What determines success or failure?
 

I tried the demo out today.

I found it difficult to understand how I won, or didn't win, certain matchups. Even if I had a 50 point or more advantage in several categories I would still lose. My status was Healthy. I figured a higher Str allowed harder hits with more damage, but it seems like even low str gladiators were hitting me for big (-15, -19) damage. I guess in essence I felt like despite any of my actions the game was going to end up randomly picking if I won or lost and the stats had little to do with it.

Also it can be difficult during battles to determine who exactly is hitting who. I think perhaps color coding the names in the description might help. Also color coding the -wp so we can tell at a glance who took the hit.

Re: What determines success or failure?
 

The stats are really just a guide about a warrior's abilities; they aren't chisled in stone. Like real life boxing, sometimes a lesser fighter can beat a greater fighter. In testing over a long span (10 seasons or more) with several people, warriors with superior stats to an opponent in 3 or more categories won about 64% of the time, a fair amount, but not to the point where the game becomes predictable.

And also, some warriors can have better visible stats, but have several poor "hidden" stats, like heart and grit. Some baseball or basketball players have great physical ability, but never really seem to "click"; same thing here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

The color-coding of names in combat will probably be implemented in the full Version. The names on the sides are color-coded already; green if your warrior is attacking, and red on the other side if your opponent is attacking.

Thanks!

Re: What determines success or failure?
 

hmmm, interesting insight into how the gladiators are calculated. I like that there is an element of unpredictability. It keeps things more interesting.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

P.S. WoW, cool new avatar, gee I wonder where you got that http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif (It did loose a bit of color and detail in the conVersion to a .jpg but I can understand that it was the quickest way to get it running. (I made a .jpg at 100% (no loss compression and) and it didn't loose any detail or color. the file is 5k though, bigger than the original .gif (3k) and your .jpg (2k) but not terribly so.)

FYI: I used ACDSee to convert the .gif to .jpg In the options you can set the compression rate. I find it does a better conVersion than Paintshop or Photoshop. If you have ACDSee try it, and you'll see what I mean.

Cheers! again for free! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: What determines success or failure?
 

Yeah, I noticed after making a lot of money gambling, that I started to get cocky, and then suddenly lost several bets that I thought were "sure things" based on the stats. I assume too that some of the 3rd-party fights involve other tricks and factors such as magic, potions, and afflictions, and those can tip the scales quite a bit.

PvK