Items

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The item system of Web of Lives takes a cue from games such as Diablo. Most items in Web of Lives will be created at run time the use of a database containing item types and associated modifiers. Some items in Web of Lives shall be predefined and have special attributes in regards to sending the characters to the cloud. Collected items can be viewed in the Inventory.

The detailed stat curve spreadsheet may be found here.

Archetypes

An item type is defined as its core descriptor: weapon, magic items and armor. This type will determine how the item will be used by the player and define what attributes may apply to it.

Weapons

Weapons in Web of Lives come in several base varieties that define archetypes for the procedural generation. If a base damage is rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Preview Type Base Damage Attribute Damage Range Penalties Notes
WebOfLives weapons ShortSword.png Short Sword <math>\frac{9}{10} * Tier Level Base</math> <math>\frac{2 * STR}{5}</math> 1 N/A A stout weapon for the cautious explorer.
WebOfLives weapons LongSword.png Long Sword <math>Tier Level Base</math> <math>\frac{STR}{2}</math> 1 Buckler Only A powerful weapon for the reckless.
WebOfLives weapons ShortBow.png Bow <math>\frac{9}{10} * Tier Level Base</math> <math>\frac{2 * DEX}{5}</math> Vision Buckler Only A weapon for the deft.
WebOfLives weapons Longbow.png Long Bow <math>Tier Level Base</math> <math>\frac{DEX}{2}</math> Vision No Shields Accuracy and power in one package.
WebOfLives weapons whip.png Whip <math>Tier Level Base</math> <math>\frac{STR + DEX}{4} + \frac{(STR != DEX ? 0 : 1)*(STR + DEX)}{10} </math> 4 Buckler Only For those whose Strength and Dexterity
are in perfect harmony.
  • Range is defined as squares away from the character.
  • The whip's Attribute damage is designed to be best suited for characters with perfectly aligned Strength and Dexterity.

Damage Calculation

Damage is calculated in Web of Lives as follows:

<math>Base Damage + Attribute Damage</math>


Please note that option to use a Strength/Dexterity damage calculation scheme was deliberate. To simplify the Attack into one stat for both ranged and melee would remove a degree of the individuality of the weapons and items the player may find. In splitting the stat we add a dimension of play and decision making that simply would be nonexistent in the single stat version.

Armor

The following table specifies the armor locations available in Web of Lives and outlines the ten archetypal armor pieces that the procedural generation shall use as templates.

Location Type Base CON Modifier type
Shields Kite Shield 2 Strong
Buckler 1 Swift
Chest Cuirass 4 Strong
Hauberk Swift
Legs Greaves 1 Strong
Leggings Swift
Arms Gauntlet Strong
Sleeves Swift
Head Helm 2 Strong
Cap Swift
  • A full set of archetypal armor should confer 9 to 10 points of Constitution (depending on the shield type).
    • Assuming 10 CON this should double the character HP.
Modifier Description
Swift This armor may confer DEX, CON, or LUK bonuses.
Strong This armor may confer STR, CON, or LUK bonuses.

Magic Items (For Future Edits)

Web of Lives does not have a formal spell caster class, or classes for that matter. All magic in Web of Lives shall be enacted through the use of magical items, the archetypes for which are listed below.

Type Function Charges Notes
Scroll Casts a spell and consumes a charge. 5 Charges are modified by the spell type.
Potion Imbued: Applies buff or debuff.
Thrown: Applies an effect.
1 Charge amount may be modified by a keyword.


The necessities and precise operations of these items shall be determined after play tests of the core combat mechanics with the current item balancing system. At present the following magical item types are currently being considered:

Type Brief description
Health Regenerates target Hit Points.
Defense Creates a magical shield that consumes some damage.
Attack Bolsters the attack damage of target for a number of steps.
Teleportation Warps the target to another location in the labyrinth.
Poison Damages target Hit Points.


Item balancing still requires to be balanced through play tests, as such introducing potions and modifiers at this phase of development with full balancing would be lost time for the individual performing the balance. However in the future this balancing will likely entail the following:

  • Determining how much a power should affect stats (if the ability targets stats).
  • How the power will scale with level/tier.
    • If the power should scale.
  • Determining how frequently each power should appear and how often magic items themselves should appear.

Modifiers

In Web of Lives all generated items shall follow the following grammar:

<math>ItemTier \Rightarrow AttributeTier_1 \Rightarrow Archetype \Rightarrow</math> 'of the' <math>\Rightarrow AttributeTier_2 \Rightarrow AttributeModifier</math>


When determining attributes not modified by the archetype:

<math>AttributeValue=GetBase(LabyrinthLevel, ItemTier) + AttributeTier_2 + AttributeModifier</math>


When modifying either the Base CON of an armor or Base Damage of a weapon the following calculations occur:

<math>AttributeValue=GetBase(LabyrinthLevel, ItemTier) + AttributeTier_1</math>


For the most part modifiers in Web of Lives are there to make the player feel as though equips have noticeable differences. The true variation in the items comes from the change in the base bonuses implicit in the item tier.

Item Tier

A multiplicative modifier which is applied to the item stats as a whole. A new item class is introduced every two levels until Perfect(the max item Tier) is reached. Item Tiers should be viewed as "levels" for the player.

Tier Name Tier Starting Labyrinth Ending Labyrinth
Lesser 1 0 4
----- 2 2 6
Great 3 4 8
Greater 4 6 10
Flawless 5 8 12
Perfect 6 10 --
  • Starting items are 'Lesser tier' items.

Base Attribute/Attack Level\Tier Tables

Level\Tiers Lesser(1) ------(2) Great (3) Greater(4) Flawless(5) Perfect(6)
1 1 - - - - -
2 2 - - - - -
3 3 4 - - - -
4 4 6 - - - -
5 - 7 8 - - -
6 - 8 10 - - -
7 - - 12 13 - -
8 - - 13 16 - -
9 - - - 18 20 -
10 - - - 20 23 -
11 - - - - 26 29
12 - - - - 29 33
13 - - - - - 37
14 - - - - - 40
Tier Base 1 4 8 13 20 29
  • The preceding defines the base attribute bonuses for items within the listed tiers.
  • 14 was an arbitrary depth for the sake of determining how to best derive the stat curve.

Tier Base Derivation:

<math>BaseMod=\frac{4}{5}tier^{2}</math>

Level Growth Derivation:

<math>\left \lfloor BaseMod_{x}+\left \lceil \frac{\Delta Level}{3}(BaseMod_{x+1}-BaseMod_{x}) \right \rceil \right \rfloor</math>

This growth was designed to make the player feel as though their character is advancing. The sharp jumps on the second level of a tier was engineered to make the player feel as though they are growing stronger as they "get used to" items of that tier type.

Level\Tiers Lesser(1) ------(2) Great (3) Greater(4) Flawless(5) Perfect(6)
1 1 - - - - -
2 1 - - - - -
3 0.7 0.3 - - - -
4 0.5 0.5 - - - -
5 - 0.7 0.3 - - -
6 - 0.5 0.5 - - -
7 - - 0.7 0.3 - -
8 - - 0.5 0.5 - -
9 - - - 0.7 0.3 -
10 - - - 0.5 0.5 -
11 - - - - 0.7 0.3
12 - - - - 0.5 0.5
13 - - - - - 1
14 - - - - - 1
  • The preceding table defines the probabilities of an item of a particular tier appearing on a level.
    • '-' indicates a null set.
Level Expected
1 1
2 2
3 3.3
4 5
5 7.3
6 9
7 12.3
8 14.5
9 18.6
11 21.5
11 26.9
12 31
13 37
14 40
  • The expected base attribute/attack bonus for an item that is procedurally generated on a floor.

Armor Tier

Armor tier is directly equivalent to item tier and influences the base Constitution bonus of the armor.

The Constitution bonus is derived as follows:

<math>ArmorPieceCON = \left \lceil tier_{x}*ArmorPieceArchetypeCON+\frac{(level-baseTierLevel)(tier_{x+1}-tier_{x})}{3} \right \rceil</math>

Level Expected CON Armor
1 10
2 14
3 17.9
4 22
5 27.9
6 32
7 37.9
8 42
9 47.9
11 52
11 57.9
12 62
13 67
14 70
  • Using the equation shown above these are the expected Constitution bonuses for a full set of armor. These computations assume a kite shield.

Attribute Tier

The attribute tier applies a direct modifier to the attribute that is associated with the item. This modifier is applied additively.

Tier Name Additive Factor Rate
Disheveled -2 0.05
Flawed -1 0.1
----- 0 0.7
Noble 1 0.1
Exquisite 2 0.05

Attribute Modifier

Defines any attribute modification that is applied to a given item. Each Attribute has its own set of keywords associated with different modification values.

Attribute Mod Rate
-3 0.05
-2 0.1
-1 0.15
1 0.5
2 0.15
3 0.05
  • The previous table defines the appearance rate of attribute modifiers.
  • A heavy weight is applied to +1 to act as a curb against character power creep.


Attribute modifier names:

Attribute Mod Name Mod Attribute Mod Name Mod
CON Fly -3 LUK Black Cat -3
Goldfish -2 Crow -2
Hamster -1 Bat -1
Moose 1 Cricket 1
Hippo 2 Rabbit 2
Whale 3 Duck 3
Attribute Mod Name Mod Attribute Mod Name Mod
STR Jellyfish -3 DEX Snail -3
Mouse -2 Slug -2
Chicken -1 Sloth -1
Dog 1 Lizard 1
Bull 2 Hawk 2
Gorilla 3 Cheetah 3

Attribute Distributions

Every Armor and Weapon archetype has its own distribution of how frequently certain attributes occur in procedural generation.

Attribute Sw.Limb St.Limb Sw.Chest St.Chest Sw.Head St.Head Buckler Kite Shield Bow Sword Whip
CON 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.25
DEX 0.5 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.25
STR 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.5 0.25
LUK 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.25
  • St.: Strong
  • Sw.: Swift
  • Please note that the whip has an even probability of all types. This is a hidden reference to its focus on balance.


In application of these distributions the following patterns arise, indicating the most likely loadouts of a player on any given level:

Attribute Swift Strong Sw + Bow Sw +Sword Sw + Whip St + Bow St +Sword St + Whip
CON 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.45 2.5 2.5 2.45
DEX 2.0 0.0 2.5 2.0 2.25 0.5 0.0 0.55
STR 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.5 0.25 2.0 2.5 1.95
LUK 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.05 1.0 1.0 1.05
  • This table indicates that the distribution doesn't disadvantage either Sword or Bow users, however, a whip user would need to blend armor sets to play optimally (this was intentional).

Magic Modifiers (For Future Edits)

After the baseline modifiers have been edited more work will be done to introduce magical modifiers to weapons and armors.

At present some potential magical modifiers include:

Ability Weapon Armor
Slow Applies a slow on hit that delays enemy actions. Slows the player.
Frost Applies ice damage to an attacked/attacking enemy.
Warp Teleports an attacked/attacking enemy.
Speed Increases the player speed.
Burning Applies fire damage to an attacked/attacking enemy.

Some aspects that a full balancing of this would need to consider include:

  • How much should a magical ability modify the weapon's normal attributes (e.g. Attack and Ability Mods)
  • How often should magical abilities appear on items?
  • What exactly does each ability do mechanically (above is merely broad scope).

Until actual development begins on gameplay and actual play tests are carried out meaningful balance in this section is a fantasy. Future iterations of this page may include a further examination into this topic (depending upon whether it is deemed necessary or not).

Key Items

There exist several key items in Web of Lives that are not randomized, and given enough levels the player will always encounter. These items directly affect how the player interacts with the game world and as such are predefined.

Bags

Bags determine the player's inventory space. The player begins the game with the most basic form of the Bag: the Small Bag. This Bag has 10 slots for storing the variety of items a player may encounter in their travels through the Labyrinth.

The upgrades for the Bag follows this pattern:

Item Spaces First Level Guaranteed Level Starting Rate
Small Bag 10 Default - -
Med. Bag 20 2 5 0.25
Large Bag 30 7 10 0.25
  • The chance of a Bag appearing on a level is increased by .25 every level that it is not encountered until it is guaranteed to appear.
    • When a Bag appears on a floor it will appear on all subsequent floors until it is picked up.
    • If the previous tier of Bag has not been found the next tier of Bag will not appear, but rate corrections will be applied.

Lanterns

Lanterns govern the radius of your character's vision. Starting out the player has the base Lantern which gives them a vision range of 7 tiles. Subsequent upgrades allow the player to have a wider range of vision.

The upgrades for the Lanternfollows this pattern:

Item Vision (tiles) First Level Guaranteed Level Starting Rate
Lantern 7 Default - -
Bright Lantern 10 3 6 0.25
Magic Lantern 14 8 11 0.25
  • The chance of a Lantern appearing on a level is increased by .25 every level that it is not encountered until it is guaranteed to appear.
    • When a Lantern appears on a floor it will appear on all subsequent floors until it is picked up.
    • If the previous tier of Lantern has not been found the next tier of Lantern will not appear, but rate corrections will be applied.