- Joined
- May 6, 2005
- Messages
- 15
In light of the large number of RPG maps there are out there now with either no sense of balance done, or that have been very badly balanced, I have taken the time to think about what the hallmarks of a well-balanced RPG map are, and list them here.
Intelligence = damage?
This is one I don't think many people really think about. The primary attribute of a class is the attribute used to determine the amount of melee damage done by the class, whether it be ranged or melee. Personally, I don't think Intelligence should be used as a primary attribute in RPG maps. In most console RPGs, intelligence determines spell damage, strength determines physical damage.
Since the Intelligence classes in WC3 gain attack damage through their intelligence, it makes it hard to give them a decent amount of mana and/or mana regen without giving them attack damage at least equal to that of strength classes. So how do you limit the attack damage of intelligence classes without gimping their mana pool?
The solution here is to set every class' primary attribute to Strength. This makes more sense, and gives you the ability to increase a magic user's mana and mana regen as much as you want and still keep their attack damage below that of melee classes that are meant to do physical damage.
God? Is that you?
I know, it's tempting to throw in a couple of god-like classes into the map to reward those who work hard for it. But don't do it. No matter how difficult you make it to discover how to unlock these classes, someone is going to figure it out, either by opening your map in the world editor to look at your triggers, or by trial and error. And once one person has figured it out, you can be sure everyone will know how to unlock your god characters.
This, in particular, has ruined a number of good maps. Take Legends Open RPG Divinity for example. The god and goddess characters are so powerful, even at level 1 there is no longer any challenge to the map. Granted it takes hours to reach that level, but simply because they're there, that's all anyone wants to do... just kill creeps until they reach godhood. The map was well done with many possibilities for roleplay... all ruined because of the existance of the god class.
What does this button do?
If you're going to change character abilities (and if you're making any kind of decent RPG map, you're going to) the very LEAST you could do is to update the tooltips to reflect what the ability *actually* does. Having an ability say that it gives a 10% chance for 3 times normal damage, and having it actually give 5% chance for 1.5 times normal damage is annoying. Even worse, however, is tooltips which very vaguely point out what the skill does, without listing the amount of damage or duration. Do your players a favor, and update the detailed tooltips for skills.
This item does what now?
It is also annoying to not know what items are supposed to do. It wastes time and gives other players a chance to snatch an item if you have to repeatedly drop and pick up an item while watching your stats in order to figure out what an item does.
Who needs levels? Where are the tomes sold?
Ah, yes... Tomes. These should NOT be available in RPG games... at ALL. They artificially increase heroes' stats in exchange for gold. It has been my experience that gold in RPGs is not a problem to find, so you end up with ultra powerful characters that walk up to the end boss, smack him around a bit, and defeat him without taking much damage. Kinda takes the fun out of the game, now doesn't it?
Ok, so do what now?
Quests, quests, quests! You need quests for your RPG! And not just as a place to store newbie information for your map. They need to be active quests! If you have a village that is under attack by a huge dragon they want you to kill, you need to create a quest for it! Possibly including directions in case anyone missed/forgets the directions the NPC issuing the quest gave. And if you can manage it, have the quest be marked as completed after the players finish it.
Oh my word, this tune is annoying
Background music should be just that, background. If you feel the need to change the background music from the defaults, please leave it as something soft and pleasant to listen to. If I get annoyed and want to turn the music off, I'd rather not play the map in the first place.
These monsters are so weak/strong...
You really should test your map thoroughly and figure out how strong the heroes are going to be at any given point in the map. The monsters in the new areas heroes are arriving at should not be so powerful that the heroes need to go back into previous areas to train... but they shouldn't be so weak that the heroes take them out in a few swings either. Scale the monster strength up based on how strong the heroes entering the new area should be if they cleared all quests in the previous area first. Test it. Play through your map yourself once or twice, to give yourself an idea what levels the heroes are by the time they reach any given area.
In closing...
RPG maps are supposed to be challenging and fun. The best RPG maps are those that the maker has paid attention to detail in, and gone through the trouble of balancing and testing their map. Slashfest maps in which the heroes become all-powerful and defeat enemies in single blows without breaking a sweat are probably the lowest quality RPG maps out there. Put some thought into your RPG maps, and make something worth taking the time to play.
If anyone has anything else to add, feel free to post it here.
Intelligence = damage?
This is one I don't think many people really think about. The primary attribute of a class is the attribute used to determine the amount of melee damage done by the class, whether it be ranged or melee. Personally, I don't think Intelligence should be used as a primary attribute in RPG maps. In most console RPGs, intelligence determines spell damage, strength determines physical damage.
Since the Intelligence classes in WC3 gain attack damage through their intelligence, it makes it hard to give them a decent amount of mana and/or mana regen without giving them attack damage at least equal to that of strength classes. So how do you limit the attack damage of intelligence classes without gimping their mana pool?
The solution here is to set every class' primary attribute to Strength. This makes more sense, and gives you the ability to increase a magic user's mana and mana regen as much as you want and still keep their attack damage below that of melee classes that are meant to do physical damage.
God? Is that you?
I know, it's tempting to throw in a couple of god-like classes into the map to reward those who work hard for it. But don't do it. No matter how difficult you make it to discover how to unlock these classes, someone is going to figure it out, either by opening your map in the world editor to look at your triggers, or by trial and error. And once one person has figured it out, you can be sure everyone will know how to unlock your god characters.
This, in particular, has ruined a number of good maps. Take Legends Open RPG Divinity for example. The god and goddess characters are so powerful, even at level 1 there is no longer any challenge to the map. Granted it takes hours to reach that level, but simply because they're there, that's all anyone wants to do... just kill creeps until they reach godhood. The map was well done with many possibilities for roleplay... all ruined because of the existance of the god class.
What does this button do?
If you're going to change character abilities (and if you're making any kind of decent RPG map, you're going to) the very LEAST you could do is to update the tooltips to reflect what the ability *actually* does. Having an ability say that it gives a 10% chance for 3 times normal damage, and having it actually give 5% chance for 1.5 times normal damage is annoying. Even worse, however, is tooltips which very vaguely point out what the skill does, without listing the amount of damage or duration. Do your players a favor, and update the detailed tooltips for skills.
This item does what now?
It is also annoying to not know what items are supposed to do. It wastes time and gives other players a chance to snatch an item if you have to repeatedly drop and pick up an item while watching your stats in order to figure out what an item does.
Who needs levels? Where are the tomes sold?
Ah, yes... Tomes. These should NOT be available in RPG games... at ALL. They artificially increase heroes' stats in exchange for gold. It has been my experience that gold in RPGs is not a problem to find, so you end up with ultra powerful characters that walk up to the end boss, smack him around a bit, and defeat him without taking much damage. Kinda takes the fun out of the game, now doesn't it?
Ok, so do what now?
Quests, quests, quests! You need quests for your RPG! And not just as a place to store newbie information for your map. They need to be active quests! If you have a village that is under attack by a huge dragon they want you to kill, you need to create a quest for it! Possibly including directions in case anyone missed/forgets the directions the NPC issuing the quest gave. And if you can manage it, have the quest be marked as completed after the players finish it.
Oh my word, this tune is annoying
Background music should be just that, background. If you feel the need to change the background music from the defaults, please leave it as something soft and pleasant to listen to. If I get annoyed and want to turn the music off, I'd rather not play the map in the first place.
These monsters are so weak/strong...
You really should test your map thoroughly and figure out how strong the heroes are going to be at any given point in the map. The monsters in the new areas heroes are arriving at should not be so powerful that the heroes need to go back into previous areas to train... but they shouldn't be so weak that the heroes take them out in a few swings either. Scale the monster strength up based on how strong the heroes entering the new area should be if they cleared all quests in the previous area first. Test it. Play through your map yourself once or twice, to give yourself an idea what levels the heroes are by the time they reach any given area.
In closing...
RPG maps are supposed to be challenging and fun. The best RPG maps are those that the maker has paid attention to detail in, and gone through the trouble of balancing and testing their map. Slashfest maps in which the heroes become all-powerful and defeat enemies in single blows without breaking a sweat are probably the lowest quality RPG maps out there. Put some thought into your RPG maps, and make something worth taking the time to play.
If anyone has anything else to add, feel free to post it here.
