Level Up

[jacobabrennan]

I've decided to use set classes like in CQ. These might even be the same classes from CQ. I don't think I want to use a card system, and I certainly don't want to have the same card system as CQ. What sort of advancement system should I create? Here are some thoughts I've had:

• Players level up every time they descend a level (kill a boss). Pro: Simple, easy to implement. Con: Not as interesting, I'm packing all the good stuff into one place (region change, level up, boss battle).
• Players level up based on "exp" or score. Pro: People are used to it. Con: Have to implement a whole new system of experience point tracking, more balancing, encourages grinding.
• Players are somehow presented with a chance to level up halfway through each level. Could be a miniboss, a treasure chest or similar item (fountain?). Pro: Gives players something interesting half way through a map, gives players time to learn how to use a class before fighting a boss, players have the option to skip and the incentive to explore. Con: Not sure how this would work.

There's also the question of how to give the user a choice between classes. We could assign a random class with no choice, show the user exactly which classes they can choose, or obscure it somehow (like the card system). I've been thinking of having a Tarot based card system, where two tarot cards are dealt and the user picks one. Or one tarot card is dealt, and the user agrees that it describes their character, or disagrees. Some cards would be easy to implement: Knight of Swords gives you a knight level up, duh. Others would be harder: Eight of coins... um, yeah. Others would be fun >:) Like we could make it so that choosing the fool reverted you to adventurer, or choosing the tower reduced you to 1 hp.

These are just my ideas, I'd love to hear what you can think up.

[megablaze]

What if you could only level up up to the floor level you're on (based on exp gain), so every floor you could level up once (max level = current floor)? Right now, there's no real point in fighting any of the enemies, you'd just skip them and head straight for the boss every time. I feel like this would give the enemies a purpose, while at the same time focus on advancing rather then grinding.

I would suggest just having branching paths for classes, and being able to pick the class you want to go with (CQ for many people was just a matter of looking at a card cheat sheet and picking the path you wanted, or trying to remember which card gave what). Classes could either be chosen at a certain level, or at a certain floor you would go to an area in between floors where you picked your class (walking over a square that was showing off the class f.ex). Classes could learn skills as they level up so they don't get all their power at once (they'd also have to keep old skills while they learn new ones, so class changes wouldn't make you useless).

[Sudzzuds]

Heh, I like the "deal 2 tarot cards (covered) and the user picks 1" concept [perhaps with a "skip" option], and as to when these cards are dealt is when you get something achieved (treasure obtained/exp gained/boss killed).

As for what the cards are for... using the Major Arcana? Let's make up a list... [hahaha] The Fool: Turns player into an Adventurer. The Magician: Adds Mage to player class. The High Priestess: Adds Cleric to player class. The Empress: Provides Health to player. The Emperor: Adds Knight to player class. The Hierophant: Adds Cleric to player class. The Lovers: Teleports player to another player (perhaps the player furthest in the dungeons/closest?) The Chariot: Adds Knight to player class. Strength: Freezes the monsters the player attacks for a certain amount of time. The Hermit: Adds Rouge to player class. Wheel of Fortune: Does something random (anything from the card list) Justice: Allows player to see the next two cards dealt to the player. The Hanged Man: Causes Player to lose health. Death: Causes Player to die / turn into a skeleton. Temperance: Allows player to walk on water for a certain amount of time. Devil: Summons Demon enemies to suddenly appear on the player screen, and surround the player. The Tower: Lowers player health to 1. The Star: Adds Mage to player class. The Moon: Adds Rouge to player class. The Sun: Restores Player health and mana. Judgement: Turns player into an Adventurer / Returns player to the beginning of current floor of dungeon, and restores player health+mana. The World: Provides player with a map of the current floor / teleports player to the end of the current floor of dungeon.

[I post this partially as a joke, but somehow I ended up having 2 cards for each class-change somehow or another. The Star also does not fit the bill for a Mage class, but since there was only 1 card for Mage, it... kinda fit. Many of these do benefit the player too, so think about em XD]

[Twileth]

What if, around the map-- there were these glowing gravestones or objects dependant on the area, that would summon some sort of ghost of a class (e.g. knight, mage, acolyte, archer.) and if you hit it, it would level you up in that area?

[jacobabrennan]

I've got a basic system in for next demo. A lot of the polish isn't finished, but it functions enough for us to give it a try.