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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperDesignDesigning weapon upgrade system
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Rxanadu
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« on: July 26, 2015, 07:46:02 PM »

I"m trying to design a simple weapon upgrade system where the player is able to alter their weapons whenever they wish, so long as they have previously earned or purchased upgrades. I've been thinking of implementing an upgrade system similar to the one in Ratchet:Deadlocked, in which you were able to purchase and earn 'mods' to place on different weapons.

However, I don't want any of the more common "increases mod value by x" upgrades found in most loot games (think the gems in Diablo and Torchlight); I want the upgrades to change how you play the game in a more significant way. For example, one upgrade for your grenade launcher changes it so you the grenade spawns 3 or more grenades when they've exploded, while another upgrade changes your grenade into a decoy.

However, in exchange for adding these mods to their weapons, they'll require more 'ammo' to use, prompting them to become better with their weapons to make the most of them.

The upgrade system may be much more robust than what I've described, but this is just a general idea of what I want. I wanted to know if anyone here has either had experience implementing upgrade systems or has any input for my ideas. Any help would be appreciated.
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Artylo
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« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2015, 10:31:59 AM »

I made a game once with randomly generated swords, which had a set of modifiers that changed how a sword looked and functioned - similar to the systems in Ratchet:Gladiator and inspired by some of the generation algorithms in Diablo III.
I had some basic elemental modifiers - Fire, Earth, Water and Air. Along with some special features, which allowed for a wider swipe, summoning a companion to fight for you, a 360 degrees swipe, a healing ability, and a leech ability, and all sorts of stuff like that. Along with that, I had the classic number based stat upgrades on swords, like range, attack speed, movement speed, damage, ect.
It's a really fun thing to develop and from the reviews I got on that project, really adds something special to an otherwise bland grind for weapons in a game, looking for that single point into damage for your amulet, in order to gain that 150 damage to climb the leaderboard.
 
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ironbelly
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« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2015, 12:12:58 PM »

One game I know of, Galactic Arms Race, uses a system of random waves (like sin waves) to allocate weapon behavior. So depending on the wave you end up with weapons shooting backwards, in various zig zags, arcs, circles, or yes - even sometimes in fairly straight lines.

They even use it to determine what color (and what color changes) happen to the shots.

In whatever you add/create, you could use something similar to add an additional layer of randomness to a weapon. "This rocket launcher kicks ass, but only shoots in an arc to the left!"

:D
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« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2015, 08:02:04 PM »

I am really liking Dragon Age: Inquisition's crafting system.

First you have weapons schematics, which are what give you the option to create the weapon (etc.) in the first place.

Then, from all the material you have you craft the weapon. Each weapon has a few different material slots which require a different material type (metal, cloth, hide, and a "masterwork" item). For weapons, the metal usually determines the damage and one stat/combat bonus. Each of the other slots add more stat/combat bonuses. The "masterwork" slot adds special combat effects to the weapon (for example, 10% chance to cast some spell on hit).

Once the weapon is crafted you can then "modify" the weapon. Each weapon has different modification slots, for example a sword might have a hilt slot and pommel slot. The different parts you attach to these slots further change the stats/combat bonuses. You can craft the modification items (hilts, hafts, grips, pommels, etc.) exactly like you craft weapons (i.e. choosing materials and whatnot).  Finally, weapons can have a "rune" attached which adds a magic damage/creature bonus (for example, +20 versus Demons). Everything, from materials to modification, changes the shape and color of your weapons. Runes especially have a nice cosmetic effect, they add various glows and particles. You can also name anything you create, which is a nice touch.

What I love about this setup is that both cosmetically and mechanically it is pretty versatile, you can really create and tailor your equipment to suit your needs. It has the added bonus of causing the game to have a ton of crafting items (to suit each material/modification slot) which makes loot-finding a lot more interesting than it is in most games (since you're constantly finding useful things).
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Nuthael
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« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2015, 04:29:49 PM »

Maybe look into Path of Exile's support gem system. They have a system where you use different gems to alter the way your abilities work, such as making them fire additional projectiles, increase the aoe, have projectiles pierce the target, things like that. You can find a list of them at http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Support_gem
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