Suitable experience point progression

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thebluespectre
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Suitable experience point progression

Post by thebluespectre »

A question for people who have done games here before; how are the experience points needed to next level calculated?

Like, suppose the cap is level… 20. What would be a smooth, logical way for EXP to be doled out? What kind of rewards should the average random encounter give out so that the party isn't quickly outpacing enemies, but isn't also grinding for hours? What about the reward for a boss? A rough percentage alone would be helpful.
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Foxley
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Post by Foxley »

There's an unchangeable EXP ramp shown in General Game Data > Battle System Options > View Experience Chart.

As for a smooth logical way to give EXP, it depends on the level cap and how you're doing the stat gains from level 0 to level 99. The only reasonable approach is to just take a wild guess and then tweak, test, tweak, test until it seems good. In terms of game balance, this will also require taking into account things like how big your enemy formations are, the random encounter rate, stuff like that.

But maybe someone with a finished game that's also properly balanced could share what they did, it'd be interesting to look at.
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Post by TMC »

I think a reasonable approach would be to say how much XP you want the player to gain from boss battles, areas, formations, etc, both cumulatively and individually, e.g. one level gained from this area or half a level from this boss, or 40% of the total "level gaining" the hero does coming from boss battles. (Which is different from total XP, and measured in percentage points to the next level). Now the really hard part is predicting what level the player will be at a certain point of the game, and how many random battles they'll encounter. You could approximately calculate it, maybe with help of the XP curve viewer Foxley mentioned, but it would be a lot of work and inexact. Basically you're forced to use trial and error, although the exponential nature of the XP curve typically makes the possible range of levels narrow, even if you don't have XP rewards also increasing at the same rate. I realise you were actually asking for a plan, but I don't have enough experience to recommend anything.
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thebluespectre
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Thanks guys

Post by thebluespectre »

you do have a point, I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'll build the encounters and then see what they become.
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Willy Elektrix
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Post by Willy Elektrix »

If it makes you feel any better (or worse), character advancement one of the hardest things to balance when developing an RPG (in OHR or otherwise).

Here is a problem I often encounter: I play test my games dozens of times myself and master them. Then they seem too easy, so I make them harder. Then the average player starts the game and is totally frustrated.
Last edited by Willy Elektrix on Thu May 05, 2016 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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