Okay, so in cause you didn't know, here is how characters in RM1 level up:



After you hit level 21, all levels will need the exact same ammount of exp to level up. And I remember us talking about it from time to time with no real cure for RPGs that don't hit high levels. And for the most case, all RPG Maker 1 games usually stay pretty low leveled. But not my game. I plan to take the levels as far as they can go by the end of the the game (or at least make horribly high levels neccessary for the optional dungeons).

So if I'm expecting to hit the 90's in levels, how can I keep the player from exploiting level ups by going to earlier dungeons and just grinding away on easy enemies? Well, when I playtest the game, I'll find the area that you'll be most likely to hit 21 around. And after key areas in the game, I'll just turn off random incounters for that dungeon. That'll serve a few things. First, players can fully explore dungeons without fear of random encounters all over the place, and it'll keep them from coming back to grind later in the game when these enemies will be much easier.

Also, it'll kind of be nice because I'll be planning on every boss after 21 to give 32,768 experience, which promises a level up after the fight.

Granded, players can grind in the current dungeon for as long as they like, but at least they can't go back a few dungeons where they can 1-shot the enemies and get the same ammount of exp.

I never knew that... or at least I don't remember knowing that

How stupid of them to make it so. At least you can kinda get around it.

Isn't it also possible to turn off Exp or Levels? Although that'd be annoying if you were trying to backtrack through those dungeons and getting no Exp from all those encounters.

Yeah, you can. But I don't think I'd be willing to put the player through that kind BS.

no one would really want to grind in rpg maker 1. to make it scale properly you would have to gain more exp per battle as you progress which could mean you would be gaining a level a fight which breaks your game fast.

stick with a max around 25, you can make any additional growth factors in the form of food or some other custom system. 99 is symbolic in most rpgs but not in rpg maker.

Apparently you are kind of missing what I'm talking about here. It goes a little like this:

From levels 1 to 21:

Have progressive increase in exp as the difficulty of enemies increase. It's also fine to leave the random encounters in dungeons on.

From 22 on up:

Exp is now fixed. No enemy will ever give more than a set ammount... but still increase the eneimes in difficulty. After any dungeon though, turn off random encounters. That way, later in the game, they can't come back and get the same ammont of exp and fight weak enemies for it.

I don't see how you can gain a level per fight this way.

EXP systems like they had in FF8 severely break the game. (You only needed 1000 exp a level and there were enemies on Disc 1 that could give you upwards of 3000 exp... I was level 99 at the end of Disc 1).

So, I like your idea Lantis.

its broken in that you can get lv 99 but its balanced because every level you gain makes the game harder. ever beaten the game at level 99 and you will feel just how tough those final battles and such can get.

The problem is that means it'd be easier to beat the game by not levelling up at all.

It's broken because you can reach a level that's been programed to be reached? And how does every level make the game harder? The game's difficulty is based on how difficult YOU program the enemies. Hell, I could program the enemies around level 70 to be more difficult for you than the enemies when you are around lele 80.

And so far, I've never been in a final battle of a game and had max levels and had a horribly hard time. So I honestly don't know what you are talking about.




So you are saying it's easier to beat the game at level 21 than 99? I'm afraid you'll have to explain this to me a bit.

Just make sure you also limit supplies in whatever area you want to cut off. If I'm 21 and I need the same experience for every other level, I would just grind in the level I'm currently in. To avoid that, make sure to not have any hp/mp refilling stations in that level, which would force the player to use their supplies, which would run out, and force the player forward.

Hope that made sense.

Lantis, I am afraid myoky, 1ce, and I may be the only ones that get it.

And, 1ce, your idea would work, but I personally am a grinder and collector so I wouldn't enjoy that as a player. In FF1, SO1 and SO2 for PSP, I would just grind outside of towns until I purchased every item in every shop. Then, I would usually grind more until I maxed my inventory (or just shy so if I stumble upon one I could sell it and it wouldn't be wasted) other than the crazy expensive weapons. Just one for each character in that case.

I seem to understand the people you mention just fine. The two I quoted are the ones I don't.

It's pretty much either going to be that my game is going to be somewhat exploitable, or the players are going to have limits that would damage the enjoyability of my game. I think I'll stick with it being exploitable. If someone isn't enjoying the game enough to play normally, then that's my bad to begin with.

lol I said that we were the ones that got you

But yeah, I guess it all comes down to two things: Its a shame that RM1 was made with this flaw. There are ways around it.

Thanks for showing us how to get around it for sure. Maybe if the game isn't all too difficult as you naturally progress, then there will be no urge to grind. And hopefully the player won't notice the exploit in the first place.

To clarify, yes, I understand what Lantis was getting at.

When I said that it'd be easier to not level up, I was referring to FF8, on account levelling up in that game means enemies have more powerful attacks and a lot more HP.

Which is why I couldn't beat FF8; I had every one at lvl 99 by the end of the game, including GF's. I got to Ultimeicias last form, but it was a Pyrrhic victory, only Quistis was left, and she was literaly using every one of her actions just to stay alive. I'd bust a move that did 20,000(ish) damage, and Ultimecia would heal 19,500 right back and then hit me for 9,700 damage. Considdering that her final form has to have the better part of a million HP, you can see where this kind of battle got pretty unsustainable, pretty fast after that...