4964 replies to this topic

[KingPridenia]

Well, did some looking back over AQII recently and I've hit a bit of a stumper when it comes to balancing out my enemies. See spoilers for details if you would be willing to give some advice:

 

Spoiler

Okay, so basically, there are three types of Darknuts. You have your standard ones that debut in level 2, ones without shields that show up in level 1 and then in level 2 ones with the ability to shoot arrows at you. Then in level 4, you encounter the third Darknut type, the "Chargenut". Basically, when you line up with him, he charges at you, making him for all intents and purposes a shielded Rope. Now in level 4, the blue versions of all three debut as well, the standard Blue Darknut, the blue arrow shooting one (his arrows fly very fast) and the blue charging one.

Now, the issue is HP balancing. See, last year in the expo, Red and Blue Darknuts were untouched. The level 1 "Archernut" and "Chargenut" both took 3 White Sword hits to defeat while their blue brothers took 5 hits from the White Sword each to kill. However, I've kind of painted myself in a corner. Should I buff them back up to having 4 more HP than their regular counterparts or keep them at the same HP? In other words, where in the expo Blue "Chargenuts" had 20 HP (5 White Sword hits), they currently are nerfed down to 16 HP (4 White Sword hits, equal to regular Blues)?

The last thing is the boss. You fight a group of 5 Pink Darknuts that throw their swords at you. Currently, they have 24 HP, 8 contact damage and 12 weapon damage. They are a hair faster than Blue Darknuts and throw swords, flashing purple as a warning. Later on, these guys are demoted to regular enemies. Do you think it's fair to keep their HP at 24? Also, given the boss fight, it's in a large open room, and like Blue Darknuts, they tend to drop Hearts a lot. Do you think any nerfing may be needed?

[Twilight Knight]

I think the way those Darknuts are set up right now is fine. I think the way you implement them has more impact than the way they are set up. If they are weaker but you put 10 in a room, it's still hard of course.

 

So testing the difficulty by playing is the thing you'd want to do. Maybe it's best to get some betatesters.

[KingPridenia]

I think the way those Darknuts are set up right now is fine. I think the way you implement them has more impact than the way they are set up. If they are weaker but you put 10 in a room, it's still hard of course.

 

So testing the difficulty by playing is the thing you'd want to do. Maybe it's best to get some betatesters.

 

Based on Jubbz's stream of AQII last year, that was my basis for nerfing their HP down, not to mention giving the Charging Darknuts a different sprite since back then, they had the same sprite as regular Blue Darknuts. I'll certainly open AQII up to beta testers once I'm finished. I guess the problem with me testing is that I have the advantage of knowing what to expect. That and I've gotten used to killing them without too much terrible prior to their nerf. The biggest thing I did notice people have problems with is how the Blue Archnuts shoot fast arrows and that also did bother someone a lot when I had the Blue Octoroks shoot very fast rocks.

 

I think for now, I'll do what you say and keep the other two Darknut types such that their HP is equal to their vanilla counterparts. It's hard to balance things when you're very skilled at dealing with a certain type of enemy and others may not be as skilled as you are. I generally don't have problems fighting the Darknuts I listed at White Sword level, but some people I noticed got slaughtered badly. Then again, I generally fail at battling Blue Wizzrobes while people usually do better than me when it comes to those guys, so I guess it balances out. However, with Z3 movement and slash, Blue Wizzrobes are, at least for me, much more manageable.

[Haylee]

Just to get a glimpse of how hard it is to work on BS Mountains:

 

Specifically, the top part, and how it looks kinda of awkward, transitioning from water height.

[LikeLike on fire]

i blocked off somethings and subited as a demo

 

I still can't get my sideways ladder script to work

[Shane]

I made completely custom dungeon walls and palette.

olo

[Haylee]

ALL OF THESE CUSTOM RINGS~

[Mero]

Think I just about got the sideview gravity solid ffcs working. We can only hope.

[peteandwally]

 

Started something new tonight...

[Yloh]

Making a good free form dungeon takes a lot of work.

[Anthus]

I haven't accomplished anything in ZC today, or yesterday, cause I finally got my hands on Wind Waker HD

[peteandwally]

Some progress from yesterday

[Limebeer]

I have been planning out what to add into my overworld in order to make it more filled in. I've come up with one or two things that I think will be fun to have in, but I'm still a bit stumped in what to have added.... gah, frustrating! I'll probably just go on artistic autopilot when revamping and see what comes out as creativity flows.

[Binx]

Not all today, but since I started this project, I've gotten a bunch of scripting done, set up my subscreen, redone all the overworld tiles, redone all my items (except for scripts,those are next on my list) created two unique characters that you can switch freely between, amd justfor shitsandgiggles, I made this: .... Yeah, I didn't do a very good job cropping for the gif,looks much better in-game.... But yeah, not really just for funsies, these are just the first 2 of 6 animated combos that I'll be using for the opening cutscene (once I learn how to make cutscenes, that is. Kinda figured I'd need these, anyways). But it's the first time I've tried something like this, so I'm proud of it, even if it isn't the best art or animation.

Edited by Lineas, 12 January 2015 - 11:27 AM.

[David]

Made an update for my quest project revealing my cave before Level 1 and a map and a few screenshots of it: http://www.purezc.ne...showtopic=65875