Uchioniko

So, this is an RPG, and it has fights. Nothing new in this idea, but how do we decide how difficult something is, or should be? The solution that was decided on with everything I've made since Matsumori Days, (Though there could have been a possible exception with Weird Dreams!), was to generate a character in the database whose statistics are an average of all the other available characters. Then, when it comes time to make a monster, I decide on what level the thing is, and make some calculations based on the "Average Joe" character's stats.

Just saying that might not make too much sense, so let's say, for the sake of example, that we're looking to make a level 1 critter, and the "Average" character has these stats:
HP: 700
MP: 140
STR: 18
DEF: 18
INT: 18
WILL: 18
SPD: 35
LUCK: 35

I take the DEF, WILL, SPD, and LUCK values here and put them into the critter sheet as-is. STR and INT are based on how much damage the critter wants to do, while HP and MP are based on how much damage would be incoming. Since INT can be a determining factor with incoming damage (Stupid spells!), we must define STR and INT before we can define HP and MP. So, how have I done this?

As I mentioned before, STR and INT are determined by how much damage a critter wants to do. I've been figuring that a normal critter wants to chop off about 10% of a character's HP, whereas bosses take off about 25%. In our above case, this would mean 70 damage for a normal enemy or 175 damage if we're looking at a boss. So, we need to decide how this creature deals this damage. Well, it can attack normally, use a technique, or use a spell.

The damage for a normal attack, is, of course, determined by the attacker's attack and the defender's defense. More specifically, it is:
(4 * A_STR) - (2 * D_DEF) = DAM
However, we already know some of this:
(4 * A_STR) - (2* 18) = 70
simplified to...
(4 * A_STR) - 36 = 70
adding 36 to both sides...
4 * A_STR = 106
dividing both sides by 4...
A_STR = 53 / 2 or 26.5

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Darigaaz, what is this? Algebra, where you search for 'x'?" Actually, yes, that's exactly what I'm doing! Anyway, we can't enter 26.5 into the RPG Maker database, but 27 is close enough.

But wait, what about techniques? It's similar, but a bit different:
BASE + (4 * A_STR * STR_P / 100) - (2 * D_DEF * STR_P / 100) = DAM
simplified to...
BASE + (A_STR * STR_P / 25) - (D_DEF * STR_P / 50) = DAM
replacing known variables...
BASE + (A_STR * STR_P / 25) - (18 * STR_P / 50) = 70
This is more or less where we get stuck, until we define what technique we're using. For the sake of example, let's put the numbers for Ruri's "Puncture" technique. This leads us to...
50 + (A_STR * 70 / 25) - (18 * 70 / 50) = 70
simplified to...
50 + (A_STR * 14 / 5) - (126 / 5) = 70
50 - (126 / 5) = 124 / 5, so subtract that from both sides will get us..
A_STR * 14 / 5 = 124 / 5
multiplying both sides by 5 / 14...
A_STR = 124 /14 or ~8.857. Rounded up to 9 for the purposes of RPG Maker.

And that's just STR. Figuring INT, in the case that the critter uses spells, is more or less the same process, so I will spare you the details on that. When the critter does not use spells, though, I simply use Average Joe's value as-is.

So, let's concentrate on HP. For normal critters, I generally use the calculations for a normal attack dealt by a character. For boss critters, I check to see what abilities are available for characters of the appropriate level. But, you know, regardless of how I calculate how much damage is incoming, in the end, that calculates how much damage one attack from one character would deal. What I've been known to do is, in cases where I figure the party size is a certain amount, is multiply my results by the number of party members I predict the player should have at that point in the game. The fight with the ruffians? I didn't multiply anything, as I knew that the player would only have Ruri. The prologue fights? Yes, I did multiply by two, as I knew that there would be two party members, but there was something else going on.

Wait, what else is there to figure? I'm going to tell you: relative difficulty. This is probably where I go wrong the most. What I do is give each critter a relative difficulty value (I internally call them "tiers"), and that gets multiplied in as well. So, the prologue critters? They were tier 3 critters. Which means that their HP values were actually multiplied by 6 (2 for party members * 3 for tier = 6 total). Bosses? They have a tier as well, but their multiplications are higher than normal. As an example, a tier 1 boss one would actually have a "5" for it's tier multiplier. The prologue boss? Tier 3. Which translates to a "7" for tier multiplier. I dunno. Call it dumb, or whatever you want, but it makes sense to me!

How does one balance MP, anyway? This is something I don't really know, to be honest. There's always the "Well, this doesn't use skills at all, so let's put a 0 here" factor, but that doesn't always work. What I've been doing is taking note the critter's HP in relation to Average Joe's HP, and applying whatever ratio that I find there as the critter's MP value. Maybe not the best idea in the business, but it seems fairer than anything else I know of.

And that's my rant about game balance. Hopefully, this will spawn some kind of Marrend bashing discussion. Or, more probably, it will just sit here because the bash game of the year is clearly Future Helper and the Seven Towers.