Re: (TFT) the challenge of computers, and idea

[Michael S Kluskens <mkluskens@yahoo.com>]

At 9:47 PM -0600 12/31/00, David Michael Grouchy II wrote:
>     I have been working on this for some time and have encountered 
> two major problems.  Firstly to make a game that is balanced for 
> this day, and the next, there can?t be any experienced gained.  The 
> typical experience for a first time MUD player back in the eighties 
> was to spend an hour logging on and making a character only to be 
> killed by some 57th level ranger lord hanging around in town.  He is 
> full of the advantages of experience points.  Once a piece is 
> designed it has to be finite and static like a chess piece, so it 
> will fit into the power relationships and not unbalance things. 
> Players hate this.  Most will not even tolerate discussion of a ?no 
> experience? game.  Look at Diablo.  Gaining levels is one of the 
> major drawing forces of player satisfaction.

I think the trick here would be to keep different levels of players 
separate, you would have to have multiple "Universes".  Group of 
players would have to be moved from one Universe to another together 
and transparently.  TFT has an advantage for character design, no 
random number generator needed, just get the totals right.  Still a 
tough problem but I think it is the only way to maintain the balance. 
The next step would be to put some law and order into the game, put a 
bounty on the character's head and gradually increase the level of 
the law enforcement that is going after him just in case other 
players don't solve the problem.  Also, TFT the way my brother ran it 
and some of you run it doesn't have much problem with high level 
characters, for example, triple damage occasionally spices things up.

The other point is that the computer RPGs are not role playing, 
especially Dialbo, it's pure hack and slash.  No one bothers to put 
the intelligence into the programs for any level of role-playing, I 
think some level of role-playing is possible, but you would have to 
study several good GM's to understand it and have access to the right 
programmers, the cost would be high and reduce the profit.

Michael

ps. since everyone said what is hogging their time....for me it is 
the real time strategy game Total Annihilation, the name does not 
give it justice, consider commanding and building an army, navy, 
airforce when you could be attacked at anytime--there are 200+ units 
in the base game, with hundreds of third party units.  Some of those 
units are radar and radar jammers and some units are cloakable (with 
the right third party units you can play WWII or Star Wars).  This is 
heavy duty strategy, you plan wrong and you lose large scale to a 
weaker opponent.

The people on this list would be more interested (maybe) in the 
fantasy version called Kingdoms (Total Annihilation: Kingdoms that 
is).  Nice maps too, maybe they could be used for ideas for outdoor 
TFT maps.

mk

--
Michael Kluskens <mkluskens@yahoo.com>
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