Planet Stronghold version 1.5 (Deluxe)

[jack1974]

This is an old problem unfortunately... if you have a non-combat skill that can succeed or not based on a skill value and random, is common practice to reload. The only solution would be to have fixed requirements, like:
Unlock Door in Mission 99 Part 1 = Requires 5 Lockpicking skill
so that doesn't matter anymore if you load/save... however this eliminates completely the opportunity to randomly pass the check.

[Graph_]

This is an old problem unfortunately... if you have a non-combat skill that can succeed or not based on a skill value and random, is common practice to reload. The only solution would be to have fixed requirements[...]

I wouldn't say that, but any solution you come up with will make players anxious about things like the Bellamy quest Sneak check.

*As I mentioned before, you can store one or more rolls to be used ahead of time during previous skill checks, increasing the amount of backtracking that would be needed to change those values.

*You can make the requirements semi-fluid, such as: you must have at least 40% chance in order to pass the skill check, otherwise you can attempt to luck through it.

*You can use an equation that produces an upside-down bell curve effect. Basically you take the average of two numbers for the skill check, which should make high percentages higher and low percentages lower. I think it would produce an effect like:
90% becomes 99%
20% becomes... 4% or something
50% stays at 50%
...there should be an easy formula to calculate that but it's not coming to mind for some reason. I think some Fire Emblem games used this to put more emphasis on increasing hit and dodge rates, though it's a hidden mechanic and you probably wouldn't know unless you looked at the game code.

By the way, if you're still having trouble making skill check stats feel worthwhile in PS2, one thing I might suggest is to give players two kinds of points on level up, some which can only be used on skill check stats.

[jack1974]

Thanks, I'm sure Anima has some solution in mind already for non-combat skills and if I remember correctly he mentioned that he was thinking to have two type of skill points, one for combat and another for non-combat skills as you suggested.

[Anima_]

We can save the random checks for a playtrough in the persistent data. While you could delete that other things would be deleted as well. It should be inconvenient enough to prevent regular abuse.

There are also some different solutions. For example making the skill values a requirement for options and simply have the options have different side effects.
Or use a finite resource to make up for missing skill points.
A more labor intensive solutions would be to allow supporting skill checks. For example it's too difficult for character A to sneak past a guard. Have character B distract the Guard to lower the difficulty for A.

All these options change how the game feels, so it's not fundamentally a question of what is better. Instead the question is what do we want to achieve with the skil checks.

[jack1974]

Well considering I get requests of cheat modes, I guess that super-anticheat features aren't really required
About what we want to achieve, I think helps the immersion/atmosphere to have them during the mission, so people have more variety of choices and can "roleplay" better instead of just fighting. Another solution could be to just have some characters good at each skill, ie. Damien at lockpicking, Rebecca at survival, etc so who you carry with you in the mission would influence how you play it. This would mean more characterization for each character but also have the downside of having less level-up freedom !

[Anima_]

In that case it would be enough to simply make the skills requirements. Since that satisfies the goal. I just have the feeling that there is more behind it.
Having fixed skills would fit Loren probably better, as far as I could see people really liked character customisation in PS1. In pratice that will happen anyway if skillpoints are scare enough.

[jack1974]

Well if every mission is designed so that you ALWAYS have two options:
1) a way using one skill
2) a way without
then we can use fixed skill requirements indeed. Like you're trapped underground, on one side a locked door, on the other an open exit but robots are coming to kill you: if you have any char with lockpicking 5, you can open the door and escape, otherwise you need to fight the robots to get out.
But probably makes sense to have separate combat with non-combat skill points to assign, since otherwise I think people would rather use them all in combat, since it will always be useful

[lithkul]

Hey, I don't know exactly where to post problems, but I bought planet Stronghold during the Easter sale, with the extra content. I have downloaded the pdf file, but I can not for some reason get it to say deluxe or that I have the weapons in my inventory or anything, what can I do to fix this. I have started a new game several times and it's not wanting to give me metal pieces or what I paid to have.

I have tried downloading the guide several times, this has not helped me at all, please help me.

[Seloun]

There are also some different solutions. For example making the skill values a requirement for options and simply have the options have different side effects.
Or use a finite resource to make up for missing skill points.
A more labor intensive solutions would be to allow supporting skill checks. For example it's too difficult for character A to sneak past a guard. Have character B distract the Guard to lower the difficulty for A.

I'd vote for finite resource as a good, relatively labor-cheap way of balancing this. Another alternative is to make most checks cumulative (or all mandatory checks), so that e.g. each turn the total lockpick roll is less than the goal may trigger an encounter. Both options could certainly be used.

The other alternative is to offer some kind of 'insurance', which is essentially the side effects option. For example, failing the roll might provide more experience than succeeding (or a greater skill increase); for this example it's still pretty tough to balance due to the fact the opportunity cost of reloading is so small. Deferring results is another way to make the opportunity cost slightly higher, making balancing the side effects somewhat easier.

I still prefer finite resource + skill, however, as it's less binary than just straight requirements (otherwise you get situations where individual skill points have wildly varying values). This is a pretty common solution, too (e.g. multitools in DX). A reasonable solution is to have an intermediate resource (multitool) which can also be obtained in infinite quantities at a slightly unfavorable rate by trading in another resource (credits). Something which is mechanically more difficult to ensure but helpful for immersion is if the result of the decision can be mostly known beforehand (otherwise, buyer's remorse->reloading).

Alternatively, if you just want to make each feel character special, you can use the Jagged Alliance type solution where individuals instead have traits, then mix/match 2-3 traits per character (effectively, this becomes skills with just 1-2 point maximums). You could allow some customization by e.g. having 2 traits be starting traits and have characters learn 1 additional trait partway through the game (more customizable => less special, though).

[Franka]

Hey, I don't know exactly where to post problems, but I bought planet Stronghold during the Easter sale, with the extra content. I have downloaded the pdf file, but I can not for some reason get it to say deluxe or that I have the weapons in my inventory or anything, what can I do to fix this. I have started a new game several times and it's not wanting to give me metal pieces or what I paid to have.

I have tried downloading the guide several times, this has not helped me at all, please help me.

Try registering a few times from the game's title page, it doesn't seem to go through properly the first time.