We've made a massive update to how disguise works. First, let me say a few things before I dive into the details:
1. Mephisto did a TON of coding for this over several months. He did a great job and I'm very thankful to him for all the hard work. I really just came in at the end and helped polish it up, so the credit goes to him.
2. This update WILL cause bugs. It's so big and there are so many new things and edge cases that it's just impossible that there won't be some crazy edge cases. Please report these on xhelp for now, and if a coder can't look into it, or you don't get a response, please submit a detailed bug report with @Bug.
3. If you or someone around you encounters an issue with this code, please be sure to give some wiggle room while we work out the kinks and be understandable if they are like 'waiting on the admin to respond' if there is something that is preventing them from moving forward with the RP. We don't want anyones good time ruined because of bugs.
OKAY. On to the changes.
Disguises are now stackable
The new system allows you to build a disguise out of multiple disguising objects of DIFFERENT types. You cannot, for instance, stack 5 shrouds/ponchos/robes. I mean, you can wear them all, but it only counts once.
New Disguising Items
1. Contact Lenses
These can be purchased at a beauty store. They change your eye color.
2. Wigs
These can be purchased at a beauty store. They change your hair.
Both wigs and contacts are LIMITED use. If you look at them, you'll get a basic gauge of what state they are in and how many uses they might have left.
When they are used up, they are tossed away automatically. Like a cigarette, or used up drug vial.
Their price may be adjusted over time.
Beauty stores will stock them via crates and they are randomly generated, so there will always be different colors/kinds.
These items cover up your existing @nakeds, and LOOK like @nakeds. They appear the same color as them.
Player Creatable Disguises
Wigs and contact lenses can also be created by players with the correct workbench/skill. Right now this is only possible at one place ICly. And we'll be looking to hire players to do this work.
The benefit of a player made contact lenses, or wigs, is that you can have it customized exactly how you want. Right now they are basically the same as the store sold ones, but the store sold ones are randomly generated so it may be hard to find 2 of the same exact kind of wig for instance.
Makeup/Wigs/Contacts/Hair Changes will Disguise You
Part of building a disguise may be wearing makeup, putting on a wig, wearing contacts, and changing your hairstyle. You can do all these things AND wear a poncho/mask/helmet/whatever if you want, but you don't have to. These items alone will make you harder to recognize.
Right now, these types of items will make you appear using part of your short description, like 'a tall man' or 'a short man' or 'a squat man' or whatever. There is no 'disguised' modifier.
We also do not cover up your description when you are just adding makeup. Your description gets locked to whatever it is when you put on the makeup/disguise. If you then wear a poncho or helmet or something, it may then override your disguise like the current system does.
This is all part of making not recognizing someone more IC. If you see 'a tall man' and you read their description and see their nakeds and are like 'that is john I think', then IMO, you can believe it's John ICly and possibly be wrong.
This policy may change over time, but for now, in cases like this, if your character still recognizes the person, it's OK to recognize them. Just don't use meta info like 'only john has a ceramic composite katana so despite not recognizing their description I still know it's them.' That's still against the rules.
Showers fuck up your disguise
If you take a shower while disguised, it's going to fuck up your disguise and you won't be disguised anymore. Seems IC to me.
Disguise Modifiers
All disguising items and things (like changing your hair), now have a disguise modifier which is computed as part of your disguise roll. This means that some items will disguise you better than others. This was actually always the case, but we've tweaked these numbers, so some of you may be better disguised now, or less disguised, depending on what you were using. In general though, your DISGUISE skill plays a HUGE part of your disguise score. It always has.
Disguise Slipping
This works pretty much how it used to. Your 'disguise' will slip as you do stuff ICly. Taking actions reduces your disguise score and eventually it will fall completely and expose you. In some cases, like a new haircut, you'll only show up as 'a tall man' or whatever, for a short period of time before you go back to being you. I imagine this like you got a brand new haircut, and someone on the train that you know looks right past you because they didn't know you got the hair cut.
Speaking of stacking disguise...
So, I mentioned how you could 'build' your disguise up with multiple items. There is a big reason for this change. If you have good enough disguise skill that your disguise score, with one or more items reaches a certain value...
You can change your name (and description) while disguised
You won't be offered this option unless you've got decent disguise or are wearing a REALLY good disguise. But if you are...
You'll be given the OPTION (you don't have to take it) to run two specials command.
@disguise-name me is
@disguise-desc me is
You will then, until your disguise slips or you remove one of your disguising items, show up as the name you have chosen. You can't choose another players name (at least not now, not sure if ever) and normal naming conventions apply.
Caveats & Known Issues
1. If you remove one piece of your disguise, it breaks your entire disguise. So please be careful about how you wear/remove things because it doesn't just subtract the item from your disguise. Perhaps in the future we will make this, but for now, just like the existing system, if you are wearing a helmet and then a poncho, and you remove the poncho, your disguise is completely gone.
2. Getting disguises like contacts and wigs wet will show then as being wet in your description, like regular clothes. We'll work on this. For now, stay out of the shower or the rain in your disguise. Some times may continue to show as wet (like a wig), since it may be more obvious, but things like contacts shouldn't be showing as wet, that's just weird.
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That was a lot. We are STILL actively working on this code and actively updating it. So large pieces of what I've said in this post could change tomorrow as we identify issues, rebalance things, realize things aren't going to work and remove / modify them.
For many of you, nothing really changes. Your disguises still work the way they did before. But for some of you... this opens many new doors.
I understand you'll all have questions/comments/etc. Please feel free to offer your feedback in this thread! Just do you best to make it constructive :)
-- S