XP "loadbalancing"

SterlingArcher

Hello
A feature that i cant seem to remember anyone discussing: XP
we know BG:EE will support mods and will have aditional content and DLC later. And hopefully we'll se a rise in modding generaly the next year. I therefore hope the devs will include some way to handle XP. It wont be fun being lvl30 at the end og BG:EE and 164.5 at the end of BG2:EE. It should handle amount of party members, and allow for a full tactics-modded game.
I dont know how to solve this, but i'll throw an idea to get the ball rolling.


Theres a "level indicator" for each chapter.
When you reach a new chapter a pentaly for exceding this indicator will grant you a nerf to XP
ie xp_pentaly = ((6-partymembers)*.5)*100 \ (current_lvl - indicator)*(current_lvl\indicator)^2
Problems:
- if you do all the quests available during one chapter you might get a big pentaly for the next, witch can be difficult later
-it can change xp gain quite substatialy when transitioning

another idea:
Get total amount of XP from all quests and fixed encounters and add a nerf to that (similar to how mids solve this today)
i.e nerf = 1\(total_XP - desired_XP)
cons:
dificult to gather and calculate
may make tactics very difficult

Coriander

There is a level cap already. I don't like the idea of an XP penalty for each chapter. That feels too much like punishment for playing.

Boaster

There is a level cap already. I don't like the idea of an XP penalty for each chapter. That feels too much like punishment for playing.

Agreed.

SterlingArcher

Yes, i agree its not a optimal idea.
The point is: when you have a fully modded game, how do you manage all the extra XP that is added? Should the engine do this, or do we like the static XP nerf that mods do today? This nerf works, but ita a "stupid" mod since it does not take account for the xp that youve accually added. you will have to guess and apply. To bad if you take away too much and too easy if you take away to little.

GemHound

have it nerf a %age per level on creatures 3 levels or more below you? As in, once they reach a certain level, the development of the character begins to slow down. This would still allow them to level up though.

niklas

I'll have to agree with SterlingArcher on the XP issue - at the end of BG1 my characters are already overpowering.
We're all veterans here, so indeed a higher difficulty level would be welcome. Either that or reduction to the already grand XP gain.

PlasticGolem

Instead of playing around with XP awards, replace level scaling with time scaling: start the clock ticking at the beginning of the game, and increase the difficulty of an area as time goes on. For example, if you head straight for the de Arnise keep after escaping from Irenicus, you can attack while the defences are still weak. Wait a week (of game time) and the Roenalls and Torgal have beefed up the defences. Wait a month and not only is the place crawling with trolls, but the keep has been looted of pretty much everything of value. Likewise, if you make a beeline for Spellhold as soon as you can raise the required money, you may catch Irenicus before he has full control over the place (I suppose it would be too much to ask for the ability to actually win the game right then and there, if you were fast enough and skilled enough) but if you hang around Amn and do all the quests before setting out for Spellhold, then you're going to face much tougher opposition.

Instead of playing with things like hit points and monster toughness, the difficulty levels would turn up or down the effect of time: on easy, time would be a non-issue, but on normal it would start to matter, and the higher the difficulty, the more putting things off makes them harder to do.

This would also turn the fake urgency of the game into real urgency: you can no longer rely on always arriving just in the nick of time, no matter how many side quests you stopped to do on the way, nor can you rely on the enemies being of appropriate toughness for whatever experience level you happen to be at the time. You would have to weigh the benefits you might get from doing a particular quest against the cost of delay to later endeavours. On each play through, you would have to weigh the costs and benefits of doing a particular quest and of delaying others. On the higher levels, it could even be possible to fail entirely: wait more than 30 days from the start of the game, and the Roenalls succeed and the de Arnise keep is forever off limits (which will also cause Nalia to abandon you); wait too long between when Irenicus flees after Spellhold and getting to the tree and he succeeds at his plan.