Have combat be time-based like a project; ticks are very frequent and incremental damage is applied as the current rate of damage divided by the number of ticks in a day. This does not apply to attacks with 0% force (slaps), which remain instant, and this proposal does not apply to hunting.
Multiple people can join someone's attack on someone (after selecting their weapon), as with joining someone's project. Subject to programming implementation, when trying to attack someone who's already being attacked, the person joins the current attack- this enables calculating attack and defense based on multiple group members.
This proposal only specifies the details of ticks and joining attacking projects. You can only join one attack at a time, but others who are attacking you (which may or may not include the person you're attacking) could effect your ability to attack your target(s), under a group-based combat system, to be determined with a future proposal.
Implementation
- Very frequent ticks (already in the works)
- When attacking, turn the attack into a tick-based project on one individual, as with dragging (but with ticks instead).
- Damage applied is by default the current damage rate divided by the number of ticks in a day. (another proposal can change this)
- As with normal projects, others can join the attack project, and there may only be one attack project on an individual.
- If the attacked person (victim) goes out of sight, any attack progress ceases (as with repairing objects), but attackers may continue to keep the project active in case the victim returns (e.g. the victim goes in and out of a building, or prolonged vigilance for a specific person). Others may join the attack project by helping others even when the victim is not present (people can take turns keeping the project alive).
- An event notification occurs every time someone joins and leaves an attack project.
- An event notification occurs when a victim returns to an active attack project on them.
Comments on why each person should focus on attacking an individual:
I think being explicit about who we are attacking is essential for both strategy and roleplay. So, there may be a group who is attacking us as well as a specific person we are attacking, and our choice as to who we are attacking affects our ability to defend ourselves; that is, we are much better at defending ourselves against the specific person we are attacking.
Let's say attacking someone while they're attacking you would cause you to defend yourself just as well as currently. Defending yourself only would be better defense, and not doing anything would be worse.
Comments on defense:
A defense project might complicate things significantly since there is no such action in Cantr currently, but I suppose you could join a defense project by clicking to help someone who is being attack, or even before they're being attacked. Or just a new character button altogether in addition to attack.
Question: Should it be a new button or should it be an option in the Violence Form after clicking the current button to attack someone?
Answers: I don't think the current image is very clear:
Shammat:
Could have two new buttons, each initiates a project - diagonal sword button, to start an attack, or join an attack against that person, and a shield button to defend that person from an attack or join them in actively defending against an attack?
Conclusion: Change the image of the attack button, and have a new button for defense, which may not require a new page unless there are defense options in the future. Someone can click to defend themselves (or another person) just as they can attack themselves. Defense would increase shield effectiveness.
Advantages of defense projects
Shammat wrote:It makes establishing a town guard actually worthwhile
Shammat wrote:I like that the concept forces you to choose between working on a gathering or crafting project, or combat/defense
It allows effective defense without always being online, which is important especially if plans to greatly limit healing food are implemented.
Comments on healing food
Question: How do we combine the current healing food with the fact that healing should take time like a project?
Answers:
Greek wrote:the simplest solution is easy, make healing food heal at combat ticks
Better healing food will heal more per tick, so it'd make some distinction
Shammat wrote:I also think a lot of current healing food should instead be converted into "buffs" instead, and healing liquid should be among the only things to actually "heal" people
- Joshuamonkey wrote:Buffs, like strengthening things like strength/attack/defense/tiredness/body parts temporarily? That may be too dramatic of a change for now, though if most current healing foods would still help significantly against attacks then people might not complain too much.
Stomach capacity:
We can allow some eating right away for roleplay and to encourage purposeful action, but limited by stomach capacity.
Limiting stomach capacity is good for normal food as well, to encourage complex foods.
Stomach capacity can be restored incrementally by ticks, so that the specific time that it starts isn't important.
Implementation:
Potatoes are at 333 grams a day. I'd say 400 grams for a stomach is plenty. The best healing liquid is 6.6% per 100 grams, so 6.6*4 is 26.4 percent! But that's very specialized and now healing liquids would have a good purpose.
Onions would heal only 6%.
Formulas:
daily food healing = healing percent at stomach size
tick healing = daily food healing / number of ticks
Advantages of tick-based healing and small stomach:
Joshuamonkey wrote:this would make combat about combat more than about healing food, while still making healing food, and /good/ healing food, critical.
Dragging and locks are no longer so central to combat:
Greek wrote:Dragging somebody to a locked room currently has big implication of preventing access to healing food. Having healing food will be less important with smaller stomach
You can't avoid fighting someone the hard way. You can lock them but need to outnumber or outskill them somehow.
Disadvantages:
Healing will take a long time. 100 / 6% (onions) is 16 days (this doesn't include natural healing)
Note that healing will take a very long time now, but I believe this is as it should be, and combat is usually a rare event. Now it makes more sense for someone to have a scar or a battle wound. Combat is now about attacking and defending and in-person interaction, while still giving healing foods an important role.
Conclusion:
(Note that ticks will be frequent) Have healing food be applied over ticks, and limit stomach capacity for any food to 400 grams. Have stomach capacity be restored incrementally by ticks. The current numbers on the effectiveness of healing foods can be used.