Tonight, I rolled a fairly large update into Plat that is the backbone of several upcoming changes to combat. This change should be largely 'invisible' on the player side of things. This will remain in Plat for about a week and then be rolled into The Fallen. Once everything seems to be in order it will finally be rolled into Prime version of the game.
1. The Armor/Weapon Cache System
In the past, each attack cycled through your 'worn' inventory to find armor. As you can imagine, it takes time to go through your entire inventory. With the advent of DR2, it's possible for us to 'cache' this data -- meaning store it -- so we can easily pull the data. Instead of your armor list updating every single attack you defend against, it is only updated when you wear/remove a piece of equipment, when a piece of equipment is destroyed, or at a time we specify explicitly. Translation? Fewer resources spent finding your combat equipment (potentially less lag) and easier setup of "worn" equipment which leads us into the next section ...
2. Support for additional worn combat equipment
The combat system now supports worn shields and brawling weapons. While the support is there, more work needs to be done on shield and brawling code; therefor it's not yet fully implemented.
3. Creature natural parry and natural block
Currently, creatures must have a weapon or shield in their inventory to parry or block an attack. Creatures can now be set up to use their bodies as defenses. What does this mean? It's possible (just an example) for a peccary to now parry a blow with tusks or for a warklin to block a strike with its carapace.
If you notice what you believe is an anomaly related to this update please bring it to my attention in the Combat folders.
/salute
-Ssra
The ultimate in reasoning is to come to the realization that there are still an infinite number of things that are unreasonable. -Blaise Pascal
This message was originally posted in Combat - Weapons and Armor, General Discussions. To discuss the above follow the link below.
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DR-SSRA
DR-SSRA
Combat Updates
03/19/2007 12:45 AM CDT
Hello,
The way offhand skill is utilized in combat has changed. The skill utilized in an attack is now a function of both offhand weapon skill and the weapon itself. The break down is 70% offhand, 30% weapon and it will divvy the experience accordingly.
Restrictions are now in place for the usage of offhand weapons.
Weapon Primary - "Large" weapon or smaller
Weapon Secondary - "Medium" weapon or smaller
Weapon Tertiary - "Small" weapons only
We will continue to make updates to verbs and scripts to make them compatible with the new combat mechanics - dual wield, removal of brawling mode, and attacking hidden or invisible targets.
Questions, bugs, rants, and raves should be directed to the Combat -> General Discussions folder.
-Ssra
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." -Albert Einstein
This message was originally posted in Combat - Weapons and Armor, General Discussions. To discuss the above follow the link below.
http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=20&category=9&topic=3&message=12662
The way offhand skill is utilized in combat has changed. The skill utilized in an attack is now a function of both offhand weapon skill and the weapon itself. The break down is 70% offhand, 30% weapon and it will divvy the experience accordingly.
Restrictions are now in place for the usage of offhand weapons.
Weapon Primary - "Large" weapon or smaller
Weapon Secondary - "Medium" weapon or smaller
Weapon Tertiary - "Small" weapons only
We will continue to make updates to verbs and scripts to make them compatible with the new combat mechanics - dual wield, removal of brawling mode, and attacking hidden or invisible targets.
Questions, bugs, rants, and raves should be directed to the Combat -> General Discussions folder.
-Ssra
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." -Albert Einstein
This message was originally posted in Combat - Weapons and Armor, General Discussions. To discuss the above follow the link below.
http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=20&category=9&topic=3&message=12662
DR-SSRA
Combat Updates
04/23/2007 01:46 AM CDT
Fatigue
Fatigue loss in combat has been modified.
1) Stamina works to reduce fatigue loss per action.
2) Ranged weapons no longer examine the ammo when determining the amount of fatigue to reduce, it's now based on the type of ranged weapon.
3) Fatigue loss at lower levels and statistics has been reduced dramatically.
4) Fatigue loss now scales based on the nature of the attack in addition to weight of weapon and stamina. Example: Charge will take a lot more fatigue than feint.
Staff Slings
1) You can now parry with a staff sling.
2) The construction of staff slings sold at the Crossing Weaponsmith has been increased.
These changes apply to both creatures and players.
Questions, comments, rants, and raves should be directed to the Combat -> General Discussions folder.
Thanks.
-Ssra
"I just wish it could be cast indoors. Aren't spell restrictions a moon mage thing?" -Sephos
This message was originally posted in Combat - Weapons and Armor, General Discussions. To discuss the above follow the link below.
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DR-OOLAN
Re: Combat Updates
06/27/2007 09:47 PM CDT
Just a heads up, the fatigue protection for newbies that didn't have a chance to train up sufficient stamina was accidently applying to older folks with much, much heavier weapons and it shouldn't have been. Most folks should not see anything negative from this correction. But those that are trying to use weapons that weight in excess of 100 stones with low to mid range stamina will most likely find themselves getting a good deal more tired than before.
GM Oolan Jeel
"This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time." Aneurin Bevan, May 1945, on World War II rationing and shortages in England.
GM Oolan Jeel
"This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time." Aneurin Bevan, May 1945, on World War II rationing and shortages in England.
DR-DARTENIAN
Combat Update: Multi Opponent and Defense Exp Adjustments
12/03/2008 02:19 PM CST
Heyo!
We've made two very minor changes to the way experience is handled for MO and defenses (evasion, parry, shield, and armor). While in the grand scheme of things these changes are extremely small, they should make some noticeable differences for many players. These changes are now live in Platinum and Prime, and The Fallen will probably see them this evening assuming nothing major goes wrong in Prime.
IMPORTANT: These changes are very subject to tweaking as the results are observed. Only the experience award mechs were changed; in no way, shape, or form are the actual contests impacted by this.
* The cutoff that determines where MO and defenses can no longer be learned from a given challenge has been extended a small amount. This means that some players may see an improvement in experience, especially if they are close to or past the old cutoff.
* MO itself has been given a very small base increase in experience across the board, provided that the player is eligible for experience in the first place.
The net effect is that MO learning should be somehwat easier for most players, and extend a bit longer than it did before. Other defenses may see a very slight experience increase, but for many of you this probably won't be noticeable unless you were near or past the old cutoff.
Big thanks to GM Oolan for walking me through the nightmare that is Core Combat and helping with these changes.
Please understand that this is just a short-term fix to help make MO training more viable for now. This fix is not perfect, and will never be perfect due to the way current combat mechs work. We are looking at a much more comprehensive overhaul to combat, but until we can get that done, there's only so much we can do with what we have now.
- GM Dartenian
If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford
We've made two very minor changes to the way experience is handled for MO and defenses (evasion, parry, shield, and armor). While in the grand scheme of things these changes are extremely small, they should make some noticeable differences for many players. These changes are now live in Platinum and Prime, and The Fallen will probably see them this evening assuming nothing major goes wrong in Prime.
IMPORTANT: These changes are very subject to tweaking as the results are observed. Only the experience award mechs were changed; in no way, shape, or form are the actual contests impacted by this.
* The cutoff that determines where MO and defenses can no longer be learned from a given challenge has been extended a small amount. This means that some players may see an improvement in experience, especially if they are close to or past the old cutoff.
* MO itself has been given a very small base increase in experience across the board, provided that the player is eligible for experience in the first place.
The net effect is that MO learning should be somehwat easier for most players, and extend a bit longer than it did before. Other defenses may see a very slight experience increase, but for many of you this probably won't be noticeable unless you were near or past the old cutoff.
Big thanks to GM Oolan for walking me through the nightmare that is Core Combat and helping with these changes.
Please understand that this is just a short-term fix to help make MO training more viable for now. This fix is not perfect, and will never be perfect due to the way current combat mechs work. We are looking at a much more comprehensive overhaul to combat, but until we can get that done, there's only so much we can do with what we have now.
- GM Dartenian
If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford
DR-OOLAN
Combat Update: Parry for the underleveled masses.
01/10/2009 08:55 PM CST
With some help from Dartenian, I think we've tracked down why parry underperforms so bad for those with low ranks, particularly in rats. We have made a change that should help folks out in the very low levels and early testing in Plat has proven positive so far. This is now in Prime and Plat and will follow in TF in the morning so long as I haven't completely messed up combat in some manner.
GM Oolan Jeel
"One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs." Robert Firth
GM Oolan Jeel
"One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs." Robert Firth
DR-DARTENIAN
Combat Update: Another Open Roll Bids Farewell
07/01/2010 12:57 AM CDT
Heyo!
In conjunction with the armor update noted in the previous post, I will be releasing a small but very important tweak to combat in approximately 30 minutes. While working on the combat rewrite, I discovered what many of us have long suspected but never been able to confirm -- there is in fact a second open roll hidden in the remote corners of combat in addition to the one that removed years ago.
This second open roll applies specifically to damage inflicted by combat, and will be going the way of the dodo just like its "to hit" predecessor did.
- GM Dartenian
Though my soul may set in darkness it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night! - Sarah Williams
In conjunction with the armor update noted in the previous post, I will be releasing a small but very important tweak to combat in approximately 30 minutes. While working on the combat rewrite, I discovered what many of us have long suspected but never been able to confirm -- there is in fact a second open roll hidden in the remote corners of combat in addition to the one that removed years ago.
This second open roll applies specifically to damage inflicted by combat, and will be going the way of the dodo just like its "to hit" predecessor did.
- GM Dartenian
Though my soul may set in darkness it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night! - Sarah Williams
