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Issue #5: A MODEL FOR HERO DEVELOPMENT
Hello, dear Readers!
Today, we will consider what I believe to be a crucial aspect: the model for hero development. That is, what it all boils down to and how it works. I want to warn you right away – my model differs significantly from the traditional one, but please don't be shocked.
Learning is light! So, let's make it accessible to everyone. The model that has become familiar to us has taught us that hero progression occurs in sharp jumps. When the amount of experience reaches a "critical" value, a qualitative change occurs – our hero gains a level and can improve in one of the offered skills. To achieve each subsequent level, you need to gain an increasing amount of experience. The table of critical values has remained unchanged since the creation of HMM. Based on HMM2:
01st: 0 11th: 15500 21st: 93362 31st: 575392
02nd: 1000 12th: 18500 22nd: 111932 32nd: 690365
03rd: 2000 13th: 22100 23rd: 134216 33rd: 828332
04th: 3200 14th: 26420 24th: 160956 34th: 993892
05th: 4500 15th: 31604 25th: 193044 35th: 1192564
06th: 6000 16th: 37824 26th: 231549 36th: 1430970
07th: 7700 17th: 45288 27th: 277755 37th: 1717057
08th: 9000 18th: 54244 28th: 333202 38th: 2060361
09th: 11000 19th: 64991 29th: 399738 39th: 2472325
10th: 13200 20th: 77887 30th: 479581 40th: 2966681
You can see that around the 13th level, the hero's development slows down significantly. Of course, in large games or on XL maps, this is not a problem, but for small single-player scenarios, not all possibilities are fully realized. That is, the hero can improve their skills no more than 12 times. This is little – exactly half of the maximum progression! Science, even if vitally important at the beginning, but acquired towards the end of the game, is practically useless. It doesn't have time to develop. And it's strange: you improve the same skill, but at the beginning of the game, it requires very little experience, and at the end – completely exorbitant amounts. This is where I want to make fundamental changes. Let each science be studied independently of the others and improve its own level. There is a gap of approximately 13500 EXP between the 20th and 21st levels – a huge amount. This amount of experience is needed for a single skill improvement. And now imagine that we are developing this skill from scratch. This amount is enough for exactly 10 levels!
I mentioned 10 levels for a reason. The number 10 will often appear in my model. In HMM - HMM3, there were 3 levels of mastery, in HMM4 - 5. But still, it's somehow too little, and the gap is too large. Take, for example, the spell SLOW. At level 0, it's a normal action; at level 1, it requires less mana; at level 2, the effect is twice as strong; at level 3, it is cast on all enemy units. Quite unpleasant jumps. But here's what I propose: 10 levels of mastery in each science! The table of critical values will change slightly:
00th: 0
01st: 1000
02nd: 2000
03rd: 4000
04th: 8000
05th: 16000
06th: 32000
07th: 64000
08th: 128000
09th: 256000
10th: 512000
or
00th: 0
01st: 1000
02nd: 2000
03rd: 4000
04th: 8000
05th: 16000
06th: 32000
07th: 64000
08th: 125000
09th: 250000
10th: 500000
The first option represents a simple doubling, the second – perhaps you can guess where it comes from. Thus, the hero will easily overcome the first few levels, no matter at what point in the game we start.
The hero's class will also play a role here. Mage, Knight, Barbarian – each has their own preferences and specializations. For example, it will be 4 times more difficult for a Mage to improve ARCHERY than for a Knight. And for a Barbarian, it will be 10 times more difficult to develop FIRE MAGIC than for a Wizard. If a hero suddenly decides to develop an alien skill, they will develop it, but a penalty will be applied to the experience gained. If they win a battle and receive 1000 EXP, each i-th skill will "grow" by 1000/n, where n is the penalty coefficient for that hero class. For native skills, it is equal to one, for others – 2...10.
What about the effect of the skill? It's very simple. Each level adds a fixed percentage to the total result. Let me explain this using the SLOW spell as an example (it doesn't matter yet which school of magic it will be assigned to). First, let's indicate the essential characteristics of this spell: cost (mana points), duration (rounds or turns), the effect itself (how much the unit will be slowed down), and the area of effect (one unit or several). Let's go: each additional level reduces the cost by, say, 5%. The maximum is 50% savings. Next: Duration directly depends on the skill, plus a small bonus due to magical power. Now there will be no such nonsense that a "clumsy" loser with 20 magic power can cause trouble for 20 rounds ahead. The skill decides everything. The effect also depends on the skill, plus a correction for strength. Let it be 5% and 1%, respectively. Then the same loser with 20 strength and a young mage with level 3 skill and 5 strength will be equivalent in effect.
The area of effect deserves a separate discussion. By default, the spell affects all enemy units, but with a certain probability. It all depends on luck: a beginner mage may accidentally be able to cast the spell on all armies, and an experienced one may "fail," which will be very unpleasant. Let's assume the probability is 7% per level. The maximum value is 70% without correction for strength.
Now, let's look into the heat of battle. The opponent has 5 groups, your mage casts SLOW on the last one. That's 5 possible successes/failures. It may turn out that the units you are not interested in are slowed down. To prevent this from happening, in case of failure with the specified warrior, the following attempts should be transferred to him: the first one failed – okay, let's use the second, third, fifth. And if all five don't work, nothing can be done – the magic is wasted. Don't forget that monsters also have immunity. The final effect may be slightly weakened!
I will once again lift the veil of mystery: the Tree of Knowledge will still present us with more than one surprise, and heroes will have to take "Exams"!
Hello, dear Readers!
Today, we will consider what I believe to be a crucial aspect: the model for hero development. That is, what it all boils down to and how it works. I want to warn you right away – my model differs significantly from the traditional one, but please don't be shocked.
Learning is light! So, let's make it accessible to everyone. The model that has become familiar to us has taught us that hero progression occurs in sharp jumps. When the amount of experience reaches a "critical" value, a qualitative change occurs – our hero gains a level and can improve in one of the offered skills. To achieve each subsequent level, you need to gain an increasing amount of experience. The table of critical values has remained unchanged since the creation of HMM. Based on HMM2:
01st: 0 11th: 15500 21st: 93362 31st: 575392
02nd: 1000 12th: 18500 22nd: 111932 32nd: 690365
03rd: 2000 13th: 22100 23rd: 134216 33rd: 828332
04th: 3200 14th: 26420 24th: 160956 34th: 993892
05th: 4500 15th: 31604 25th: 193044 35th: 1192564
06th: 6000 16th: 37824 26th: 231549 36th: 1430970
07th: 7700 17th: 45288 27th: 277755 37th: 1717057
08th: 9000 18th: 54244 28th: 333202 38th: 2060361
09th: 11000 19th: 64991 29th: 399738 39th: 2472325
10th: 13200 20th: 77887 30th: 479581 40th: 2966681
You can see that around the 13th level, the hero's development slows down significantly. Of course, in large games or on XL maps, this is not a problem, but for small single-player scenarios, not all possibilities are fully realized. That is, the hero can improve their skills no more than 12 times. This is little – exactly half of the maximum progression! Science, even if vitally important at the beginning, but acquired towards the end of the game, is practically useless. It doesn't have time to develop. And it's strange: you improve the same skill, but at the beginning of the game, it requires very little experience, and at the end – completely exorbitant amounts. This is where I want to make fundamental changes. Let each science be studied independently of the others and improve its own level. There is a gap of approximately 13500 EXP between the 20th and 21st levels – a huge amount. This amount of experience is needed for a single skill improvement. And now imagine that we are developing this skill from scratch. This amount is enough for exactly 10 levels!
I mentioned 10 levels for a reason. The number 10 will often appear in my model. In HMM - HMM3, there were 3 levels of mastery, in HMM4 - 5. But still, it's somehow too little, and the gap is too large. Take, for example, the spell SLOW. At level 0, it's a normal action; at level 1, it requires less mana; at level 2, the effect is twice as strong; at level 3, it is cast on all enemy units. Quite unpleasant jumps. But here's what I propose: 10 levels of mastery in each science! The table of critical values will change slightly:
00th: 0
01st: 1000
02nd: 2000
03rd: 4000
04th: 8000
05th: 16000
06th: 32000
07th: 64000
08th: 128000
09th: 256000
10th: 512000
or
00th: 0
01st: 1000
02nd: 2000
03rd: 4000
04th: 8000
05th: 16000
06th: 32000
07th: 64000
08th: 125000
09th: 250000
10th: 500000
The first option represents a simple doubling, the second – perhaps you can guess where it comes from. Thus, the hero will easily overcome the first few levels, no matter at what point in the game we start.
The hero's class will also play a role here. Mage, Knight, Barbarian – each has their own preferences and specializations. For example, it will be 4 times more difficult for a Mage to improve ARCHERY than for a Knight. And for a Barbarian, it will be 10 times more difficult to develop FIRE MAGIC than for a Wizard. If a hero suddenly decides to develop an alien skill, they will develop it, but a penalty will be applied to the experience gained. If they win a battle and receive 1000 EXP, each i-th skill will "grow" by 1000/n, where n is the penalty coefficient for that hero class. For native skills, it is equal to one, for others – 2...10.
What about the effect of the skill? It's very simple. Each level adds a fixed percentage to the total result. Let me explain this using the SLOW spell as an example (it doesn't matter yet which school of magic it will be assigned to). First, let's indicate the essential characteristics of this spell: cost (mana points), duration (rounds or turns), the effect itself (how much the unit will be slowed down), and the area of effect (one unit or several). Let's go: each additional level reduces the cost by, say, 5%. The maximum is 50% savings. Next: Duration directly depends on the skill, plus a small bonus due to magical power. Now there will be no such nonsense that a "clumsy" loser with 20 magic power can cause trouble for 20 rounds ahead. The skill decides everything. The effect also depends on the skill, plus a correction for strength. Let it be 5% and 1%, respectively. Then the same loser with 20 strength and a young mage with level 3 skill and 5 strength will be equivalent in effect.
The area of effect deserves a separate discussion. By default, the spell affects all enemy units, but with a certain probability. It all depends on luck: a beginner mage may accidentally be able to cast the spell on all armies, and an experienced one may "fail," which will be very unpleasant. Let's assume the probability is 7% per level. The maximum value is 70% without correction for strength.
Now, let's look into the heat of battle. The opponent has 5 groups, your mage casts SLOW on the last one. That's 5 possible successes/failures. It may turn out that the units you are not interested in are slowed down. To prevent this from happening, in case of failure with the specified warrior, the following attempts should be transferred to him: the first one failed – okay, let's use the second, third, fifth. And if all five don't work, nothing can be done – the magic is wasted. Don't forget that monsters also have immunity. The final effect may be slightly weakened!
I will once again lift the veil of mystery: the Tree of Knowledge will still present us with more than one surprise, and heroes will have to take "Exams"!
