Game Mechanics Design for Terraria like game

Simon Gust

Member
Hello fellow designers

I have picked up the design of my project (desolation of the heron) (title not set) again after a long pause.
And I now know in what direction I want to go with this.

For those who don't know, my project is a Terraria ripoff but it has nuts goners, so it's legal.
https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/desolation-of-the-heron.53662/

A sorta semi-rpg is what I had in mind.
What do you think of this?


Main Mechanics:
Code:
- the player can choose between several races at the start. Each race comes with different stats and boni.
- the player manages stats such as health, energy, attack power and defense.

- Each race has 2 passive boni
- The Player has an unlimited amount of accessory slots unlike Terraria, what is limited is the aount of points you can use to equip accessories. Each accessory costs an amount of points, better accessories cost more than weaker ones. Similar to paper mario. The amount of accessory points can be incrased.
Notes:
Code:
- Health does not regenerate naturally.
- Energy slowly Regenerates.

- the racial bonuses are supposed to be very powerful and balanced so that the player is troubled to decide which race to pick.

- the player can get extra stats (max hp, max_ep and accessory points) from destroying "magic" crystals. They are hidden in the underground.

- there are weapons that range from swords to rocket launchers.
- there is armor and other accessories to be equipped.
- there are several biomes to be explored and "completed".

Are these mechanics interesting?
Has there been something like this before?

Does it sound appealing?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Races:
Code:
- Humans are boring and get no stat boni.
  They have better drop rates
  They get 2 extra "accessory" slots
  Their appearance is human-like.

- Pedestrials have a 40% health bonus to start with (14 instead of 10).
  33% better vision in the dark, enemies are always visible
  They get the a slow natural health regen (0.20 / sec) from the start.
  Their appearance is rat-like.

- The Heavenborn get an 100% energy bonus to start with (4 instead of 2).
  Every Attack that used energy is doubled.
  Their wings allow them temporary flight.
  Their appearance is bird-like.

- The Preubii start with a shield that has a capacity of 2.
  <open passive slot>
  They can use tools and weapons 40% faster than any other race.
  Their appearance is robot- / android-like.

- The Thorrent start with additional attack power (1 instead of 0).
  They deal 40% more damage below 33% health
  They are completely immune to fire and lava damage.
  Their appearance is demon-like.

- Hythralls start with additional defense (1 instead of 0).
  Every ranged attack of theirs pierce through all enemies and penetrate 1 defense as well.
  They are excellent swimmers and can breathe underwater.
  Their appearance is reptilian- / amphibian-like.

Now, does this sound balanced?
Are there some abilities that sound too op or awful?
Can the player exploit these?

What would you pick if you had the choice?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Biomes:
Code:
- Start in the forest biome
- The player can explore cave systems to find treasure
- The worlds should feature both a tundra and a desert biome(s)
- A crystal biome resides "somewhere", it should prepare the player for the next challenges.
- The jungle biome bodes a challenge for the player, it contains great treasure.
I wanted it so that the player has to visit each biome multiple times but I do not want it to be like a quest system where the player is ordered to "go there do that, then give me this from there, then defeat that in there".
It needs more spice, at the same time I do not want to copy from Terraria or Starbound.
It's hard for me, I've played almost 2000 hours in Terraria and every second thought that comes up is already a copy from that game.


Ideas and suggestions are welcome!
 
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Bingdom

Googledom
I think the best advice I can get you is to write out a complete document that describes every aspect of your game. I see that you've generated some core design features, which is a good start.

As you develop your document, you will gain a greater understanding of your game. With this, you may find features that can help differentiate the game from its similarities with other games.

This document can include;
  • The expected weapons for/from each race. It doesn't have to be specific, but specific enough to give you a general direction that mixes naturally for the host. A bit of background helps.
  • Since you want to focus on the game having a good story, it should focus on; NPCs, fauna, procedural artefacts (buildings, cultural heritage), etc for biomes. Give biomes culture. At least a story on how/why it forms the world the player currently resides in.
  • Write a sustainable combat system. This one is very important. You need to really negotiate with yourself as to why each perk exists. Is this perk too similar to other perks? Is this complicating the game too much? Is this going to make it more difficult to manage/balance other perks in the long run? Note: When I say perk, I'm actually referring to anything that affects the player's fighting capabilities (shield, armour, stat bonuses, etc). A system like this requires a lot of iterations and testing to get right. I'm not expecting what's written down to be the same after you've developed prototypes.
  • And other core elements you may pick up as you go along.
Tip: Don't be afraid to include some concept drawings.

With this, you've developed a cohesive game idea from the start. Then it's up to you on how this is executed (which is of course, based on your experience as a game developer).

It's better to get feedback from the people playing your game, rather than feedback from your ideas (as anyone can come up with ideas). That way, you can learn the faults in your execution.

I hope this helps! :)
 

Simon Gust

Member
I think the best advice I can get you is to write out a complete document that describes every aspect of your game. I see that you've generated some core design features, which is a good start.

As you develop your document, you will gain a greater understanding of your game. With this, you may find features that can help differentiate the game from its similarities with other games.

This document can include;
  • The expected weapons for/from each race. It doesn't have to be specific, but specific enough to give you a general direction that mixes naturally for the host. A bit of background helps.
  • Since you want to focus on the game having a good story, it should focus on; NPCs, fauna, procedural artefacts (buildings, cultural heritage), etc for biomes. Give biomes culture. At least a story on how/why it forms the world the player currently resides in.
  • Write a sustainable combat system. This one is very important. You need to really negotiate with yourself as to why each perk exists. Is this perk too similar to other perks? Is this complicating the game too much? Is this going to make it more difficult to manage/balance other perks in the long run? Note: When I say perk, I'm actually referring to anything that affects the player's fighting capabilities (shield, armour, stat bonuses, etc). A system like this requires a lot of iterations and testing to get right. I'm not expecting what's written down to be the same after you've developed prototypes.
  • And other core elements you may pick up as you go along.
Tip: Don't be afraid to include some concept drawings.

With this, you've developed a cohesive game idea from the start. Then it's up to you on how this is executed (which is of course, based on your experience as a game developer).

It's better to get feedback from the people playing your game, rather than feedback from your ideas (as anyone can come up with ideas). That way, you can learn the faults in your execution.

I hope this helps! :)
Thank you for the help first of all!

I am definetly writing a document, I do that for all games. How would you go without it.

NPCs, fauna, procedural artefacts (buildings, cultural heritage), etc for biomes. Give biomes culture. At least a story on how/why it forms the world the player currently resides in.
I can sense where you are coming from with that, and I don't know if I like that.
Have you played Starbound by chance? It has this. The problem is just, when I played / watched starbound, it was boring af.

The planets in starbound, even though full with life, feel lifeless to me. I don't want that.
What is true however is that I am not going to figure it out without playing the game.


When I say perk, I'm actually referring to anything that affects the player's fighting capabilities
yes, but not just fighting. I want these to be for much more, so that there isn't just a single perk-tree.
Maybe a perk tree just for building / terraforming?
 

Bingdom

Googledom
Have you played Starbound by chance? It has this. The problem is just, when I played / watched starbound, it was boring af.
While the game may or may not demonstrate a lot of life (it's been a while since I've last played/seen it), it did present a lot of faults that took the appeal away from me. The janky controls is the start of it.

yes, but not just fighting. I want these to be for much more, so that there isn't just a single perk-tree.
Maybe a perk tree just for building / terraforming?
The idea applies to progression. Take me using combat as an example.

I'm getting confused about the general direction of the game. In your thread you present the game as an adventure game. Here you say you're going for a rpg approach. Now you're discussing sandbox features. If the game is supposed to be part of all of these genres, then unfortunately it appears you may be going for a very niche market (but who knows, it could be a birth of a revolution :)).

Edit: Sorry about my last paragraph. It seems like I'm anaylsing your game too hard.
 
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Simon Gust

Member
While the game may or may not demonstrate a lot of life (it's been a while since I've last played/seen it), it did present a lot of faults that took the appeal away from me. The janky controls is the start of it.
I could write A book about what I don't like about starbound and I've only played it for 90 minutes.

The idea applies to progression.

I'm getting confused about the general direction of the game. In your thread you present the game as an adventure game. Here you say you're going for a rpg approach. Now you're describing it as a sandbox game. If the game is supposed to be part of all of these genres, then unfortunately it appears you may be going for a very niche market (but who knows, a birth of a revolution :)).
Both Terraria and Starbound are action-adventure games. Mine just has an RPG element in it, nothing wrong with that right?

400 Hours of my Terraria experience I have played with a mod called N-Terraria, it makes the game a full on RPG with races you can pick, stats you can level up and scaling all over the place, and it works very well. I play the heck out of it still to this day. I think I can do the same not as a mod, but as a whole game.
 

Bingdom

Googledom
400 Hours of my Terraria experience I have played with a mod called N-Terraria, it makes the game a full on RPG with races you can pick, stats you can level up and scaling all over the place, and it works very well. I play the heck out of it still to this day. I think I can do the same not as a mod, but as a whole game.
That is a mod that pertains to a specific community within a popular game. Essentially, it's a parody. It's not the same.

I have yet to see a game widely successful that fits in all those genres mentioned. Hence I labelled it as "Niche". But hey, I would be happy to be proven otherwise.

Games that are based off mods have become successful. If I remember correctly, PUBG and TF2 were based off a modded game.
 
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Simon Gust

Member
Ok, a day has passed and I've been thinking about this. Maybe you are right with the genre mixing.
Maybe a little bit less RPG and more sandbox. But how can I fix this?

The main RPG aspect of the things presented is the skill tree level system.
I do still want to retain the functionallity of getting certain upgrades along the way.
Starbound does it similar with those big canisters around the world, that either instantly kill you or give you some ability or whatever
(correct me if I'm wrong).

I think I could do the same (except with the killing part).
Like life crystals in Terraria, I could hide some "perk crystals" in biomes that give the player bonuses that aren't just health or attack boosts, also some characteristic stats like mining range. They do not benefit the player in terms of survivability but they're still very nice to have.

This would mean that essential perks / abilities, like the whole shield system, would just be given to the player after a certain point.
So that the player does not have to rely on luck to get them.
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
Having special upgrade crystals hidden around the world means the player grows by exploring. Having upgrades come from EXP you obtain from fighting monsters or other sources means you just randomly get levelups sometimes.. so it's not as effective at guiding the player towards exploring. (If you ONLY get EXP from combat, you make your players fight monsters more, but usually explory games hand out EXP for things like finding new landmarks and completing quests). Be mindful of what you want your players to do the most, and hand out upgrades for doing that. (Bonus points if the upgrades you can unlock lets you do exploration and stuff more effectively, too, not just fight monsters more effectively!)

You could be interested in this video which touches on this idea:
 

YanBG

Member
All sounds good! I can't decide on the RPG vs Sandbox.

This would mean that essential perks / abilities, like the whole shield system, would just be given to the player after a certain point.
So that the player does not have to rely on luck to get them.
Is it singleplayer? I wouldn't worry about luck if you don't play vs humans, random factor can be a good thing. Also you should add more than 1 town/place to get the ability but it requires more coding.
 

Simon Gust

Member
All sounds good! I can't decide on the RPG vs Sandbox.
Is it singleplayer? I wouldn't worry about luck if you don't play vs humans, random factor can be a good thing. Also you should add more than 1 town/place to get the ability but it requires more coding.
Of course! Most of my worries are from experiences from games similar, Terraria, Starbound and the like.
I remember being so frustrated trying to find certain items I really liked. Countless hours of farming. But then again, farming is the aspect of these sandbox games isn't it.

Maybe instead of reducing farming I can just make farming worth the players time more. But how?
 

YanBG

Member
Tbh i'd leave that after the game is coded, like late alpha or early beta? You need players/testers input to fine tune it. I get that you are also the main designer but you can go only so far with the thinking process.
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
Maybe instead of reducing farming I can just make farming worth the players time more. But how?
  • Resources obtained from farming are always valuable and has some purpose (e.g. every monster you kill drops money, money can be used to buy any item you've unlocked, cutting grind for materials etc)
  • Playing well increases drop rates, encouraging players to play in a more fun way than just farming for resources
  • Offer a more expensive way to do things that are more likely to give the results you want (e.g. reforge where you get to select effects from a list at a higher price than random rerolls), so players that have vast amounts of resources can cut to the chase.
 

Simon Gust

Member
Ok, next problem:
I want the player to have a display for health, shield and energy.

Health:
- how much your player withstands before dying.
- does not naturally regenerate (except for one race), can beplenished in some way though
- we are working with small numbers, e.g. the player starts with 10 hp, think of a game like paper mario

same issue for these later
Shield:
- effective additional health that is taken away before the actual health.
- shield points are given by equipping armor, other gear or natural means (e.g. copper armor gives you 2 shield points)
- shield points replenish constantly at a slow rate, they are not spongy.

Energy:
- fuel for powerful energy based attacks, mana if you will.
- replenishes at a medium rate

I had determined a nice mechanic for each of these *stats*.

But now I don't know how I bring them to the screen.
How do I want the user to perceive the depth of health for example.

I've made several different concepts but I don't know which one fits the best, looks the coolest, is the most meaningful.

I have to put the concepts on imgur because posting images on the forum is broken
->

https://imgur.com/XEaqxjq

Version 1 - minecraft style, rowing hearts
Version 2 - Paper Mario / Spelunky style, symbol + number of health
Version 3 - Healthbar without seams
Version 4 - Healthbar with seams
Version 5 - Mario 64, Mario Sunshine style, round bar with seams
Version 6 - Kingdom Hearts style, rounded bar without seams

Which one fits best.
 
N

NeZvers

Guest
I donā€™t see anything wrong with terraria-like and rpg. Since day one I played terraria it felt like rpg elements would synergy beautifully with it.
 

Simon Gust

Member
I donā€™t see anything wrong with terraria-like and rpg. Since day one I played terraria it felt like rpg elements would synergy beautifully with it.
I think so too, and originally I got the idea from playing a Terraria mod named N Terraria. It's not 100% RPG, there isn't leveling for example.

Depends how much time you want to spend on making detailed graphics for the health bar.
It's not about the graphics, it's about the perception.
I am working with very low numbers.
Quite the opposite of your standard RPG where your player has 26520 hp, does 1349 damage and has 455 defense, if you know what I mean.
I want it more controlled, rationed, have single points of health be visibly important.

Which healthbar type does it the best? And which one is the prettiest doing so?
 

YanBG

Member
They are pretty similar. Does the health go down by 1 each time? 1st seems like what you talk about but in RPGs the player can level up, so you'll have to add more hearts.
 

Simon Gust

Member
They are pretty similar. Does the health go down by 1 each time? 1st seems like what you talk about but in RPGs the player can level up, so you'll have to add more hearts.
The player cannot level up, there is no leveling in this, nor experience.
The only way to get more health is to pick a different race or by finding an upgrade crystals scattered around the world. The green crystal, can give you either max health or health regen (for now).
Basically, you start with 10 max hp, you have no health regen, the enemies found in the first area do like 1 to 3 damage. So it's not even that much RPG, just more than Terraria.
 
G

Gustavo_0

Guest
Please don't implement power creep. I loved Terraria but that made me feel bored. Power creep is when the numbers of stats and attack just gets higher and higher but the actualy gameplay doesn't change, you don't learn much, Which, is some ways developed interest in other areas of design, but please avoid that, and avoid too much grinding or creeping. For example, when battling an enemy, make in such a way that you need to learn their patterns and be good no matter what's your gear. Of course really later on just blowing weak creatures is fun, but try to take that in mind. Also I didn't reat all the thread so sorry, I'm just kinda rushing and wanted to say something. Good luck none the less
 

Simon Gust

Member
Please don't implement power creep. I loved Terraria but that made me feel bored. Power creep is when the numbers of stats and attack just gets higher and higher but the actualy gameplay doesn't change, you don't learn much, Which, is some ways developed interest in other areas of design, but please avoid that, and avoid too much grinding or creeping. For example, when battling an enemy, make in such a way that you need to learn their patterns and be good no matter what's your gear. Of course really later on just blowing weak creatures is fun, but try to take that in mind. Also I didn't reat all the thread so sorry, I'm just kinda rushing and wanted to say something. Good luck none the less
Agreed. I enjoyed pre-hardmode much more. I guess thats the price for when you add 2000 items, 300 enemies and other repetitive content in a blind rage. It is however important that I do have some sort of forced progression. Yes having skill is great, but I also don't want the player to be able to skip to the endgame. (That is why enemies have defense and your minimal damage inflicted can be 0). I do like grinding a bit and would say that being almost forced to mine ores in the underground opens up more of the game. I am sure to make it worth your time.
 

Simon Gust

Member
I've been able to craft a HUD, regarding health, shield and energy.

upload_2019-4-20_15-12-4.png

Health right now is just a simple red bar, including a number displaying current and max health. It extends depending on how much max health you have.
Shield is right below and slightly beneath the health bar. It is not a bar and more lined symbols. The more Shield, the longer the lined symbols.
Energy is now in the center of the screen but also just a simple bar. It does not extend the more max energy you have.

Ignore the inventory on the right, it's not finished.
 

Simon Gust

Member
Update on HUD
Health (top) and Armor (bottom)

upload_2019-6-25_19-34-0.png
Health is displayed as whole points, the color depends on how well you player feels.
The more red, the more dead.

Armor (named "Shield" before) is also displayed as whole points.
I'm unsure which behaviour (mentioned bellow) I should stick with.

Energy
upload_2019-6-25_19-34-50.png
The energy bar has a fixed length and fills up from right to left as it sits on the right side of the screen.

Btw, the green outlines are for better vision and contrast.

Armor, what mechanic is better?

How should armor work? I'm seeking both an interesting mechanic but also a nostalgic feeling.
I've come up with two different mechanics for now.

Armor equals Extra Health
The simpler mechanic would be that armor is just extra health that protects the actual health to decrease before the armor is used up.
- in short, Armor is ap and max armor is max_ap to not confuse with actual armor that can be equipped.
- ap regenerates slowly (but not snail's pace).
- max_ap can be obtained by equipping Armor (as an item)

With this, design for item stats such as equippable armor is straight forward.
Lower tier armor gives some max_ap.
Higher tier armor gives more max_ap but can also grant defense which would be damage that is always reduced


Armor grants damage reduction until depletion
The second mechanic makes armor not cover health fully but only by a percentage.
Similar to how armor works in Minecraft, except that the ap is still deducted from the max_ap and the damage reduction is only granted while the player has more than 0 ap.
- ap grants a base damage reduction where damage taken is split up to ap damage and hp damage (unless the attack is armor-piercing).
- ap regenrates slowly (but not snail's pace).
- max_ap can be obtained by equipping Armor (as an item)
- damage reduction is dependent on another stat that may be upgradable by also Armor or other items / buffs etc.
- once ap is depleted, damage reduction is no longer granted

With this, design for item stats such as equippable armor is not straight forward.
How do I make lower tier armor not suck but also not too close to higher tier armor.
Imaging I take 2 damage, my damage reduction from the armor is 30% because the armor is lower tier.
I will still take 2 damage still.

Now I take 10 damage, 30% off that is 7. Damage is reduced by 3.
Suddenly low-tier armor becomes good. This is not optimal.
What about high-tier armor? What does it become?
Right now, I have so many armor sets that the next tier armor would be 35% reduction.
That doesn't change much and I don't want the player to skip content because of unbalance.

I could make it so that equippable armor grants direct-point-reduction instead of percentage-based reduction.
This way low-tier armor isn't op and high-tier armor (as well as "the next better" armor) is worth the player's time.

What do you think?
 
T

trentallain

Guest
Update on HUD
Health (top) and Armor (bottom)

View attachment 25414
Health is displayed as whole points, the color depends on how well you player feels.
The more red, the more dead.

Armor (named "Shield" before) is also displayed as whole points.
I'm unsure which behaviour (mentioned bellow) I should stick with.

Energy
View attachment 25415
The energy bar has a fixed length and fills up from right to left as it sits on the right side of the screen.

Btw, the green outlines are for better vision and contrast.

Armor, what mechanic is better?

How should armor work? I'm seeking both an interesting mechanic but also a nostalgic feeling.
I've come up with two different mechanics for now.

Armor equals Extra Health
The simpler mechanic would be that armor is just extra health that protects the actual health to decrease before the armor is used up.
- in short, Armor is ap and max armor is max_ap to not confuse with actual armor that can be equipped.
- ap regenerates slowly (but not snail's pace).
- max_ap can be obtained by equipping Armor (as an item)

With this, design for item stats such as equippable armor is straight forward.
Lower tier armor gives some max_ap.
Higher tier armor gives more max_ap but can also grant defense which would be damage that is always reduced


Armor grants damage reduction until depletion
The second mechanic makes armor not cover health fully but only by a percentage.
Similar to how armor works in Minecraft, except that the ap is still deducted from the max_ap and the damage reduction is only granted while the player has more than 0 ap.
- ap grants a base damage reduction where damage taken is split up to ap damage and hp damage (unless the attack is armor-piercing).
- ap regenrates slowly (but not snail's pace).
- max_ap can be obtained by equipping Armor (as an item)
- damage reduction is dependent on another stat that may be upgradable by also Armor or other items / buffs etc.
- once ap is depleted, damage reduction is no longer granted

With this, design for item stats such as equippable armor is not straight forward.
How do I make lower tier armor not suck but also not too close to higher tier armor.
Imaging I take 2 damage, my damage reduction from the armor is 30% because the armor is lower tier.
I will still take 2 damage still.

Now I take 10 damage, 30% off that is 7. Damage is reduced by 3.
Suddenly low-tier armor becomes good. This is not optimal.
What about high-tier armor? What does it become?
Right now, I have so many armor sets that the next tier armor would be 35% reduction.
That doesn't change much and I don't want the player to skip content because of unbalance.

I could make it so that equippable armor grants direct-point-reduction instead of percentage-based reduction.
This way low-tier armor isn't op and high-tier armor (as well as "the next better" armor) is worth the player's time.

What do you think?
Just as a design thing, I would make the each shield icon slightly larger and possibly also closer together, because the green is a bit much when it is in between too. Also to make the health bar as informative as possible, I would have it change colour of the whole bar depending on your health rather than always looking like a gradient. Otherwise you have to count the amount of health too.

I would make armour work like this:
Just say I had 8 armour. That's 8 damage something would have to do to you in order to then damage you directly. So then it is basically a shield for your health bar. (Optional) To make it even more like a "shield", if you had 4 health and 8 armour, and an enemy did 10 damage to you, it would only get rid of your armour and leave you on 4 health, so you would require another hit (so you can't be 1 shot with armour on). Armour would not grant a % damage reduction, but rather increase your max armour.

Building upon this, what if defeating an enemy also filled up your armour bar slightly? This would encourage a high risk mechanic, where instead of backing out of a fight, you could defeat something quickly with lower health and get a bit more of your armour bar back, rather than running around waiting for it to refill over time.
 

Simon Gust

Member
Just as a design thing, I would make the each shield icon slightly larger and possibly also closer together, because the green is a bit much when it is in between too. Also to make the health bar as informative as possible, I would have it change colour of the whole bar depending on your health rather than always looking like a gradient. Otherwise you have to count the amount of health too.
I was afraid someone would mention the shields and the contrast. I do have a larger icon and I'll try it out and post another screenshot.

The healthbar I thought I wanted to leave it with the colors like in oldschool games (I couln't name one). Maybe I can get away with also writing down the hp and max hp next to the healthbar.

I would make armour work like this:
Just say I had 8 armour. That's 8 damage something would have to do to you in order to then damage you directly. So then it is basically a shield for your health bar. (Optional) To make it even more like a "shield", if you had 4 health and 8 armour, and an enemy did 10 damage to you, it would only get rid of your armour and leave you on 4 health, so you would require another hit (so you can't be 1 shot with armour on). Armour would not grant a % damage reduction, but rather increase your max armour.
Thats the mechanic I had previously. It works quite well on paper. The problem with this is the balancing. How many armor sets does Terraria have? 50? How many of them are useful? Maybe 15 at best. The connection I make is that in Terraria, armor gives you defense. So every armor has to be balanced, low tier armor needs low defense and high tier armor needs high defense. If I want to also make 50 armor sets (150 individual pieces) and I wanted to balance them correctly, I would end up with armor that gives you like 100 ap. This is the exact thing I wanted to avoid, just having 100 ap reeks like power creep.

I do like the idea with the spongy armor preventing over-damage.

At this point in time I have it so that each armor piece gives a percentage of damage decution from health damage to armor damage. Like a copper helmet gives you 14% and the whole set a total of 40% additionally 2 max ap and +1 defense set bonus. This would mean if you take 4 base damage it would first be reduced by defense to 3 and then shared to 2 health damage and 1 armor damage.

I speculate whether the defense bonus from the set should persist even without any ap left. The goal is to make every armor attractive but not op. And every next tier of armor considerable.

Building upon this, what if defeating an enemy also filled up your armour bar slightly? This would encourage a high risk mechanic, where instead of backing out of a fight, you could defeat something quickly with lower health and get a bit more of your armour bar back, rather than running around waiting for it to refill over time.
I'm not a fan of the these neo-mechanics that I see pop up in games lately. It may work as a platformer game like hollow knight but I find it out of place in a sandbox game.

Thank you for reading and giving input, it is appreciated.
 

Simon Gust

Member
Some days have passed and I managed everything very poorly.
I have scrapped most of what was discussed in the latest posts and I'm sorry for wasting people's time.
Kinda sad it didn't work out as I wanted it to but some things just don't work.

I have removed armor points completely, I work with greater numbers now.
The healthbar isn't a bar anymore (due to greater numbers, it wouldn't fit).
Equippable armor gives you damage reduction (defense) nothing more to that.

health display (top left)
upload_2019-7-26_16-46-13.png
 
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