For the game I am working on, normal damage is simple. Weapons come with a dice roll on them (1D2, 1D6, 2D6) and then you add on any str bonus you have. And attacking the monsters is as easy as slamming into them.
Now Magic on the other hand, I am having a problem with. I have been thinking spells you learn, will also start off with a basic damage dice roll on them, but level up as they are used and thus, become more powerful. And like weapons, spells get any int bonus added to them.
In any event I am unsure how to handle Magic as a whole. And when I say that, I mean the casting process. Should player cast spells that are like bullets that enemies can dodge, or should the spells be instant attacks that just slam into the enemy? Also, how should the player be able to cast the spells? A casting macro? Clicking an icon on the screen? Clicking the spells from a stat panel?
I want to hear opinions on that, and I'd like it if people could give me some examples of how it is handled in current BYOND games.
ID:152110
 Feb 6 2008, 4:41 pm
|
|
level up as they are used and thus, become more powerful. No! I already told you why this is a horrible solution in another thread. Do you want players opting to madly cast a spell in the air rapidly instead of raiding a dragon's lair or exploring ancient ruins? | |
Consider this:
A guy with a 2' long arm has a punch range of 2'.
A guy with a 2' long arm with a 2' blade has a cut range of 4'.
So every weapon has a range, even the ones your don't let go of.
So in a game, you should determine the range of each weapon. Fists, knifes, swords, etc: 1 tile. Spears, polearms, halberds, lances, etc: 2 tiles. Spells can have different ranges too. A spell that shocks whomever you touch has a range of 1 tile.
Next, when do you bump into the enemy, really? Whenever you are within range to strike! Therefore all you have to do is see something, identify it as an enemy, and move into range and line-of-sight. It doesn't matter if you have a sword, bow, or spell equipped. It's the same steps: see it, identify it, get in range of it.
So if you see a shopkeeper and don't identify it as an enemy, you can bump into it and not kill it. If you identify it as an enemy, then it doesn't matter if you are a kungfuman, swordsman, bowman, or voodooman. Whatever fist, blade, bow, or spell equipped determines if you are close enough and let the system do the rest.
How to do this? How about right click your mob to decide how bloodthirsty it is? Tame: presume every living object is a friend unless you decide otherwise. Aggressive: presume every living object is an enemy unless you decide otherwise. If you right click a living object, you decide if it is friend or foe. If something shoots at or swings at you, then the system should automatically change it to foe.
This way, you can be tame while walking in a town, and get aggro in the abyss.
Then there's the AI part. If you identify an enemy, should you have to move your character within range and line of sight with arrow keys, or should the system do it for you? I like the system to take over and move me into range, BUT let me override by pressing the keys. Any enemy I select goes to the front of the kill-it queue. If something I thought was a friend starts to attack me, move it to the end of the kill-it queue. I can always select it if I want to kill it NOW.
When you run out of ammo (arrows, bullets, mana, runes, memory slots, whatever), the system should make you run away unless you have a secondary weapon equiped.
Also there should be a minimum range. If you are closer than this, you get away from the enemy. So if I see a thug in an alley with a baeball bat and I'm shooting him with a water pistal, I'm going to make sure I keep away from that bat!
Also there should be a minimum health. Automatically run away when under this.
So with all this automation, why bother playing when you can make your mob aggro, head for the fridge to make a sandwich, and come back with all the enemies dead or your mob stuck p a tree? Well while the battles go on, you watch health, suck potions, switch weapons/spells/etc, taunt players, etc. Better to wait for later to grab that sandwich.
That's my opinion on stuff. I know it sounds more complicated then click-to-shoot, but it's just unfair to click-once for 1 million rounds of melee hits but click 1 million times for 1 million rounds of ranged hits.