Scripting a game, need ideas

I want to script a game that I generally always script every time I start to learn a new language. This helps me teach myself about the new language and forces me to ask questions, and learn things that I might not otherwise think about asking.

In this case, since I would like to be able to sell my game later, I would like to ask questions about concepts so that I do not give away my idea. Not that my idea probably isn't already in use somewhere, (my 2 weeks of exploration did not turn up seeing one...) but I would like to have something unique (at least till people see it and build their own)

I'd like to get some ideas about crafting an interface that permits entering numbers, but I would not want other people to see the numbers being entered, and do not want a clumsy interface, or something difficult to use.

I realize this is vague, but can anyone offer an idea?

Entering numbers secretly and easily is tough.

Some possible methods:

- use the Pay... event. For some applications this is an intuitive fit, for others less so

- create a panel with all the possible numbers on it. Get the user to click a number. I think there is a slight visual indication of which number the person clicked, but it's not really obvious

- get the user to write the number down on a notecard and drop it into a box

- give the user a token to represent each number, which they drop into a box

- use llDialog to present the numbers to the user. Note that this is less good than it sounds because you can only present 4 numbers at a time

- get the user to click a button the appropriate number of times. You can instantmessage them with the current number they've selected. The clicking does leave a visual trace, but it would be hard to count the number of clicks.

If there's not too many possible numbers, I'd probably present a panel of numbered buttons that the user clicks.

Azelda

Have the script listen on channel 1 and, if the number they want to input is 1234, then have them say:

/1 1234

No one hears it but scripts listening on channel 1. Use any channel number you want, it doesn't have to be 1.

Well, I nearly suggested that, then it occurred to me that everyone will know the channel number, so could eavesdrop.

Azelda

When a player touches the object, use the dialog function to tell the player which random channel to say the number on. Give each player a different random channel

then listen for each player on their channel

What about e-mail? or instance messages?

I was thinking about building something with a similar requirement..

I was thinking about having the user add there number to a random number.. but the random channel sounds better (ether way IM the user the random number)

I like the idea of the ramdom channel, and I think the concept should not be too difficult for the common user to grasp... Maybe I'll do that...

Do people listen to other channels? Do they have "spy cubes" that might listen to, say, channel 1 for example? If so, wouldn't it be funny to put an easter egg there for them to find that had nothing to do with the script running? (haha maybe a commercial) hahaha

Thanks to all who are helping with ideas!

why not use a cube, the cubes name is the input.

And have a sensor pickup the name of things dropping in within 1m.

In this case the machine reads the name of the cube as input.

Email is nowhere near fast enough, plus you'd need an external app to handle talking to it.

Objects can't recieve IMs.

The best solution is Catfart's: a random chat channel for each user. It's reasonably secure and is fast.

You could also use IM to the user to tell them the chat channel to use.

If you put your im in a seperate script, then your main script doesnt suffer the delay penalty while the IM goes out.

ie,

In Main Script somewere:

SendIM( key id, string message)
{
integer num = (integer)llGetSubString(message, 6, -1);
llMessageLinked(LINK_ALL_OTHERS, num, message, id);
}

then to do what your saying:

touched(integer num_touch)
{
SendIM(llDetectedKey(num_touch), "CHAN: "+(string)((integer)llFrand(10000));
}


Then in a seperate script in same prim:

default()
{
link_message(integer sender_num, integer num, string str, key id)
{
llInstantMessage(id, "Use channel: "+(string)num);
}
}

Make Battleship.. "Sänka skepp" in Swedish.