Posts Tagged Game Design
The Guildhall & the Proposed Mentalist Reconstruction
Posted by Empyreal in Balance, Game Design, News, Revision on June 7th, 2010
Two major points for updating:
- I have been accepted to the Guildhall at SMU for Cohort 15 as an Artist — I am ecstatic and anxious and look forward to the challenge the next two years will pose. My first terms begins August 16th.
- I have finally completed a Design Document comprised of 29 pages of proposed changes for the Mentalist frameworks in Champion’s Online. I started it late April, and edited and added to it over the next month and a half. I cannot fully gauge how well balanced the proposal is since I do not have the behind-the-screen numbers and formulas available, but I did try to be exhaustive in balancing it against the metrics I can interact with. You can find the .pdf in the below link.
Mentalist Framework Reconstruction Proposal for Champion’s Online
Some Highlights:
- Psychic Vortex: Feedback damage now occurs at most every 1 second to each enemy affected by Psychic Vortex; feedback damage now scales based on Ego (similar to Mind Link):
- Rank 1: Feedback damage deals at most Ego*1 damage
- Rank 2: Feedback damage deals at most Ego*1.5 damage
- Rank 3: Feedback damage deals at most Ego*2 damage
- Psychic Vortex; Singled Minded: Advantage replaced
- Psychic Vortex; Hive Mind: New Advantage for Psychic Vortex; in addition to feedback damage, damaging an enemy affected by Psychic Vortex will propagate that damage to all other enemies affected by Psychic Vortex, dealing at most Ego*1 damage; this damage can only occur every 1 second
- Telekinetic Maelstrom: Power redesigned;
- 25ft PBAE
- 5 target max
- 7 second Maintain
- Ticks every .5 seconds
- Initial and Maintain Cost very high
- Deals small damage at the beginning but grows exponentially
- Total damage is very high
- 30 second cooldown
- Every second of maintain attempts to drain an Ego Leech effect from nearby enemies, returning energy to the user
- Telekinetic Maelstrom; Expansive Intellect: Advantage replaced
- Telekinetic Maelstrom; Psychic Winds: New Advantage for Telekinetic Maelstrom; Enemies caught in the Maelstrom are snared. The snare is reapplied every second, and does not apply resistance until the final tick.
- Precognition: Slotted Support Passive; Passively maintains 1 stack of “Futuresight” on yourself and your teammates. “Futuresight” increases Dodge chance by 50%. Avoidance scales by rank. On a successful dodge, “Futuresight” in consumed, but is automatically reapplied after 3 seconds. When an instance of “Futuresight” is consumed, all team members (including self) receive a small amount of energy, which scales with Presence. “You are able to glimpse into the future and warn your teammates of impending danger, allowing them to avoid attacks and counterattack more effectively.”
- Rank 1:
- +50% Dodge chance
- +25% Avoidance rating
- Returns 8 + Presence/20 energy to team
- Rank 2:
- +50% Dodge chance
- +40% Avoidance rating
- Returns 10.5 + Presence/20 energy to team
- Rank 3:
- +50% Dodge chance
- +55% Avoidance rating
- Returns 13 + Presence/20 energy to team
- Note: it is possible this support passive gives too much of an advantage to players using Lightning Reflexes, in which case the percents should be approximated using Rating Points. Also, ideally the Dodge or Avoidance percent should scale with Presence, but the technology may not be available for a buff stack to reference the characteristics of a different player.
- Rank 1:
- Ego Armor: Slotted Defense Passive; Reverse Defiance; Builds 1 stack of “Mental Barrier” every 2 seconds, up to a maximum stack of 8. Each stack offers an amount of Damage Soak (like Invulnerability) that is cumulative (6 stacks offers 6x more Soak than 1 stack, etc.). 1 stack of “Mental Barrier” is stripped every time the owner is hit, but only 1 stack can be stripped per second. The effectiveness of “Mental Barrier” scales with Ego, and the efficiency of the scaling is affected by Rank.
- Rank 1: “Mental Barrier” Damage Soak is equal to 6 – 60 (based on level) + Ego/3
- Damage Soak = +1.35 per stack per level; base
- Level 40; 200 Ego; 8 stacks = 1016 Soak for first hit
- Rank 2: “Mental Barrier” Damage Soak is equal to 8 – 80 (based on level) + Ego/2.5
- Damage Soak = +1.8 per stack per level; base
- Level 40; 200 Ego; 8 stacks = 1280 Soak for first hit
- Rank 3: “Mental Barrier” Damage Soak is equal to 10 – 100 (based on level) + Ego/2.3
- Damage Soak = +2.25 per stack per level; base
- Level 40; 200 Ego; 8 stacks = 1496 Soak for first hit
- Rank 1: “Mental Barrier” Damage Soak is equal to 6 – 60 (based on level) + Ego/3
- Ego Armor; Id-Subordination: Custom Advantage for Ego Armor; Every stack of “Mental Barrier” applies some Hold, Confuse, and Root resistance; 10% per stack
- Telekinetic Slide: Ranged Repel or Reverse Repel: “By grabbing a foe with your mind, you can put them right where you want them.”
- 50ft range
- Single target
- 1.83 second charge; .67 second activate
- 20 second cooldown
- Deals moderate crushing damage
- Low/Moderate endurance cost
- On Tap: Repel target 25ft
- On Charge: Reverse Repel target 15-45ft (based on charge)
- Applies Ego Leech to target
- Telekinetic Slide; Mental Aversion: Turns Telekinetic Slide into a 10 second toggle, which repels the target 5ft every .5 seconds.
- 50ft range
- Single target; toggle power
- 10 second duration; non-rooting animation
- Ticks every .5 seconds
- 20 second cooldown (note changes to Ego Storm for cooldown triggering and make sure the same occurs here)
- Deals low crushing damage each tick; total damage high
- Initial and maintain cost moderate; total cost very high
- Repel target 5ft each tick
- Applies Ego Leech to target upon expiration of Toggle
- Hypercognition: Slotted Support Passive; Support Quarry; Every time one of your powers attempts to knock, repel, or hold an enemy, you build 1 stack of “Hypercognition,” up to a maximum stack of 5. Each stack increases your energy strength and Ego by a percentage. Each stack lasts 10 seconds, and applying a new stack refreshes the duration of all stacks. Only 1 stack can be generated per second. “Your lightning-fast ability to process information allows you to plan strategies your enemies cannot hope to comprehend, giving you superior control of any situation.”
- Rank 1: Energy Strength +2.5% and Ego +3% per stack
- 5 stacks: +12.5% Energy Strength and + 15% Ego
- Rank 2: Energy Strength +3% and Ego + 4% per stack
- 5 stacks: +15% Energy Strength and + 20% Ego
- Rank 3: Energy Strength +3.5% and Ego +5% per stack
- 5 stacks: +17.5% Energy Strength and + 25% Ego
- Note: Energy Strength affects the energy returned on all powers that return a % of endurance.
- Rank 1: Energy Strength +2.5% and Ego +3% per stack
- Ego Crush: Charge Hold; “With perfect concentration, you hold an enemy helpless while crushing them into submission with your mind.” Similar to other charged holds, but also applies a crushing damage DoT. Consumes Ego Leech from a nearby target every second the hold lasts to deal extra ticks of AE crushing damage centered on the held target.
- 50ft range
- Single Target
- 2.17 second charge; .83 second activate
- 45 second cooldown
- High endurance cost (~75)
- Applies magnitude 0-2.5 Hold to target (based on charge); duration based on rank
- Applies crushing damage to target of Hold every .5 seconds as long as the hold exists; total damage very high
- Consumes 1 Ego Leech effect within 25ft of the target every 1 second to deal bonus crushing damage to up to 5 targets within 25ft
- Rank 1:
- Hold Duration: 12 seconds
- Single target damage ticks: Base Damage –20%
- AE damage ticks: Base Damage –50%
- Rank 2:
- Hold Duration: 14 seconds
- Single target damage ticks: Base Damage
- AE damage ticks: Base Damage –30%
- Rank 3:
- Hold Duration: 17 seconds
- Single target damage ticks: Base Damage +20%
- AE damage ticks: Base Damage -10%
- Ego Crush: Crushing Vortex: Upon consuming an Ego Leech effect, up to 5 targets within 25ft will be sucked towards the held target, in addition to the normal burst of crushing damage. Applies a Reverse Repel of 10ft to the targets affected by the AE crushing damage.
Graphic Design Updates, and some musings
Transformed the Graphic Design subpage into an album, with at least 75% new content. I’ve been doing a ton of graphic design over the past 6 months. Helps keep me sharp, at least in an aesthetic sense. I am proud to say that all of the projects I’ve worked on over the past few months have been very different, and so I’ve had to bring a fresh eye to each to come up with a new unifying concept. I’m happy with the results.
I have not been letting my 3D work rot, however. I am working on a couple things in the background — one a new character, another is sort of a proof of concept. Oh, and some more graphic design projects are on the way too.
I think something that continually bothers me is the idea that n0NsentiEnce is over. It will never be developed further. But I am still brimming with ideas for it. There have been many ideas, thoughts, and otherwise that I have wanted to translate into a Game, but n0NsentiEnce is fresh. It is not a delusion born only in my mind — a whole slew of us helped develop it. I don’t think it would have been successful as a retail title in the direction we were going with it, unfortunately. We even stated it as a mission statement: it was an ‘experiment.’ We were trying to evoke too many emotions at the core, and eventually we fell away from the original intent. n0NsentiEnce needs to be distilled down to a few core emotions, the heart we originally gave it: fear, disgust, paranoia. I have an idea that can do that, at least from an art/character side. It is one of my side projects, but I am not sure how soon I can encompass the full spectrum of what I want to get across.
Warhammer Online: Metrics for Class Balance
Posted by Empyreal in Balance, Game Design, Metrics on August 10th, 2009
Why:
Warhammer Online suffers from class favoritism, and a development team that is hesitant in providing sweeping changes and overhauls after receiving backlash from such changes early after release. The theory is that a simple, minor change might completely throw the RvR schema off-balance. However, due to current implementation, some classes are left marginalized, and the RvR experience is dominated by the fallout generated by a select few classes.
The easiest way to obtain balance in a factionalized environment is to provide the same choices to each side, but this is not the case in WAR. Understandably, the development team has chosen to provide each side with a different flavor of class selection with a “similar but equal” policy. Unfortunately, the “equal” part is still lacking.
The theory is that if each set of classes, and in particular, each “mirror” pairing, is to be “similar but equal,” then there must be some sort of scale which the classes can be compared to; some sort of metric system that can add up the benefits and disadvantages of a class to produce, essentially, a number that all classes should be balanced against. Ideally, all classes equate to the same number.
Unfortunately, such a system does not seem to exist for WAR, and the sorry state of several classes leads to unbalanced and disinteresting gameplay.
Proposal:
A set of metrics each class can be rated on; a condensed, abbreviated version of what a class is good at and what a class lacks. These metrics cannot cover every possible use for a class, but work as a general census for how a class is performing vs. its peers, in order to generalize what aspects of a class need improvement (or nerfing, as the case may be).
Using the Metrics:
The system is not meant to compute by adding the abilities of each associated “tag” a class owns, and then sticking that number in the associated field. While such a method could be used with a different metric system to objectively compute what a class has the potential to be good at, this metric system is somewhat more subjective. It is meant to measure the perception of how a class is performing.
In a game such as WAR, perception becomes reality. The developers cannot teach or tell us how to play a game, or how a class is ‘meant’ to be played. If a class is underperforming regardless of the tools provided or the potential yet to be reached, the design of that class is flawed. There are many reasons why this may occur, mechanics that do not facilitate the goal or intent of the class being a consistent one, as well as abilities within a class that do not synergize well, or run counter-productive.
Essentially, the metrics act as a survey. Adding up each category reduces the results to a single number, which can be averaged across a large field of input. A large source of possible input is the WAR forums, which generally appear to be under-utilized for gathering player feedback.
After gathering a number for each class, it is possible to compare the perceived effectiveness of the classes against each other. The goal, in the end, is to make the perceived value for each class as close to equal as possible.
The Metrics:
Melee Damage…(0 – 15)
- Single Target / Burst (0 – 5)
- DoT / Sustained (0 – 5)
- AoE (0 – 5)
Ranged Damage… (0 – 15)
- Single Target / Burst (0 – 5)
- DoT / Sustained (0 – 5)
- AoE (0 – 5)
Healing and Buffing …(0 – 15)
- Single Target / Burst (0 – 5)
- DoT / Sustained (0 – 5)
- AoE (0 – 5)
Debuffing… (0 – 10)
- Single Target (0 – 5)
- AoE (0 – 5)
Crowd Control / Utility…(0 – 10)
- Single Target (0 – 5)
- AoE (0 – 5)
Survivability… (0 – 10)
Mobility…(0 – 5)
Useful Masteries…(0 – 5)
Useful Tactics…(0 – 5)
Useful Mechanic…(0 – 5)
RvR Impact…(0 – 5)
Ideally, every class has Useful Masteries (5), Useful Tactics (5), a Useful Mechanic (5), and good RvR Impact (5).
Mobility is the ability to move around while affecting battle. Many instant cast, or moveable-while-casting abilities improve Mobility. Short cast times for non-mobile abilities can improve this metric as well. As an example, Magic RDPS classes have very low mobility (1-2), and Physical RDPS classes have higher mobility (3-4). MDPS classes have supreme mobility (5), but no Ranged Damage (0-1).
Survivability, in a way, is a composite of multiple other metrics, including Crowd Control and Mobility. In the end, it measures the capability of a class to survive against death, firstly through resisting the damage, and secondly through avoiding and otherwise mitigating the damage
The other metrics are self-explanatory.
Measuring the Metrics:
The ‘god-class’ would score the highest rating in every attribute, netting 100 points. No class should ever net this many points. By the same notion, this means 50 points should be an ‘average’ class. In this context, average implies optimal for creating a balanced play space.
Since ideally, every class should score optimally for Masteries, Tactics, Mechanic, and RvR Impact, this leaves 30 points to distribute among: Melee Damage, Ranged Damage, Healing and Buffing, Debuffing, Crowd Control / Utility, Survivability, and Mobility (in an optimal, balanced system).
However, many classes in WAR are not going to match the ideal metric. This is fine, if all the classes generally score in the same area. For example, if all classes scored around 35, this would be acceptable in terms of game balance, although not necessarily a fun player experience.
The problem is that there will likely be a large gap between a handful of classes and the remainder. Hopefully, this metric system will allow Mythic to see, on a broad scale, what needs to be done to improve class balance to close the gap. After a broad notion is developed, multiple ideas can be run through community feedback and focus testing to come to a good solution.