Messages

166

Programming / Re: Has anyone attempted to use actions points instead turns for combat?

« on: October 15, 2013, 09:46:12 PM »

What's the advantage of using action points rather than just assigning time values to actions?  Like, saying a basic attack takes seven tenths of a second, or whatever?

167

Programming / Re: Leveling/Experience

« on: October 15, 2013, 09:31:29 PM »

The downside to all this is that it's a rediculously overcomplicated system that would require the player to become familiar with a range of different potion recipes and where to find the ingredients for them before they can really use it properly.  It would also make balancing the game much more difficult.  Still, it could lead to some interesting strategic decisions and might not be an entirely terrible system with a little refinement.

I actually like this idea because it involves setting priorities and making mutually exclusive decisions about how your character develops.  I think that creating your character should be a process that continues through the entire game, not just one that takes place at the beginning of a play-through.

So, I like the idea of being able to choose from several rewards when completing a quest, or being able to choose from multiple perks each level up.  However, I think that once you choose such a perk on leveling up, you shouldn't ever be able to go back and chose the alternative (at least for that character).  This is different from most perk systems where you can always come back at a later level and pick up the perk you didn't choose before.

Level grinding was mentioned earlier, and I think someone mentioned that it was a situation where there was no cost or risk involved (other than the time that you as a player puts in).  One way to add cost/risk that is to impose a time limit on the game as a whole.  So, if you wanted to spend the limited amount of time that you had grinding, you could, but you would be foregoing other opportunities to develop your character in the process.

168

Programming / Re: Leveling/Experience

« on: October 15, 2013, 09:18:45 PM »

There's no way those magic dart are a better use of your time and resources than another shot of summon ice beast or whatever, but you have to do it anyway.  It doesn't take skill.  You don't have to think about it.  It isn't more "realistic."  It adds nothing of value to the game.  It's just a big waste of time for no reason.

Well, I think that maybe this is where trainers come in.  The player can spend money, which he can acquire through the use of any skills he likes, to boost a completely different skill.   I would argue that while this method of skill advancement is far from being completely realistic, it may be a least somewhat more realistic than the system that crawl now uses.  And that it what makes such as system attractive to me.

Someone already alluded to this, I think, but if the player thinks the most entertaining and useful way to allocate their time is to mindlessly perform repeated actions, it may be that there are other problems with the game's design besides the way skills are advanced.  Ideally, players should be able to advance their skills through repeated use while also participating in the story or doing something that feels meaningful and in character. 

And let me be clear, it sounds like crawl came up with a very creative and highly functional solution to the issues that we are dealing with here.  I just like games that, at least in part, allow skills to advance through their repeated use.