Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Droids should have Droid Skill Trees (thread #2)
Gruenpflanze wrote:
Your Ideas are great!
I´m sure, we will see them live in Publish 234 in about 5 years. - Sorry, but if TH stated a Player-skillbased-certificationsystem can´t be implemented, because it is too much programming ( time + cost), there wont be time, manpower, additional storagehardware to implement this idea the next year. Just think of those additional Databank-Servers for all the galaxies.
I love your Idea, but sorry it wont solve the problem, how to get new (combat) droidslive in next6 Month.Its a longterm idea, which should be discussed like that.
It looks complex at first, but when you break down the mechanics of how it could be applied to the game 90% of the systems are already used in the game, with the remaining 10% mainly being checks. If you look at the memory cost of a droid currently, you'll find that it could come down to as little as 1 extra 12 bytes (I think that's the length of an item code) number per droid (Over about 100,000 players, that comes to less than 6 megabytes divided across all the servers) plus an extra 3 kb per character in addition to the memory costs of the skilltrees (WhichI think we can assume is safe for the server to cope with)
This system really could work, and at a very low overall cost in programming etc if you look at the methods possible for implementing it
may TH lend you his ear... 
I m afraid, it´s a little bit more programming than adding one item-code per droid, but ...well see above
Arcid wrote:
Have a look at my ideas about implementation about halfway through the first page. Most of this could be built on code already used for Squad Leader in the case of combat droids, or existing droid code in the case of the artisan droids. Literally the most difficult thing that is presented is ensuring that only the droid is "targeted" for the enhancments and that transfering, deleting etc of droids also effects the skills
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Arcid wrote:
Most of this could be built on code already used for Squad Leader in the case of combat droids, or existing droid code in the case of the artisan droids. Literally the most difficult thing that is presented is ensuring that only the droid is "targeted" for the enhancments and that transfering, deleting etc of droids also effects the skills
Well, the test will be what the Devs think. I urge Thunderheart to look over this thread fully, and if he's not sure how viable it is, to pass it to the people who will be doing the actual programming etc to see what they think.
If it's too hard to implement, so be it, but it is telling that the only posts on this that aren't for implementing the system are on the grounds that it seems too complex, rather than objections to the system itself.
Having droids that have their own trainable skills would be an excellent idea.
I don't know why they would automatically lose everything they learned when they're transfered to a new owner. It doesn't make any sense to me.
BUT, this excellent idea still does not answer the issue that players are required to spend skill points to gain skills and use items, as with creatures and most every other skill in the game, If you want a skill to use and item, you need to use skill points. And the higher the level of the item, the more skill points you're required to spend. That's how the entire game's skill system is designed.
The whole idea behind a system such as this is that:
1) Whether anyone likes it or not, it limits the players so that they have to make decisions about what skills they really want and what skills they cannot have due to these decisions. They have to spend limited points to gain skills.
2) It balances the game so that everyone cannot grab the 'best' skills as soon as they walk into the game. Theyhave to spend time to gain skills.
3) They have to earn the skills they have. Very few things are free in this game. And something as powerful as combat droids cannot be 'free'. If combat droids are free to own, but combat creatures are not free to own, there will be a serious imbalances introduced into the game.
Each tree will contain Certification for particular droids, while the points for droid level will be distributed through all the trees (like creature skill). To use a droid you must meet the level requirement. If you don't meet the certification, you can still call the droid but you can't reprogram it, passive droid skills will be void, and it's commanded skills will only work 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time the droid will either ignore you, or take some other action (like a combat droid might go berserk and attack everything in sight, including the owner!).
Barfalomue wrote:
Droids are modifiable, upgradeable, and master-oriented with DE providing Upgrades and Training.
Droid's Skills are able to be progressed and bettered through their being used for what they are designed.
I like the ability to customize your combat droid alot but dont see it easy to make modules hot-swapable. I like being able to upgrade the droid too but not using player skill points because that seems a lot like just making a droid handler skill tree with a different name.
Here is a modification to the Barfalomue's awesome idea that may be easier to program and make it challenging to make the perfect fighting machine:
- Combat Droids are produced by a DE like they are now. All base statisticts like damage rating and armor are produced with the droid and experimented at this stage (I only say this because it may be too difficult to make things hot-swappable).
- Combat Droids each have their own skill trees with a limited amount of skill points specific to each droid.
- The Combat Droid Skill Tree has 4 trees: 2 Offensive, 2 Defensive. Depending on whether you do PVP or hunting, which mods you pick up will have advantages or disadvantages.
- Tree 1 - Offensive Damage: Mods like accurracy bonuses, higher damage ratings, abilities to fire acid, blast, heat etc...
- Tree 2 - Offensive Specials: Mods like Droid Rolling Attack 2, Droid Supperssion Fire
- Tree 3 - Defensive Layers: Mod protection vs Acid, Heat, Kinetic etc like wearable Armor
- Tree 4 - Defensive Manuvers:Mods like Block, Dodge, and Counterattack bonuses based on the Combat Droid Model and Mods like + 25 Defense vs Stun, + 50 Defense vs Knockdown
- Skill points can be spent in any tree but you wont have enough skill points to fill up the whole 4 trees (maybe two of the four) leaving droids very customizable but also strong/vulerable either offensively or defensively or a little of both depending on what you would choose.
I envision people needing combat droids customized both for PVP (I would use my points offensively for quick strikes) and for hunting (I would have it tank so I would stock up on Defensive mods). Skill point customization makes each droid unique and versitale while not making one droid more uber than another. Once again the balance game would come into play making every droid have a strenght and a weakness.
Also by not having it use skill points from players more people will be inclined to have two or more combat droids each with thier own mods for different player situations like PvP and Hunting.More droids per playercan only be a good thing.
Arcid wrote:
I agree with the principle of not paying skillpoints, how ever it has been stated as an absolute requirement by Thunderheart for any type of combat droid over level 10. Hence, any scheme, no matter how good is going to be rejected if it doesn't require people to spend skillpoints on it.
If TH thinks it is an absolute requirement that players should have some penality for using combat droids how about the following:
Have Combat Droidsadd negative encumberance to your stat bars just like wearing armor or taking spice does.
If it were high enough this should make people think twice about the advantages of combat droids vs the disadvantages especially if it were the mind bar (operating all that technology has to make the mind strained). It is a lot harder to buff the mind too...