SurvivalXtreme Mod: random level-up bonuses.

[ylmson]

This is my first try at modifying a multiplayer map, so please be nice.

Some people I played with expressed interest in letting AMLA do something more interesting in SurvivalXtreme maps. So I made this mod which gives a random bonus for every AMLA. Of course, balancing the bonuses can be tricky, but so far it seems the mod is adding an interesting element to the game while making the game more survivable at some difficult modes with fewer players / lost heros / trapped heros. Due to the exp bonus, a moderate starting gold is recommended for all difficulties. An interesting combination I tried is (300-400 gold - difficulty Extreme - 30% or higher exp modifier).


To obtain the modification, simply grab the SurvivalXtreme_macros.cfg in the zip file, and overwrite the same file on your computer. Then for any survival map, append the {SURVIVALX_ADVANCEMENT} macro near the end of the file, right before the line with the last [/multiplayer] tag. You perhaps also want to change the map id at the beginning, for example:

#SurvivalXtremeCurve.cfg:
[multiplayer]
id=multiplayer_SurvivalXtremeCurve_Advancement
....
....
{SURVIVALX_ADVANCEMENT}
[/multiplayer]

After that, you should start to get bonuses when using the map. To make things even easier, I've also attached a few already modified maps in the zip file, just overwrite the original files with them.

(NOTE: the attached files have mixed line breaks between unix / windows format, it has not caused any problem here, though)

The current possible bonuses are (one chosen randomly for each AMLA):

• +1% all resistances (fixed at 1% for now, maybe max_exp/50?)
  +HP (proportional to max_exp/2)
  +Movement (proportional to max_exp/30)
  +Damage (proportional to max_exp/40)
  -33% Max. Experience (when max_exp > 50, other than for this bonus, normally max_exp+20% after each AMLA)
  +Attacks (proportional to max_exp/100)

Also, hero that starts at max level does not get bonus for the first AMLA, this is actually a side effect of the current implementation which can be fixed, but it seems like an acceptable behavior for now, because max level hero is pretty tough to begin with.

There is a lot of room for expansion of this concept,
- more interersting upgrades (regeneration beyond 8hp/turn, weapon specials, abilities like ambush, etc.)
- chooseable instead of random upgrades (a menu similar to shop can use exp instead of gold)
- altering the mechanics of the survival game to better incorporate gold and exp (limit shop to heal/weapon? make shops and exp do different things?)
- make recruits and let them level up faster than leader (so leader can choose to upgrade himself or recruit an army)

A few ideas may sound interesting to some people and bad to some others. Some of the ideas can also require much more effort to implement and balance than I have time for. But those should all be possible so I'm throwing them out as random thoughts.


For people interested in code, it is poorly commented now, but the majority of the relevant WML is done in the SURVIVALX_ADVANCEMENT macro, although some other changes are made so that the killing "exp_bonus" increases according to enemy toughness, and to prevent OOS. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to follow up this thread much until after a while, but comments and thoughts are all welcome.

UPDATE1: cleaned up code for leader death to make it more compact, also randomly increase a surviving leader's exp bonus per kill by 120% upon another leader's death.

UPDATE2: Seemed to have fixed an OOS that occurs sometimes when hero levels up on enemy's attack.