"Anton" <anton.txt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:Xns9AC7EAC751AADantontxtgmailcom@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Then I just want one thing: if someone gets twice more
> experieced I wanna him to be one skill level higer.
here is a short NetHack-esque game testbed:
http://home.comcast.net/~anglewyrm/levelups.cpp.htm
What if Experience Points to level up double every time? That is to say,
xp=2^level and level=log_2 xp. For example, to make level ten would take
2^10=1024xp, while 500xp is log_2 500, about level 8.97; 97% of the way
from
level 8 to level 9.
Real time p***** as the player hunts for xp with their character, so xp
indirectly measures time spent playing the game.
As an extreme exaggeration: If a player can earn 100xp/second by killing
stuff with their continuous beam atomic ray gun, how long will it be
before
the player's character no longer levels up in a 40-hour week of gaming?
Briefly, that's 14million xp/wk, taking the character to level 23. It will
be several weeks before level 25, and over a hundred years of 8-hour days
to
get to level 30. While the software might last that long, the players will
probably be a little past their sell-by date.
We can counter the effect by introducing deadlier monsters that are worth
twice the xp. The combat system can make sure that monsters of
significantly
higher level usually defeat players. The player then chooses targets close
to their own level, both for survival and to level up.
The result is a linear growth pattern instead of a logarithmic one,
provided
that a monster of comparable level is available. But the balance of player
xp vs monster xp becomes delicate. It works for an exact specified monster
count, but adding a variable number of encounters throws the balance. The
player either levels up much faster than any opposition, making it a walk
in
the park, or the monsters become impossible.
What can be done? Since we have countered the dimini****ng return of player
xp with an accelerating return for monster xp, the result was
provisionally
linear. But that result is too delicate, and falls apart with a variable
number of monsters.
So instead of fighting to force a linear growth, just make it linear to
begin with.
http://home.comcast.net/~anglewyrm/dimini****ng_returns.htm
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