Abandoned Sharing some thoughts on specific game items

[Dextr]

After playing New Horizons for some time, I started wondering about those specific items (gems, idols, etc.) that have an impact on the gameplay, for instance, boosting the player's luck or melee, etc., and I couldn't help noticing two interesting things:

First, among all the cool items a couple of very handy thingees seem to be missing - a kind of "storm protector" (an item that would significantly reduce the possibility of encountering a storm, though not preventing it entirely) and a "weapon protector" (an item that would always keep your weapons in the fine, or at least good condition, if you have the option turned on).

Second, there are WAY TOO MANY good items in the game, but only a couple of purely bad ones or ambiguous. This seems a bit awkward and somewhat imbalances the game logics, thus adding some bad items, or bad properties to already existing items would be a fair way to improving the game.

With all this said, it should be noted that there are actually some functionless items, idols, for example as well as a whole bunch of other things that could somewhat be used for the abovementioned purposes. Now I do understand that there is a lack of, uh, "human resources" , even on bug fixing, but I just wanted to give my opinion on what could be introduced to improve the game even further.
Should anyone share this point of view or oppose it, please do have your say on this topic.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Have you looked into internalsettingd.h? Those items can be disabled there. There are too many good items so I always disable them.

There are some bad things but people complain about them so they have been turned down or off.

 

[Dextr]

Well, yeah, I did look, but the thing is you actually turn off all items except for books. Now I was talking about adding qualities to items, like the same storm/weapon protectors, additional bad luck/leadership etc. items for pure arcade, would it be possible to implement that for instance?

For example, the same blade care kit, which gives you +1 to melee - I'd say it would be much more logical to have it keep your blade's durability rather than give you the mentioned skill boost. Also, a sort of barometer for improving your chances against beng caught in a storm would be a realistic and nice feature.

BTW, thanks for advising on internalsettings Hylie, the thing has a lot of interesting features to meddle with

 

[Hylie Pistof]

That blade care kit is brand new and I used it for the first time last game. Having +1 for melee is a nice thing early in the game, but I would rather have a more durable blade. The things are constantly wearing out and I forget to check my officers often enough.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There are values in InternalSettings.h to make blade wear and tear slower.
Since I never got feedback on them, I think they are still on my original values that were not based on play-testing.

As for adding more items, not sure if that would be such a good thing. More skill-enhancing items = more chance of skewing the balancing of the game.

Regular skill-enhancing (or subtracting) items are easy enough to add. But ones that do something special require quite a bit more doing.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I like the idea of some swords being more durable than others and choose my swords based on my experience with them.

It is also true that the metal used back then wasn't very good and they did wear quickly and any swords that last longer would be more desireable and expensive.

That internalsettings.h stuff is generic that makes all swords the same, and yet in game it seems some swords last longer than others.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Blade minlevel is taken into account. Higher level blades will indeed last longer.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Then there is a small imbalance there. At higher melee skill levels even the best swords wear very fast. I often have to replace a sword after every fight.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Enemy level is a factor too.

 

[Grey Roger]

Blade minlevel is taken into account. Higher level blades will indeed last longer.

My experience seems to be the opposite, higher level blades wearing out more quickly. Deterioration seems to happen as a result of blocking, so often I'll go berserk, activate the "Rush" perk, then hit the enemy as quickly and frequently as possible to kill him with as few blocks as possible. (This tactic is only survivable when I have Melee 10 and gold armour, and is not recommended early in a game!) If the fight drags on and I need to do a lot of blocking, the sword will probably have dropped at least one level by the time it's over, which is why I like to carry spares.

My guess is that there's a counter of how many blocks you've done, and when it reaches a certain number the sword deteriorates. If I've done a lot of blocking and the sword hasn't yet deteriorated, the counter is probably about to hit the target number fairly soon. So I sometimes switch at this point to a lesser blade and do some fighting, the counter hits its target, the sacrificial sword deteriorates, then I switch back to the good sword.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

My experience seems to be the opposite, higher level blades wearing out more quickly.

That shouldn't be the case. If desired, I can check how that code works again.
While I did write the original version of this feature, a lot of changes have been made since and I don't quite remember them all.

My guess is that there's a counter of how many blocks you've done, and when it reaches a certain number the sword deteriorates. If I've done a lot of blocking and the sword hasn't yet deteriorated, the counter is probably about to hit the target number fairly soon. So I sometimes switch at this point to a lesser blade and do some fighting, the counter hits its target, the sacrificial sword deteriorates, then I switch back to the good sword.

You are completely correct on that.
Doesn't technically make sense working like that, but I don't know how to tie the "block counter" to the sword itself. So we had to settle for a simpler solution.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I often find myself fighting 2-3 opponents while my officers are all attacking one opponent or just standing around, so I do a lot of blocking. For this reason I either just use Drake's sword or have 3-4 of each of the best swords and cycle between them. I also keep a dozen or so Solingen rapiers for my officers and hundreds of swords of all types for my crew. All in excellent condition. My crew seems to prefer the Portagee sword.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Bladedamage based on the usage of your blade
^ This is based on a counter.

Bladedamage based on your level vs the blade's minlevel
^ This is based on weapon minlevel - enemy rank. Effect is ignored for unique weapons.
If I understand correctly, theoretically this could indeed make those types of weapons deteriorate quicker.

If this seems a concern to you, open PROGRAM\Loc_ai\LAi_events.c and find:

if(CheckAttribute(weapon,"minlevel") && sti(weapon.minlevel) < 95)

Replace with:

if(CheckAttribute(weapon,"minlevel"))

Note that there are TWO instances of this.
This should make the bladedamage equal and make unique high-level weapons MUCH more durable (because they have a minlevel of 99!).

If this works well and is considered a good idea, I can implement this change in the next update.

 

[Grey Roger]

It doesn't particularly bother me. I've been in the habit of carrying lots of spares and checking the status of my officers' swords as well as my own ever since Build 13, where the best sword was the Atwood F100 which was likely to deteriorate after one boarding. Raiding a fort by walking in through the back door involved so many fights with guards that I was likely to go through several swords all the way from "Excellent" to "Broken"! It's just something I've got used to. Besides, in Build 14 there are indestructible swords like Drake's Sword and Cortez's Sword which put an end to the problem, at least for my character - I still need to check officers' swords.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Indeed swords that do not have any quality differences cannot break.
Otherwise you'd lose your unique sword, which wouldn't be very nice.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I'm not bothered by it as the metal used back then wasn't very good. My cutlass is made of period correct metal and bends and dents quite easily.

 

[Dextr]

Indeed swords that do not have any quality differences cannot break.
Otherwise you'd lose your unique sword, which wouldn't be very nice.

Well, Sharp's sword does have quality differences, thus it can break, though I do believe it is unique...
A shame IMHO, since it's one of the best blades, besides, easily obtainable and early on.

Speaking of bothering, yeah, that's natural I believe. But still, my primary idea was that this very item, the blade care kit, should theoreticaly save both time and money spent on the repairs. The main idea was that the player himself turned into something of a blacksmith, able to take care of things like that.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Yup, indeed it can break. But you can repair it again afterwards, so you shouldn't lose it forever.
If, however, you start fighting with it AFTER it became broken, then you really DO lose it.
But then you are being ever-so-slightly stupid. Or REALLY desperate for a sword!

 

[Dextr]

Huh, I actually never had a broken/lost blade. Never let it happen that is What I thought was that you lose a blade automatically when it breaks. Oh well, gives credits to the one who actually invented all that wearing off thing

 

[Grey Roger]

But still, my primary idea was that this very item, the blade care kit, should theoreticaly save both time and money spent on the repairs. The main idea was that the player himself turned into something of a blacksmith, able to take care of things like that.

The player's character doesn't need to become a blacksmith, but the kit should allow the character to perform basic maintenance - cleaning, sharpening, maybe basic polishing. The blacksmiths even hint that you ought to be doing this, complaining that you should take care of your sword! So, depending on how it can be coded, the blade care kit could either reduce the frequency at which blades deteriorate; or you use it, time passes, and the blade goes up one level, though never above "Fine". You should be able to get it to the best quality that is available in a store, but to put the final touch and take it up to "Excellent" should still require a blacksmith. Otherwise, if everyone could polish their swords up to maximum quality free of charge, blacksmiths would go out of business.