lamiae" serves both as a joke and as a descriptor of what an RPG can do.
"Lamiae" itself is the plural form of "Lamia" - a creature with its origins in Greek Mythology.


1. The name literally means "Gullet," referring to one story in which Lamia was forced to eat her children by the goddess, Hera.
This refers to the tendency well made RPGs have for gobbling up huge chunks of your life.

2. Another story speaks of Lamia being traumatised at the death of her children, and experiencing the horrors again whenever she closed her eyes.
This refers to the large overall decline in RPG quality since 2003.
Unfortunately, RPG-fans have generally taken the decline rather well, preferring instead to point and laugh at the likes of Dragon Age 2, than roll for sanity whenever they reflect on the past.

3. Leading on from 2, another story tells that Zeus allowed her to remove her eyes to alleviate the trauma, this granted Lamia prophetic powers.
In a sense, Lamiae is my effort to try and promote certain RPG features I wish to see again in future games.
Lamiae is designed to encourage game designers to use skill checks, hefty dialogue trees, and choices with actual ramifications.

4. Another story tells that Lamia is a cross between a Succubus and a Vampire. This has a double intended meaning.
On one hand, you can look at it from the designer's perspective; He is entranced by his RPG project and will pour many years of his blood (, sweat, tears, and frustration) into it, so that it may be realised into its final form.
On the other, it also refers to the seductive quality of RPGs as a tool for escapism, and overindulging can have rather negative results on your future prospects, Succubi have level drain for a reason you know.


Run Instructions
================
If you need to build a binary first, see the section below.


Windows
There is a lamiae.bat in the main directory, this is your sole means of launching lamiae.

Linux/FreeBSD
There is a script named lamiae.sh in the main directory, running this will launch the proper binary for your platform.
A multitude of command line options are available, run with --help, -h or -? to get a list.

Mac (OS X) *UNSUPPORTED*
Hopw Roewur Ne.



Once up and running, if you want to dive straight into making an RPG, go to data/rpg/games and copy the "base" directory, this is the basis for your game.
You'll find additional readmes and instructions inside.
Good Luck!


Build Instructions
==================

Windows
1. Install Codeblocks ( http://www.codeblocks.org/ ) and mingw with SILJ bindings ( http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net/download )
2. Open up the codeblocks project file in src/windows/lamiae.cbp
3. Click build

** Support is not provided for Visual Studio, in theory the code should compile with 2005 and later.


Linux/FreeBSD
1. Install GCC, and the sdl1.2, sdl_mixer and sdl_image libraries as well as their *-dev counterparts
2. make -C src install

* if you want a debug binary instead, use "make -C src -f Makefile.debug install"
* If you're using BSD, you may need to specify the GNU version of the make utility.


Macintosh (OS X) *UNSUPPORTED*
1. Install Xcode
2. Manually install SDL, SDL_image, and SDL_mixer Frameworks.
3. Create, setup, and otherwise configure an xcode project for Lamiae.
4. ???
5. Profit.