Is westnorth has too great variability in probability?

[Askarian]

sometimes i cannot even hit one heavy plate soldier once by two turns. what can i do to make it a better?

[Askarian]

nobody knows this? Is this an international forum so always have people online to answer questions?

[lipk]

People are not online "to answer questions". They may reply to you if they feel so, but that is completely optional for them.

Regarding your problem, the thing you described in your original post is called "unluckiness". Unfortunately, you there's no known medicine for it.

[Ceres]

The probability you hit an enemy unit depends on the terrain the enemy unit is standing on. If the unit has 40% defense that means your chance to hit is 60%. So you should try luring opposing forces into terrain where they have low defense.
But even if your chance to hit is like 80%, it may still happen that you miss a lot, if you have bad luck. It's a part of the game. That's what backup plans are for.

While this is an international forum, the chances are high that you have to wait more than 4 minutes for an answer.

[Thrawn]

The solution is to play more, so you have a larger dataset. If someone after 1,000,000,000 (or some other large number) of games, you have a large disparity between chance to hit and times hit, bring it up again.

[Iris]

While this is an international forum, the chances are high that you have to wait more than 4 minutes for an answer.

Yeah, that’s the thing; it’s an international forum, not a customer support hotline.

[alluton]

Answer: Always-hits attack special.

[Crendgrim]

You should read this excellent (albeit old) article by Dave: Luck in Wesnoth: Rationale

Also, it is 'Wesnoth', not 'westnorth'

[Askarian]

oh...i know it now. should wait a little more time.

i think westnorth's code is made crudely on probability. does anybody ever wrote a article here, its name is "irrationale"? another man translated it and introduce it for us. i think it is good idea. a game should be responsible for its designings. it should be players play game, not game play players.

[Ceres]

Maybe you mean this thread? Sauron once made a mod to remove/lessen the randomness' influence, but I haven't heard anything about it recently, so I don't know if it's still maintained.
Yes, randomness does play a role in the game, the clue is (among other things) to know what to do if your initial plans fail because of bad luck. Otherwise there wouldn't be people who complete one of the hardest mainline campaigns on the hardest difficulty without save-loading.

[Crow_T]

http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=37033

Here is a really simple, crude, and let's face it, crappy hack I made due to my own frustration- it's not perfect, but it is a bit more satisfying. I think the overall thinking among the devs is that it is balanced, so that area can't be touched.

*and I just want to throw this out there- a good experiment would be to put the randomness in the damage, not the chance to hit- at least the player would have the satisfaction of hitting. Obviously some units can be dodgy or better equipped to soften blows still.

[beetlenaut]

i think westnorth's code is made crudely on probability.

Wesnoth works the way it is intended to work. Sometimes you are lucky, and sometimes you are unlucky. You need to make a plan that includes the possibility of bad luck. If you get good luck instead, that's great!

a game should be responsible for its designings.

Not this game. It is written by volunteers, and they made a game they enjoy. If you like it too, that is nice, but they did not write it for you.

[maredi316]

and I just want to throw this out there- a good experiment would be to put the randomness in the damage, not the chance to hit

great idea!! I would like to still have the same luck system and your system as well-they have it in many games, the genres vary from final fantasy to cod(call of duty), and it wouldn't be a bad idea in wesnoth.

I always think that

Regarding your problem, the thing you described in your original post is called "unluckiness". Unfortunately, you there's no known medicine for it.

I try to say that there is one medicine...scream and curse, in any language it works. it makes you feel better about yourself, and if you don't after that, stop the game. The game was never made to frustrate a person.

Also, if this is ladder or something competitive, and you can't quit and has consequences, one should stop using the dwarf gunners(what are their real names-I hate dwarves and forgot), and recruit more of the poachers. this gives slightly more control of luck

[UghaUgha]

I strongly agree.
As many have said, Wesnoth is a very good game which would be a great one if it didn't have two incompatible characteristics:

1. Necessity of keeping strong characters alive across multiple scenarios
*AND*
2. Extreme randomness, to the point where I have had level 4 characters taken out handily by level 1 characters.

These are incompatible, without either cheating (loading a saved game,) playing easy difficulties, or extreme frustration and being willing to replay the same game multiple times to get the "right" outcome.
What you want is enough variability to make you be a bit cautious but not so much it will regularly kill off characters you have been cultivating for a long time.

Instead, what you have unintentionally done is create a game where at least saving/reloading is necessary for most players to enjoy it. NOT good. NOT fun. BAD habit, tends to lead down the "slippery slope" to keep reloading not just to avoid the unbelievable string of bad luck that just happened, but to try to get the good luck as well.

There are always players that will choose "hardcore" options, and live with the consequences, but most players are going for fun, not for "hardcore."

My suggestion is a very simple modification of the current one. Basically: a "hit" = 100% damage. A "Miss" = 50% damage.
It means a level 2 character might well kill off a level 3 character, but a level 1 character will never, by himself, kill off a high level character.
Of course, if you wanted to make it more complex, you could have a possibility of a "critical miss" (no damage) or a critical hit (+50-100% damage) but that would be unnecessary.

If you institute this change EVEN JUST AS AN OPTION, it will dramatically improve the "fun factor" for the "rest of us." Have a "hardcore" (or normal) mode which leaves it unchanged for people who like it, implement the 50% damage ("Reduced Randomness") for those who don't, minimal coding necessary, and many many happy customers.

PLEASE don't just ignore this. I am a longtime fan of yours and tons of other games similar to this, and have a very good sense of what is fun for most people.
Just give us the choice!!!

_Ugha Ugha.

[Iris]

Not going to happen in mainline. Feel free to implement it as an add-on.

Also, don’t hijack other people’s threads, that’s bad.