[CF-Devel] improving the PR-code (patch written)

[Peter Mardahl]

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      I tested the new PR code and felt that it is good, but still
     
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      not perfect.
     
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      The calculation for partial resistances works well for
     
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      positive values, but for negative it doesn't. Examples:
     
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        +50 and -50 makes +25 ...huh?
     
     
I think this case is actually good.  At -100, it'd be
VERY hard for a troll to resist fire even with lots of items.
Mark's system makes it possible, though stillhard.

Also, a cap of +0 for a troll would be rather harsh.

How about this modification:
use your system, but 
-50 ==> double damage  (-100 ==> quadruple damage)

give trolls and wraiths -30  (1.6x damage)
and their "cap" would be +70?



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        -40 and -40 makes -96 ...d'oh!
     
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      Moreover, the way potions work doesn't please me. We've created
     
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      partial protections to get rid of immunties. But potions still
     
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      grant +100% (immunity). Hence, not too much has really changed yet.
     
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      Now I've written a patch, to make the PR-calculations perfect.
     
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      Get it at <
      
      http://mids.student.utwente.nl/~avogl/pr_patch.tar.gz
      
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      (read INSTALL.txt for installation hints).
     
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      Here's what my patch does:
     
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      o I calculate positive and negative resistances seperately. The
     
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        negative res. are calculated exactly like the positive. Then I
     
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        take: "overall resistance = total positive - total negative".
     
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        Advantage: Negative resistances are calculated in a "logical" way.
     
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        For example: +50 and -50 makes zero. -40 and -40 makes -64.
     
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      o Many People have stated their wish for "caps" on resistances.
     
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        With my scheme vulnerabilities work automatically as caps for
     
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        protection. Example: While wearing one item with fire -20, you
     
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        cannot get more than fire +80 overall from equipment!
     
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        (it's simple: +100% -20% = +80%)
     
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        This will greatly help to balance powerful artifacts. If there
     
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        is an artifact with "cold +100", we add a "fire -5" and violà:
     
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        Impossible to get both cold +100 and fire +100 by using that
     
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        item!
     
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        And if one is forced to live with hight vulnerability for
     
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        permanent (like wraith: fire -30), one can still use a potion
     
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        to go beyond the natural cap (see next point).
     
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      o Potions work completely different than before. The so-called
     
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        "immunity-potions" grant an absolute value of 90% protection,
     
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        independant from the players's equipment and properties!
     
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        Minor potions/balms grant 50%. If the player has already got
     
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        more protection than that, the potion won't have any effect.
     
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        Example: I have fire +50 and drink a "potion of fire res."
     
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        - so I get fire +90. If I have fire +95 by equipment and drink
     
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        the same potion - nothing happens.
     
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        Great advantage: While newbies can use potions very efficiently,
     
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        high-level characters can't abuse them to beat the game.
     
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        90% resist. is good for killing some dragons, but it won't
     
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        suffice to kill a "grandmaster wizard" at clevel 18.
     
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      o Cursed resistance potions are working now (have been broken
     
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        before). They give a temporare vulnerability, but can be
     
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        overriden by uncursed potions of the same resistance-type.
     
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        Like all potions they give an absolute value (-100% or -50%),
     
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        so they are truely dangerous while in effect.
     
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      o Protection spells work different than potions. Their effect does
     
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        add to the player's equipment. (Maybe +50% resistance for spells
     
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        is a bit too much though... I consider changing it to +30%, but
     
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        this is not part of my patch yet).
     
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        I think this is fun because it makes combat more interesting:
     
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        While your equipment might already be good you still have the
     
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        option to gain an additional 30% by casting that spell. Not
     
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        much, but maybe the small tweak deciding over life and death.
     
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        (Fortunately, Peter has modified the spells so that no more
     
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        than one protection spell (of same type) can be in effect)
     
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      o When the player's state of resistance changes, a new kind of
     
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        message shows up: The percentage of the new (current) resistance
     
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        is displayed. I consider this very helpful, especially in combat.
     
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        It just plain sucks to need a rod of perceive self all the time.
     
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        That worked fine while there was no more than two classes of
     
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        resistances (prot. & immu.), but now this is no longer acceptible.
     
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      Okay, that's all. I know this might be hard to understand without
     
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      being able to test it. Now this is why I wrote the patch *before*
     
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      starting to babble about it.
     
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      Maybe some of you might be afraid that there are some cute little
     
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      bugs lurking in my patch. Well, look at it and you'll see that it
     
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      is real easy code. In fact I have tested it seriously and even more,
     
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      I have *fixed* some bugs with my patch. But still, nobody's perfect...
     
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      at least I tried my best.
     
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      Like you can all imagine, I would be glad if this peace of work
     
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      found common acceptance. I believe it would really add a great deal
     
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      of both gaming-fun and game-balance.
     
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      Andreas V.
     
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