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Whatchu Workin' On? Tell us!
Whatchu Workin' On? Tell us!
Currently 9 hours into a full play test of my game.
At some point, testing a game becomes ridiculous. I feel like I'm developing blind for things like pacing and balance, because the only way to get a true sense of it is to sink a week into playtesting.
@KoopaKush who would ever choose forfeit ;p
At some point, testing a game becomes ridiculous. I feel like I'm developing blind for things like pacing and balance, because the only way to get a true sense of it is to sink a week into playtesting.
@KoopaKush who would ever choose forfeit ;p
Unlocking Convenience
This is an area of game design that always has me torn.
The idea is a player can unlock, purchase, find, or acquire an upgrade that makes the game more convenient to play.
Some examples include: purchasing more storage space from a banker, finding an item that shows enemy health bars, upgrading your strength stat to increase inventory carrying capacity. I have a few of these in my current project too: an item that permanently increases movement speed, an item that controls whether it's day or night, and one that lets the player teleport from their home to common locations.
On one hand, if the game designer knows these features will make the game easier to play, shouldn't they be available from the start? Isn't it our job as developers to make games that are as convenient to play as possible? Aren't we harming the experience by purposefully locking these types of features?
But on the other hand, unlocking stuff feels awesome, man. These features work great as rewards since we immediately see the value after having been playing the game "the hard way". There's something satisfying about looking back and thinking, "ha, remember when I had to actually care about how many storage tabs I had?"
Where do you stand? Is it okay for a game designer to purposefully make their game less convenient in order to provide satisfying unlocks? Does the concept work better or worse in different situations?
The idea is a player can unlock, purchase, find, or acquire an upgrade that makes the game more convenient to play.
Some examples include: purchasing more storage space from a banker, finding an item that shows enemy health bars, upgrading your strength stat to increase inventory carrying capacity. I have a few of these in my current project too: an item that permanently increases movement speed, an item that controls whether it's day or night, and one that lets the player teleport from their home to common locations.
On one hand, if the game designer knows these features will make the game easier to play, shouldn't they be available from the start? Isn't it our job as developers to make games that are as convenient to play as possible? Aren't we harming the experience by purposefully locking these types of features?
But on the other hand, unlocking stuff feels awesome, man. These features work great as rewards since we immediately see the value after having been playing the game "the hard way". There's something satisfying about looking back and thinking, "ha, remember when I had to actually care about how many storage tabs I had?"
Where do you stand? Is it okay for a game designer to purposefully make their game less convenient in order to provide satisfying unlocks? Does the concept work better or worse in different situations?
[SCRIPTING] [RMMV] Dynamic economy with RPG Maker MV
[SCRIPTING] [RMMV] Dynamic economy with RPG Maker MV
When you want to know what code is run for a certain event command, a good place to start is the Game_Interpreter. All your game's code is under the "js" directory, and the interpreter code is defined in "rpg_objects.js".
If we search that file for "Shop" we find this is the code that gets run when an event opens the shop menu:
We can call similar code in a script event, and provide our custom "goods" for the shop. The format for the "goods" variable looks like:
To put it all together we can create a script command inside an event with the code:
If any of this seems way confusing, taking an intro to JavaScript course online should help.
If we search that file for "Shop" we find this is the code that gets run when an event opens the shop menu:
// Shop Processing Game_Interpreter.prototype.command302 = function() { if (!$gameParty.inBattle()) { var goods = [this._params]; while (this.nextEventCode() === 605) { this._index++; goods.push(this.currentCommand().parameters); } SceneManager.push(Scene_Shop); SceneManager.prepareNextScene(goods, this._params[4]); } return true; };
We can call similar code in a script event, and provide our custom "goods" for the shop. The format for the "goods" variable looks like:
goods = [ // Shop item 1 (item 12 with a custom price of 400G) [ 0, // Item type: 0 for item, 1 for weapon, 2 for armor 12, // id from database 1, // A value of 1 means use a custom price 400 // Custom price value ], // Shop item 2 (armor 30 with a custom price of 800G) [ 2, 30, 1, 800 ] ]
To put it all together we can create a script command inside an event with the code:
var goods = [ [ 0, 12, 1, 400 ], [ 2, 30, 1, 800 ] ] SceneManager.push(Scene_Shop); SceneManager.prepareNextScene(goods, false); // Use 'true' for a purchase only shop
If any of this seems way confusing, taking an intro to JavaScript course online should help.
[Unity] Die Based RPG Combat
One more attempt at encouraging you to rethink the damage calculation, then I'll stop bothering, promise ;)
Your rules are totally simple to learn, but the probabilities they create are complex.
Here's the probability histogram for the difference of two dice:
http://www.math.ups.edu/~martinj/courses/fall2008/m160/TwoDiceDiffHists.pdf
Not exactly intuitive, but you can probably reason it out in your head. But here's a bunch of calculations determining the probability that the maximum of n dice rolls equal k:
https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/198409/probability-of-the-maximum-of-n-dice-rolls-being-equal-to-k
Not the easiest to understand. And that's not even what we're trying to do. We want the probability that the max of n dice rolls is greater than the max of m dice rolls, then get the probability histogram for the difference of those two to determine our most likely damage.
The end result is, as a player, I have no solid idea how much damage I'm going to do, or how likely it is I'll even land a hit. If it's a Mario Party style game where you're not really in control and the fun comes from sitting back and watching the madness happen, then that's totally fine. But if it's a tactical game where I'm meant to make calculated decisions, it's gonna be rough.
If I'm rolling 5 dice against the enemies 3, I'm more likely to hit, but is it a pretty certain hit, or a more close and risky attack? If I'm offered an upgrade to roll 2 more dice or have a +10% damage bonus, hard to make that decision because I don't know the value of rolling 2 more dice. How to calculate that?
Okay, let's jump back to the damage system in Eclipse and strip out the fancy colored dice. For each D6 that rolls higher than the enemy's armor stat, 1 damage. The enemy has 3 armor, so I got a 50% chance to hit with each die. I'm rolling 4 die, the enemy has 1 HP left - this is a pretty safe fight to engage in.
Your rules are totally simple to learn, but the probabilities they create are complex.
Here's the probability histogram for the difference of two dice:
http://www.math.ups.edu/~martinj/courses/fall2008/m160/TwoDiceDiffHists.pdf
Not exactly intuitive, but you can probably reason it out in your head. But here's a bunch of calculations determining the probability that the maximum of n dice rolls equal k:
https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/198409/probability-of-the-maximum-of-n-dice-rolls-being-equal-to-k
Not the easiest to understand. And that's not even what we're trying to do. We want the probability that the max of n dice rolls is greater than the max of m dice rolls, then get the probability histogram for the difference of those two to determine our most likely damage.
The end result is, as a player, I have no solid idea how much damage I'm going to do, or how likely it is I'll even land a hit. If it's a Mario Party style game where you're not really in control and the fun comes from sitting back and watching the madness happen, then that's totally fine. But if it's a tactical game where I'm meant to make calculated decisions, it's gonna be rough.
If I'm rolling 5 dice against the enemies 3, I'm more likely to hit, but is it a pretty certain hit, or a more close and risky attack? If I'm offered an upgrade to roll 2 more dice or have a +10% damage bonus, hard to make that decision because I don't know the value of rolling 2 more dice. How to calculate that?
Okay, let's jump back to the damage system in Eclipse and strip out the fancy colored dice. For each D6 that rolls higher than the enemy's armor stat, 1 damage. The enemy has 3 armor, so I got a 50% chance to hit with each die. I'm rolling 4 die, the enemy has 1 HP left - this is a pretty safe fight to engage in.
[Unity] Die Based RPG Combat
author=Toaster_Team
No, no. I mean, the weapon factor only comes into play when you manage to score a hit when comparing rolls.
So when the rouge and goblin engage in combat, only one of them does damage? I was thrown off by this line:
author=Toaster_Team
The Rogue would get a damage output of 2 (2x1) while the goblin would get a damage output of 1 (2x0.5).
It made it seem like they both do damage during an attack.
--
author=Toaster_Team
I like the idea of custom die and I did consider it. The issue I find with that is ultimately the lack of variance you mentioned. It'd be fine if it were only for combat. But I need also need die for: casting spells, skill checks, random game checks and so on. I therefore find the lack of 6 different possibilities rather limiting to the point where it becomes a hindrance when designing systems.
Skill checks work by adding all the "hit" marks. For example, a character with 3 intelligence would roll 3 dice on an intelligence check and add the marks to determine if they pass.
The advantage is giving the developer finer control over the probability and, ultimately, the game balance. You're also able to have "powerful" dice for special weapons or abilities. Say a standard die has 4 single marks, 1 double, and 1 blank. A power die has 3 single and 3 double marks. A sword lets you roll 3 normal dice, while a flaming dragon sword lets you roll 2 normal and 1 power die. Or a wizard's ability lets them swap a normal die for a power die on an intelligence check.
An alternative is a combat system similar to Eclipse, which uses standard dice. The 1-6 roll determines whether that die hits or misses, and the damage is based on the color of the die. Yellow dice do 1 damage, orange dice do 2, and red dice do 4. The amount and color of dice you roll is based on your weapon.
For example, the rouge's sword lets her roll 2 yellow dice, and the goblin has 3 defense. The rouge rolls a 6 and a 2 with her dice. The 2 misses, and the 6 hits, resulting in 1 damage.
The leads to tighter control over damage for the developer and more predictable combat for the player.
[Unity] Die Based RPG Combat
There's some confusing concepts for me as a player.
Why do characters bother rolling multiple dice if only one of the rolls matter? What's the point of rolling higher or lower than your opponent when, ultimately, you share the same base damage? It seems like the only number that matters in combat is the weapon factor, so why even roll the dice?
Regarding balance, 1-6 is a huge variance. Some board games with dice based combat opt for special, more balanced dice. For example, 2 sides are blank, 2 sides have a single damage mark, 2 sides have a double damage mark.
Why do characters bother rolling multiple dice if only one of the rolls matter? What's the point of rolling higher or lower than your opponent when, ultimately, you share the same base damage? It seems like the only number that matters in combat is the weapon factor, so why even roll the dice?
Regarding balance, 1-6 is a huge variance. Some board games with dice based combat opt for special, more balanced dice. For example, 2 sides are blank, 2 sides have a single damage mark, 2 sides have a double damage mark.
Balancing battles
First step is to decide what you want from the battles in your game.
Are they intended to be an engaging gameplay break from dungeon exploring? Are they meant to enhance the narrative where the player feels they are barely overcoming a powerful foe, yet actually have little chance of a game over? Are challenging battles the core of the game, with players expected to go through multiple game overs while developing a strategy for each encounter?
Once you have a direction, then you can go into the specifics.
Are they intended to be an engaging gameplay break from dungeon exploring? Are they meant to enhance the narrative where the player feels they are barely overcoming a powerful foe, yet actually have little chance of a game over? Are challenging battles the core of the game, with players expected to go through multiple game overs while developing a strategy for each encounter?
Once you have a direction, then you can go into the specifics.
Let's Write a Story! (RMN SPACE ODDESSEY)
risk of their package expiring.
Suddenly, Gibblet 86, autonomous helper droid, rolled in from the rear chamber.
"Am I interrupting question mark?" queried Gibblet.
"I keep telling you, don't say the 'question mark'." Jack replied.
"My monotone vocal synthesizer makes it hard for humans to distinguish question from statement. Please ...
Suddenly, Gibblet 86, autonomous helper droid, rolled in from the rear chamber.
"Am I interrupting question mark?" queried Gibblet.
"I keep telling you, don't say the 'question mark'." Jack replied.
"My monotone vocal synthesizer makes it hard for humans to distinguish question from statement. Please ...
Games - Tester
Games - Other
