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marchionessofmustacheSo, my game is coming along. I have prepared some very basic graphics to use for the prototype. I've begun working on the core of the programming now. I have the visual interface planned out--I kinda of have two programs built at once. One is a basic visual interface (though this is not as necessary since the engine I'm working with is already very visual) and the other is the "mechanics" part, that does all of the numbercrunching and whatever. There will be another level for UI navigation and stuff, and then I will start working on the aesthetics and whatever.
Anyway, I spend like 4 hours trying to figure out how to get the leveling system to work... I made a little program where I could press Enter to create new monsters and give them unique IDs, then press Space to cycle through all available monsters. When I pressed S, it would boost their "speed" stat by 1 (this is of course not how it would work in the game!)
Well, with the code I had written, I made a bad error and it would only work if I was working with monster #1. If I cycled to any of the other monsters, it wouldn't boost their stat.
But I figured it out after like 4 hours of debug (it was hard because it was a semantic error that was really difficult to uncover...) and thinking I had done something completely different the wrong way... but when I figured it out with some help from a guy on a forum I've been PMing, I was able to move quickly and create the formulas for stat increases.
Now any time during the game, when you do something that should boost your EXP in a stat, I can pick a "base" for how much that action should boost it, send it to the stat booster, and it will boost the monster's stat EXP!! It works pretty well, and is also quite random, while still being somewhat reasonable.
The first few things I tried seemed too wild, and later things generated only low numbers.
The stat boost is based on the following things:
* Randomly generated numbers
* The monster's "talent" in that stat
* The base number send into the function (so like, going for a walk would boost your swiftness with a very low base, while sprinting trials would boost your swiftness with a high base...)
* How much stress the monster is under (high the stress level, the bigger penalty to your stat gain)
* Your current overall "Big S" level for that stat(each stat is governed by one of the three "big S" stats: Speed, Strong, Smart)
* The stage in your monster's life (adult monsters will be better at training than babies, of course!)
As you can see, I wanted to have LOTS of factors that contribute to the stat growth so it would seem very "fluid" and pretty random. I don't want it to be like Pokémon where you can calculate your stats of a monster when it's at level 5, and know exactly what it will be at level 100 and how to get there.
The focus of the game is on caring and nurturing, so your decisions will affect the growth the most. If you are neglect your monster and don't pay attention to its needs and desires, you won't train as well. This is because stress and the monster's personal talents factor into the equation. Your monster's likes will also determine how often they will refuse to train. For example, if your monster HATES running laps, but you constantly try to make it run laps, it will often give up (not get any stat gain at all). Not only that, but its stress will still go up, and its affection may go down.
I want to pull the player away from thinking about numbers, and to have a more "real" experience. I want them to think about how they want to treat and interact with the monster, not about what its stats may become. If you nurture the monster and work with its natural interests and talents, you will be the most successful. If you try to force it to become what you want it to be, even if it hates it and is not good at it, you may see moderate success from never giving up, but your monster will be very unhappy and may even die very young from all the stress.
Once players really get into the system, I hope they will be able to find a way to balance both, where they can raise monsters the way they want, while keeping them happy and healthy, too. That is the kind of game I am yearning to create.
Anyway, I spend like 4 hours trying to figure out how to get the leveling system to work... I made a little program where I could press Enter to create new monsters and give them unique IDs, then press Space to cycle through all available monsters. When I pressed S, it would boost their "speed" stat by 1 (this is of course not how it would work in the game!)
Well, with the code I had written, I made a bad error and it would only work if I was working with monster #1. If I cycled to any of the other monsters, it wouldn't boost their stat.
But I figured it out after like 4 hours of debug (it was hard because it was a semantic error that was really difficult to uncover...) and thinking I had done something completely different the wrong way... but when I figured it out with some help from a guy on a forum I've been PMing, I was able to move quickly and create the formulas for stat increases.
Now any time during the game, when you do something that should boost your EXP in a stat, I can pick a "base" for how much that action should boost it, send it to the stat booster, and it will boost the monster's stat EXP!! It works pretty well, and is also quite random, while still being somewhat reasonable.
The first few things I tried seemed too wild, and later things generated only low numbers.
The stat boost is based on the following things:
* Randomly generated numbers
* The monster's "talent" in that stat
* The base number send into the function (so like, going for a walk would boost your swiftness with a very low base, while sprinting trials would boost your swiftness with a high base...)
* How much stress the monster is under (high the stress level, the bigger penalty to your stat gain)
* Your current overall "Big S" level for that stat(each stat is governed by one of the three "big S" stats: Speed, Strong, Smart)
* The stage in your monster's life (adult monsters will be better at training than babies, of course!)
As you can see, I wanted to have LOTS of factors that contribute to the stat growth so it would seem very "fluid" and pretty random. I don't want it to be like Pokémon where you can calculate your stats of a monster when it's at level 5, and know exactly what it will be at level 100 and how to get there.
The focus of the game is on caring and nurturing, so your decisions will affect the growth the most. If you are neglect your monster and don't pay attention to its needs and desires, you won't train as well. This is because stress and the monster's personal talents factor into the equation. Your monster's likes will also determine how often they will refuse to train. For example, if your monster HATES running laps, but you constantly try to make it run laps, it will often give up (not get any stat gain at all). Not only that, but its stress will still go up, and its affection may go down.
I want to pull the player away from thinking about numbers, and to have a more "real" experience. I want them to think about how they want to treat and interact with the monster, not about what its stats may become. If you nurture the monster and work with its natural interests and talents, you will be the most successful. If you try to force it to become what you want it to be, even if it hates it and is not good at it, you may see moderate success from never giving up, but your monster will be very unhappy and may even die very young from all the stress.
Once players really get into the system, I hope they will be able to find a way to balance both, where they can raise monsters the way they want, while keeping them happy and healthy, too. That is the kind of game I am yearning to create.
