dueling

[JeffCrook]

In the castle marrach info, it says that dueling is a part of the game. The dueling is either for honor or to the death, and both participants must agree to the fight. How is the non-lethal combat handled? Must there be a judge or moderator present, and can a duel of honor be altered to a duel to the death in mid fight, say, if both participants get angry enough? Also, can more than two players be involved in a duel?

If my game is chosen, dueling will be an important aspect of the game. However, I would prefer not to require both participants to agree to the fight. Naturally, the ability to run from a fight would be important as well. I would also want to allow multiple players in a duel, so that large scale streetfights and bar room brawls could take place. Is this sort of thing possible?

[DukeLeto]

The dueling system that we are refining for Castle Marrach is moderated entirely by the computer; and we are not anticipating having a "fight to the death" option at this point, although something like that might certainly be added in the future.

One of the goals in designing Marrach has been to create a user-friendly storytelling environment that requires the consent of both parties for close physical interactions to take place (and duels certainly qualify as such.) We feel that it's very important to allow players to choose who they associate with and how, for many reasons. (See the 'An Evening at Chez Skoot' article posted on this site for more information).

That said, I wouldn't rule out the future possibility that the sort of system you are desiring could be available. It's just a bit early to say. For now, I would recommend you base your designs on a dueling system in which both players must agree for the duel to take place.

Disengaging from a fight is already supported. As for more than two players in a duel, we are currently only supporting one-on-one duels, so I would base your current designs on that, keeping in mind that our systems will be continually evolving over time.

[JeffCrook]

Originally posted by DukeLeto:
One of the goals in designing Marrach has been to create a user-friendly storytelling environment that requires the consent of both parties for close physical interactions to take place (and duels certainly qualify as such.) We feel that it's very important to allow players to choose who they associate with and how, for many reasons.

Understandable, considering the courtly environment. However, this would tend to severely limit any game where lawlessness is common. That said...

That said, I wouldn't rule out the future possibility that the sort of system you are desiring could be available. As for more than two players in a duel, we are currently only supporting one-on-one duels, so I would base your current designs on that, keeping in mind that our systems will be continually evolving over time.

I do hope so. From what I have seen and heard described, it seems the system could easily support many possibilities.

[DukeLeto]

Originally posted by JeffCrook:
Understandable, considering the courtly environment. However, this would tend to severely limit any game where lawlessness is common.


Yes, understand that I was only speaking of Castle Marrach in particular. We will eventually have many different types of combat systems in place for builders to choose from for their game, depending on what is appropriate for their designs and genres.

Certainly by the time we release Alvatia we will have a full-fledged, well-developed combat system available (and magic system for that matter), one that does not require consent. "No, I don't allow that dragon to breathe on me" just wouldn't quite work. http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

[JeffCrook]

Originally posted by DukeLeto:

Certainly by the time we release Alvatia we will have a full-fledged, well-developed combat system available (and magic system for that matter), one that does not require consent. "No, I don't allow that dragon to breathe on me" just wouldn't quite work. http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

Ha! Of course, sometimes that would be nice, from a player's standpoint. "Sorry, I find that vampire's attempts to charm me offensive. I'm going to block everything he says."