weapon damage range

[Whistler]

I understand that as is, only the weapon (item type 5) can have the minimum and maximum weapon damage established with value1=minimum damage and value2=maximum damage, while value3=damage type.

this establishes a linear function in avg weapon damage pop, meaning that any pop is just as likely to come up as a minor damage as a maximum.

If the area writer could establish a Range for maximum and minimum values, then this would allow the writer to establish a bell curve for the weapon pops, where an avg dmg is far more likely to pop than a min or max dmg.

for example:

given a TH crusher value 1=range 1-8, value 2= range 10-18 will yeild a mean dmg distribution popping at the minimum of avg 5.5 dmg or maximum 13 dmg 1.4% of the time, while it would pop at the intermediary avg dmg range of 8.5-10 40%(!) of the time.

this type of function would allow persistent or really lucky people to get a hold of those rare items, and its a way to make them rare without limiting them. (take the fishing spear for example...i don't understand why it is limited...other than it's too easy to pop at high dmg.)

narrowing these ranges flattens the curve, making it more likely to yeild min or max weapons all the way down to the currently used flat linear curve.

would it really be that difficult to instute this?

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[Tokugawa]

Moved this to it's own thread as the other thread was not the appropriate place for this.

What you propose is not supported by the current code base.

[Kylor]

It's not currently supported but the curve you described is actually already in place. The only difference is the writer can't set the curve. When we make a weapon that is 10 - 15 the code is setup so that there is a chance the weapon only pops perhaps at 8 14 or 8 13 or whatever. When we set the range in the writer we are actually setting the -maximum- low end and high end that the item can pop to. Personally after giving it alot of thought I think it's ok where it is now and I as a writer don't really require control over the curve as much as control over the limits, which is what we do have. I like it just fine, besides I would imagine it would take alot of work to code that into the game then again into the area writers for very little gain.

[Tynian]

This is already done to a limited extent in that the minimum and maximum damage does vary slightly. That's why persistent characters pop weapons until they get one they like.

Expanding this so that it is area writer-adjustable would be more difficult than you might think, since we have compatibility with current area files to think about, as well as the mechanics to keep track of the extended ranges.

It would be better if the code did it automatically -- keeps the complexity down.

[Whistler]

i just gotta figure out how to write code then. I used to be proficient in a few programming languages, but havn't used them for a dozen years, so, like any languages left unused, they've been forgotten.

I havn't seen exactly how the code is written for this program, but it seem to me that what i'm really talking about is only like 2 lines of code at most, and not something that would be needed for every weapon, just the 'special' weapons for which the writer may want to adjust the pop rate curve.

Kylor-thanks, i didn't realize that value 1 established the maximum of the range for minimum values, i thought it was simply the minimum.

Tokugawa-Thanks for moving this to its own thread. i didn't think it was worthy...

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[Tynian]

What I was suggesting would be for all weapons.

But if that's not suitable, I don't think we'll be able to accommodate this request.

[Whistler]

*bows respectfully*

appreciate you hearing me out on this. i expect that once i start churning out the zones running through my head, we can discuss special exceptions on a case by case basis though....


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[Tynian]

Haha, some things are easier to accommodate than others. We'll look at them on a case by case basis.