Re: Olympia: Stacking and Visibility

From: M22367@mwvm.mitre.org

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1992 17:03:30 +0000

Ya know, I believe this entire thread began with a discussion of control of
units within stacks - that is "sub-stacks".  If I may hearken back to what was
(I believe) the original point:

If you have a stack of units and you direct the leader of that stack to stack
with another stack, the effect is that your original stack unstacks and each
unit stacks with the target stack. Stack?

Then, if your original stack leader unstacks, you leave behind the units that
he had under him originally and that (in many cases) is not the intention.

The requested solution was to implement sub-stacks - stacks that retained their
integrity when subordinated to another unit (or stack).

This lead to the idea of geographic locations being treated as "super stacks"
which raised the idea of limited visibility of interior features.  Stacks
within stacks would have some kind of limited visibility if only cursory
observation were applied to the stack.

So maybe you pass through a region and you get a glimpse of the interior
features and maybe you'll come back later to investigate that cave.

Well, maybe you don't *care* who is in that 500 unit stack with Jameson
(whether you should care or not is another issue).  Perhaps all stacks -
whether interior features or humanoids - should have a limited presentation
unless you have units in the stack or expressly investigate the stack.

That is:

Region Stonebreak, mountainous, largely loyal to Dr. Pain, stacked over
   Gardens of Delight, walled city
   Happyland Daycare facility, walled city
   Excort Xervice of Dr. Pain, stack of approximately 500 units

>Investigate Excort Xervice
Investigating Excort Xervice, using observation level 5 reveals:
    White Coats, number 50, wearing bloodstained surgical gloves stacked over
       Stack of Prisoners of Dr. Pain, stack of approximately 300 units
    Placement Agents, number 150, heavily armed with smiley-face masks
    Public Relations, number 35, juggling unknown objects

>Investigate Stack of Prisoners of Dr. Pain

etcetera

Is this a different tangent?

Mike (James Resolut 888)