MALAGAR'S PROFILE

Thank you for your detailled answer LockeZ. Sadly my english is not so good to formulate my thoughts in a more sophisticated way, but i guess my point is clear:

The reason why I am tying equipment to character levels is, that in most RPGs (or action RPGs) I played - it is done exactly that way. The people who created those games had a plan of the overall complexity. no company builds a game without knowing the whole picture. but many fan based games do. their authors build the game as they see fit and this leads to adding something new every now and then without knowing if it fits the progression curve of the players, not to speak about balancing or if it is enough (or too much) to fill the whole game.

So, what I am talking about is how to fill a game with proper character equipment while keeping the whole picture and the party progression curve in mind. all the time. I encountered many games when your main character reaches like 20 attack and you will still be wielding a ATK 18 sword. the next available weapoin will be a 20-22 ATK sword that you can either find or buy in the next store.

One of my favorite examples is final fantasy adventure (gameboy, back in the days). there where not even a dozen of weapons (of one type) in the game, but it was enough for that game. every time you reached a shop that featured a new set of equipment you got that feeling that you rached a new episode.

In Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3, SNES) it was different: there where something like 2 dozen of equipment pieces per character. the game was also much longer than FFA but the timing and distribution of equipment was just right. again: it always felt like a new episode is beginning when you found a upgraded set of equipment.

two games with varying length and varying amount of equipment. but two games that had an episodical feel to it - regarding gaining, using, outwearing and upgrading equipment. but in the end, you can tone it down to "get a new weapon every x levels". because both games did it more or less this way (you have to be level X to get through the snow field etc.)

@LockeZ: So what you say actually matches my initial statement: you gain equipment based on episodes or level intervalls. what i also like is the staement that you say: make your players work for it, make it feel important. but dont make it overimportant and dont overuse equipment (do not offer them too much, or too fast or for a low price).

The question though - is still the same: How much equipment do I offer my players during a RPGs. Yes, it depends on the length of the game (see examples above) you can also condsense or stretch distribution of equipment ( make sure that its still fun and challenging to your players).

Maybe this poll would have been better as a thread instead. Maybe the question cannot be answered as it really depends on the style and size of the game. But i believe there must be some benchmarks as a general rule.

And another thing comes up my mind: Can there really be too much equipment? take a look at the modern MMOs, take a look at Diablo 1-3 - players literally wade through piles of equipment. Does this harm a game? Or is it one of the factors that makes a game addicting? Instead of having 1-2 dozen important items - why not confront the players with a myriad of trash items and let them sort out the really good ones?

questions questions - but i guess boards like this are about game design theory!

thanks for any participation!

I voted "once per four character levels".

In a game with max level 99 this would mean there are 25 different pieces of armor and the player would find a new armor every 4 levels.

Personally I think thats quite a good number. Keep in mind that I am not talking about variety here. There could be another 24 helmets, gloves, boots, weapons, shields, rings and so on.

Tell me about your choice!

hey there, Im having exactly the same problem.

on grimoirecastle.wordpress.com there are various patches listed below the runic enchantment script - BUT this does not solve the problem you are talking about.

I think it has to do with the item sub-categories, because if you dont use them - the menu seems to work (like armor with armor types set to none). but thats all i figured out so far.

i keep you posted should i find a solution, but i think there is some re-scripting involved. this is true for your other questions as well.

cheers
-Malagar

@White_Rabbit: Grossartig! Und noch ein Deutscher auf der Seite, gut zu wissen. Herzliche Gruesse!

(Great work. And another german here on this site, good to see - greetings).

PS: A little update from my side. I will start a game page soon and stop spamming this thread (sorry to anyone who got that impression)

* Hunger/Thirst System added (like in the old old old RPGs!)
* First bunch of trap types implemented (still have to work on the graphic)
* Added a tiny HUD to the screen (top to bottom: HP, MP, hunger, thirst)

@Ratty @LockeZ Yes, the logo was added afterwards

Regarding the corners, tile placement and the map in general:

this is a roguelike. the map is generated randomly during runtime. I hope that sheds some light on the issues. Whenever you enter a map, the map data is filled with tile information on the fly - generating a random maze consisting of rooms and interconnected passages.

It automatically scales with the size of the map and is able to use any tileset that features auto-tiles. but the algo is fixed to 2-tile walls and has problems placing corner tiles. Im working on it - but its not that easy.

again: there is not a single "mapped" map in this game. its all random - thats why it looks this way.