Energy Points #1

This is probably the last post-series before the next release. I will in three posts describe the biggest change of the next release. This concept have been devised through discussions mainly with hedoNNN but also Kyzrati. It is my ambition to solve the following problems:

• Free equipment swapping (tedious, not logical and a bit too powerful).
• Identification frustration (having multiple unidentified one-use items).
• Too dangerous water and unwinnable situations.
• The sometimes frustrating system of not being able to equip items due to low mp.
• Frustrations with stuck doors.

While also:

• Introduce a new resource to be managed, introducing complexity and interesting choices.
• Making food consumption more interesting, especially the choice of when and what to eat.

It may seem weird that one single mechanic could solve all these seemingly unrelated problems, but that’s the beauty of it! The concept has been in the game for a some time now, but I didn’t want to blog about until I tested it enough to be sure I would keep it in the game.

Introducing Energy Points

In #8 you will manage yet another resource over Hp and Mp: Energy points, or Ep. Every character will start with 10/10 Ep. Energy points can be spent in the following way:

• Equipping an item costs Ep. Heavy and magical items costs more.
• Swimming in deep water costs Ep instead of Hp.
• Some weaker enemies deal Ep damage instead of Hp damage.
• You can spend Ep to identify items without using a service or magic!
• It costs Ep to attempt to open a stuck door (instead of it remaining stuck)

When your Ep runs out you become exhausted and cannot do anything that costs Ep. Furthermore if you still lose Ep when exhausted (from water or monsters) you will lose Hp instead.

Energy points can get replenished by most food items, making the choice of when to eat more important. This makes food items much more interesting.

You can press ‘x’ to identify an unknown scroll

Energy points are restored naturally when resting, but the amount you restore will depend on how hungry you are (more exact: you will restore [5 + food] energy points when you rest). This makes your satiation level more interesting. Previously it was optimal to be as hungry as possible.

Item Identification

You can now spend energy points to identify your items. Potions costs 2 Ep to identify, scrolls cost 3 Ep and wands cost 5 Ep. Scrolls, rods and wands of identify have been removed. The rationale is that if you spend time and energy you can figure out what a magic item can do.

In order to successfully identify an item you have to be non-confused, have enough energy and be out of combat. In the next post I plan to write about a change that has been made to enchanted equipment, it is in the same series because it relates to energy points and identification…

You learned the function of the scroll to the cost of 3 Ep.