Halve attribute values.

[alexjurkiewicz]

Not ready for merge, ànd maybe not for 0.17, but thought I'd open this up for comments. The game works but significantly more balance work is required.

• If previously something used strength, now it uses strength * 2, and
  similar for intelligence & dexterity.
• Reduces species starting stats (rounding down, for odd numbers)
  and job starting stats (rounding inconsistently to give +6 stats
  overall).
• Change +/-2 str/int/dex mutations to +/-1
• Reduce stat loss amounts from most sources (minimum of one, stat
  recovery time is unchanged)
• Reduce minimum stat to 2
• Slightly reduce -stat attributes on artifacts.

TODO:

• Stat drain / recovery numbers

[neilmoore]

I am concerned about this being generally a character buff, since characters start at approximately the same effective numbers as before (subject to some rounding), but get effectively twice the increase on level-up.

On the other hand, decreasing starting stats to make up for that has its own problems: namely, that would put SpWz at 1 str and TrBe at 1 int, which are perilously close to 0.

Edit: I missed that you changed "every 3 levels" to "every 4 levels", and likewise decreased the frequency of race-specific stat increases. It's still around 1.5 times the old stat increase amounts, but maybe that's not so bad after all.

[alexjurkiewicz]

Well, there's a minimum number for starting stats. I reduced it from 3 to 2
in this patch. I also changed user level ups to every 4 levels, and
generally added 1 to species stat-up rates. All these numbers are
provisional, but I'm not intending this to be a buff.

Also, I reduced stat drain amounts, though that work probably needs extra
attention.

That said, it's probably impossible to make a change this general without
affecting balance in a multitude of situations...

On Tue, 20 Oct 2015, 8:37 AM Neil Moore notifications@github.com wrote:

I am concerned about this being generally a character buff, since
characters start at approximately the same effective numbers as before
(subject to some rounding), but get effectively twice the increase on
level-up.

On the other hand, decreasing starting stats to make up for that has its
own problems: namely, that would put SpWz at 1 str and TrBe at 1 int, which
are perilously close to 0.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#159 (comment).

[alexjurkiewicz]

Reopening. If there is interest in this change, I can update it to suit current branch.

To expand on why I think this is a good change: it makes level up decision of s/i/d more meaningful. Because you get fewer attribute points, it's harder to get the exact distribution you want, which means choices should be tougher for the player.

[alexjurkiewicz]

I still like this idea but it's time to declare maintenance bankruptcy on this PR.