Post by Zaimus on Dec 16, 2021 9:31:35 GMT
The existence of body parts is usually only attempted by the more complex and realism delivering focused MUDs. There've only been a few cases that ever appealed to me. The most apparent draw to having a body parts system is that in combat you can strategize where to focus an attack (or what attack may strike which body parts), or at least it makes little trophies and cool effect when killing an enemy makes their head fall off, etc.
It's great when you can break or sever an opponent's foot or leg to impair their movement for a getaway that doesn't involve a magic holding spell. Disarm an opponent, literally, then their weapon may fall on the ground next to Zaimus' severed right hand. [Maybe treat the severed body part as kind of a corpse, let it be a container made of consumable meat, and if there was a ring or bracelet on that hand, put it inside the body part on load, and those items removed from the opponent.] Body parts could be useful in potions, trophies, harvested for resources, used as food, sold in markets.
The easiest way to emulate a body parts system without actually having one yet, is to have severed body parts load on character death to avoid any weirdness that may ruin suspension of disbelief. For example, if a severed body part is spawned on a particularly strong (and rare) critical hit value, and it was my foot, and if that does not impair me in anyway, then it is a little bizarre, and makes the world feel a little cartoony. So, if there is a death of a character on a particularly strong/rare critical hit, and it produces a severed body part, that would suffice to give the illusion that "shit is for real!"
In the emulated system, the possible body parts are usually stored in a race file, or in a template NPC file, near the other code about body parts, or in more complex systems in the individual character file (that keeps track of the character's current body parts, missing and/or replaced). Since we have some races that are a generic catch-all, such as Undead, it may be better to have body parts listed per NPC Source file so nothing weird occurs, like an undead dog that you can cut off its' hand.
That would set up the most basic implementation for body parts to exist, giving the feeling of being a little bit more mortal. And exciting. The first version wouldn't have to function as a consumable meat container, it could just be a consumable meat or bone item.
At the second phase of implementation, that's when body parts could be severed during combat and when for example, when severing a hand, the dropping of weapon, ring or bracelet could just fall on the floor. Also making certain abilities attack/sever different specific possible body parts would make sense. Maybe having some basic limiting factors to losing a body part, such as reducing movement by 25% by losing a foot, 50% by losing a whole leg; not allowing dual wield if missing an arm, or not allowing to equip a shield and weapon at the same time. Common sense stuff of a physical nature. Also create a spell to heal lost body parts, an ability to regenerate lost body parts, and maybe some simple body part replacements such as a hook for a hand, a wooden peg leg, etc.. We could stop at this level and already have a better body parts system than most MUDs.
The third phase of implementation would make it able to just flat out target a specific body part in combat. Targeting a specific body part success rate is often accompanied by an ability named something like 'Called Shot'. Body parts could have their own hit points, that when they get to 25% or less health, they start to impair you like a negative stats or reduced damage dealt, increased damage received, etc., and when they get to 0% health, that body part becomes crippled and possible to sever easily. More interesting body part modifications and replacements could add a whole new level of character customization. Could also be combined with a retooling of equipment handling, so that the body parts you currently have on your character are how items get equipped to -- maybe less redundancy then?
It's great when you can break or sever an opponent's foot or leg to impair their movement for a getaway that doesn't involve a magic holding spell. Disarm an opponent, literally, then their weapon may fall on the ground next to Zaimus' severed right hand. [Maybe treat the severed body part as kind of a corpse, let it be a container made of consumable meat, and if there was a ring or bracelet on that hand, put it inside the body part on load, and those items removed from the opponent.] Body parts could be useful in potions, trophies, harvested for resources, used as food, sold in markets.
The easiest way to emulate a body parts system without actually having one yet, is to have severed body parts load on character death to avoid any weirdness that may ruin suspension of disbelief. For example, if a severed body part is spawned on a particularly strong (and rare) critical hit value, and it was my foot, and if that does not impair me in anyway, then it is a little bizarre, and makes the world feel a little cartoony. So, if there is a death of a character on a particularly strong/rare critical hit, and it produces a severed body part, that would suffice to give the illusion that "shit is for real!"
In the emulated system, the possible body parts are usually stored in a race file, or in a template NPC file, near the other code about body parts, or in more complex systems in the individual character file (that keeps track of the character's current body parts, missing and/or replaced). Since we have some races that are a generic catch-all, such as Undead, it may be better to have body parts listed per NPC Source file so nothing weird occurs, like an undead dog that you can cut off its' hand.
That would set up the most basic implementation for body parts to exist, giving the feeling of being a little bit more mortal. And exciting. The first version wouldn't have to function as a consumable meat container, it could just be a consumable meat or bone item.
At the second phase of implementation, that's when body parts could be severed during combat and when for example, when severing a hand, the dropping of weapon, ring or bracelet could just fall on the floor. Also making certain abilities attack/sever different specific possible body parts would make sense. Maybe having some basic limiting factors to losing a body part, such as reducing movement by 25% by losing a foot, 50% by losing a whole leg; not allowing dual wield if missing an arm, or not allowing to equip a shield and weapon at the same time. Common sense stuff of a physical nature. Also create a spell to heal lost body parts, an ability to regenerate lost body parts, and maybe some simple body part replacements such as a hook for a hand, a wooden peg leg, etc.. We could stop at this level and already have a better body parts system than most MUDs.
The third phase of implementation would make it able to just flat out target a specific body part in combat. Targeting a specific body part success rate is often accompanied by an ability named something like 'Called Shot'. Body parts could have their own hit points, that when they get to 25% or less health, they start to impair you like a negative stats or reduced damage dealt, increased damage received, etc., and when they get to 0% health, that body part becomes crippled and possible to sever easily. More interesting body part modifications and replacements could add a whole new level of character customization. Could also be combined with a retooling of equipment handling, so that the body parts you currently have on your character are how items get equipped to -- maybe less redundancy then?