I just stumbled across this and thought that it had some amazing ideas for BYOND.
http://www.rpgamer.com/editor/2001/q3/081001ml1.html
Be sure to click the "other editorial" link there and read from the very beginning. I especially like this idea:
Need a reason to stick with your trusty old Machine Gun rather than changing to the brand-spanking-new Laser Gunner? How about a bonus to equipment you use for a long time?
This system assumes that as the characters use the weapon/armor more and more, they become used to it. A gun can be your best friend in a warzone like this. They'll gain bonuses while using that "certain" piece of equipment, from accuracy to damage to critical hits to increased mobility. If they use another piece of equipment, they won't get the bonus they did from "good ol' reliable". Even modifying their favorite pieces of equipment will reduce the bonus. (After all, it doesn't feel the same...) Players will have to choose between using the new weaponry or staying with the old one they get bonuses for.
Just thinking about that makes me shiver. ;)
ID:153697
 Apr 26 2003, 7:59 pm
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Or you could just let the player upgrade their weapons. The longer they have one weapon, the more likely they are to upgrade it and the more they'll want to keep it.
Deus Ex does this with its weapon mods. I had to choose between the GEP gun or the plasma gun (both are heavy weapons, and they both take up eight(!) slots in your inventory). I had a notion that the plasma gun was probably better, but I went with the GEP gun anyway, because I'd had it since the start of the game and had modded it quite extensively. (I eventually dropped the GEP gun anyway because it was taking up too much space and I discovered that the Assault Rifle - which only takes up four slots, plus I was using it anyway - can be loaded with explosive ammo that accomplishes basically the same thing; but that's another story.) | |
Despite having double or better the recommended system req's, my computer still refused to run that game 5 minutes before it crashed.
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My computer slows right down to 1-2 frames per second suddenly after a few hours of playing either Deus Ex or Age of Mythology, despite running well with all the settings turned up to maximum on Deus Ex. I think I need to defrag my hard drive, but Disk Defragmenter refuses to run - it insists that "changes have been made to your hard drive" even when there are NO OTHER PROGRAMS OPEN.
I need to reinstall Windows... again... It's at these times that a certain poem by a certain Les Barker comes to mind. I'll quote a couple of snippets for you: "It cannot find my keyboard And it does not like my mouse Last week it informed me They were in some other house" "I'm going to spend eternity Reinstalling Windows." Apt, no? =P | |
Quite apt. I run defrag several times a week. And I had that problem for a long while, sounds like you have some trojans mein Freund.
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Maybe so, but surely Norton Antivirus would have detected it?
Does anyone know where you can get a free program that will tell you exactly what is running? Like the services tab of the Task Manager in Windows NT/2000 (and probably XP, but I haven't used it much so I wouldn't know). Annoyingly, Windows ME's task manager only shows you regular applications, and tends to hide a lot of the things that are running. Wait! I know what the trojan is! It's Windows ME! Darn Microsoft, disguising a system-destroying piece of *&^%#!@# as an operating system. ;-) Anyway, this thread is getting WAY off topic. =P | |
Crispy wrote:
My computer slows right down to 1-2 frames per second suddenly after a few hours of playing either Deus Ex or Age of Mythology, despite running well with all the settings turned up to maximum on Deus Ex. I think I need to defrag my hard drive, but Disk Defragmenter refuses to run - it insists that "changes have been made to your hard drive" even when there are NO OTHER PROGRAMS OPEN. Certain spyware junk likes to hide their programs from your Ctrl+Alt+Delete menu. Go into your registry editor to a search for "Run Once" then check the Run and run Services folders for any strange things that get run a system start up. There are a few sections in your registry so search more than once for the string Run Once. | |
Couldn't find anything. Running msconfig and looking on the Startup tab shows up nothing suspect, either (I check it quite often to make sure nothing sneaks onto it - programs running in the background when I haven't asked them to are a pet peeve of mine).
Reinstalling Windows should get rid of any nasties hiding around the place. Apart from Windows itself of course. =P I'll probably do it next weekend. | |
Crispy wrote:
Maybe so, but surely Norton Antivirus would have detected it? Are you entirely insane!? Don't use that program! -- It is a pain in the ass, it eats at your CPU... It is not the best program when catching Virus' either... The best, free and most reliable AntiVirus program I have ever laid eyes on is; AVG AnitVirus. They have a lot of updates, thus far, from all the months I have had using this program in replacement of Norton AntiVirus, I have had no virus' whatsoever. This program doesn't take as much of the CPU usage compared to Norton, it is free, It isn't a pain in the ass, simple to use, updates are frequent. Anyway, whoever uses Norton, well, use it, but you're missing out on a reliable and more wiser choice of AntiVirus with using AVG. The link to get the AVG AntiVirus is; http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm All you do is simply download the Free Version, or, you could purchase the other version. I use the free one at the moment, and it is so-far, the best choice of AntiVirus I have ever made, considering the fact that my Computer is and has been, Virus-Free from the moment I got and used AVG AntiVirus for the first time to this very moment! --Lee | |
Mellifluous wrote:
Are you entirely insane!? No, why do you ask? And why is that vending machine talking to me? Don't use that program! -- It is a pain in the ass, it eats at your CPU... My CPU needs nibbling at regularly, otherwise it grows too big and covers the neighbourhood in huge electronically-generated vines. It is not the best program when catching Virus' either... I have never had a virus to date when Norton has been running. The one time it wasn't running, I got a virus almost immediately. Call it coincidence if you like, but there it is. The best, free and most reliable AntiVirus program I have ever laid eyes on is; AVG AnitVirus. AnitVirus? A nit virus? Is that a disease that's spread by nits? =P They have a lot of updates, thus far, from all the months I have had using this program in replacement of Norton AntiVirus, I have had no virus' whatsoever. It's an antivirus program. That's what it DOES. =P (and see above) This program doesn't take as much of the CPU usage compared to Norton See above. it is free My parents already bought Norton, so it might as well be free for me. It isn't a pain in the ass Neither is Norton. simple to use So is Norton... updates are frequent. Weekly counts as frequent, I should hope. Anyway, whoever uses Norton, well, use it, but you're missing out on a reliable and more wiser choice of AntiVirus with using AVG. My parents bought Norton and installed it before any of us had ever HEARD of AVG. It was recommended by friends and I hadn't heard anything bad about it thus far. Although I did discover that Norton SystemWorks utterly sucks very early on (if I wanted to make my recycle bin non-functional, I'd DISABLE it! And if I want to uninstall a program, I use it's own uninstall program. Forget this ridiculous "Protected" (read: Trashed) Recycle Bin and CleanSweep business. Interesting fact: Most game CD autoruns will trigger CleanSweep, whether or not the game is already installed. GAHHH. Extreme annoyance, sirs and madams. The AntiVirus program is the only useful one in the whole package...) It works, it's updated regularly, it's reliable, and I've never noticed any difference in performance whether its enabled or not. If I ever find a good reason to change, then I will, but so far I haven't. | |
*Sigh*
What I really need is some advice on how to make elements of an RPG that aren't centered around combat. It seems like the only advice anyone has on RPGs anymore is how to make combat more interesting. :P | |
Anyway, whoever uses Norton, well, use it, but you're missing out on a reliable and more wiser choice of AntiVirus with using AVG. Not true. Speed Disk, Disk Doctor, and WinDoctor are other great goodies out of the pack. Speed Disk is a defrag utility that takes about three-quarters the time as Microsoft's ScanDisk (which is part of the Windows distribution), Disk Doctor replaces that stupid little "Windows did not shut down properly last time it exited" screen, and WinDoctor can be used to clean up little leaks in your system registry and start menu. (Only problem with WinDoctor is that if it can't automatically solve a registry problem, and you go to change it manually, then there's no way to advance to the next problem. You have to close the program and start the diagnostic over again.) Norton CrashGuard is also an excellent piece of software, though I think in recent years they separated it out of the standard Systemworks package. It saved me from the Blue Screen of Death countless times. | |
Foomer wrote:
*Sigh* Elements of a game that I always find hold the player's interest (id est my interest) longer: - Evidence of active support, moderation, and development by the game's developers or staff. When a game doesn't seem to be being worked on, or at least patched, new people won't come to replace the people who dwindle away. - At least *something* that is randomly generated. - Player interactivity with the world -- that is, that the player actually feels as though he can change something (build a house, declare himself emperor of a small island, etc.) - Apparent attention to the natural scheme of things. Make the player feel as though he is part of a vast, living and breathing world. For example, Battlecruiser: Millenium felt empty, clean, and boring, while Freelancer's space is detailed, gritty, and action-filled. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is towards the middle of the scale, though there are plenty of plugins out there that make the game world appear far more interactive. - Loads of (normal) social commands; players love social commands. The only thing you're going to have to watch out for is the ones who demand that you add x-rated socials, or just plain stupid socials like "%u blows a raspberry" or "%u is swamped with homework". My policy in Haven (according to my notes =P) is that anyone who requests x-rated socials or deliberately non-sensical socials gets their character's skills rolled back a few points (with a warning the first time). - Entertaining players' ideas: if an idea is interesting (and doesn't go against the concept of the game), don't blow it off. Give it some thought before ruling on it. | |
Foomer wrote:
*Sigh* There have to be megabytes of discussion out there on the web on this subject...join the MUD-DEV mailing list for a set of MUD professionals who talk about such subjects all the time. | |
I personally love PC-Cillin, it came with my computer, and it works great. It doesnt try to lock down every little thing on my computer, it takes very little temp memory and it constantly scans for viruses, and with kazaa thats a must, it has cought probibly over 20 in the last 5 months.
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The problem with skill based weapon management is that a lazer rifle and a bullet rifle can be about the same size, so why would it be so diffrent to shoot it? A lazer pistol and a 6 shooter? So really you would want to base your skills on the size and shape, not the type of weapon.
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Vortezz wrote:
Need a reason to stick with your trusty old Machine Gun rather than changing to the brand-spanking-new Laser Gunner? How about a bonus to equipment you use for a long time? Makes me grumble inaudibley. My unreleased BYOND MUD already features this, a proficiency with each individual weapon. The more you use it, the better you become with that specific weapon. Of course, I'm just posting this for the sheer sake of bluntly saying, "I thought of it before him! Haha!", but I would never come out and say that directly. Err, would I? :) [EDIT]: Ah! Now the "As Many Party Members As You Want!" section in the first editorial is definitely to my liking. That is something I would like to see in an RPG, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. | |
Foomer wrote:
*Sigh* The basic theme of the snippet Vortezz quoted was positive reinforcement for player preferences/familiarity, which you can apply to just about anything that involves a choice--if you have a crafts system, a character might get bonuses if they largely stick to making one type of item, for example. I think combat tends to be a popular focus because 1. it's tradition and 2. it represents a simple way to add a detailed tactical aspect (your more advanced economical models work for this too, but are less common). | |
Scoobert wrote:
The problem with skill based weapon management is that a lazer rifle and a bullet rifle can be about the same size, so why would it be so diffrent to shoot it? A lazer pistol and a 6 shooter? So really you would want to base your skills on the size and shape, not the type of weapon. A laser rifle and a standard rifle would be vastly different in principle. With a laser rifle, there would no recoil (other than the air expanding out of the end of the barrel when it gets superheated by the beam), the beam would be instantaneous, and the target struck would be the exact target that the barrel was pointing at (assuming a properly manufactured weapon). With a standard rifle, you usually have to cope with nasty recoil, the bullets take up to a whole second to strike a target, and after only a thousand metres or so the bullet has already accelerated 9.8 metres/second downward. However, the principles behind the laser rifle could be altered to make them less unbalanced -- in addition to the previously mentioned charge restriction, and in addition to the obvious flash the weapon causes. For example, a laser rifle might get so hot when firing that it can only fire a half dozen shots in a row before the diamond inside melts, rendering the weapon forever inoperable. And if someone had thermal goggles, you'd be lit up like a Christmas tree. | |
Combining in bonuses from using the same old weapon would, of course, be smart, but if you use an appropriately detailed skills-based system, then weapons proficiency is already handled in the different types of weapon skills you have.