View source for Post:The State of Targeted Magic - 3/2/2009 - 1:23:29

{{Post
|a=DR-WYTHOR
|t=The State of Targeted Magic
|d=3/2/2009 1:23:29 AM
|n=2162
|f=Abilities, Skills and Magic (4) \ Targeted Magic Feedback (36)
|c=m,d
|p=Since there's been a few {{PRel|Category:Targeted Spells|TM}}-related threads going on the boards lately, and I've let slip that I'm doing a rewrite of the system in the near future, I thought I'd sum up what's going to happen to reduce the rampant speculation.

Last year, my focus was on reworking the TM messaging system. This year, I will be working on the mechanics behind TM itself to fix a major bug, several smaller ones, and clean the system up. Below I'll outline the major problem and the steps being taken to fix it, along with any incidental things we're going to be changing in the process.

Imagine, if you will, a bow and arrow. You can snap-shoot the bow, but you take a substantial penalty to your attack.

Now consider a bow that fires a dozen arrows at once. You can also snap-shoot this bow, and each attack is only penalized half as much as the snap shot with the single arrow.

Two bows. One shot with a big attack penalty, or a dozen shots with a much lower attack penalty. Which would you choose to train with? This is the difference between single-shot spells and multi-shot spells, and the reason why multi-shot spells are so hot.

{{PRel|Chain Lightning}}, which can snap off 4-22 attacks with half the attack penalty of a snapped [[Aether Lash]], is merely the most extreme example, and therefore is the most-scrutinized abuser.

That defines the problem, but what about the solution? In examining the examples above, I left out one thing: targeting. A single-shot spell can be targeted, while a multi-shot spell cannot due to technical reasons. Because it can't be targeted, it was given a lower attack penalty. Removing this abused benefit means putting multi-shot spells in line with single-shot spells in a very fundamental way:

Every targeted spell will require targeting to be fully effective; every targeted spell that is not targeted will have the same attack penalty.

I'll let that statement sink in a bit before I proceed.

Okay, still with me?

Yes, this means that some very big technical changes are going to take place. What is currently impossible will be made possible. How they will be made possible is not within the scope of this message; I just wanted to give everyone an idea of what's coming down the pipe this year.

Here are a few bullet points to hopefully answer some of the more obvious questions.

- Multi-shot spells are being defined as spells which produce more than one attack simultaneously (i.e. within the same initial call to the magic system).

- Yes, it will be possible to target area effect and multi-shot spells. Delayed-effect spells too (such as {{PRel|Crystal Spike}} and {{PRel|Dragon's Breath}}).

- Because of their increased potential for damage, area effect and multi-shot spells will each require additional targeting time. This is cumulative; the only area effect and multi-shot spell, Chain Lightning, will require significant targeting time to reach full effectiveness.

- Yes, this means that snap casts of CL will be rendered far less effective. On the other hand, if you're willing to invest the time to target, you can make it as accurate as any other TM spell.

- Targeted {{PRel|Category:Bard Enchantes|enchantes}} will require targeting to be fully effective. No, {{PRel|Bard}}s will not be able to target spells while targeting an enchante (and vice versa). Yes, they will have to maintain that target pattern while playing the enchante; they will also have to pass skill checks to maintain it.

- The {{PRel|Aethereal Pathways|Focus Pathway of Quickness}} formula will be altered to compensate for the new targeting times.

- We'll be revisiting multi-shot spells to ensure that their multi-shot-ness is being consistently calculated within the core system, and (up/down)tweaking this factor as necessary based on the new target time balancer.

- {{PRel|Barbarian Magic Resistance|BMR}} is going to be capped at how much it can affect TM skill. This has nothing to do with the BMR rewrite; that system simply spits out a number, which the TM system then applies to accuracy. The system will now have the opportunity to change the applied value to reflect global caps.

- The bug (and yes, it is a bug) that brings a TM spell to full prep when {{PRel|Target command|target}}ing will be squashed. What remains to be seen is how we will deal with the {{PRel|backfire}} potential (and it may not necessarily result in backfire).

At this point there is no ETA on the rewrite. It has been approved, but it's still in the technical planning phase -- in other words, how I'm going to pull off the impossible is still being worked out. :)

- GM [[Wythor]]
|sub=Targeted Magic skill
}}