Damage System

[FallaciaSonata]

I looked for the answer to this in the forums for a while and couldn't find it, so I'm going to ask here. If it was there somewhere and I didn't see it --- my apologies. :sad:

Anyway, I was wondering if there was a way to give characters innate statistics such as Attack Power and Defense Power that rise as they level up. I'm pretty good with numbers and my weapons/armors/items follow patterns as they increase in quality.

For example, my character's ATK stat and PDEF stat are completely dependent on the weapon and armor he's wearing. I didn't want to make a ton of weapons and armors to constantly upgrade throughout the game, instead preferring only four or five tiers of equipment.

Another quick example....what I encountered today while doing combat testing. Timothy's initial weapon "Short Spear" has an ATK value of 5. Since he doesn't have any sort of innate strength backing that, his attacks are rather weak until I give the player access to buy (or find) a Javelin. (Which is the next tier, with an ATK value of 10.)

After finding the Javelin, however, his attacks are almost *too* powerful. I tried making the enemies a little tougher, to compensate for the better weapon / armor set, but if the player does not buy or find the better weapon, then the enemies are next to impossible to kill.

I'm sure this is something incredibly simple that I overlooked, but any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

- Potato Man

 

[Mr_Smith]

Thats an easy one, on the characters page of the database you see that graphs of the stats, you edit that with the value you want for each level

 

[FallaciaSonata]

Thanks for the info, Mr_Smith.

You're referring to the STR stat, right? Well, Actor 1's STR is 10 at level 1, 13 at level 2, and so on. I had to bump his level up to about 6 before I saw a noticeable change in combat.

I suppose I can just re-allocate the STR stat, but what about PDEF? There isn't a stat for that one. Any ideas? :huh:

- Potato Man

 

[FallaciaSonata]

Okay, so I've been messing with the damage system for a few hours now. It still seems sloppy, but I can probably fix it in time. Thank you for your help.

- Potato Man

 

[starseed28]

my guess is the only way to do this would be by using scripts. But not being a scripter myself and not even knowing if it is possible I cannot tell you for certain. Post a way to do this as a request in the scripting section and see if anyone can help you. That is the best advice I can give.

 

[FallaciaSonata]

I was hoping to avoid scripts in Fallacia, this being my first project, but I suppose I can give it a shot. Thanks, Starseed.

 

[Glitchfinder]

It depends on exactly what you want to do. If I remember correctly, PDEF is derived not from a chart, but from equipment and possibly other stats. The only real option is to fine-tune your battle system. For example, only make monsters intended for a certain range of character strengths appear, and make that range higher as things go along. E.G. once the player has had the opportunity to reasonably buy that new piece of equipment, make the next area tough enough to compensate, instead of relying on the same monsters as before. You'll also want a gradual increase in power between equipment upgrades, so the player remains challenged as they level up.

The reason I make this suggestion is because scripts modifying the stat algorithms are dangerous at best. One small change can have huge repercussions. The reason I know this is because I am one of the few scripters here who have released scripts directly modifying the stat and battle algorithms, and those scripts have a tendency to almost completely destabilize an otherwise perfectly balanced system.

 

[FallaciaSonata]

Ah, I see what you mean. I'll continue to adjust the armors and enemies then.

My four-tiered armor system probably isn't enough then. The gap between each "upgrade" is quite drastic. For example, the "Heavy Armors" go from 15, to 30, to 60, to 120. The "Light Armors" go from 12, to 24, to 48, to 96.

Of course, those numbers were just a general pattern I just pulled off the top of my head when I first started editing the Database. I was aiming for a mathematical sequence both for logical reasons and for the appearance of "professionalism".

The default Database has higher numbers for all the stats, so I felt as if I was beginning the game at level 25 as opposed to level 1 or 2, which I don't find as appealing.

Anyway, thanks for your assistance, Glitch.

- Potato Man

 

[Glitchfinder]

Never sacrifice quality to look professional. Have you ever seen anything by the Monty Python group? They are completely unprofessional, yet are some of the funniest things you can find on television. (If you can appreciate British humor) Also, you really need a better idea of professionalism. In the case of games, they don't do that kind of thing to the equipment, as it ruins a game. In scripting, you may see a lot of multiples of 4 and 8, but they are almost always in relation to graphics and positioning, not something like statistics. Take a look at the default curve for any of the characters. Go level by level, and you'll see that it doesn't go up by any specific increment, but instead follows a path not quite visibly defined. (And is then rounded to the nearest whole number) Really, all you can do is try a number, and , if it doesn't work, try another.

 

[zorreeam]

Yes, the default system can be a bit frustrating. I've never liked your attack and defense being completely dependent on weapons and armor either.
The easiest fix for this would be to open your scripts. Go down the list on the left and find "Game Battler 3"

Line 50 will read:
atk = [attacker.atk - self.pdef / 2, 0].max

I would suggest replacing it with this:
atk = [attacker.atk - (self.pdef + self.dex) / 2, 0].max

That would make it take your dexterity into account on defensive rolls in addition to your physical defense. This way your overall defense will go up when you level. The disadvantage to this is the game won't tell you anything is different, you will just know your defense is pdef+dex. But as I said, quick and easy
good luck and let me know if you'd like help doing it differently

 

[FallaciaSonata]

Sounds good. I'll experiment with it and see what happens. I probably shouldn't have used the word "professionalism", either. Didn't quite say what I meant. My apologies.

I just like things to have sequences and patterns, I guess. I'm weird like that. :biggrin:

Thanks guys.