[MUD-Dev] Better Combat

[David Kennerly]

Byron Ellacott wrote:
> David Kennerly wrote:

>> A simple mechanic to model this would be that every attack not
>> only injures the opponent but also injures the attacker.  In such
>> case, the optimal strategy consists of making the most efficient
>> attacks.  That is, ensuring that every attack maximizes the ratio
>> of opponent's injury to one's own injury.

> Star Wars Galaxies employs this model.  Using special moves drains
> your own health[1] as well as the opponent's.  The two problems
> this faces is that combat is remarkably dull without using special
> moves, and you can easily do more relative damage to yourself than
> your opponent.  It turns out that you're still better off
> attacking as hard as you can, but you will get more downtime to
> heal off the damage you did to yourself.

Thanks for an relevant example.  Fun depends on the whole design.

As a fun example, The Kingdom of the Winds does a /few/ special
warrior (and rogue) "suicide" attacks that reduce oneself to near
death.  It is fun.  In part, one usually does significantly more
damage to the opponent than to oneself.  But to do these suicide
attacks and live, the warrior (temporarily acting as a both tank and
nuke) needs to be grouped with a poet who immediately heals the
warrior.

Part of the fun, for this particular tactic, is the illusion of
risk.  It sounds like high risk/high reward, but the illusion of
risk is higher than the actual risk.  Imagine: You slash with all
your pixelated might.  All of a sudden you have only 1 Vitality
left--and you are toe to toe with a dragon.  For a second your fate
is unknown.  But actually the poet can usually heal the warrior soon
enough.  Except if your poet has lag!

David
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev