Sep, 16
About room upgrades, efficiency, and steel

Every tile where work is performed (workshop, library, training dummy, etc) has a certain efficiency number attached to it, which affects how quickly the work is done by minions. The base efficiency is 100, and it is modified with the use of floors. The three types of floors that I’ve added so far (wooden, stone and carpet) add 2, 4 and 6 points of efficiency, respectively, to the nine tiles in the closest vicinity. Therefore, a tile’s efficiency can grow to 154, if it has the best floor around and underneath. It is also dependent on the amount of light, and it can go down by 50% if you don’t place torches in your dungeon.

I’m also planning other floor types that have magical effects on whomever is standing on them, and they will be used as part of dungeon defenses. They are yet to be designed, though.

Another feature that I planned were room upgrades, and I started with adding new types of training dummies. I also used the occasion to modify the experience leveling algorithm. The three types of dummy (wooden, iron, and steel) allow gaining respectively 3, 7, and 12 experience levels. The number is the same for every creature, so both an orc and a legendary humanoid can gain 7 levels on iron dummies. The training speed is now constant, and it takes 300-400 turns to gain a level (the number will be subject to balancing :)).

I’m also going to tone down leveling during combat, as it’s hugely overpowered now. I need to figure out some clever algorithm to make it still relevant, though.

screenshot_2016-09-16_17-15-37

The last feature that will go into Alpha20, probably, is a new material: steel. As you know, steel is produced from iron and other elements by the means of metallurgy, and it will be the same in KeeperRL. After researching appropriate technology, and getting enough materials, you will build furnaces that produce steel plates. The amount of resources and time that you’ll have to sacrifice to produce a meaningful amount will be large, therefore this will be a late-game advancement.

You’ll use the steel plates to create weapons, armor, training dummies, and other nice things. Cool stuff!

I’ll also test whether it makes sense to add an analogous method of iron production, such that you’ll melt iron ore in furnaces to create iron plates, which will be used for buildings and crafting. It would be a nice way to add even more progression to the game, although I’m not sure if it will work nicely with other systems. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

For now, that’s all folks. 🙂

COMMENTS

Home Forums About room upgrades, efficiency and steel

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  • #5385
    owen
    Participant

    I have thoughts on the upcoming additions. My thesis is that performance in combat should affect the development of the player’s economy, and that developing the player’s economy should develop his combat forces. This relationship between the economy and the army should be such that there are a bunch of little interlocks between the two so that the player is required to develop both in order to increase his power.

    Floor System
    The floor system looks promising, especially the part about magical effects producing different outcomes depending on who stands on them. It’s the first instance of strategic decision making at the macro level. I’d like to see floor types influence the specific abilities that minions can learn.

    Experience system
    It’s good that you tempered the experience bonuses. I wonder if the upgraded version of furniture could just recruit more competent minions (grave stones, work benches, and such could all be upgraded). This means that the base experience level of your (non-legendary) minions would reflect the stuff in your dungeon and this experience level could be augmented by 50-100% through training or successful combat.

    Why do it this way? Such a system would serve to buffer the player’s power curve. It also makes your economy more relevant, so you can’t just one-minion your way through an entire campaign. (Of course, enemies have to gradually get stronger as the game progresses, otherwise it’s unfair).

    resources

    I’ll also test whether it makes sense to add an analogous method of iron production, such that you’ll melt iron ore in furnaces to create iron plates,

    Factorio, the Roguelike? (Well, I hope not :p)

    But I have a couple of suggestions regarding resources.

    1. Torches should also require a constant input of wood. Since wood production is dependent on the number of imps you have, the player has to grow his imp population to grow his base. (He also has to place torches smartly, which makes torch placement have SOME consequence, rather than being completely cosmetic).

    2. Get rid of the Tree Spirits that spawn from cutting down wood. They don’t really do anything from a gameplay perspective (other than provide free XP because they attack so slowly).

    3. Iron ore requires smelting into iron plates, as you suggest, and smelting should require wood directly proportional to the amount of iron smelted.

    4. Maybe require iron picks for mining granite, and then granite for producing steel. This would form sort of a progression for resource mining (wood -> iron -> granite -> steel).

    Lastly, keep gold the way it is: to increase supply, or for purchasing legendary items from merchants (of which we need more, by the way). The way I see it, it should only be acquired as the spoils of conquest or discovered in remote squares, because it should be representative of how many enemies that the players has vanquished and as an indicator of overall game progress.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by owen.
    #6153
    Keeperman
    Participant

    Nevermind.

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