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Other Announcements / Advanced magic, freeform system
« on: June 13, 2008, 04:36:34 AM »
I'm not sure how relevant this is to Roguelikes in particular as to RPGs in general, but I've been thinking lately about magic systems. I had an idea I wanted to write up as an article on my own Roguelike development blog, but every time I try to pin down a good design the whole thing falls apart.
Essentially, it struck me that a more reasonable, well-recognized form of magic in fantasy worlds would be one that requires study, has arcane and hidden knowledge, and in which new things can be discovered. Most fiction puts magic in those terms, but when translated into a game it always ends up as a preset list of spells that do specific things, often attempting balance but never achieving it. So I thought, screw balance, let's just think of magic in more practical terms: an alphabet, or RNA sequences, spelling out the building blocks of a spell. This alphabet would be deterministic, such that transposing letters would produce a different spell, using certain sequences would affect the mana and time requirements differently, and spells have to be discovered.
Where I ran aground is that it's fairly difficult to contain an entire set of spells in a single alphabet. Key concepts would be elements to act on, targets like people and objects, spell action as in a transfer of energy or a change of physical properties or some kind of transformation or illusion etc., and method of spell delivery. It should also be possible to, via another spell, bind a spell into an item or person, so you could create an enchanted weapon or some such.
Perhaps a better analogy, different from an alphabet, would be chemistry. In chemistry many compounds are formed by taking smaller molecules and forming them together in a certain way to create a unique topography. So the spellcrafter would, in trying to design a Wall of Ice spell, want something that would act on thin air, drain heat, do so very rapidly, and pick a target location and orientation of his choice. The latter might be swapped out, for ease of use, with a way of forming the spell directly between the caster and a chosen target. An explorer wanting to brighten a dark underground room would want a spell that acts on the nearby walls, summons bright light, and lingers for a certain time (perhaps hours).
I know there are various magic systems out there, but I suspect few of them require players to essentially become "magic programmers", which in a very real sense is what fictional wizards are: mana hackers. I'm thinking some kind of simplified grammar could be used to convert freeform spellcasting from a problem of natural language interpretation into a problem of simple parsing, not unlike the way a text adventure operates.
In adventure-game syntax, this is how I picture some spells would work:
Heal: Transfer life from air to target
Incinerate: Summon much heat at target for 10 seconds
Terrify: Show target's greatest fear to target
Break: Rupture target moderately
Shatter: Rupture target greatly
Teleport self away: Jump me to any large empty place
I think my own mental picture of the possible lists of spells is fairly incomplete, and without that it'd be hard to describe such spells in consistent terms. Feedback and related thoughts are much appreciated.
Essentially, it struck me that a more reasonable, well-recognized form of magic in fantasy worlds would be one that requires study, has arcane and hidden knowledge, and in which new things can be discovered. Most fiction puts magic in those terms, but when translated into a game it always ends up as a preset list of spells that do specific things, often attempting balance but never achieving it. So I thought, screw balance, let's just think of magic in more practical terms: an alphabet, or RNA sequences, spelling out the building blocks of a spell. This alphabet would be deterministic, such that transposing letters would produce a different spell, using certain sequences would affect the mana and time requirements differently, and spells have to be discovered.
Where I ran aground is that it's fairly difficult to contain an entire set of spells in a single alphabet. Key concepts would be elements to act on, targets like people and objects, spell action as in a transfer of energy or a change of physical properties or some kind of transformation or illusion etc., and method of spell delivery. It should also be possible to, via another spell, bind a spell into an item or person, so you could create an enchanted weapon or some such.
Perhaps a better analogy, different from an alphabet, would be chemistry. In chemistry many compounds are formed by taking smaller molecules and forming them together in a certain way to create a unique topography. So the spellcrafter would, in trying to design a Wall of Ice spell, want something that would act on thin air, drain heat, do so very rapidly, and pick a target location and orientation of his choice. The latter might be swapped out, for ease of use, with a way of forming the spell directly between the caster and a chosen target. An explorer wanting to brighten a dark underground room would want a spell that acts on the nearby walls, summons bright light, and lingers for a certain time (perhaps hours).
I know there are various magic systems out there, but I suspect few of them require players to essentially become "magic programmers", which in a very real sense is what fictional wizards are: mana hackers. I'm thinking some kind of simplified grammar could be used to convert freeform spellcasting from a problem of natural language interpretation into a problem of simple parsing, not unlike the way a text adventure operates.
In adventure-game syntax, this is how I picture some spells would work:
Heal: Transfer life from air to target
Incinerate: Summon much heat at target for 10 seconds
Terrify: Show target's greatest fear to target
Break: Rupture target moderately
Shatter: Rupture target greatly
Teleport self away: Jump me to any large empty place
I think my own mental picture of the possible lists of spells is fairly incomplete, and without that it'd be hard to describe such spells in consistent terms. Feedback and related thoughts are much appreciated.