Unified game master mode
Background: Under the original system (now known as “Specialized”), each task would be broken down into a separate prompt and handled individually. There was a separate prompt for plausibility, item usage, skill/attribute selection, target selection, story generation, event checks, and event check follow-ups.
In Unified mode, most of these tasks are consolidated into a single big prompt, leaving only the skill/attribute selection and event check follow-ups as separate calls. This allows the LLM to see the whole context at once, resulting in a much lower chance of contradictions. For example, the long-standing problem of the AI saying you used an item or ability, then subsequently penalizing you for it, is unlikely to happen in Unified mode. Event checks are also more likely to match the story because they are generated in the same turn as the story.
I also developed a possibly novel way to limit the entire flow to 1 single round trip even when a roll check is involved, by seeding a true RNG roll seed in the request and pre-calculating relevant skill/attribute breakpoints. This makes Unified not too much more expensive than Specialized mode, which allows me to make it available to everyone with no rate limits (context size, model and response time still vary by subscription tier, same as before).
Unified mode naturally allows for out-of-character dialogue, such as asking questions directly to the LLM or asking it to change in-game state by issuing API commands (the unified version of event checks). Please note these commands are limited to specific operations such as spawning an entity, updating entity state, giving/taking gold, etc. and the LLM may not always understand its capabilities or limitations. The conversation context is also limited to allow for a larger scenario context. Therefore if the AI starts hallucinating or misunderstanding its role, it is recommended to undo or edit turns rather than argue with it.
To turn on Unified mode for a scenario, ensure Game master mode is set to "Unified" in Scenario Settings. The addition of Unified mode doesn’t mean Specialized mode is being deprecated. There are still reasons one might prefer Specialized mode to Unified mode. For example, the writing style is usually more immersive and easier to manipulate in Specialized mode. Also, being newer, Unified mode might be buggier, so Specialized remains the default mode for now.
Note: Unified mode requires a compatible model which can consistently produce well-formed responses. All cloud services have vetted models which should work properly. If you use a custom model/service, please be aware that YMMV depending on the model used.
Player rules/instructions system
In both unified and specialized mode, you may now specify narrative rules (which apply to generated story turns) and entity generation rules (which apply to AI-created entity descriptions and entity generation upon initializing a new location). The default system instructions have been moved to default narrative rules, which allows you to more easily customize each scenario.
In unified mode only, there is now an event check icon that shows up if you speak out of character and express a long-term preference regarding narration or entity generation.
UI improvements
- Added map region editing: Click the polygon icon to edit region points
- Added drag/drop UI in map view: Drag any NPC, Enemy, static object, or location into another location. Hover over a location while dragging to display its sublocations recursively.
- Added drag/drop UI to entities view: Use drag/drop instead of the clunky “Move Up/Down” to re-order your current location’s entities.
Misc
- Added mitigation for repetitive entity name generation for new places
- Implemented ctrl Z support
- Fixed enter key issue for Google Japanese Input users (input composition string detection when using Google Input)
- Fixed issue where entities wouldn’t move with player during click-to-move location changes