Question: Research Cost Mods

[jutetrea]

Got a question, is it possible to mod the max research a nation can attain?

For game options it seems like there are some arguments that magic gets too powerful too early, so hard or very hard research is chosen. Personally I dislike hard or very hard research, I'd like to get low-mid level magic pretty early and then have to drudge research for awhile to get to late.

So essentially making later levels at hard, very hard (1-2 easy, 3-4 normal, 5-7 hard, 8-9 very hard).

Another "wish" as I can't see how to do it would be to Cap the total amount of research points. At normal, all 8 paths to lvl 9 costs 16020. I'm curious how it would work if that limit was reduced to 3,420 - essentially 1 lvl 9, 2 lvl 6's, 5 lvl 4's. (or 8 lvl 6's). I'd almost rather have hard level limits (1x9, 2x6, 5x4), but total cost would work as well. It might be good for an even more draconian limit of (1x9, 4x4, 3x2 or 3x0/ 3x6, 5x4). The game host could determine what the max levels are or total research.

Similar to the Demo where you were limited to level 4 research in everything. It would reduce major battlefield magics, remove some counters (and uncounterables), and be much more strategic in the sense of what paths are chosen at which levels.

Unfortunately I see no easy way to make this possible from a gameplay perspective. If its even possible via modding a separate mod could be edited per nation before the game starts. If max levels were chosen it would be very restrictive as research goals change during a game. If total research points were selected it would be more fluid, but much more difficult as its tough to know how many research points have been spent without doing math.

So, after a long ramble does anyone know if its been brought up before or is even possible?

[lch]

Possible through modding at the moment: No.

You can move spells in higher or lower level categories, thinning out the odd levels maybe, but that's about it.

[PvK]

Well, see the Price of Power mod I just posted for another idea.

There are various other ways magic can be limited. For example, any number of spells can be made national. Players could do a picking process where they choose which spells they want to have in sequence, for the top however-many spells. Or an auction process where the highest bidder by cost/requirements gets the spell for their nation at that cost. e.g. "I claim Wish at 300 pearls as a N9 A9 spell".

[jutetrea]

Ahh, see I think that mod is way too much. S9B9? Nexus sucks, but is made to be a game winner. Increase the price, fix the "get gems first turn" bug, but 2 lvl 9 paths?

Not sure I'm a big fan of increasing requirements for boosters either, cost maybe sure but many nations limits are hardwired so they would even be more limited. I'm a fan of being able to diversify, just have the powerful stuff more limited.

I do like the idea of bidding for spells, but again very difficult to implement unless one were to create a very detailed mod. Hmm, maybe not so much. I like the idea of limited path levels more (bit more flexibility), but don't think its possible.

Hmm, possible to mod almost an expanded DnD type spell progression? For example

Say there are 100 1st lvl spells, 5 players. Each player picks 20 via round robin. 80 2nd lvl spells, 5 players, each pick 15ish, etc...down to 1-3 9th lvl spells. Then if they want they can concentrate on picking spells in certain schools to minimize their research. Research MAY be quicker, but overall useability is severly lessened.

probably have to pick a few universal spells per level, dispel for instance, certain universal buffs.

Maybe set up a website with a fantasy sports type draft setup to make it quicker. You can check out www.tsn.com's fantasy draft demo. Mock Draft - bottom right of page, need to register unfortunately to see

[PvK]

The purpose of the Price of Power mod is not to suggest that the unmodded game should be different. Like most mods, it's purpose is to offer the option of a different kind of play. Players who don't want what a mod offers just don't use it.

I don't think there is any way to increase the cost of a spell above 320 gems, nor to change the way the Nexus works, in a mod. That being so, the reason for S9B9 for Arcane Nexus is to nearly remove it from play, because it is so unbalancing once reached. I may just remove it from the next version though, to make the point clearer and to avoid making S9B9 look like a goal.

The bidding thing would be pretty easy to mod, but I wasn't thinking it would be for ALL spells - just a few picks per player. You could have either all unpicked spells available, or unavailable, depending on what the players wanted.