First off, I''m new to gamedev.net... so.. Hi! I''ve been designing RPG''s for a while, and when it comes to battle systems, i have trouble setting up the equations for actual damage, taking into consideration the stats of attackee/defendee. (D&D is too played out) So, from my experience heres how it all boils down (in my eyes): - Strength figures how much damage can be dealt w/o weapon restrictions. - Defense figures how much damage can be blocked w/o weapon restrictions. - MagAtk figures magic damage, w/o weaknesses to certain magic types, and w/o special magic attributes ie. junctioning magic to weapons. - MagDef figures magic defense, w/o weaknesses Then you have to consider the following, as well: - Stamina, for how long waits should be between attacks - Luck, for chance of critical hit - Weapon str (unless you simply have the weapon add on to physical strength, which would be the easiest). Plus, you''d have to consider that as the player levels up, so do the stats, and youd have to make the stat changes realisticly fit into the equation without creating too much of a jump in damage dealt. Feel free to add on if you have any suggestions/ideas/comments

Basically, I cheat...

I design my character mechanics, I select what level he should be at in a certian dungen, then I level the enemies to match him.

It''s not the greatest way to design a game, but it does work, and as long as your character''s level ramp is just right, then it works well...

quote: Original post by Dj JinX
- Strength figures how much damage can be dealt w/o weapon restrictions.

I would say Damage Bonus/Malus.

quote:
- Defense figures how much damage can be blocked w/o weapon restrictions.

I often divide this in block and dodge.

quote:
- MagAtk figures magic damage, w/o weaknesses to certain magic types, and w/o special magic attributes ie. junctioning magic to weapons.
- MagDef figures magic defense, w/o weaknesses

Looks fine.

quote:
Then you have to consider the following, as well:
- Stamina, for how long waits should be between attacks

Interesting idea, I use Stamina to know how long you can fight before beginning to get penalties due to fatigue.

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- Luck, for chance of critical hit

I never use luck. Critical depends on your strength and the ennemy skill/shape, also your knowledge of its weak points.

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- Weapon str (unless you simply have the weapon add on to physical strength, which would be the easiest).

Weapon Type gives you the damage range IMO.

Don''t put too much randomization. You should be able to know the outcome of a fight and you shouldn''t have many surprises.
Random number should just have a small impact on the outcome of a battle.

In FPS games, there''s almost no random numbers at all, your 100% based on player (not character) skill.
How much do you want to rely upon player skills ?

-* So many things to do, so little time to spend. *-

Each dungeon should have (almost) the same level of creatures. If you always make them stronger, then the player will not have the feeling of power, might.

.lick

Ok, i''m making an rpg, and i''ve already designed a statistics system. It''s quite a task, mine ended up being 20 pages long.

Describe *exactly* how each stat affects a character performance.

nothing much i can say other then. if you have only a page or two, you don''t have enough

*exactly* how each stat affects performance is up to you, but like i said before, theres basics that each stat take control of. I''ll give the D&D definition, and leave it up to your perception.

Strength: A rating of physical power, endurance, and stamina.

Intelligence: Contrary to most belief, intelligence is not how much one knows, but instead a capacity of how much one CAN learn. It also includes mnemonic, reasoning, and ability skills.

Wisdom: Willpower, judgement, wile, enlightenment, and intuitiveness.

Dexterity: Hand-eye coordination, agility, reflex speed, precision, balance, and actual speed of movement.

Constitution: Physique, health, resistance, and fitness.

Luck: Luck is unlike any other ability. It cannot be affected by any sort of trait increase (this is up for discussion, if its your rpg), but is instead determined completely by the Gods. Luck affects things such as critical hits, findings, and "being in the right place at the right time."


There ya go... But there are also other things that can affect the outcome of the stat changes, ie. armor/weapon bonuses, effect spells, etc.

randomization is good if you do it right, it allows a range of values to be the outcome of damage.

Tangential, but in regards to combat and player skill (or character skill as it were).

If you weight to heavily on randomizer, or to heavily on player skill (twitch) you are most likely limiting your market appeal. Most games I can think of its still a chance to hit, albeit at a point your chance is near 0 or almost 100% in some cases. Random also determines variance in damage in most of these as well.

If you are targetting a large segment, you have to make it so that it appeals to a 15 year old and his 50 year old father so to speak. The latter probably won''t like it if its too heavily twitch based, and the kid isn''t going to enjoy it if its more like watching a movie than playing their own motion.

As to your question of battle equation/stats, I am working on coming up with a system myself. At its crude state, it ratios ATR/DEF and gives a % to hit. It gets near certain if your ATR is several times the DEF, and nearly impossible to hit if DEF is factors higher than ATR.

The big issue is deciding on a range to use for stats, are the stats uniform or unique in their range, ratio of effect (ie, Str & Dex determine to hit & damage and in waht % of each, or just one of them and the other for damage). All I can say is myself I prefer a system that tends toward realistic as much as possible till the playability and entertainment factor must be excercised over making it an RL Sim. Thus, for each weapon type, stats factor into hit & dam numbers differently. Block, Dodge, Evade, Parry, Return are skills to me, something you''d practice to be good at and your stats would affect your potential at it (a weakling will never be good with a tower shield as a clumsy oaf wouldn''t put a buckler to much good use). Stamina I wouldn''t think directly affected your attack speed other than if you were fatigued you''d attack slowly, and if you used a "rapid attack" style you''d burn stamina faster for the flurry of action in a short time span.

One thing that seems uniform in most games is the use of armor. Its not realistic. No one can walk around in heavy plate armor for lengths of time without becoming fatigued. Though you may easily carry the weight, it fatigues your movements and I have not seen this accurately accounted for in too many games yet, or even at all.

(and I have 3/4 armor, @11th century, plate, chain, brigandine combo. By the time a squire helps you don it you already are sweating unless its fairly cold out, and there is no way of wearing it without padding that wouldn''t do physical damage to the wearer. 15 minutes walking around in it and ones shoulders are sore. 4 hours in it, and you are in as much pain and fatigued as if you''d been in a brawl let alone dehydrated despite drinking mass amounts of water. No one walks around in that stuff to battle. They ride up, suit up and fight)

For non-magical combat I use something along the following:

• Damage-relevant stats: either strength or dexterity, depends on the weapon.
  
• To-Hit: Dex determines how good the attacker aims, the defender can dodge(purely Dex, armor/emcumbrance must be considered) and/or parry(same as attack)
  
• Damage-Taken: Armor has some damage reduction capabilities. So if the attacker hits and does 10 damage, a heavy plate mail will certainly absorb some of it. Different damage types can also be taken into consideration, with each armor type protecting to a different degree against a certain weapon type.
  

Fatigue plays a role when a battle lasts longer... High constitution prevents penalties for these situations.

Just my 2 cents.


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"There are only two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein



[edited by - grbrg on May 21, 2003 6:59:09 AM]

The randomization must be proportionnal to the stats used in the action being calculated.

If for example, you have a base 100 system (Percentages), and only one stat is used: then you''d have a randomization of STAT + random_macro(1,100);

If 2 stats are used in an action, it would be STAT1 + STAT2 + random_macro(1,200);

That guarantees a good balance for the random determination.

Random IS important in RPG, just because it adds some fun (in fights mainly).