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Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.
Radiance definitely scales up encounter sizes based some arcane formula that probably involves characters' levels and stats, but I've never heard of any of the later games doing it.

Official PoR Cluebook posted:

The characters in a party do not need such amazing scores to win the game. In fact, any well played party should be able to win. The computer is smart enough to gauge the power of the party and it often modifies the number of monsters in an encounter to give the party a good fight regardless of their power. Beginning characters with very high ability scores look to the computer like high level adventurers. This may put them at a disadvantage.

'Any well played party' my rear end, I tried an all magic-user run once, it was a loving disaster.

EDIT: At least one internet rando claims that the formula is:

code:
internal static void CMD_PartyStrength() /* sub_272A9 */
        {
            ovr008.vm_LoadCmdSets(1);
            byte power_value = 0;

            foreach (Player player in gbl.TeamList)
            {
                int hit_points = player.hit_point_current;
                int armor_class = player.ac;
                int hit_bonus = player.hitBonus;

                int magic_power = player.SkillLevel(SkillType.MagicUser);
                int cleric_power = player.SkillLevel(SkillType.Cleric);

                if (armor_class > 60)
                {
                    armor_class -= 60;
                }
                else
                {
                    armor_class = 0;
                }

                if (hit_bonus > 39)
                {
                    hit_bonus -= 39;
                }
                else
                {
                    hit_bonus = 0;
                }

                power_value += (byte)(((cleric_power * 4) + hit_points + (armor_class * 5) + (hit_bonus * 5) + (magic_power * 8)) / 10);
            }

            ushort loc = gbl.cmd_opps[1].Word;
            ovr008.vm_SetMemoryValue(power_value, loc);
        }
This still leaves a lot of unanswered questions but is also the most information on this subject I've ever seen.

Truthkeeper fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Feb 11, 2020

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Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.
There's a really thorough GameFAQ entry that I've been using from time to time that delves into Party Strength formulas and the like. AFAICT the only real effect is "random monster number go up when level go up." Beyond that, I haven't seen much in the way of differences :shrug:

The vast majority of stuff during Pool's endgame is scripted, anyway

TheGreatEvilKing
Mar 28, 2016





The official line of 1e/2e was that low started characters were totally valuable, stop laughing.

In actual practice the poorly rolled characters does to protect the good ones, who would gain levels and protect lower leveled good characters. This the cycle continues...

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe

Truthkeeper posted:

Radiance definitely scales up encounter sizes based some arcane formula that probably involves characters' levels and stats, but I've never heard of any of the later games doing it.


'Any well played party' my rear end, I tried an all magic-user run once, it was a loving disaster.

EDIT: At least one internet rando claims that the formula is:

code:
internal static void CMD_PartyStrength() /* sub_272A9 */
        {
            ovr008.vm_LoadCmdSets(1);
            byte power_value = 0;

            foreach (Player player in gbl.TeamList)
            {
                int hit_points = player.hit_point_current;
                int armor_class = player.ac;
                int hit_bonus = player.hitBonus;

                int magic_power = player.SkillLevel(SkillType.MagicUser);
                int cleric_power = player.SkillLevel(SkillType.Cleric);

                if (armor_class > 60)
                {
                    armor_class -= 60;
                }
                else
                {
                    armor_class = 0;
                }

                if (hit_bonus > 39)
                {
                    hit_bonus -= 39;
                }
                else
                {
                    hit_bonus = 0;
                }

                power_value += (byte)(((cleric_power * 4) + hit_points + (armor_class * 5) + (hit_bonus * 5) + (magic_power * 8)) / 10);
            }

            ushort loc = gbl.cmd_opps[1].Word;
            ovr008.vm_SetMemoryValue(power_value, loc);
        }
This still leaves a lot of unanswered questions but is also the most information on this subject I've ever seen.

I am amused but not particularly surprised that the game seems to track AC and THAC0 internally as basic positive modifiers (and also apparently on a much larger scale??)

Truthkeeper
Nov 29, 2010

Friends don't let friends borrow on credit.

Straight White Shark posted:

I am amused but not particularly surprised that the game seems to track AC and THAC0 internally as basic positive modifiers (and also apparently on a much larger scale??)

According to the post on another forum that eventually led me to that post, AC is stored as 60 - the actual AC value, with something similar for THAC0 possibly to avoid having to used signed integers because it's 1988 and every byte is precious.

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
Speaking of the Fatal & friends thread, I would appreciate a link if anyone has one. Thanks.

Edit- found it via bing, never mind.

achtungnight fucked around with this message at 08:15 on Feb 11, 2020

metajoke
Oct 9, 2012

JustJeff88 posted:

I thought that it was all of them, but I'd like to hear a definitive answer on this if anyone has one. I'm all-but-certain that PoR does, but I believe, with less conviction, that the rest also do despite introducing a number of good QoL features.

I can personally confirm the Mac version of PoR did. I may have been a dirty cheater who decoded the save file format and edited in ridiculous stats. The effect of that on encounter size was immediately apparent.

Hannibal Rex
Feb 13, 2010
Years ago, I read a quote or comment somewhere that, at least by the time SSB came around, they figured every player was maxing out their stats and balanced the games accordingly.

The most important attribute for Pools of Darkness and Dark Queen of Krynn is dexterity for the boost to initiative, which determines which side gets to cast Delayed Blast Fireball first. Enemy mages all have 18 dex.

DGM_2
Jun 13, 2012
Incidentally, I think we should take note of the fact that Chokes has neither joined in with nor played off of the wight puns we've been making.

Chokes, is this heroic restraint on your part? Or are you just not feeling alwight?

DGM_2 fucked around with this message at 11:25 on Feb 11, 2020

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



Chokes may just be planning on stealing them all, closing the thread and having all non-Chokes posters perma-banned, and restarting the thread with a whole host of new puns that Chokes came up with. It's what Sternn would do after all.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

achtungnight posted:

Speaking of the Fatal & friends thread, I would appreciate a link if anyone has one. Thanks.

Edit- found it via bing, never mind.

If you are an RPG nerd, FATAL & Friends is a good time.

JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever

Hannibal Rex posted:

Years ago, I read a quote or comment somewhere that, at least by the time SSB came around, they figured every player was maxing out their stats and balanced the games accordingly.

Makes complete sense

Hannibal Rex posted:

The most important attribute for Pools of Darkness and Dark Queen of Krynn is dexterity for the boost to initiative, which determines which side gets to cast Delayed Blast Fireball first. Enemy mages all have 18 dex.

I did not know about this, but I'd also forgotten about the dex boost to initiative from 1st edition as I was almost entirely a 2nd ed child. I always focused on Con for the simple reason that HP before third edition were limited and precious. I've done some hex editing myself in the past in various places, but I'm grateful to Gold Box Companion for making it simple to max HP.

I'm a proponent of a set HP value per level, à la 4e, but I've been a fan of adding Con to starting HP since the 2e days. It makes level 1s much more durable.

PurpleXVI
Oct 30, 2011

Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

JustJeff88 posted:

I'm a proponent of a set HP value per level, à la 4e, but I've been a fan of adding Con to starting HP since the 2e days. It makes level 1s much more durable.

Personally I always give my players max HP per level-up when I play, because it's more or less the only non-fixed progression thing that can leave someone really wallowing in the dirt, especially considering that being a BEEF WALL is essentially a fighter/paladin/ranger class feature, denying them that just because of a bad roll feels like an rear end in a top hat move.

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

DGM_2 posted:

Incidentally, I think we should take note of the fact that Chokes has neither joined in with nor played off of the wight puns we've been making.

Chokes, is this heroic restraint on your part? Or are you just not feeling alwight?

look I made one joke earlier what do you people want out of me :mad:

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.
Also yeah, about halfway through Bonds the game turns into "how fast can one side get off a fireball and block the opposing mages." It's even funnier when those mages are carrying wands of lightning or, gods forbid, a Necklace of Missles. Yup. Really... really funny. Ha. Ha.

e: Or a Globe of Invulnerability. Better have DBF ready by then or you're hosed!

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

PurpleXVI posted:

Personally I always give my players max HP per level-up when I play, because it's more or less the only non-fixed progression thing that can leave someone really wallowing in the dirt, especially considering that being a BEEF WALL is essentially a fighter/paladin/ranger class feature, denying them that just because of a bad roll feels like an rear end in a top hat move.

TRIPLE POST

I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say Rezen tops of at 17HP by her level cap. I know mages get puny amounts of level-up HP bonuses, but I also want to stress that her stats are (appropriately) loving ridiculous for a mage since that's just how the RNG came back.

What the gently caress is it about RPGs hating Rezen's HP?

Zurai
Feb 13, 2012


Wait -- I haven't even voted in this game yet!

Chokes McGee posted:

TRIPLE POST

I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say Rezen tops of at 17HP by her level cap. I know mages get puny amounts of level-up HP bonuses, but I also want to stress that her stats are (appropriately) loving ridiculous for a mage since that's just how the RNG came back.

What the gently caress is it about RPGs hating Rezen's HP?

What's the level cap for magic users in PoR? 6 so they don't get 4th level spells? That'd put the average HP at 15 not counting bonuses from high CON, so that's actually not very far off from average. Mages in the older editions got hosed by having a d4 hit die.

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Chokes McGee posted:

Also yeah, about halfway through Bonds the game turns into "how fast can one side get off a fireball and block the opposing mages." It's even funnier when those mages are carrying wands of lightning or, gods forbid, a Necklace of Missles. Yup. Really... really funny. Ha. Ha.

e: Or a Globe of Invulnerability. Better have DBF ready by then or you're hosed!

Or a Globe on top of a Cold Fire Shield. drat you, Dark Queen of Krynn! See a Dark Wizard in that game, prepare to take some damage.

Narsham
Jun 5, 2008

achtungnight posted:

Or a Globe on top of a Cold Fire Shield. drat you, Dark Queen of Krynn! See a Dark Wizard in that game, prepare to take some damage.

That’s compensation for every fight past the midgame against draconian hordes being one or two spells followed by watching the enemy army self-destruct.

But yes, we are very close to the games that basically expect that your SOP is to have one fight and rest if in an area where resting is possible. I tried replaying Pools of Darkness a year ago and was baffled at the younger me’s patience.

DGM_2
Jun 13, 2012
I remember one scene in Champions of Krynn where you had to pursue the big bad draconian up several floors of stairs with multiple waves of enemies intercepting you as you ascended. I went back to a safe area to recover my spells after each fight before resuming the "chase." Despite taking over a day to reach the top I was still only seconds behind him. I must have been chasing the most geriatric bad guy ever.

JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever

PurpleXVI posted:

Personally I always give my players max HP per level-up when I play, because it's more or less the only non-fixed progression thing that can leave someone really wallowing in the dirt, especially considering that being a BEEF WALL is essentially a fighter/paladin/ranger class feature, denying them that just because of a bad roll feels like an rear end in a top hat move.

Base CON hit points is my #1 house rule, but I agree with this as well. I feel that max HP on level up (which is an option in the Infinity Engine games) and max rolls on any healing effects (also in IE games) are the best way to do it. I'm fine with fixed "average" HP rolls, à la 4e, as well as it creates a baseline that is sensible, but early 2e combat was loving brutal and it's been that way in every edition but 4. Having +CON hit points to start really makes the early levels less of an abattoir and has minimal impact later - it's perfect.

Edit: I just remembered that, in 2e, we used hit die for heal spells. So if a cleric cast Cure Light Wounds on a fighter, it was 10 HP back, but only 8 for another cleric, 6 for a bard/rogue and 4 for a wizard, plus CON mod. Cure Moderate Wounds was 20/16/12/8 etc. We played campaigns with relatively few fights but the fights were much more consequential, apart from one memorable campaign, so resource drain per encounter was more severe and needed to be accounted for.

JustJeff88 fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Feb 12, 2020

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.
Just a quick bump to let you guys know an update should be coming around Friday or so, and we can finally put this entire goddamn mess behind us and look forward to a brand new goddamn mess!

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
Looking forward to it. The Graveyard is a big mess, but there are bigger messes in the game we have yet to tackle. :)

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
That's all wight, Chokes. Take your time turning this undead thread around

DGM_2
Jun 13, 2012

Chokes McGee posted:

Just a quick bump to let you guys know an update should be coming around Friday or so

No problem, we can wight.

...Okay, I admit that one was stretching it.

EDIT: Imagine it being said with a cliche Australian accent, I guess.

DGM_2 fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Feb 20, 2020

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



The amount of wight puns is rather ghoulish. I think I liched the thread better before we risked Chokes' wraith. I don't want to be a draugr, but at this point I would exspectre the thread to be locked between updates to stop the puns.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

FeyerbrandX
Oct 9, 2012

Randalor posted:

The amount of wight puns is rather ghoulish. I think I liched the thread better before we risked Chokes' wraith. I don't want to be a draugr, but at this point I would exspectre the thread to be locked between updates to stop the puns.

:drat:pir

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

Randalor posted:

The amount of wight puns is rather ghoulish. I think I liched the thread better before we risked Chokes' wraith. I don't want to be a draugr, but at this point I would exspectre the thread to be locked between updates to stop the puns.

I keep hitting the space where my cspam sixer button is on this post but it’s not working why isn’t it working

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



I tried to fit in an aghast pun as well, but it was late, I was tired, and I couldn't think of a way to make it work.

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.
In other here I’m disappointed in myself I didn’t make the first graveyard update Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun

Gilgamesh255
Aug 15, 2015

Chokes McGee posted:

In other here I’m disappointed in myself I didn’t make the first graveyard update Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun

You...could probably make that the chapter title when this gets archived? :shrug:

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

Gilgamesh255 posted:

You...could probably make that the chapter title when this gets archived? :shrug:

:effort:

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



Or edit the current title and deny any evidence to the contrary.

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
I mean, that isn't alwight, ethically. But I'm still ghoul with it

DGM_2
Jun 13, 2012
Okay - I admit to my own share of guilt here, but for the love of God, Chokes, post a new update already so we can bury the undead puns and move on to new torments.

GoingPostal
Jun 1, 2015


I love Derek Smart
U love Derek Smart
If we didn't love Derek Smart, we'd be lame
I don't know. I find them very enwightening.

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

I'd espectre a few more puns yet, myself.

Anias
Jun 3, 2010

It really is a lovely hat

DGM_2 posted:

Okay - I admit to my own share of guilt here, but for the love of God, Chokes, post a new update already so we can bury the undead puns and move on to new torments.

Are you feeling all wight?

These puns aren't dead yet, they still have one last groan to give.

FeyerbrandX
Oct 9, 2012

The moral of the story. This is what happens when you have to, when you have to, when you have to let it linger. What's in your head, in your head comes out.

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JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever
The spectre of bad comedy veils this once proud thread.

:ssh:This thread was never proud. :ssh:

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