[MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.

[Derrick Jones]

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On Thu, 11 Dec 1997, Vadim Tkachenko wrote:
> coder at ibm.net wrote:
> > On 27/11/97 at 11:28 AM, Richard Woolcock <KaVir at dial.pipex.com> said:
> > >Adam Wiggins wrote:
> > >> [Richard Woolcock:]
> > >> > So called 'Intelligent' mobs should go for the weakest opponent.
> > >>
> > >> They should?  I consider myself intelligent, yet I always consider
> > >> the most dangerous opponent to be my first target in a combat
> > >> situation.
> > 
> > >Hmmmm I'm not sure now.  Certainly, you'd be more worried about the most
> > >dangerous opponent, but equally, which would you rather have?
> > 
> > Run some examples thru a simulator.  This is actually a non-trivial
> > simultaneous equation.  Some variables under consideration for each
> > protagonist are:
> > 
> >   How much X damages you per blow.
> >   How many blows from you required to remove X.
> >   Damage to your defences from X per blow.
> >   How much are X's blows affected by the damage you inflict on X?
> >   How much are your blows afftect by the damage X inflicts on you?
> >   etc...
> 
> And, you may have to recalculate it after each interaction if there's a
> non-linear dependency between the blow strength and the current
> condition
> 

Even worse, you have to factor in 'loose cannon' actions such as
area affect, people that flee, single-use skills, concentration levels of
spell casters, and proximate reinforcements.  The one saving grace of this
simulation is the fact that most muds allow a finite list of actions
during combat.

The way I'd approach it is much like a chess computer, attempting nearly
every possible action in every possible comination at every possible
moment.  I'd let the simulation go all the way through combat until it
exhausts the possibilities.  Of course this wouldn't work run-time on a
mud, but it would give general clues as to how to dictate mobile actions.
I'd also define 'likely choices' and restrict the number of possible
actions to a bare minimum (There isn't much chance of the spell 'magic
missile' being the most effective choice when the caster can just
'disintigrate' his opponent...) to speed things up a bit.

[snip rest]

Derrick

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