DOING IT! - WEEK ELEVEN - EQUIPABLES
Posts
For equipment in my game, I've used a rather simplistic method of letting everyone use every piece of equipment. Even more simplistic is the weapons - there are only nine in the game, six melee and three ranged, with them being equally spread between Slash, Pierce and Crush damage. To top it off you have the weapon-leveling system, where every few floors of the tower the game takes place in will be a leveling shop where you can pay cash to level up weapons, upto a max of 10th level.
So yeah, not the most complicated thing in the world, but thats how I like it, a simple set of equipment to cover the somewhat more complex damage algorithms
So yeah, not the most complicated thing in the world, but thats how I like it, a simple set of equipment to cover the somewhat more complex damage algorithms
*digs up article on consistency*
Here I will simply state that you must remain consistent in your application of gameplay concepts. Hopefully, the value of this piece of advice is self-evident. Rules, structure and balance considerations must be consistently applied in the game's design for a game to feel cohesive.
Rules provide a definition of how everything will work within the fictional universe and the ways in which the player will be able to exert their will. Structures provide a framework for the events and causes that the player may choose to follow or reject. General principles of balance ensure that the player's experiences are tilted in their favor. Together, they make the game fun to play from beginning to end.
With consistently implemented rules, players will be able to predict and anticipate future actions. With that knowledge in hand, they will be able to strategize appropriate measures to overcome challenges. Pokemon is a great example of this: Water-types are always very susceptible to Lightning attacks. With that knowledge, a player will be able to plan out their attack against water-types by having a Pikachu handy. It works for Ash.
On the flip side, arbitrarily making a water-type immune to lightning invalidates previously acquired knowledge. Avoid this kind of rule-breaking at all times.
Comprehensible and well-crafted rules help players understand how your universe works and gives them the tools to develop strategies they can apply throughout the gameplay. Players will trust that you are playing fair with them if they feel as though you are being consistent in the way that you apply your rules.
Structure is an important part of framing your ruleset. Start with a list of things you'd like the player to be able to do, and then work backwards up the chain of causality to a set of rules that must exist for that experience to be possible. If you want the player to be able to easily dispatch wolves with poison, you may arrive at a rule where Animal-types are susceptible to poison based attacks.
The rules serve only to make possible the gaming scenarios that the creators had in mind in the first place.
Build On What the Player Knows
When designing the next area, consider all the things the player has likely learned by this point. Build on those concepts, and implement elements that allow them to apply that knowledge to do new things. Game playing is all about learning, and humans are hardwired to find learning fun. Afford your players the opportunity.
So, having inconsistent things thrown in like "This Kobold enemy - unlike any kobold-type enemy in the game before or after - is weak against Lightning attacks" is bad.
I should also include that all facets of the game should be discoverable within the game under reasonable circumstances. Like, I should be able to figure out any obstacle in the game using knowledge gleaned from playing the game itself. Strategy guides should NEVER be necessary to complete a game.
Here I will simply state that you must remain consistent in your application of gameplay concepts. Hopefully, the value of this piece of advice is self-evident. Rules, structure and balance considerations must be consistently applied in the game's design for a game to feel cohesive.
Rules provide a definition of how everything will work within the fictional universe and the ways in which the player will be able to exert their will. Structures provide a framework for the events and causes that the player may choose to follow or reject. General principles of balance ensure that the player's experiences are tilted in their favor. Together, they make the game fun to play from beginning to end.
With consistently implemented rules, players will be able to predict and anticipate future actions. With that knowledge in hand, they will be able to strategize appropriate measures to overcome challenges. Pokemon is a great example of this: Water-types are always very susceptible to Lightning attacks. With that knowledge, a player will be able to plan out their attack against water-types by having a Pikachu handy. It works for Ash.
On the flip side, arbitrarily making a water-type immune to lightning invalidates previously acquired knowledge. Avoid this kind of rule-breaking at all times.
Comprehensible and well-crafted rules help players understand how your universe works and gives them the tools to develop strategies they can apply throughout the gameplay. Players will trust that you are playing fair with them if they feel as though you are being consistent in the way that you apply your rules.
Structure is an important part of framing your ruleset. Start with a list of things you'd like the player to be able to do, and then work backwards up the chain of causality to a set of rules that must exist for that experience to be possible. If you want the player to be able to easily dispatch wolves with poison, you may arrive at a rule where Animal-types are susceptible to poison based attacks.
The rules serve only to make possible the gaming scenarios that the creators had in mind in the first place.
Build On What the Player Knows
When designing the next area, consider all the things the player has likely learned by this point. Build on those concepts, and implement elements that allow them to apply that knowledge to do new things. Game playing is all about learning, and humans are hardwired to find learning fun. Afford your players the opportunity.
So, having inconsistent things thrown in like "This Kobold enemy - unlike any kobold-type enemy in the game before or after - is weak against Lightning attacks" is bad.
I should also include that all facets of the game should be discoverable within the game under reasonable circumstances. Like, I should be able to figure out any obstacle in the game using knowledge gleaned from playing the game itself. Strategy guides should NEVER be necessary to complete a game.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
In an RPG or strategy game, all you need to do to win is know what the optimal strategy is. If you tell the player what the optimal strategy is in all cases, then they can never lose, unless the optimal strategy still has a random chance of causing them to lose. Which is generally considered bullshit.
When I say information-hiding, I don't mean not telling them basic info like the fact that a certain weapon inflicts poison. That can get really annoying, although I know there are a lot of people who enjoy playing games like Nethack that tell you absolutely nothing and the entire game is about discovery. But for most of us, if you hide too much information, then the player can't form any intelligent strategy at all. The things most commonly hidden are things like damage formulas, exact success rates, enemy defenses, and the tactics that enemies use.
As an on-topic example, a hat's description doesn't really need to indicate that it will reduce enemy damage from (300-400)^(enemy attack power/87) to (300-400)^(enemy attack power/91), except for enemies with armor piercing abilities, who will ignore the hat, or that have been buffed with Bravery status, whose final damage will be raised by an addition 1.1 exponent. It's enough to simply say that it increases defense power by 4, and leave the player to wonder what that number 4 really represents in the damage formula.
When I say information-hiding, I don't mean not telling them basic info like the fact that a certain weapon inflicts poison. That can get really annoying, although I know there are a lot of people who enjoy playing games like Nethack that tell you absolutely nothing and the entire game is about discovery. But for most of us, if you hide too much information, then the player can't form any intelligent strategy at all. The things most commonly hidden are things like damage formulas, exact success rates, enemy defenses, and the tactics that enemies use.
As an on-topic example, a hat's description doesn't really need to indicate that it will reduce enemy damage from (300-400)^(enemy attack power/87) to (300-400)^(enemy attack power/91), except for enemies with armor piercing abilities, who will ignore the hat, or that have been buffed with Bravery status, whose final damage will be raised by an addition 1.1 exponent. It's enough to simply say that it increases defense power by 4, and leave the player to wonder what that number 4 really represents in the damage formula.
post=149277
On the flip side, arbitrarily making a water-type immune to lightning invalidates previously acquired knowledge. Avoid this kind of rule-breaking at all times.
What about something non-arbitrary? Wooper and Quagsire would like to have a word with you, Kentona.
post=149277
Build On What the Player Knows When designing the next area, consider all the things the player has likely learned by this point. Build on those concepts, and implement elements that allow them to apply that knowledge to do new things. Game playing is all about learning, and humans are hardwired to find learning fun. Afford your players the opportunity.
So, having inconsistent things thrown in like "This Kobold enemy - unlike any kobold-type enemy in the game before or after - is weak against Lightning attacks" is bad.
Again, a nominal inconsistency can be used to reveal something new.
Is the Kobold Green? (Yellow<->Green damage factors - yes, I drew that from Chrono Cross. No, I haven't played enough to know if I drew it correctly.)
Does it have a large spear or thick metal armor? (Certain types of equipment change normal damage factors in unexpected ways)
Is it standing in water, or is it raining? (Terrain and/or weather conditions can change normal damage factors)
I think the issue I'm trying to raise here is meta-consistency, although I'm not certain about that. Basically, I'm taking a bit of miff against the 'never do that' logic you mentioned, in favor of presenting scenarios where, by breaking that rule, you're introducing new ones to the player. Again, though, it's not really an arbitrary breakage, so I don't think I'm exactly disagreeing with you - merely requesting an expansion by presenting one of my own.
I had a point when I began this, I'm sure I did...
I have no idea what a wooper or quagsire is. I assume one of them is a hamburger.
Anywho, the point you should take away from my post is Do not arbitrarily break your own rules. If your rule is "Green enemies are immune to lightning" or somesuch, don't just break it for no reason in some part of your game.
Anywho, the point you should take away from my post is Do not arbitrarily break your own rules. If your rule is "Green enemies are immune to lightning" or somesuch, don't just break it for no reason in some part of your game.
Pokemons! They're Ground/Water type if I remember correctly and are immune to electrical attacks which sorta goes against everything you were taught about the elemental strengths and weaknesses up to that point.
EDIT: Oops, the above may not be entirely accurate. Ground pokemon are completely immune to the effects of electricity, but electricity is super effective against water so I suppose their immunity is in keeping with the 'rules' of the ground type. Suffices to say dual type pokemon of conflicting elements are absolute bastards.
EDIT: Oops, the above may not be entirely accurate. Ground pokemon are completely immune to the effects of electricity, but electricity is super effective against water so I suppose their immunity is in keeping with the 'rules' of the ground type. Suffices to say dual type pokemon of conflicting elements are absolute bastards.
Actually no it isn't going against what you've learnt. Apparently ground takes first place against the lightning attack, lowering it's effectiveness. Atleast I think that's how it works with double elements. Don't know, and don't really care about the inner workings of pokemon.
Hell, all that IV and EV thing is just nonsense to me.
Hell, all that IV and EV thing is just nonsense to me.
post=149432
Actually no it isn't going against what you've learnt. Apparently ground takes first place against the lightning attack, lowering it's effectiveness. Atleast I think that's how it works with double elements. Don't know, and don't really care about the inner workings of pokemon.
Hell, all that IV and EV thing is just nonsense to me.
Actually, it does no damage because Water takes double damage from lightning and ground it immune.
2x0 = 0.
What Pokemaniac said. All the types and how they're affected by attacks are multiplied in an equation. If a type is weak to something, it takes 2x damage. Resistant, it takes 1/2x. Likewise, if a dual-type Pokémon has types that are BOTH weak/resistant to the attack it's hit by, they take 4x and 1/4x respectively. But immunity is immunity, and multiplication by 0 is always 0. And if one type is weak while the other is resistant, it balances back out to normal damage.
Yeah, I'm nerdy.
Yeah, I'm nerdy.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
THIS TOPIC HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH EQUIPABLES.
I will now annex this topic in the name of bad puns.
Weapon name: Pistol
Description: The reproductive section of a flower.
Weapon name: Backstabber
Description: A knife used by politicians.
Weapon name: Steel Edge
Description: The rest of it is made of steel, too.
Weapon name: Tanto
Description: Up, then across.
Weapon name: Orichalcum Blade
Description: Man, I hope that's spelled right.
Weapon name: Totally Sweet Dagger
Description: Sometimes stuns the enemy with pure awesomeness.
Weapon name: Blood Scimitar
Description: Doesn't absorb HP. Not even a little bit. Sorry.
Weapon name: Miracle Whip
Description: Holy damage. Goes great on sandwiches.
Weapon name: Sage Staff
Description: Useful for casting Thyme Magic.
The above weapons are all actual items in my game.
I will now annex this topic in the name of bad puns.
Weapon name: Pistol
Description: The reproductive section of a flower.
Weapon name: Backstabber
Description: A knife used by politicians.
Weapon name: Steel Edge
Description: The rest of it is made of steel, too.
Weapon name: Tanto
Description: Up, then across.
Weapon name: Orichalcum Blade
Description: Man, I hope that's spelled right.
Weapon name: Totally Sweet Dagger
Description: Sometimes stuns the enemy with pure awesomeness.
Weapon name: Blood Scimitar
Description: Doesn't absorb HP. Not even a little bit. Sorry.
Weapon name: Miracle Whip
Description: Holy damage. Goes great on sandwiches.
Weapon name: Sage Staff
Description: Useful for casting Thyme Magic.
The above weapons are all actual items in my game.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Also, I'm thinking of adding a koosh flail as a low level whip.
hah I like the Thyme magic one.
Since I'm working more on the battle system of my game, I don't have many equips planned yet. What I like to do is have 2 choices per "level" of an equip. The next level equip is stronger, but within that level, there's a choice of x or x. For example:
Level 1:
Copper Ring (Raises Attack Power by 5)
Bronze Ring (Raises Mind by 5)
Level 2:
Silver Ring (Raises Attack Power by 12)
Snake Ring (Raises Attack Power by 8, 40% chance of Poison)
Stuff like that. So you have a choice, and perhaps the lower level weapon might still be useful to you if you need that type of effect more than you do the increased attack power. You can possibly find both of them in a shop and you just choose which you'd prefer, or maybe find one of them in the shop and the other in a dungeon or as a reward.
For now I have:
Tisa-
Copper Ring (Attack + 10)
Bronze Ring (Attack + 5, Mind + 5)
Karen-
Light Gloves (Attack + 10, Speed + 5)
Standard Gloves (Attack + 15)
Vivian-
Standard mod (Attack + 8)
Poison mod (Attack + 4, 40% chance of Poison)
And for Armor:
Light Vest (Defense + 10, Armors health 200)
Used Power Armor (Defense + 15, Armors health 100)
*Note: I am unsure if I will have breakable armor with armor health, I may instead keep armor unbreakable and balance it another way. Still planning this out.
Then you have equipment for what type of spells you can use. It starts out as direct progressions, but later it could be a choice .
-Training Manual: Provides the spells of FireStrike and StormStrike to Tisa.
-Aquatic Biology text: Provides the spells of WaterStrike and DarkStrike to Tisa.
-Medical Health report: Provides the spells of Regeneration and Vaccine to Tisa.
Stuff like that. Still deciding on this stuff though. Like perhaps I can make it Items that can be used instead of equipment (for those books above), or have you learn the spells so you don't have to just decide if you want x or x.
I personally prefer to know what the equipment effects rather than have that hidden. In Paradise Blue (for 2k3), I had some equipment that could be listed as "weaker" in the shop screen if I didn't have a description. Like for example, a Wizard Rod could raise Attack by 12 and Mind by 60, and you could have a really powerful sword raise Attack by 45, and it would seem like a downgrade to that character (from the shop screen) even though it's much stronger. So I preferred to just list what effects/stat raises it had instead of giving a description. I'd like to do both if possible but if not, I'd rather list the stats of it.
Since I'm working more on the battle system of my game, I don't have many equips planned yet. What I like to do is have 2 choices per "level" of an equip. The next level equip is stronger, but within that level, there's a choice of x or x. For example:
Level 1:
Copper Ring (Raises Attack Power by 5)
Bronze Ring (Raises Mind by 5)
Level 2:
Silver Ring (Raises Attack Power by 12)
Snake Ring (Raises Attack Power by 8, 40% chance of Poison)
Stuff like that. So you have a choice, and perhaps the lower level weapon might still be useful to you if you need that type of effect more than you do the increased attack power. You can possibly find both of them in a shop and you just choose which you'd prefer, or maybe find one of them in the shop and the other in a dungeon or as a reward.
For now I have:
Tisa-
Copper Ring (Attack + 10)
Bronze Ring (Attack + 5, Mind + 5)
Karen-
Light Gloves (Attack + 10, Speed + 5)
Standard Gloves (Attack + 15)
Vivian-
Standard mod (Attack + 8)
Poison mod (Attack + 4, 40% chance of Poison)
And for Armor:
Light Vest (Defense + 10, Armors health 200)
Used Power Armor (Defense + 15, Armors health 100)
*Note: I am unsure if I will have breakable armor with armor health, I may instead keep armor unbreakable and balance it another way. Still planning this out.
Then you have equipment for what type of spells you can use. It starts out as direct progressions, but later it could be a choice .
-Training Manual: Provides the spells of FireStrike and StormStrike to Tisa.
-Aquatic Biology text: Provides the spells of WaterStrike and DarkStrike to Tisa.
-Medical Health report: Provides the spells of Regeneration and Vaccine to Tisa.
Stuff like that. Still deciding on this stuff though. Like perhaps I can make it Items that can be used instead of equipment (for those books above), or have you learn the spells so you don't have to just decide if you want x or x.
I personally prefer to know what the equipment effects rather than have that hidden. In Paradise Blue (for 2k3), I had some equipment that could be listed as "weaker" in the shop screen if I didn't have a description. Like for example, a Wizard Rod could raise Attack by 12 and Mind by 60, and you could have a really powerful sword raise Attack by 45, and it would seem like a downgrade to that character (from the shop screen) even though it's much stronger. So I preferred to just list what effects/stat raises it had instead of giving a description. I'd like to do both if possible but if not, I'd rather list the stats of it.
post=149168
In RealmS, Jidor (your second party member) learns his skills through what sword he has equipped. It's a bit different to the usual 'learn via equipment' way, though, in that he can learn three skills from each sword, but he can only take one of those skills with him when he equips a new sword - and only if he has mastered the sword. So, say he's just learnt all the skills from his initial equip - Short Sword. That means he can choose either 'Focus Slash', 'Troll Slash' or 'Multi Slash' to keep as a main skill. Of course, he can use all three until he equips a new sword, but only the chosen one will stay in his skill list afterwards. And only one from each sword can be chosen. (So you have to choose carefully what skills to keep - though there will be ways to change the skills.)
Bonus:
"Darkness is forged by love and hate." - Proverb
A stick taken from Tree. Heals the user but makes enemies angry.
A hat that has a point. Not unlike this description
Made to blend into the forest background.
Ask a stupid question... Lowers enemy STR, DEF, MAG, AGI
Wiat, so does he have ot pick which skill will stay upon mastering the sword, but BEFORE swapping, or is selecting the skil to remain part of the swap-out process? The second would seem to be more useful and flexible: "Which ability would you like to retain?"
And I suspect items 3 and 5 may be the same, a dunce cap, unless 3 is a Wizard's Hat.
And . . . *Tries to think of an itme he's acatualy going to use in a game"
Item: Specius
Description: Your talking mirror guide.
Leekspear: Engraved "to Ieva.' May confuse target.
I just recently decided that I needed to extend my weapons list from four to six (seven including 'joke' weapons). Since I'm using a Materia system in my game, which controls the amount of magic you can have at one time, I have to not only take into account the games I'm deriving from and what would fit best. I fully finished off the weapons and armors database that night, since I decided to just sit down and do it.
A problem I ran into was naming my weapons that I couldn't just grab off an FF database. A number of the characters I have don't HAVE six weapons. Ok, two of them. :V. I also had to create suitable Materia slots for each weapon and make sure they were appropriately suited to the character's role (which isn't really defined much in my game, but they do have loose roles), so enough Materia slots to keep a mage going. I'm thinking about adding state changes to weapons but I haven't fully decided yet, I want to finish the game and see if having a weapon that causes state changes would be appropriate. I'm thinking about making Kumo's weapons extremely heavy, so it slows him right down (and he's fairly slow to begin with) but it has high attack strength and inflicts Armour Break, which would make up for the lack of turns (or so I think).
Lately I've also been trying to think of designs for a weapon in another game I plan on making once CC is finished and my life isn't so hectic. It's a Ring Blade and debutted in Soul Calibur 3 with Tira. I like the idea of the weapon and plus the character has always had it as her weapon, even from when she was created 4 years ago. Holy shit, has it been that long? I digress.
I want to try and make it original as well as keeping the source material somewhat. I'm thinking about making it a giant cog of sorts, or be shrinkable for easy carrying. Since the game is fairly steampunk (well, the city itself is the only properly developed place on the planet save another few havens similar to it; most people live in despair in backwards homes, since monsters destroy everything and it needs to be rebuildable) I think the cog could work, but it was the 'joke' weapon for Tira in SC3.
:/
A problem I ran into was naming my weapons that I couldn't just grab off an FF database. A number of the characters I have don't HAVE six weapons. Ok, two of them. :V. I also had to create suitable Materia slots for each weapon and make sure they were appropriately suited to the character's role (which isn't really defined much in my game, but they do have loose roles), so enough Materia slots to keep a mage going. I'm thinking about adding state changes to weapons but I haven't fully decided yet, I want to finish the game and see if having a weapon that causes state changes would be appropriate. I'm thinking about making Kumo's weapons extremely heavy, so it slows him right down (and he's fairly slow to begin with) but it has high attack strength and inflicts Armour Break, which would make up for the lack of turns (or so I think).
Lately I've also been trying to think of designs for a weapon in another game I plan on making once CC is finished and my life isn't so hectic. It's a Ring Blade and debutted in Soul Calibur 3 with Tira. I like the idea of the weapon and plus the character has always had it as her weapon, even from when she was created 4 years ago. Holy shit, has it been that long? I digress.
I want to try and make it original as well as keeping the source material somewhat. I'm thinking about making it a giant cog of sorts, or be shrinkable for easy carrying. Since the game is fairly steampunk (well, the city itself is the only properly developed place on the planet save another few havens similar to it; most people live in despair in backwards homes, since monsters destroy everything and it needs to be rebuildable) I think the cog could work, but it was the 'joke' weapon for Tira in SC3.
:/
If you're having name or idea trouble,s check out Seventh Sanctum- they have random generators to spark ideas.
For example you might have a cursedriver, a farwand, and a whipdart.
Also Charas project has some interesting "Dragon teeth" Weapons.
For example you might have a cursedriver, a farwand, and a whipdart.
Also Charas project has some interesting "Dragon teeth" Weapons.
My equipment sections:
Weapons: The obvious.
Armor: Also obvious, although there's only one armor slot.
Accessory: Accessories that give you additional weird powers, resistances, change battle commands, and the like.
Attitude: Character-specific. This affects a character's stats as a battle rages on. Stats like ATK and DEF improve, or you regain hp or mp every turn, depending on which attitude you have equipped.
Title: Also character-specific. Affects character-specific abilities and skills. (May be removed in the future, too specific)
As far as descriptions go, I've written stupid fun little blurbs about each item. Any pertinent information is also added, such as status effects of weapons or elemental affinities (I've shortened these by hacking the glyph system to make things like lightning bolts, fireballs, etc). I don't bother listing the stat bonuses since they're fairly obvious from equipping the damn thing.
Weapons: The obvious.
Armor: Also obvious, although there's only one armor slot.
Accessory: Accessories that give you additional weird powers, resistances, change battle commands, and the like.
Attitude: Character-specific. This affects a character's stats as a battle rages on. Stats like ATK and DEF improve, or you regain hp or mp every turn, depending on which attitude you have equipped.
Title: Also character-specific. Affects character-specific abilities and skills. (May be removed in the future, too specific)
As far as descriptions go, I've written stupid fun little blurbs about each item. Any pertinent information is also added, such as status effects of weapons or elemental affinities (I've shortened these by hacking the glyph system to make things like lightning bolts, fireballs, etc). I don't bother listing the stat bonuses since they're fairly obvious from equipping the damn thing.
Weapon types for me depend on scenario.
Example: My current long-term project takes place in a single village and the surrounding environs. With only one exception, all 'weapons' used by the characters are tools - Hunter's bow, Fisher's line, Applerod Stave, Harvest Scythe, and Smith's Hammer. (The exception is the sword carried by the one 'soldier'-like character in town. No, it's not the main character or his mentor.)
Example: My current long-term project takes place in a single village and the surrounding environs. With only one exception, all 'weapons' used by the characters are tools - Hunter's bow, Fisher's line, Applerod Stave, Harvest Scythe, and Smith's Hammer. (The exception is the sword carried by the one 'soldier'-like character in town. No, it's not the main character or his mentor.)
Descriptions and equipment!
Bring this to knife fights.
The kids love this one!
Not the vampire kind.
Don't pursue those who weild this weapon.
Lu Bu Lunar Halberd
Makes you go wow.
You'd have to be a mad scientist to not wear these!
Astrologers favorite shield.
Bring this to knife fights.
A Gun
The kids love this one!
Altima the Flamethrower
Not the vampire kind.
Bat
Don't pursue those who weild this weapon.
Makes you go wow.
Giant Freaking Pauldrons
You'd have to be a mad scientist to not wear these!
Insano-Vision
Astrologers favorite shield.
Scutum




















