Modified Luck in Source Code

[turin]

Uhm... guys, no it doesn't. Re-read PawelS's first sentence:

My change is pretty simple: the combat damage is multiplied by the chance to hit, and then the chance to hit is set to 100%.

So, a 5-4 attack with 50% CTH will do a flat 10 damage, every time; a 5-4 attack with a 70%CTH will do 14 damage, every time. Terrain defenses are taken into account.

[Dave]

I wouldn't mind a bit luck, but it was easier for me to eliminate it altogether than to reduce it.

It should be fairly easy to make it have some luck. Just make it that each attack has a 'guaranteed' component. This damage is inflicted whether the hit lands or not. The remainder is calculated based on whether it hits or not.

Then you can scale what the guaranteed component is. e.g. 50% of damage could be dealt in 'guaranteed' doses, and 50% based on whether hits land or not.

David

[PawelS]

So, a 5-4 attack with 50% CTH will do a flat 10 damage, every time; a 5-4 attack with a 70%CTH will do 14 damage, every time. Terrain defenses are taken into account.

Yes, that's how it works.

It should be fairly easy to make it have some luck. Just make it that each attack has a 'guaranteed' component. This damage is inflicted whether the hit lands or not. The remainder is calculated based on whether it hits or not.

Then you can scale what the guaranteed component is. e.g. 50% of damage could be dealt in 'guaranteed' doses, and 50% based on whether hits land or not.

Good idea, but it's a bit more complicated to implement than just adding a few lines of code.


Speaking of gameplay, I noticed that the campaigns are a little easier with this change (compared to unmodified game without reloading), because it's easier to control which units get experience, and to avoid losing units. So it's better to play the campaigns at higher difficulty levels.

[thespaceinvader]

I'd like to add: I'm extremely pleased to see someone who doesn't like the current luck system actually put his code where his mouth is and mod the game to make a luckless version.

Is there any chance that you could upload the relevant files somewhere along with instructions for the less technically-minded to include them in their game? It would save an awful lot of flamewars if we could, instead of telling people 'it's not going to happen in mainline, so mod the game if you want it', tell them 'it's not going to happen in mainline, but follow the instructions in this linked post to do it'.

[PawelS]

I'm not sure what should I upload (and where). Modifying the actions.cpp file shouldn't be a problem for someone who knows how to compile the game (there are threads about compiling on different systems in the "Release Announcements, Compiling, and Installation" section). Someone who doesn't know how to compile would need the executable. I have a Windows executable with my change added (version 1.6, compiled using CodeBlocks), but I don't know where to upload it (it's over 12 MB).

[zookeeper]

There will be a WML-based era identical to this one (each hit deals damage according to the opponent's defense with 100% CtH) when 1.6.1 comes out.

EDIT: In case anyone would interpret the above wording as meaning that the era would ever be mainline, don't.

[thespaceinvader]

Ah, that makes life much easier =)

I'm showing my level of technical nous, here, aren't i - I completely forgot about that little intermediate 'compiling' stage before you can apply changes like this >.<

[bert1]

Great! An easy way to try out a no luck mod! I'll look forward to that.

[Jozrael]

Obviously this is what is already occuring, since he's multiplying by chance to hit.

So if you had a 10-2 attack against a unit on 50% terrain, you'd do 5-2, or 10 damage.

[PawelS]

@Jozrael: Seems you have read only the first page of this thread before posting

[Max]

Speaking of gameplay, I noticed that the campaigns are a little easier with this change (compared to unmodified game without reloading), because it's easier to control which units get experience, and to avoid losing units. So it's better to play the campaigns at higher difficulty levels.

i wounder if that's always the case. some scenarios where i put e.g footpads on terrain where they have 70% defense to delay a big army. there's a good (more or less calculable) chance that some of them level (which further adds to the delay tactics). shouldn't the ai have a better chance than to get rid of them?

[PawelS]

In some cases this may be true, although units that have 70% defense don't take much damage, so in combination with healers and/or army rotation they often can be used for defense effectively.

[hiro hito]

I am glad to see that someone, with "code" knowledge, tries to make something with the fighting system!

Cheer up PawelS!

If I can help you in any way (except technical one), to test your setup, just PM me when you want...

[PawelS]

I did it basically to be able to play the campaigns in "deterministic mode" myself, so I don't need any more testing. Of course you're free to make the same change, test it, and post your impressions here (if you don't know how to compile and want to get the Windows executable from me, contact me by PM).

Btw I noticed a bug: sometimes when a unit has two attacks, and is able to kill the enemy with any of them, the one that makes my unit take some damage is selected as default instead of the one that allows my unit to remain unscratched. I don't know if this is caused by my change or a bug in the standard version of Wesnoth.

[Soliton]

Btw I noticed a bug: sometimes when a unit has two attacks, and is able to kill the enemy with any of them, the one that makes my unit take some damage is selected as default instead of the one that allows my unit to remain unscratched.

Is poison involved? If so that's fixed in the next version.