You can have weapons and spells always do the same amount of damage per level but only accuracy is affected by random chance. Of course members of the party who miss would not get their spells to go up as much. But then you'd want to get hit by your opponents so you could cast heal more so your healers gain more heal xp.



I can't think of good ways to prevent abuse other than of course the ways we already mentioned breakable items, time limits. Maybe breakable spells?

The summon food was just an example, actually I don't know if I'll use food in the game

What you mean "weapon/spells do the same amount of damage per level"? you mean proportional damage?



What I think to do is increase the spell stats proportionally to the level and sum the usage.

Example fire bolt basic, 1-3dmg and 15% hit chance

At level 10, 10-30dmg and 25% hit chance and so on.



It would affect damage, duration, hit chance, etc for each spell.



Of course you could want to let your fighters be hit more to be healed more, but being hit more=more damage to the armours. I could counterbalance this checking the actual difficulty of the fight, or other ways. Anyway I hope not everyone playing the game will think about cheating!

Your latest blog on point of views made my day! Yay for following economic principles! Inflation is bad(putting in useless rooms just to inflate the game time, how many RPGs advertise 100+ hours of gameplay but only ten hours of fun?)! I mean imagine you're a movie director, and you put in a bunch of useless scenes to pad the running time.



Remember the game must follow economic principles:

1) risk versus reward

2)Inflation is bad(done!)

3) Finite resources(the most broken rule of all RPGs)

4) Gains from trade(ie. gans from classes and specialization)

Yeah, well said!!

I hate wandering like a fool in vaste lands! I want to solve quests and fight monsters... if I want to take a walk I can just go in my garden

I like also the idea of having a sort of "preview" of what can be hidden in the next room. Of course not what kind of monsters, etc but at least knowing what there is inside, that way you can plan your strategy and maybe take a different path.

Okay, I read your latest blog and my vote is to emphasize less on exploration and more on combat and to have a smaller map and make it turn based.



On another note, in a lot of RPGs there's a lot of gear to buy at lower levels but then when you get to higher levels there's hardly anything to buy and it's all exorbitantly expensive. I want to see the same amount of gear available at high levels as there is at low levels.



On a similar note, please don't make it take a lot more time to get from level 9 to 10 than 1 to 2.



In fact, perahps maybe there could be less levels. This is a trilogy, so the first game you can go up to level 4 the second to level 7 and the third to level 10.



The reward for leveling is getting to min/max your characters. In a lot of RPGs the stats you increase are decided for you, the spells you get are decided for you, and the skills you increase are decided for you. I'd rather have fewer levels and get to min/max my character a little more. Lowering the number of levels would fix the coming up with spells problem as well.

I managed to fix the map problem right now so yes, even if the map has a limit of 100x100 cells, I think I'll concentrate on smaller maps.

I think I found a good compromise, movement is in real-time but because of that doesn't mean that the exploration will be boring. It is a matter of gamedesign actually: what would be boring is having to go back and forth through levels to solve quests, like in Fate for example, where you almost clear one level then you miss to kill monster X or find item Y.

I plan to make the levels more linear, so that once a place is explored, it's done, and you don't have to go back checking there again.



About the levels, no I plan to make them almost all equal. Like for example from level 1 to 2 would be required 1000XP, from level 9 to 10 would be 1200XP or so (so just 20% more).

I have yet to decide exactly how many levels to put. Indeed 30 maybe would be too much and won't make sense if the spells are just renamed but have same effect, like happens on many other CRPG.



I am not sure about 10, probably I think I'll go for 15 (so you can have 5 levels per episode).



What you mean for min/max? now I was considering to make the skill increase through practice, and also each level have XX skill points to distribute.

Right now the number of skill point is quite low though, and depending on the race. Humans have 8 SkPt, so for a level 5 you would get 40 SkPt to distribute. Considering that the skills have values from 0 to 99, maybe that would be already enough to try some interesting min/max combinations.

I plan to make the levels more linear, so that once a place is explored, it's done, and you don't have to go back checking there again.

I like this idea very much.



I also like the compromise you are thinking of making: real-time exploration and turn-based combat.

I am not sure about 10, probably I think I'll go for 15 (so you can have 5 levels per episode).

How will you handle distribution of experience points for party members who win a battle together?



Also, I think you mentioned before that you were considering a system where gaining improvement in skills requires using them. I like this idea even moreso because you will prevent abuse of it.



I'm so use to having characters that can reach high levels (and some games make that next level quickly reachable eliminating frustrating level-grinding) which for me is a satisfying experience. By reducing the number of levels the character can acheieve, I think you must increase something else to compensate; otherwise, better gear is the only think players have to look forward too. My suggestion would be to have a boatload of varying quests to give the player motivation and inspiration to keep plugging along. A questlog in the form of a checklist will keep that player from getting bored with combat, and actually inspire them to keep going that extra hour to check one more thing off their list.



Even though I haven't been posting as much, I have been following all the comments on this board and in the blog. Keep on plugging away, jack1974 your supporters are still with you even though you don't hear from them as much.

I don't know exactly how I'll divide the XP yet. Mostly RPG just divide XP for party members. Like: 100XP / 4 party members = 25XP each

But I'm thinking to assign it based on more complex calculations. For example how much a cleric heals, or a caster cast spells. Because if you encounter an easy combat, and the 2 tank finish the opponent alone and your cleric doesn't even have to cast 1 spell would be bad to give XP even to cleric that did nothing

However I'm thinking to prevent this, making absolutely "no easy battle". How? well... not making random encounter but adjusting opponent difficulty based on your party (a bit the same thing I'm doing with the latest Magic Stones expansions).

I really don't see the point in leveling "harvesting" 100 level 1 sewer rats - it becomes a boring job. Several of them is ok, but shouldn't become a routine.



The slow leveling will be balanced by the skill system and variety of skills. Also remember: my CRPG won't have a fixed party. I know maybe you won't like it, but I have planned it this way from the beginning.

What I mean exactly? that you can to go back to town and select other characters from the "Pool of Heroes", this way changing completely the game.



To better understand: you can have even a party with only fighters, but each one specialized in some way. A paladin with high two handed, a fighter with good dual wield and sword, a rogue with high piercing, etc.

Then you can go to town and pickup another party, always made only of fighters, but: a paladin specialized in blunt weapons and shield, a fighter with high critical hit, a rogue with excellent throwing weapons, and so on.



In most RPG, you have to restart the game from beginning to experience a different party - in mine in practice you can create first several parties and switch them as you play.



This is optional of course, since you can play the whole game with just the starting party, but is an extra bonus that should keep the game interesting even with fewer levels.



Or I can find other stuff to add more variety, the casters are already a lot varied, maybe I need something else for fighters, I'll think about it...

what about adding a special battle that if won allows you to go to a special area to get special powers or skills when doing battles in this area. you could put these in areas that might require alot of extra walking and once you finish the special battles you move to the next area of the map without the extra walking and a little somethng extra to do other than walk around. walking around trying to figure out where to go next is very boring. one of the special items that could be won is somethng that when you use it allows you special ability to scan over the area you are in, but i think you should have to battle for it not just be given it.



i like the idea of not having to go back to areas you have already cleared it does get frustrating.



i am still catching up on all the info on this game since i am new to your website, so hopefully i am not repeating something already said.

The exploration is an essential part of any RPG. But wandering without any clue is bad either. The best RPG I've played had always some hints, in the form of the quest log, or diary, that helped the player understand where he should move next.

So my suggestion is: make exploration normal, but avoid having even to manually walk back to town.

Instead use Fallout/Troika games system: you have a menu with places you've already visited and you can just tell "go to Abandoned Town" - then the game will do a check to see if you encounter any wandering monsters on the way to get there.

Yes those are very good suggestions indeed.

I plan to make the equipment a very important point for character. In many RPG I've played, the best weapon is always a sword - I want to have an excellent weapon for every type. Including some weird ones like sickles or katana

So for caster there could be some special spells/potion recipe to find, while for fighting classes I'll concentrate on items (both armor and weapons).

I just saw your latest blog entry with the map screenshot.



I must say I really love the layout you have going. I like the idea of combining the party into one icon as they move around, and once you flesh out each room it will look that much better. You are cetainly going in the right direction.



Just looking at that developmental map, I'm so eager to play this game. Keep those screenshots coming.



I'm also glad that with this game you are making an editor early on, because I can already imagine creating some cool maps for it.

Thanks! I am always very picky, so I didn't know if to show that screenshot to the public. But so far everyone almost said the same thing: "looks great, I'm eager to play the game!". So I guess it isn't so bad after all



The difficult thing will be putting many items, because of the perspective. Anyway I'm rendering right now barrel, chests, racks, and so on. Of course not every item will have a purpose, and some will be just for scenic purposes!

I'm also glad that with this game you are making an editor early on, because I can already imagine creating some cool maps for it.

Yes after Magic Stones experience I realized how fool I was not making an editor from the beginning. If I did that, now would be very easy to make new quests and users could create their own too with ease! a mistake not to be repeated with my future rpg/strategy games that features maps or editable items!!

Please don't have the starting skill points be random so you have to keep rerolling until you get the maximum number of skill points

Well for now that's it

I'll see if change it later, in any case what matters are the main stats (strength, dexterity, etc) since they influence the game a lot more than only the skills. And since every skill is trainable with the use of it... the difference in random generation is just 3-4 points.



Beside that, rerolling is a vital part of any good RPG, no??

Whoa! So you really are creating RPG.

I remember that you posted long time ago that you may start to develop one.



About rolling:

I absolutely hate rolling character. I find no purpose in it. I want to create my character as I see fit.



Also:

How many skills are we looking at here? And are you planning to emphasize combat or you are going Planescape route and placing dialog more important?

And can you choose between good and evil? And if you do plan to be able to be evil in game, please do not take obsidian route, in their games only evil characters that exist are dumb brutes.



Sorry, if these questions are already answered, its late here and I didnt read this whole thread.

Reroll will be minimal, and on skills which in any case can be build up over time, differently from character attributes (str,dex,sta,wis etc) that you will be able to allocate, and that are more important in the game.



The skills are purely combat-based. Would be foolish for me to attempt to make a big game like Runescape or Oblivion or whatever else. I first will make a trilogy of a dungeon based combat-focused RPG, then if I'm still alive (remember I'm working alone) then I can try a bigger RPG with dialogues, etc

I was playing the game Jack helped code called Global Warming and I thought wow, this card system is a really great idea and should be used in a lot more games. I thought the card system would be great in RPGs so naturally Tower of Destiny popped into my mind.



So when your men encounter a monster, each of your party gets dealt five cards. Some of the cards can be the spells that you designed. Others can be based on the inventory you have such as a singing sword which stuns the enemy for a turn. But others are creative, like swing from a chandelair and try to chop your opponents head off or lead your opponent into a trap.



Some cards will also only be available if you have say two dwarven clerics and then either one of them can draw the drunken stupor card.



The advantage of this system is that it takes advantage of probabilities. Not only might you have two wizards to take advantage of any special cards that only show up when you have two wizards but also now you might want two wizards so you're more likely to draw the slow card. The other advantage is that with swing from a chandelere card, etc. is that it feels more like a pen & paper RPG.



Like in Global Warming the game would inform you when certain cards would be bad plays, you would get hints like "Scorpiens hate water spells"



You might say it's not realistic to not be able to use all of your characters abilities at once. However, there always situations that prohibit characters from using spells or abilities like the corridor is too small to use the fireball spell, there's a lot of wind that prevents the use of arrows, your warrior can't get his sword out of his scabbard, etc.

Hm don't know, I think the card system would appeal more casual players, and for TOD I'm not really targetting them (is more a niche game). However I'm talking with Midori and the possibility to make more games using the Global Warning engine

Close to a month since your last reply about this game. I'm starting to worry



I know you are busy with Supernova and eliminating bugs from Magic Stones, but I was hoping for another juicy in-game screenshot.



I know if you had something new to post you would have done so already, but close to a month without a post or blog entry about this game is really making me want this game even more.



Please, I'll take any update you can provide- be it a thumbnail image or a one paragraph tidbit.



I can't wait until you release this game because I will finally have something enjoyable to play alongside Magic Stones.

it does look like a good cousin to magic stone. it will be fun to try it out.