(2-NS) Show kill probability preview when attacking

[Voremonger]

Proposal: When conducting an attack there is a preview regarding how much damage will be dealt. I propose adding the probability that the attack will kill the target to the preview. I propose showing the current HP as a numerical value as well as the minimum and maximum damage instead of the "Approx DMG Inflicted" in the preview. Something like "52 HP, take 45-55 DMG".

Rationale: The actual damage dealt during an attack has some randomness. This can be frustrating in situations where the preview indicates a kill but the visual bar doesn't indicate how likely the kill actually is - the previews where the target will end up with 0+-5 HP or -10+-5 HP look the same but with severely different probabilities of killing the target. With some experience you can get a feeling for how likely a kill is but in strategy games I generally prefer to make informed decisions based on the numbers. I do not have experience writing civ 5 mods so I do not know how easy this would be to implement.

 

[Stalker0]

Proposal: When conducting an attack there is a preview regarding how much damage will be dealt. I propose adding the probability that the attack will kill the target to the preview.

Rationale: The actual damage dealt during an attack has some randomness. This can be frustrating in situations where the preview indicates a kill but the visual bar doesn't indicate how likely the kill actually is - the previews where the target will end up with 0+-5 HP or -10+-5 HP look the same but with severely different probabilities of killing the target. With some experience you can get a feeling for how likely a kill is but in strategy games I generally prefer to make informed decisions based on the numbers. I do not have experience writing civ 5 mods so I do not know how easy this would be to implement.

An interesting idea. Is the damage randomness linear? (I've heard its a +20/-20% damage swing, but is a +20% damage bonus a equally likely as a -20% damage penalty, or is that weighted somehow?).

 

[Rekk]

An interesting idea. Is the damage randomness linear? (I've heard its a +20/-20% damage swing, but is a +20% damage bonus a equally likely as a -20% damage penalty, or is that weighted somehow?).

It is not weighted.

 

[Agiwan]

What about just removing the randomness from the damage ? It is not a fun mechanic at all for me.

 

[rkkn]

I'd rather it just show the damage range. Useful at all times instead of only when there's a chance of 0 hp

 

[CrazyG]

I think displaying damage range would be an awesome addition that largely covers the desire to see kill probability.

 

[Hinin]

We could also remove damage randomness altogether : much simpler (a few lines of sql code) and it would make predicting your ability to end a unit a sure thing, without having to rework the UI or other things. Also, there is already enough parameters influencing combat (with a lot of different possible combat bonuses on both sides) without the need to have randomness just for the sake of it.

 

[ma_kuh]

I like the randomness for attacks, I think it breathes a little bit of life into the combat system. But I'm also one who thinks that Withdraw From Melee is a perfectly valid method of balancing units that should be weak to ranged attacks.

At the very least, I would hope something like removing randomized damage can be something that is added as an option for easy enabling/disabling.

If anything, we should be adding more randomness by replacing Accuracy's +10% vs. 50+ HP with 25% chance to attack with +20% CS. /s

 

[CppMaster]

What about just removing the randomness from the damage ? It is not a fun mechanic at all for me.

Cool idea! Not everyone may like it, so this may be better as an option. Would you like to make a proposal? I'll vote for you

 

[Stalker0]

At the very least, I would hope something like removing randomized damage can be something that is added as an option for easy enabling/disabling.

This maybe the best of both worlds. It seems very reasonable to make that a toggle option.

 

[Voremonger]

I would also be fine with an UI change where simply the minimum and maximum damage are displayed.

Anyways, I see two big downsides to completely removing randomness:

1. It would make the effects of combat strength modifiers less consistent. For example, if an attack deals exactly 99 damage then even a small increase in CS is extremely powerful since it will suddenly allow you to kill the target in one hit instead of two. Meanwhile even a large decrease in CS is irrelevant since the target will always die in 2 hits as long as the attack deals at least 50 damage. Without randomness small changes to damage have a huge impact at the boundaries of how many hits you need to kill a unit and essentially no impact between the boundaries. If however there is some randomness to the damage then the effect of boundaries is smoothed. For example, an attack that deals 95+-5 damage is worse than an attack that deals 99+-5 damage since the latter is much more likely to one-shot the target.
2. It would encourage players to spend more time considering every possible combination of actions they could possibly take. If there is no damage spread then players will spend more time trying to squeeze out that extra 2 damage that they need. And because the total damage can't be easily calculated this will involve players saving the game, trying some set of actions and then possibly reloading the game. This type of gameplay is not necessarily bad since there are games like Into the Breach that make it work but I think it's a better fit for games where you control 3 units rather than 30.

I have no objections to adding an option that lets players disable randomness but I don't think it should be the default.

 

[CrazyG]

I think randomness on damage rolls is actually good for the game, its actually quite skill testing; there's a reason many games use them.

I wouldn't play with randomness disabled personally, though I think it woudl be a great unique component for a civ. UA: Always gets max damage rolls. Effectively +20% damage with an added perk of determinism.

 

[Agiwan]

Cool idea! Not everyone may like it, so this may be better as an option. Would you like to make a proposal? I'll vote for you

Thank you, but English is not my first langage at all. I can't do a clean proposal sadly. Maybe if you can do it as an option it could be nice from you ?

 

[CppMaster]

Thank you, but English is not my first langage at all. I can't do a clean proposal sadly. Maybe if you can do it as an option it could be nice from you ?

ok, could you remind me tomorrow?

 

[Recursive]

Proposal failed due to lack of sponsorship.