[crossfire] Rebalancing, difficulty curve -- simple ideas

[Raphaël Quinet]

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:30:42 +0800, Lalo Martins <lalo.martins at gmail.com> wrote:
> The idea of cutting contribution (which is already supported by the skill
> system -- I believe there are already some skills that contribute less
> than 100% exp) is to encourage characters to have a few skills at levels
> much higher than their overall level.  As in my example above, level ~10
> character with one or three skills at ~20.
> 
> Of course that ties in closely with the exp_table... with an exponential
> table, even a skill that contributes a very small portion can't be on a
> level much higher than the overall, or it will begin pulling it up.

This problem could be solved by using different curves for different
skills.

When I consider the characters that I have played and compare the
levels that I have reached in each skill, I see that I can group the
skills in several categories:
- "combat skills": one/two handed weapons, missile weapons,
         punching/karate/clawing, evocation, praying, pyromancy,
	 sorcery, summoning, ...
- "mental/craft skills": bargaining, lockpicking, find/disarm traps,
         sense curse/magic, alchemy, bowyer, jeweler, literacy, ...
- "other skills": climbing, jumping, ...

Usually, I can reach level 100+ in several of the "combat skills"
because these skills collect the exp from monsters.  But for the
"mental/craft skills", I am happy when I can reach level 20 (if I
exclude the alchemy cheats).  I don't know if it is possible to gain
exp in the "other skills" so I will ignore these for the moment.

The current exp_table (with its flaws) was obviously designed for the
"combat skills" and for the total experience.  But it does not work as
well for the "mental/craft skills".  Awarding more exp points for
using these skills successfully would not be a good solution because
these should not contribute as much to the total exp.  But on the
other hand, it would be nice if it was possible to reach level 100+ in
literacy or other skills.

So here is a proposal: use different curves for the "combat skills"
and for the "mental/craft skills".  The "combat skills" and the total
exp would follow the current exp_table or an improved version of it
(see http://wiki.metalforge.net/doku.php/dev_todo:exp_table), while
the "mental/craft skills" would follow a similar curve in which the
current range 1-20 (approx.) would be remapped to 1-100.

For example, having 7500000 exp points in the woodsman skill would
bring the player to level 100 in that skill instead of level 20 as in
the current table.  But this would still mean only level 20 for the
total exp.  The adjuted levels for the "mental/craft skills" would
look better and would be more comparable to the "combat" skills, while
the number of exp points and their contribution to the overall level
would be smaller.

-Raphaël