Re: CF: skill categories and sub-skills

[Tenwit <>]

--- Scott Wedel <> wrote:
> Danger to the player should not be required to increase skill 
> proficiency.  Otherwise, certain skills will never be advanced.
> Skill proficiency should be increased based upon doing something
> difficult for the player.
<snip>
> There might also be a skill deteriation feature that the really high
> proficiency skills must be occasionally practiced or they are
> decreased.
<snip>

There are many problems of all sorts associated with learning skills
through use in games.  I think it's best if only skills which aren't
likely to affect play balance can be improved this way.  And if they
don't affect play balance, you might as well simplify things for the
coder and not have them deteriorate.  Running through mountains should
add 0.01% mountaineering per space, maximum %age defined by race, and
that's it.  No complications.

I haven't got the suggested skill tree handy, but for play-balance-
affecting skills which theoretically could or should be improved
through use: don't do it.  Go with the teaching method, where you can
use money paid for training as a play-balancer.  There are two ideas I
can think of that would implement a compromise:

1) Use/lack of use gives a skill bonus/penalty.  Just a small amount,
no more than 5% or so.  It's fun to work to maximise the bonus, but
it's not crippling or unbalancing to leave it degrade to a 5% penalty.

2) Have the max %age for the skill be taught, with the usual teaching
costs for play balance, but have the "real" %age work the way you
suggest.  When the player hits his 75% skill limit that he's paid for,
there's no point in jumping up and down on the spot to train the skill.

Realism takes too much precedence in some games.  The order we should be
thinking about these things is 1) player fun, 2) play balance, 3) realism.
Don't do something only because "it makes sense"; it has to benefit the
game too.

Tenwit

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Tenwit                        
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dome/4918

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