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Old 12-23-2003, 03:20 PM   #2
tresspassor
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 45
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The first thing I would recommend is ignore the fact that you want to make a ranged combat system for a mud.

Instead, first get a chessboard and start working out the gameplay on that.

Once you have a pretty basic system working, make up a few characters for the chessboard (archer, swordsman, crossbowman, magician etc), these people should have the basic abilities that you would like to have for your combat system.

Try playing it out a few times with some people, this should give you a much better outlook on the problems you will encounter when reflecting it to a mud (hey, I can just shoot and walk back three squares so the swordsman will never catch me).

Also, do some research with the "Minatures" Games out there, see how they handle ranged combat (movement, range, attack).

The process of implementing ranged combat is really easy, it is just calling a function on a player who is in a different room. In order to determine if that player is in range you need some sort of coordinate system. You can either build a true coordinate based mud, or have every room in your mud have an XY value, and have a lookup grid to see what rooms are within range.

The real problem isn't implementation, it is balancing realism with gameplay. That's where the chessboard will come in.

Here's a chessboard game example:

HP
Hit Points
Action Points
The number of points a player has to use any action. These actions include: Movement, Attack, and Special Abilities. A player cannot go into negative Action Points. Movement always cost 1 Action Point.
Attack
Attack Damage
Attack Difficulty
Based on 1D6, the first number is the range, the second number is the difficulty. With the example of a longbowman he needs to roll a 5 or higher if he is 4 squares away, but only needs to roll a 3 or higher if he is 3 squares away.
Attack Cost
The cost of an attack. Subtract this from your Action Points.
Abilities
The cost of these abilities that

Longbowman
HP: 6
Action Points: 3
Attack: 1D4 + 1
Attack Difficulty
4 | 5
3 | 3
2 | 5
1 | 6
Attack Cost: 3
Abilities:
Quick Shot (2 APs): This attack only cost 2 action points instead of 3, increase the attack difficulty by 1.

Swordsman
HP: 6
Action Points: 3
Attack: 1D8
Attack Difficulty
1 | 3
Attack Cost: 1
Abilities:
Cover (2 APs): All ranged attackes have an increased difficulty of 1.
Brutal Attack (3 APs): Attack does 1D8 + 2 damage

Magic User
HP: 6
Action Points: 3
Abilities:
Fireball (3 APs)
Attack: 1D6
Attack Difficulty
5 | 6
4 | 6
3 | 5
2 | 5
Lightning Bolt (3 APs)
Attack: 1D4
Attack Difficulty
4 | 6
3 | 3*
2 | 2*
1 | 1*
*If player fires a lightning bolt closer then 3 squares the Magic User will also suffer 1D4 of damage.

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Sort of a long winded example, but in either case. If you allready have a system in mind I think it would be a good (and fun) idea to make it into a chessboard just to see the problems you will have. Also, if you are dealing with a bunch of different developers it would be a good way to really see what the other person is talking about (send me the rules of the chessboard game so I can "see it")

*shrug*
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