Morale

[Semper]

Has there ever been a consideration for adding something like morale as a coded feature? It seems there's a range of where you skill is at, but being able to influence whether you can fight in the upper or lower range depending on conditions would add an extra layer of strategy and realism to everything.

Take for example fighting in the desert for days. As it is currently, I assume your character will fight the same as day 1 as he will day 5, no matter how much abuse he had taken from weather during those 5 days. So a morale code would give a penality for that. And in the situation where the other army has great supplies and is constantly in the shade rather than in the desert, they'll still be fighting at normal morale or better.

Is this in place? If not, how hard would it be to code? so on... discuss.

[MeTekillot]

Being properly fed, rested, and watered has predictable impacts on your fighting ability, iirc.

[RogueGunslinger]

I like the idea in concept, however not sure if Morale is what I would use.

You don't need a Morale code. Why? Because Morale already starts breaking down for players when you're an hour into a two hour RPT. People start getting agitated, upset, stressed, nervous, figity, and their play is definitely affected by it.

I think a better option for what you're suggesting is some sort of light combat detriments based on food, water, sleep, current HP and stamina. That would be awesome.

Being properly fed, rested, and watered has predictable impacts on your fighting ability, iirc.

Hard to tell, honestly. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist, but I cant remember the last time my character fought without food and water in their belly. If sleeping helps it's very marginal as to be unnoticed.

[Semper]

Being properly fed, rested, and watered has predictable impacts on your fighting ability, iirc.

I guess what I'm proposing is a bit more detailed than just that? Like, if your character has been baking in the sun for days and isn't USED to that (not a ranger, for example) then they should be penalized when they have to suddenly fight for their life, compared to if they had just come out of their fancy compound and fresh from wear. Or like, on a different side of things, seeing a BUNCH of people suddenly die all around you should shock your character into fighting poorly, unless they are seasoned veterans... stuff like that.

[HavokBlue]

This sounds like the kind of thing that would be borderline impossible with an engine built on DIKU.

[Desertman]

I don't dislike the premise so long as it took into account a ton of factors that might not even be codedly possible.

My issue isn't with the concept, my issue is with the feasibility of the concept's implementation.

[Jihelu]

I feel like it may take into account things you don't want it to.
Say your character is a crazy mad man/mother fucker that likes killing.
Say the code takes killing as a bad thing.
You can't tell it that you like killing.
Or vice versa.
Maybe it could have a "How do you feel right now" Option, to which you can put "I feel great" As opposed to "I feel like shit"

[Semper]

I don't dislike the premise so long as it took into account a ton of factors that might not even be codedly possible.

My issue isn't with the concept, my issue is with the feasibility of the concept's implementation.

Why couldn't there be a hidden "morale" score, similar to your hunger and thirst code? The impact on that morale score could be added to over time and could get pretty involved I figure? I'm not a coder so I don't know, just ideas.

Also, a serial killer is a great example of this kind of thing working realistically. A serial killer isn't some soldier who is experienced in killing, they take advantage of their victims in their weakest moments. So you could have your crazy madman still be in great morale (sheltered in a dark room, feeding off of their last victims stock, keeping away from the elements) and their next victim might wander in from the storm or be stumbling around lost for days. If they were both the same skill level codedly (brand new newb warriors for example), I think your madman who was waiting should have a coded advantage over that helpless victim... why can't the code support a condition like that?

[wizturbo]

Cool idea, but there's about 100 things I'd rather see added to the game before it, seeing as it is clearly not something that'll be easy to implement.

[bcw81]

I don't dislike the premise so long as it took into account a ton of factors that might not even be codedly possible.

My issue isn't with the concept, my issue is with the feasibility of the concept's implementation.

Why couldn't there be a hidden "morale" score, similar to your hunger and thirst code? The impact on that morale score could be added to over time and could get pretty involved I figure? I'm not a coder so I don't know, just ideas.

Think of it as a math equation. For every variable you need to have in there, it's going to effect the code in some way or another. Now, lets say you have Hunger as A, Thirst as B, number of days engaged in combat at C, number of corpses seen as D, number of deaths witnessed as E, number of deaths witnessed until you don't care as F, distance walked in a certain day as G, amount of blood lost over the last IC week as H... Ect.

Each and every one of those would need to be coded in first and foremost. A and B would be easy. C would need a new variable added to the combat code, and you would need to make sure sparring doesn't count against it. D would need to take into account the massive pile of bodies in the middle of Allanak, or a way around that. E would need to take into account the joy of seeing your enemy fall and the loss at seeing your friends fall without any coded method to tell who is who. F would have to be a randomized number or something, not to mention Allanaki are born growing up with blood sport. G would likely be easier to determine based on Stamina, which already affects combat. H would basically be the same thing as C.

I haven't coded in nearly 11 years now, but that kind of shit isn't easy to code for every situation that might crop up, and honestly it might be better to just RP the morale loss..

[Marauder Moe]

People tend not to like (new) systems that are all downsides.

While the code can tell you if your character has been in the sun all day, is thirsty, hiked a long distance, etc, it can't really provide any information about most morale boosting effects, such as a stirring speech, the slaying of an enemy commander, or other act of encouraging heroism.

[Marauder Moe]

Though... for a more positive-effect-oriented system... what if we gave each character a sort of slowly-regenerating moral pool that they could activate at will for a short burst of enhanced performance?


Like, just to throw out some numbers, let's say each character gets 5 moral points.  (These points might not be visible to players.)

You're sparring and want to impress the sarge, so you do like ">moral minor" and expend a moral point.  The game boosts your coded fighting ability by 10% for, say, 60 seconds.

Later your're out on patrol and a bunch of gith ambush you.  You see your HP dropping, so you do ">moral major" and it blows all your moral points for like a 50% increase for 3 minutes.

Afterwards, moral points regenerate at a rate on order of 1 point per RL day AND 2 RL hours played (so you have to be online for 2 hours to get a point back but at most you get back 1 point per RL day).


Maybe things like ale and food increase the rate.

Maybe then there's a coded leadership/inspiration skill where leaders and bards can spend their moral points to replenish the points of everyone in the same room.

And then maybe, if the system is positive enough, we can put in penalties for rough conditions, fear effects, and the like.

[valeria]

No thank you.  I don't want the code dictating to me what my character's "morale" is, I'd rather decide for myself.

[RogueGunslinger]

I love Moe's idea. Though 50% is a lot more like 10% and 20%, whatever the numbers don't really matter. It's a great idea.

[Qzzrbl]

This sounds like the kind of thing that would be borderline impossible with an engine built on DIKU.

Kinda like everything other bit of code unique to Armageddon? O-o;

[gotdamnmiracle]

Never mind.

[HavokBlue]

This sounds like the kind of thing that would be borderline impossible with an engine built on DIKU.

Kinda like everything other bit of code unique to Armageddon? O-o;

No, because a coded morale system as described by the OP features such an insane amount of variables and factors compared to anything else I can think of in the game.

How you determine how much seeing the sergeant die affects Runner Amos? What if Amos hates his sergeant's guts? How does this system track who is important to whom? Is it a blanket morale penalty for seeing anybody die? Even if you took into account every single factor like dehydration and exposure to violence and whatever else and somehow managed to create a system that tracks these factors for every PC and modifies the values as things occur, it doesn't make any sense to inflict penalties on a character based on their psychological state when every character will react to these occurrences differently.

[Semper]

That was just an example but... I see your point there. Still, nothing more simple but similar in concept is possible?

[gotdamnmiracle]

-snip-

Honestly, I think all of these things can be accomplished by proper rp. This is code that needn't bd implemented, because it all can be better accomplished through how you'd character acts. Sure, you may kill the scrab just as quickly, but what if you just sit down and refuse to continue on unless you get a moment of rest.

[Synthesis]

Of course

This idea has been brought to you by subguild: bard.

[Harmless]

oh, i got it! code alcohol withdrawal. done.

[Saellyn]

That would be an amazing way to code alcoholism. I think that's a good idea I can stand behind.