Pstemarie wrote...
The ACP adds an entire framework of new combat animations. Project Q uses the OnPlayerChat event to switch the animation model to run. NwnE used custom feats. What is required is making new animation supers - which Ragnarok_Mr4 did - and adding new feats (and feat-linked spells) to implement as you suggest.
That sounds very interesting, thanks. I thought the new combat animations were simply different styles of fighting, not the ability to add in combat animations at desired points.
Pstemarie wrote...
You would use a pseudo-heartbeat to capture the time the buff was added, its duration, then send a chat message to the user of the buff every round to count off how many rounds are left before the buff expires.
So, especially if you have several buffs, you either clog up the chat where the player will miss dialogue or clog up the combat log where it'll scroll by too fast to see? Ideally you'd have a way built into the UI itself showing remaining duration that can be seen at a glance.
Pstemarie wrote...
To show stacks you could probably rig something in the spellscript that applies the buff. Everytime a buff stacks with an existing buff you send a message to the PC.
That's not what I mean. I'm talking about a buff or debuff stacking which means the following:
Let's say Melf's Acid Arrow deals 10 damage initially and then 3 damage per round for three rounds (18 seconds). You cast the spell once and now you have one stack.
If you cast the spell again before those 18 seconds pass you now have two stacks and the timer resets to 18. So now it's dealing 6 damage per round for 3 rounds. Cast it again and it's up to dealing 9 damage per round.
Usually this sort of stacking is capped at a number (but not always) and it applies to both buffs and debuffs, usually in shorter duration. It's an "arbitrary" game mechanic to make things interesting, along with ability cooldowns, and move away from the NWN style of "use your best ability as many times as you can until you run out, then use your second best ability until you run out, then use your third best..."
Here's an example where it's very useful:
Imagine a boss who casts Fireball at a location. If you get hit, you gain a stack of a debuff for 20 seconds which makes you take damage over time. The boss casts the fireball every 10 seconds. Thus, if you keep getting hit, the stack of the debuff will build up until it'll be unhealable and you'll die. However, if you can avoid two in a row you'll drop the "stack" of debuffs and the damage will reset.
Pstemarie wrote...
Just what are you trying to emulate here anyway? NWN was designed to be a close approximation of the pnp D&D 3.0 rules. Under no circumstances in a well-run (my opinion of such anyway) pnp D&D will a PC know the exact duration of a variable duration spell. Nor will they be tracking the duration of a spell in the heat of combat - too many other things to worry about.
Except a cleric, for example, needs to keep up Prayer, Battletide, Divine Favor, and Divine Power during combat to be at maximum effectiveness, for example. A mage will need to keep up Elemental Shield, Mestil's Acid Sheath, and Spell Mantle at a minimum. With visual effects flying around and the buff UI being horrible, I don't think "Can you figure out if your buff fell off?" is an important test of skill. I don't think a less skilled player not realizing he died because a short-term buff wore off is fair given the UI. That's just artificial difficulty.
And I'm not trying to emulate DnD 3.0 rules, I think many of them are terrible, especially when translated to a computer game. One of the main issues, as mentioned above, is in many cases the optimal way to play a caster is to spam your highest level spells, then second highest, then third highest, etc. That's just dull to me.
Especially when that's often...
Maximized IGMS x 8
Empowered IGMS x 8
Silenced/Stilled IGMS x 8
IGMS x 8
Is the boss dead yet?
Maybe throw in a Disjunction or two or Time Stops depending upon the server, but still..
Pstemarie wrote...
Why in gods name would you need a grid? OH WAIT - you're trying to maximize AOE spell efficiency 
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Actually, I don't think it's fair to have a game where friendly fire is typically enabled but you can't tell what your AoE will hit. Trying to guess whether you'll hit your friend isn't fun and definitely minimizes spell choices to boot. Which is why I just disable friendly fire.
_six wrote...
Perhaps not coincidentally I think the
combat system that has developed over time in the Mass Effect series (specifically 2 and 3) is much more fun for example, to use an example that might be familiar to folks here. I'm not sure I'd agree WoW is better implemented than NWN, as both seem to fail in what the other succeeds at to me.
Even so, I much prefer NWN modules that focus on puzzles, story, dynamic conversations etc rather than combat - unless they have something really special. And that's something no MMO I've yet seen has pulled off. I find combat that is formatted more as a puzzle than a test of the player's stats, for instance with highly scripted boss encounters, much more interesting. And plenty of NWN's modders in the past have proven more than ept enough to create their own unique takes on it, particular in some of the best single player modules. Key word: unique, even within the same engine.
I'm a big fan of Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and 95% of Mass Effect 3. And yes, the combat system is very fun. Not perfect, but much better than NWN.
Out of curiosity, when you're speaking of WoW's failings, are you referring to combat mechanics or dialogue/story? I'd agree that NWN is superior on dialogue/story but I think that's more the nature of the medium (MMO with millions vs solo campaigns or smaller group content in campaigns, potentially with DMs. Or even PWs with DMs that do stuff and RP, which you don't have in WoW obviously).
And yes, I think NWN, by default, should focus on anything but combat. My work has mainly been trying to figure out good ways to improve the combat systems and bring it semi up to par (and I love designing highly scripted boss encounters).
Modifié par MagicalMaster, 14 août 2012 - 05:12 .
