Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
USING SKILL TREES
Skills are usually organized into a
skill tree
, a growth path analogous to the
tech tree
that Chapter 14 discussed. As with tech trees, learning a particular skill in the tree
makes subsequent, more advanced skills available. Other than that and the differ-
ences in the previous section, they're really quite similar. Take a look at the
discussion of tech trees in Chapter 14 for some other ideas on things you can do
with skill trees.
Figure 15.7
illustrates the idea of skill trees as implemented in
Diablo II
. The right
side of the screen shows a skill tree, one of three different trees for a single charac-
ter, an Amazon. The tree currently shown is labeled “Passive and Magic Skills.”
(The other two available for this character are “Javelin and Spear Skills” and “Bow
and Crossbow Skills.”) Each icon represents a skill that may be learned, with the
ones that are required first at the top (this tree is upside down). The arrows leading
from icon to icon show the progression. An unlearned skill appears in dark grey,
such as the horned helmet at the lower left of the tree. Skills that have been learned
are shown in white.
FIGURE 15.7
One of the skill trees
for the Amazon
character in
Diablo II
(right side)
Players earn skill points in
Diablo II
through experience, and may learn a new skill
or improve an existing one by assigning the skill points to one of the skills in the
tree. The “Skill Choices Remaining” box at the upper right indicates that the player
has two skill points available to assign to one of the skills. The small boxes next to
