Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Unfortunately, looking at the figures in the table doesn't make them any less
mysterious. To shed a little more light on how they operate together, we could use
one of the weapons an example. We will leave the
Distance
and
Modifier
values
blank for now, as those would be specific to the situation.
A word of caution for those of us who seek to infer meaning from things: The
numbers used in this example are neither specifically related to anything nor
drawn from anything. Often, in the search for an
effect
for a mathematical
model, we select these numbers through a trial-and-error approach. There is
no “correct way� to approach this process. We end up using “whatever works.�
Using the formula and numbers above, the damage calculation for a machine
gun is:
Assuming that the machine gun is in the hands of an Evil Dude (no modifiers)
at a range of 100 feet, we can now calculate how much damage the machine gun will
do per second.
As we can see, the travel distance of 100 reduces the damage done by the ma-
chine gun by 2 points down to 28.0. If we extend the shot further, to 200 feet, we
would find that the damage is reduced further, to 22.0.
The formula for accuracy works the same way.
One aspect
not
shown above is the
Modifier
for the skill of user. The
Modifier
parameter directly affects the starting point of the curve. We can see this by com-
paring the accuracy rates for a Bad Dude and an Evil Dude. The Bad Dude has a
-20% modifier to accuracy. Therefore, his accuracy with a pistol at 75 feet would be
