General Magic Help

[shriuken154]

i have set up a spell and it works but only if it is on area of effect, and when it's not it says that i am too far away from the target. any1 know how to fix it?

[Anna Comnena]

I think some spells are bugged in 2.7, unfortunately. That might be the problem.

This is the wrong forum for this, the Game Design forums are about discussing balance and other inherent game features, not particular errors or problems.

So I'm going to hijack this thread and discuss magic balancing issues.

Main thing is trying to make magic useful and a good option without making it overpowering at the same time. I think a good method is to have magic be powerful, but require an investment of mana / magic points to give it a cost. Problem is most games, especially "asian" MMOs, everyone has tons of MP relatively and all use it for "special moves" so there isn't much distinction between magic users and non-magic users, except for how often these skills are used or their style.

What about growth and development? In fantasy settings and books, and in their historical counterparts (shamans, druids, alchemists, etc.), these "magicians" spent years in study and training, and most of these figures and characters are older when they have their power. This is a neat thing to do to match the gameworld and lore, but what about players? It isn't fun to play schoolkid or cadet or acolyte who does tedious things for little reward (hmm although wait, we are talking MMOs here!). But on the same note you don't want every stupid nobody newbie shooting thunderbolts all over either.

Lot of different things to discuss with magic. I would add more but I think I'd drift into other aspects of MMO games so I'll stop here and let everyone think and add insights.

[Fax]

Perhaps more magic spells need to be scripted b the user to require not only a magic level but perhaps an overall player level. So a level 10 person who has just put all 10 levels into magic cannot wield the same powerful magic (necessarily) as a level 20.

[Anna Comnena]

But you can only gain magic levels by spending points when you gain general levels. :P

[Fax]

true, but unlike everyone else I guess. I give a couple points per level to be spent on stats, also I'm going to be rigging it up so magic level just effects MP amount and regeneration rate.

[Anna Comnena]

Personally I prefer having Stat level limitations rather than general level limitations. Because then the player has a choice. They can choose to put their points into Magic instead of other things, so they can learn stronger magic faster. The downside to their choice is they will have less HP and perhaps weapon/combat abilities except for their magic.

When you just have general level restrictions, there is no choice for the player to make, they just have to wait until they reach a certain spot.

[Fax]

well to clarify the spells still would require certain magic stats but basically you would have to reach a certain general level to achieve the higher spells. Thus, making the players older in a game sense

[shriuken154]

ok thx, and i know this prolly aint the best place to put this but does anybody know how to script a spell and/or is it possible to script a spell to summon things?

[shriuken154]

and how do you make it so that spells are based off of stats versus general lvl? i looked at the edit spell but it doesnt have that option

[Anna Comnena]

Spells are set to be depending on Magic Level only, not general level.

[shriuken154]

oh really?… and thats on Eclipse Evolution? hmm... i've been making my spells to ez to learn then

[Anna Comnena]

Depends on other factors though. How fast do they develop MP? How much do spells cost to cast? Is it entirely based on Magic Level growth, or general level growth, or both?