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Author Topic: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave  (Read 2884 times)


I hate encounters. Breathe deep, and say it with me. You do too. You know you do.

I consider all that time spent spawning and then dashing offscreen like a post-apocalyptic Benny Hill wasted. I think, in their current form, random encounters don't enhance the game at all - they're something to be avoided, grinded or farmed.

Encounter difficulty means nothing - if I have to head over to Navarro I'll just strip down to my undies and keep running into certain death until I get there. If I encounter a patrol, I wouldn't stand a chance anyway - I'd just get shot by Enclave murdervision, respawn, and do it all again. If the enemies aren't ranged, then all you have to do is run - regardless of RT or TB.

---

Edit - MY IDEA:

Let's say Encounters are divided into City/Desert/Cliffs, like it is now. Then divided into encounter levels 1-3, 4-7, 8-12, and so on. Low levels would encounter rats, ants, and a badly equipped raider or two. Mid-level would have small groups of marauders, slavers, molerats. High levels would encounter floaters and supermutants. Everybody is fighting things they should be able to handle - high levels don't have to fuck around with rats, low levels don't get destroyed by super mutant laser eyes.

I think you'd also be able to keep more of a handle on what gear people can easily obtain. If you're level 8, NPCs are wielding magnums and assault rifles and they're only gunning for you - no more NCR Army vs. Super Mutants to pick the remains.

Combined with Rat's handsome new encounter map style further down, I think we'd be onto something.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2011, 03:01:35 pm by Badger »
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Handyman

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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2011, 02:33:12 pm »

yeah cool, but duegons were suggested already
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2011, 02:37:54 pm »

Encounter difficulty means nothing - if I have to head over to Navarro I'll just strip down to my undies and keep running into certain death until I get there. If I encounter a patrol, I wouldn't stand a chance anyway - I'd just get shot by Enclave murdervision, respawn, and do it all again.
If you need to get to Navarro, then you'll do that with a reason, not just to say "hello" to enclave guard and then go back. So this reason usually contain an item that you carry with you, which you can't put in your undies, so if you'll die you'll lose it.

If the enemies aren't ranged, then all you have to do is run - regardless of RT or TB.
I've used my talent in drawing and made an art:



Critters spawn in case of 1 vs 2 vs 3 encounters, players will be spawned at other side of map. This way it'll be impossible to run away from critters in RT, and may be you'll take some hits in TB. Of couse TB and RT encounter fleeing are very different. If make TB location leaving identical to RT (you can't leave encounter if last turn someone attacked you or you attacked someone, so you need to skip one turn without attack/being attacked and only on the next turn you can leave), then it'll be harder to leave encounters in TB too.

Edit:
Also incase of only one player in encouter, pack animals and NPCs shouldn't go berserk, but keep thier pray from escaping, by 50% of pack attacking target 30% of pack going on hexes between target and exit grid and 20% of pack attacking once and running on all other APs in direction of grid and then joining other 50% on the next turn, while other 20% from those 50% joining those 20%.
If there're more than 1 player on encounter, then if it's animal pack, they must choose the weakest one as food, if intelligent NPCs, then someone with better equipment on him and his hands (armor+weapon), because he's a threat.
Also incase of low HP, pack animals going into those 30%, and healthy animals replacing wounded, so healthy will be fighting, and wounded will be keeping pray from escaping.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2011, 02:49:56 pm by RavenousRat »
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2011, 02:55:53 pm »

I've used my talent in drawing and made an art:

I actually really like that - but it would require the game to throw encounters that the player has a chance of being able to handle. How difficult would it actually be to create a system that does that?

Let's say it was divided into City/Desert/Cliffs, like it is now. Then divided into encounter levels 1-3, 4-7, 8-12, and so on. Low levels would encounter rats, ants, and a badly equipped raider or two. Mid-level would have small groups of marauders, slavers, molerats. High levels would encounter floaters and supermutants. Everybody is fighting things they should be able to handle - high levels don't have to fuck around with rats, low levels don't get destroyed by super mutant laser eyes.

I think you'd also be able to keep more of a handle on what gear people can easily obtain. If you're level 8, NPCs are wielding magnums and assault rifles and they're only gunning for you - no more NCR Army vs. Super Mutants to pick the remains.
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Surf

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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2011, 03:08:39 pm »

It's often been said that level scaling is not wanted.
Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2011, 03:09:16 pm »

It's often been said that level scaling is not wanted.

booo. Why not? Besides it not being 'Fallout'.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2011, 03:11:38 pm by Badger »
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Lexx

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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2011, 03:14:04 pm »

In fact, encounters do have a kind of level scaling already: The more players, the more mobs.


The problem I see with real levelscaling is low level players going into an encounter and other players joining in then. Or using distress call to bring their big lvl21 friends who then pwn the shit.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2011, 03:15:36 pm by Lexx »
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2011, 03:23:58 pm »

The problem I see with real levelscaling is low level players going into an encounter and other players joining in then. Or using distress call to bring their big lvl21 friends who then pwn the shit.

Bleargh, good points. But I wouldn't say they're drastic enough to completely ruin level scaled encounters. I mean, the same could be said of PvE dungeons or any other feature that will include dangerous creatures. You could always start a high level NPC faction quest/go to a high level PvE area, then bring along your low level buddies for a ride. Unless you introduced level limits on those too. Which I would be fine with, actually.

Edit: How about distress calls are only available when there's no NPCs left alive/the encounter only contains human players?
« Last Edit: April 17, 2011, 03:30:54 pm by Badger »
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Crazy

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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2011, 03:43:24 pm »

Edit: How about distress calls are only available when there's no NPCs left alive/the encounter only contains human players?

Then the feature loose most of his original point. It's called "distress call" because you are supposed to use it when you need help...
But well, level scaling is already existing in area division way: At anklav, or SF, harsh encounter, near klamath, easy encounters...
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2011, 03:47:48 pm »

Then the feature loose most of his original point. It's called "distress call" because you are supposed to use it when you need help...

How often do you think that's what it's actually used for? Whenever people I know use it it's just to rendezvous after a group breaks up. I doubt it's often used mid PvE fight.
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Johnnybravo

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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2011, 08:28:48 pm »

Quote
The problem I see with real levelscaling is low level players going into an encounter and other players joining in then. Or using distress call to bring their big lvl21 friends who then pwn the shit.
Can you explain how bringing high level friends with distress call would negatively affect game experience or balance?
In  real world if you had really experienced friend, he'd probably teach you a lot, so powerleveling with friend is not huge problem if you have things like XP based on damage done (eg. 50% xp for downing just 50% of critter hp at the time of it's death)
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2011, 08:44:56 pm »

In fact, encounters do have a kind of level scaling already: The more players, the more mobs.
I'm just curious: if there are so many huge shitloads of NPCs in one NCR Army enco when encountering them alone, how many are there when you travel with a big group? :O I don't imagine. Encountering them alone makes the map look small already.
Or that scaling must be in a very small scale.

(This post is actually a hidden suggestion to nerf the NCR army encounters ;f)
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Beaver98

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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2011, 08:54:37 pm »

And lets say I want to get magnums/shitty gear, or I want to make some easy cash from getting those, I would be stuck with minigun wielding freaks which I cant kill due to the fact I lost my gear in a TC...
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2011, 09:53:59 pm »

It's funny.

People knock magnums, and while there are certainly some bad things about them (the range isn't so hot, they can suffer versus armor) they are also handy if you want to pop weak critters, and not use your precious ammunition on a rat. They are also good for "human" vermin, like low level raiders, and bluesuits. You can just butcher bluesuits with a magnum. They do healthy damage, and will almost always kill a poorly or unarmored player below a certain level if you shoot pop them once or twice and get a crit.
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Re: Encounters, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Enclave
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2011, 03:10:43 am »

Another sterilized generic MMO? No thank you.
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