Hi, I''m new to the site. I''m making an RPG called the Prince of Might. I haven''t really written the story yet, but a prince of some unknown, far away land realizes that it''s his turn to gain the wisdom to save his land from the evil in it, and prepare to become king. Anyway, it will be very simple, with random enemy encounters, and turn-based battle. I need some suggestions. I plan on emphasizing the magic system, and making it different from other games. Any help is appreciated.

1. Plan.


2. Plan.


3. Plan.


4. Get a tech demo running before you add too much content. ("If you can''t play it, it isn''t a game")

Later,
ZE.

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I''m starting on my first serious game project...I''m not even worried about a story yet (I''ve got a half a dozen ideas floating around in my head, though). The important thing is definitely getting a running demo. You can write the story all you want after you have something that''s playable.

-OOProgrammer
virtual void life() = 0;

In this game, you visit many towns, and talk to the townspeople. You must collect magical stones to learn spells, and to level-up your spells. There will be levels to gain with experience points. Just wondering, what should the equation be for the required eperience for a given level?

The equations you want depend on the system you want. You can''t just grab an equation and hope to build the system around it. I suggest you study existing computer games, and hopefully some tabletop roleplaying games too, to see how they did it.

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OK, how about the following:
Experience Required = 2 ^ Level
or
E.R. = Level ^2

Both are good non-linear equations that fit the scenario well. With the second on, you would start out with 1 experience because 2^0 = 1. In the first one, you start with 0. The second one increased more quickly. Which one do you think is better?

Neither. It could also be constant. Or linear. It makes no difference, as it depends entirely on how much experience you will gain.

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If a charachter''s increase in power (in your game) involves increasing base stats (like most console RPGs), why not make the experience earned for a kill equal to the enemy''s combined stat numbers. Then you have a system that scales itself, if you balance the game appropriately.

-OOProgrammer
virtual void life() = 0;

If you''re looking for somewhere to start on your game, deciding what formula you''ll be using to calculate experience requirements is definitely the wrong place.

Regardless, in order to devise an experience formula, you need to take several factors into consideration.

* What is the difference in power between two characters one level apart?
* Is this power difference larger/smaller/the same at low levels compared to high levels?
* What constitutes "high level" in this game? Is there a logical termination point ("most people beat Final Fantasy II at around level 55"), or does the player level indefinitely (probably through randomly generated content)?
* How many objectives (killing monsters, completing quests) should a new player have to accomplish to gain their first level of experience? What difficulty should those objectives be?
* How many objectives should a high level player have to accomplish to gain another level of experience? What difficulty should those objectives be?

Once you have determined those things, you should be able to devise a formula that would meet your requirements. Also, be sure to choose large enough values that you have room to fine-tune the experience rewards, even at their lower values (If a Goblin is worth 3 experience points, a Cliche Rat is worth 2, and a Cowardly Troll is slightly harder than a Cliche Rat yet slightly easier than a Goblin, how much experience would it award?)
Conversely, make sure you aren''t choosing values that are so high that they are difficult to read at the later stages of the game ("For killing the Oblivion Dragon, you are awarded 79320159093 Experience Points") and, of course, also be sure that they will not be causing your variables to roll.

I think the toughest enemy should yeild 1000 experience points, while the weakest should yeild 25, and go by 25''s in between. The first level should require something like 100 points. I want to make it harder to gain levels as your level grows, as in a parabola. Any suggestions for the formula?