… Into one comprehensive table.
First we had Cloud Formations, then Clouds Formed on the Horizon, and finally Fog Rolled In. And now we make it one grand weather system to bring all the clouds together.
It’s like I wasn’t even thinking when I started the tables. If I take the three ;Start groups and move them into a combined one I get something that looks exactly like this:
:Start
1, [Volume] [Formations] [Colorfocation]
1,[Thickness] [Shape] [Mid Level Construct]
1,A [Thickness] [Shape][Funbits]. [ChildCloud]
VOLUME/THICKNESS
| ;Volume | ;Thickness | ;Thickness |
|---|---|---|
| 1, thin | 1,dense | 1,dense |
| 1, fine | 1,condensed | 1,condensed |
| 1, hairline | 1,heaped | 1,heaped |
| 1, needlelike | 1,crammed | 1,crammed |
| 1, paper-thin | 1,impenetrable | 1,impenetrable |
| 1, skinny | 1,wispy | 1,wispy |
| 1, slender | 1,nebulous | 1,nebulous |
| 1, slim | 1,slender | 1,slender |
| 1, ultrathin | 1,frail | 1,frail |
| 1, stumpy | 1,slight | 1,slight |
| 1, thick | 1,tenuous | 1,tenuous |
| 1, bulky | 1,delicate | 1,delicate |
| 1, massive | 1,thin | |
| 1, voluminoius | 1,fine | |
| 1,airline | ||
| 1,needlelike | ||
| 1,paper-thin | ||
| 1,skinny | ||
| 1,slim | ||
| 1,ultrathin | ||
| 1,stumpy | ||
| 1,thick | ||
| 1,bulky | ||
| 1,massive | ||
| 1,voluminoius |
As you can see from these tables, that they are very similar. Because the volume of the cloud doesn’t vary based on it’s height, I’ll simply combine all the groups together to make one big group. It is going to be the same situation with out “Shape” groups also.
Formation/Shape
| ;Formations | ;Shape | ;Shape |
|---|---|---|
| 1, set of [Edge Definition] long streaking | 1,horizontal bands | 1,sheets |
| 1, [Edge Definition] short, narrow streaks | 1,lines | 1,patches |
| 1, set of [Edge Definition] undulating waves | 1,braid | 1,layer |
| 1, a single [Edge Definition] undulating wave | 1,cord | 1,horizontal bands |
| 1, rippling | 1,ribbon | 1,vertical bands |
| 1, [Edge Definition] radial bands | 1,sheets | 1,uniform |
| 1, [Edge Definition] rings | 1,blanket | 1,ragged shreds |
| 1,layer | ||
| 1,expanse | ||
| 1,series | ||
| 1,streak | ||
| 1,column | ||
| 1,filaments | ||
| 1,fiber | ||
| 1,thread | ||
| 1,strand | ||
| 1,tendril | ||
| 1,[Directional] bubble-like |
Well the difference here is our highest altitude clouds have edge variations. So what we are going to do is strip out the [Edge Definition] and throw in an {IF~ }statement to see if it needs the edge definition. Somewhere. If we wanted to be accurate, some shapes only exist in certain atmospheric levels. But we are making a random generator for some sort of roleplaying game so I don’t care!
So that means we need to combine them into one group, and make them more fun to play with!
{PluralIF~}
When I started combining all these shape/formation groups, I saw that starting in Cloud 1.tab I had these little bits: “a set of”, “a pair of”, “a single” I expanded the list a little more in the second tab. I wanted to make sure this fit back into the overall table. But I laughed at the silliness of how I made it ‘grammatical’. I would do something like:
;Mid Level Construct
1,
1, with a [Mid Level Middle] [Thickness Modifier] [Mid Level Ending]
1, with [Multiple] [Mid Level Middle] [Thickness Modifier] [Mid Level Ending]s
See that trailing “s” at the end? Bogus! Let’s do it the right way!
;Pairings
1,|iPlural=1|
1,|iPlural=2|set of
1,|iPlural=1|a single
1,|iPlural=2|dual
1,|iPlural=2|some
1,|iPlural=2|a bunch of
1,|iPlural=2|a couple of
The first variable! Yah! What we discover is that the {PluralIf~} function makes our choice plural if X is not 1! so anything that is plural we can make 0, 2, or 100000000001010! It doesn’t matter. And then we wrap that up in our generative system.
1,[Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]}
And now we have simplified the original Start Menu that combined three different tables to make it simple. The only differentiation of the three entries now is modifiers that we discovered in each table to make the cloud seem more interesting!
It lead me to wrapping up the ;Start group like this to give us some flavor:
;Start
1,[Pairings] [Volume] [Edge Definition] [Shape] [Colorfocation].
1,[Pairings] [Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]} [Secondary Aspect] [Colorfocation].
1,[Pairings] [Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]} [Secondary Aspect] [Funbits].
1,[Pairings] [Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]} [Secondary Aspect]. [ChildCloud].
1,[Pairings] [Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]} [Secondary Aspect] [Funbits] [Colorfocation].
1,[Pairings] [Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]} [Secondary Aspect]. [ChildCloud] [Colorfocation].
1,[Pairings] [Volume] {PluralIf~%iPlural%,[Shape]} [Secondary Aspect] [Colorfocation]. [ChildCloud].
You can see that I decided not to do an {If~} to split out our high altitude clouds versus our other clouds. What do you think? Is there a better way to do this? Leave me a note about what you think!
Don’t forget all of the Tablesmith Tables are here. And the Cloud Generator is online here.
