I made a calculation program for RTS games. This in order to balance weapons in their most basic form.
The input is a Ratio of the Health to Damage.
And a salvo is to be designed.
A salvo contains the charging and the cooldown as well.
I know, I know. No one else is going to use it. But at least, I have one more tool now for myself to get a better understanding of the mechanics of any RTS game.
Using this new tool also has given me more insights in my other work.
I think I have to rethink the sacrificial weapons.
I have this refund going on for a last part of a design. And it makes less sense in other games....
The higher a ratio is, the less it makes sense.
And I have this self guiding rule, if an infinity shows me something odd. I have to recheck the system.
Salvo...well, I do have my own set of terms and stuff.
Let's begin with cooldown in RTS games.
When an unit or defence has fired a projectile.
A clock starts ticking.
Once this time has passed, the unit or defence can fire again.
ROF or Rate of Fire
Often the number of projectiles an unit fires in a given time.
IMHO, the ROF is a bad way to show players how fast an unit fires.
This is also due to the burst mechanic that emerges from units with a high cooldown.
Burst
A high amount of damage is caused instantly, before going in a long slumber.
If an unit needs to have 3 of these bursts in a minute and 1 second. The ROF might show only 2 instead...
Charging
When an unit or defence can start shooting.
Some need time to aim first.
A clock starts ticking.
Once the time has passed, the projectile finally can be fired.
Often, a cooldown is added as well.
A weapon that has a long charging time and will fire 2 times in a minute. Let's say, at the 30th and 60th second. The ROF is 2. Yet the burst weapon is much more effective compared to the charging weapon. Balancing the 2 MUST NOT be done with the ROF in mind.
Salvo
I consider a weapon charging and having a cooldown. To be a salvo.
Not only that, but a weapon could fire, for example, multiple rockets.
It waits for 3 seconds, which is charging up. Then fires 6 rockets with 1 second in between. Then has to wait 3 seconds again, before it can charge up.
The ROF per minute for a salvo is a fair way to calculate. In this example, we have 30.
Other weapons with a ROF of 30 are weapons that have a cooldown of 2. Or a charge of 2.
Balancing should be done on the Salvo, nothing else.
Sacrificial weapons
The unit that uses these weapons will be destroyed in the process.
There are "units" that don't exist, except for a short period of time.
They are the weapon on themselves. Like the Scarab from Starcraft.
If not used properly, while activated. They will dissappear anyhow.
Refund
Sacrificial units can either have a proper body or not.
Those with a body can be targetted in my board games. And be destroyed before they reach their target.
I had a refund placed on the last health.
I also had the option to do more damage instead of a refund on the sacrifice part.
It looks like, I made a mistake somewhere in this mechanic. It has been a tough one for me for ages already.
In my board games, the last health point can still be used as wall...Making this used twice in the game. And thus unfair in certain designs.
I hope this cleared things up. But feel free to ask more.