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9156: [MUD-Dev] Re[2]:[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD Design doc (long)
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From: Michael Willey <Michael.Willey@abnamro.com>
Newsgroups: nu.kanga.list.mud-dev
Date: 18 Dec 1998 15:32:04 -0600
Organization: Kanga.Nu
On 12/18/98 2:28 PM, adam@angel.com wrote:
>On 18 Dec 1998, Michael Willey wrote:
>> A simple problem. Assuming Buffy starts at a
>> full charge, a simple script will kill off Boffo
>> in eight seconds, with mana to spare. Something
>> along the lines of..
>>
>> Repeat 4 { chill touch boffo, wait 2 seconds }
>> nuke boffo
>
>Perhaps. But one might note that now the game
>already has more complex combat than 80% of existing
>muds. I'd say that's a pretty good start. Now with
>a little imagination we can extend this and come up
>with some slightly more amusing spells rather than
>straight damage to shake things up a bit.
Ok. I'll certainly agree that you're on to something
interesting here.
[SNIP]
>> Buffy's next goal is probably to raise
>> her mana maximum to 200 points, so she can
>> change her insta-death script to
>>
>> repeat 2 nuke boffo
>>
>> and be done with it.
>
>Actually I think your chill touch trick would *still*
>be better regardless of how much mana she got.
I'd have to disagree - killing Boffo instantly and
regenerating mana later is by far preferable to
conserving mana in combat. The two nuke trick will
kill Boffo immediately, before he even has a chance to
respond.
That's the real point at which your system's balance
breaks down - when one combatant can kill another
without needing to regenerate mana, the kill becomes
instant.
[SNIP]
>Here's some more spells which Boffo or Buffy might
>have. Most of these ideas are not new, of course -
>Magic: The Gathering is a great source for this sort
>of spellcasting, so I will now shamelessly rip off a
>few of its more popular spells.
[SNIP spell list]
>Now with just one or two of these spells at his
>disposal, Boffo could make mincemeat of Buffy
>(presuming she was blindly trusting the 4*chill touch
>+ nuke script you mentioned above).
Sounds like meta-magic - something akin to mana judo,
altering the effects of opponents' spells to use
against them. With or without your mana resource
management setup, that would make a very interesting
tactical subgame. Combining the two subgames is even
better. I'll have to blatantly steal this idea, if
you don't mind.
>The point being that we've removed that annoying
>character lag (which players hate), made clients less
>important than wits, preserved the flow and pacing of
>combat, and in the meantime maybe made the combat
>gameplay a little bit more fun and engaging for the
>players.
Now the trick becomes making a similar system to deal
with physical combat... Substitute fatigue for mana,
have a list of combat maneuvers with advantages and
disadvantages for each situation, and go from there?
Another problem: How do you protect players from the
ravages of real lag? Wouldn't that leave their
characters as drooling idiots, standing around being
punching bags for their opponents?