Bob's RPG Era (now with achievements!)

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Kiyoshi
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Joined: April 27th, 2008, 6:58 am

Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Kiyoshi »

Hello, can i play Bobs RPG Era with the SurvivalXtremeaddonmaps, or are there any problems?
Or do you have any other suggestion which maps are good with this Era :>?(and long, and i played already the 2 other Maps from Bob, Labyrinth of Champions and Fallf of Trent, and i dont rly like the Magethingy, i think it was Brotherhood of Light)
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Drakefriend
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Drakefriend »

What about adding Orcs?
(Warrior:A warrior with a bow attack;Ranger:crossbowman using his pierce-munition;Vagabond Ranger:A slayer without poison and marksman)

And the dwarves could have a second Ranger(thunderguard) whose different weapons would be different bullets.
After far too long an absence, I have returned.
According to the quiz 100% Silver Mage (85% Archmage, 75% Shyde, 67% Flameheart and Ancient Wose,58% Assassin, Troll Warrior and Berserker). And my top score is exactly how I see myself.
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Aethaeryn
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Aethaeryn »

Drakefriend wrote:What about adding Orcs?
(Warrior:A warrior with a bow attack;Ranger:crossbowman using his pierce-munition;Vagabond Ranger:A slayer without poison and marksman)

And the dwarves could have a second Ranger(thunderguard) whose different weapons would be different bullets.
If dwarves get thunderguards, they shouldn't be allowed to add strikes, in exchange for getting damage easier.
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Drakefriend
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Drakefriend »

Why is the Vagabond Magician the Battle Princess, although she is level two and should be the Princess?
I think the portraits for the Dwarf Ranger should be fighter-2(the alternative portrait for the fighter,core),ulfserker and scout(from 1.7.2).
After far too long an absence, I have returned.
According to the quiz 100% Silver Mage (85% Archmage, 75% Shyde, 67% Flameheart and Ancient Wose,58% Assassin, Troll Warrior and Berserker). And my top score is exactly how I see myself.
noopy757
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Joined: April 18th, 2009, 4:30 am

Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by noopy757 »

Hey how do u find or get these so called "shops" i haven't found any use for gold could some1 plz tell me thx!
BTW i LOVE this era
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Bob_The_Mighty
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Bob_The_Mighty »

Drakefriend wrote:Why is the Vagabond Magician the Battle Princess, although she is level two and should be the Princess?
I'm not sure quite what you mean. Why shouldn't she be a vagabond magician? She is an elusive foot with a magical ranged weapon.
Drakefriend wrote:I think the portraits for the Dwarf Ranger should be fighter-2(the alternative portrait for the fighter,core),ulfserker and scout(from 1.7.2).
I'll look into it. Those fantastic new portraits are cropping up fast.
noopy757 wrote: Hey how do u find or get these so called "shops" i haven't found any use for gold could some1 plz tell me thx!
The shops in Bob's RPG Era are unique in that they sell inventory items, rather than just stat upgrades. Thus you might buy a potion which can be used at a later point, or a pair of snow shoes or an arcane sword which can be worn/equipped at the player's discretion. Currently, the shops (which are coded in the era, not the scenario) are only featured on 2 maps: Into The Underworld and Labyrinth of Champions.

If anyone wants to include these sorts of shops in their map, let me know. There is lots of notes in the code on how to do it (and it isn't that complex, really). I'll help out if I can.
My current projects:
MP pirate campaign: The Altaz Mariners
RPG sequel: Return to Trent
MP stealth campaign: Den of Thieves
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Gambit
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Gambit »

Drakefriend wrote:Why is the Vagabond Magician the Battle Princess, although she is level two and should be the Princess?
Just because certain art is used one way in a campaign or addon doesn't mean it's set in stone. You can make any unit and give it any art you feel like. I could make a unit called "The Fat Slob" with only 1 move and an attack called "sit on" and give it Lisar's sprite.
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Araja
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Araja »

I think Drakefriend is asking why you used the L3 princess sprite for the L2 princess, instead of using the L2 princess sprite.
I thought that was a bit strange myself.
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Bob_The_Mighty
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Bob_The_Mighty »

Araja wrote:I think Drakefriend is asking why you used the L3 princess sprite for the L2 princess, instead of using the L2 princess sprite.
I thought that was a bit strange myself.
Oh, I see. I don't think I realised. In that case, I may change it at some point. All the other character units use lvl 2 sprites - even if they deviate a little, stat wise.
My current projects:
MP pirate campaign: The Altaz Mariners
RPG sequel: Return to Trent
MP stealth campaign: Den of Thieves
noopy757
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by noopy757 »

Ya bob having shops (but only a few) in maps would be awesome ^^
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Faello
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Faello »

Could somebody remind me what's the shortest way to obtain 90% def with vagabond ?

I remember I played other add-on with that era and vagabond could get 90% def with dodge stance, but I don't remember how :|

EDIT: Btw. all "invisibility perks" vagabond has have limited use because AI ignores fog of war and can predict pretty well where vagabond moves if it has seen where he was turn before he went into stealth mode/hide himself, thus maybe it would be wise to lower the costs of these abilities by a few points.
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and smiles as the puppets dance
in the court of the Crimson King.
Lastmerlin
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Lastmerlin »

I have played Labyrinth of Chamption yesterday (alone, playing all 5 characters) with this era and want to give some comments.
First of all, this era is really great, using it makes the map a _real_ rpg. The high number of options add a whole dimension of strategy. The mass of things you can do is a bit overwhelming at the start, but once you get used to it, its really fun.

I am saying that because I want to point out that I consider this as an excellent work, even though the majority of the post will be complaints. Please understand them as useful proposals to make it even better.

The first thing I recognized is, that surviving is much harder than it used to be without this RPG era. The core point is, that your characters permanently lack hitpoints.
First problem: You start with to few hp for a lvl2 unit. Examples: Dwarfen chalybter starts with 59 HP, RPG warrior with 47. Red Mage has 42 HP, rpg mage only 34. Next problem: You cannot buy hitpoints. Usually this is my first move when playing a white mage on this map: Get some hitpoints to make him a bit durable.
Third problem: Levelup doesn't give HP. If you don't skill your mage into the warrior tree he will stay with his 34 HP forever. Ok, some potions may take him up to 40, but that is still to few to survive one turn of bad luck.
What you need to block a bunch of highlevel enemies is a 80 HP+ dwarven Lord, my fighter got 59 at the end. The rpg mage looses the comparison to a standard era grand mage (~80 HP if you buy some at the start, 16-4 damage) clearly as well. I suppose that you should skill him as a ranger to get some damage, but where do you get the points for skilling the warrior tree then (by the way, this is a mage, right)? Of course I realize, that there are a lot of skills in return, but in my opinion none of them makes up for 30 missing hitpoints. Especially the area where you get poisoned permanently is a real pain, because 40HP are depleted very fast here. Moreover, it seems odd to me, that everyone needs the warrior tree to get even close to acceptable hitpoints.
My proposal: Increase the starting hitpoints and give one or two hp for every levelup. Alternatively you could give some HP if the player increases one of his class levels. And please restore at least a few hp after a levelup.

The next thing I noticed, that increasing weapon damage with ulox rocks seems a waste if you can get an additional permanent HP for you ranger instead. On the other hand, getting 1 HP for each rock (and there are plenty) seems a bit overpowered - my ranger was the best tank at the end. In fact this is the only way to get a high-HP tank, so wasting the ulox on weaponmastery seems a dominated option in almost all cases.
My proposal: Perhaps give only one HP per 2 rocks. Or 2 damage per rock and decrease the number of ulox rocks.

The fencer turned out to be almost useless due to low hp and negative resists. High dodge values ensure, that the bad luck streak that kills him will come unexpected, but nevertheless almost sure during a long game :D

Concoction is very useful (especially health and stamina potions). I wished only, that you could see the effect of a potion before creating it. Using the era for the first time, I had no idea what all these nice liquids do.

Conjuring is absolutely overpowered. In fact, the last fight was a piece of cake thanks to masses of mudcrawlers. Perhaps this is intended to balance out the lack of tanking capabilities of the heroes, but it is clearly to much. For one single clay (you find over 40 during the game), you get a unit that has more HP than you mage initially has. And if the mudcrawler dies, you might even get back your clay. Killing the lich is very easy too: suicide a dozen of mudcrawlers supported by leadership.
My proposal: Reduce the number of clay pieces on the map significantly or increase cost to 3 pieces per mudcrawler. Also consider spawning them with only 1/4 moves to avoid the creation of dozens in one turn.

I hope that the criticism did not sound to harsh. Overall, the era is really good. It just needs a few tweaks in my opinion and I hope that these observations will be useful for that. Of course, being a novice concerning this era, I also might have missed an important strategy, so that some of my points are invalid.
Cizzle
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Joined: March 20th, 2009, 9:15 pm

Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Cizzle »

I had a really rough time playing it the first time... really wished leveling gave at least partial health restoration... and possibly 1 maybe to hp... seemed pretty fun, but was way too hard for my friends and I to get into (mostly because we're used to complete health restoration after leveling, and the ability to buy health).
Check out units in a new faction:
Seer Initiate
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More coming soon...
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Faello
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by Faello »

Lastmerlin wrote:The first thing I recognized is, that surviving is much harder than it used to be without this RPG era. The core point is, that your characters permanently lack hitpoints (...)
No my friend, no offence but what you probably lack is a skill and patience. Our group played probably every RPG Bob has created and passed them all without losing any team member (not to mention the fact, that we pretty much purified every map from enemies, xp-ing to the maximum level). It took several sessions for us to complete every scenario, but there's no way to just speed up through RPG's, counting on some "pretty decent" chance that you'll survive this encounter, later another etc. the maximum of chances you can get in such game is a situation when you can actually die with a HUGE amount of bad luck. It's because during such a long game and dozens opponents, with a limited number of units (heroes) bad luck WILL happen.
Lastmerlin wrote:Of course I realize, that there are a lot of skills in return, but in my opinion none of them makes up for 30 missing hitpoints. Especially the area where you get poisoned permanently is a real pain, because 40HP are depleted very fast here.


Nope, new skills are enough to balance the lack of standard level ups. If you're losing hp fast because of the poison, where's your healer then ? Warriors are tanks, vagabounds are scouts&baits&assasins, mages are artillery and healers, rangers are scouts&tanks&artillery sometimes - every class has it's function in this type of game and should be used accordingly. Patience, proper tactics and careful playing will lead you to flawless victory.
Lastmerlin wrote:The next thing I noticed, that increasing weapon damage with ulox rocks seems a waste if you can get an additional permanent HP for you ranger instead. On the other hand, getting 1 HP for each rock (and there are plenty) seems a bit overpowered - my ranger was the best tank at the end.


I agree.
Lastmerlin wrote:The fencer turned out to be almost useless due to low hp and negative resists. High dodge values ensure, that the bad luck streak that kills him will come unexpected, but nevertheless almost sure during a long game :D


I love to play vagabound-fencer in Bob's RPGs. Mostly because this character is very difficult to play, but without him, game is tougher for whole team. What you need to do with him is to get dodge stance fast (I don't remember if he has it from the start), then get a backstab, additional movement points and - finally - a skirmisher. In some of the Bob's RPG scenarios it was possible to raise vagabound defence from 80% to 90% with some item and vagabound with 90% defence is virtually untouchable. Still, with 80% defence it's a good bait for a stronger enemies that can easily hurt other team members - vagabound takes the first attack on him, and let others to deal the damage to the lured opponents this way.

The thing is to don't forget about vagabounds level ups (because he can often suffer from first enemy attack too much to join the combat instantly), don't put him in risky situations that can be evaded (for example approaching troll lvl2 at night with 80% defence vagabound is a foolish risky situation because you can wait and approach him during the day - this way, even with 2/2 troll attack [bad luck] you'll survive - during the night, you won't :P ) and other characters - like mages - are real xp suckers in comparision to vagabound.

Vagabound is probably the only character that can level up from pure combat only (no kills) for a short period of time and still be useful, his function is to speed up and make levelling easier for others.

So, essentially, it's all about team play and good experience distribution. If you don't pay attention to it, vagabound will suck in the end with other characters in the team grabbing more xp then he will grab and this way you'll lose a good, fast assasin type character & enemy attack points sucker that can be useful in bigger engagements. So it's again a matter of your skill level :wink:
Lastmerlin wrote:Conjuring is absolutely overpowered. In fact, the last fight was a piece of cake thanks to masses of mudcrawlers. Perhaps this is intended to balance out the lack of tanking capabilities of the heroes, but it is clearly to much. For one single clay (you find over 40 during the game), you get a unit that has more HP than you mage initially has. And if the mudcrawler dies, you might even get back your clay. Killing the lich is very easy too: suicide a dozen of mudcrawlers supported by leadership.
My proposal: Reduce the number of clay pieces on the map significantly or increase cost to 3 pieces per mudcrawler. Also consider spawning them with only 1/4 moves to avoid the creation of dozens in one turn.


I agree, conjuring seems to be overpowered in comparision to the other characters abilities.
The yellow jester does not play
but gently pulls the strings
and smiles as the puppets dance
in the court of the Crimson King.
shadowblack
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Re: Bob's RPG Era

Post by shadowblack »

There seems to be a bug will all stances that modify the defense of the elven characters: Normally an Elf (regardless of class) standing on a bridge above deep water has 40% defense. HOWEVER if that particular character used a stance that increases or decreases defense (such as Run stance or Attack stance), then that character 2ill have 100% defense when standing on a bridge above deep water (or 90% if your stance decreases defense by 10%).

The following screenshots show:
1) A character that has not used run stance
2) A character that has switched to Run stance
3) A character that switched to Run stance and back to Normal stance
4) A character that switched to attack stance
no run.JPG
run stance.JPG
normal stance.JPG
attack stance.JPG
P.S.: The scenario is Into the Underworld
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