Arena From: orb@bashful.cc.utexas.edu (Norman Richards) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 1994 17:46:07 +0000 I have a few questions and comments about Arena. I really enjoy the game and I am sad that there doesn't seem to be much discussion or talk about the game in terms of strategy and tactics. But, first a suggestion. Is there any way to get a roster of players at the END of a turn? I usually want to see how my guys stand up and how the competitors are after the days fights. Although all of the information is a available, it is a bit difficult to piece it all together. Or, even better - would it be possible to automatically write out a roster to a ftp site? That would save a lot of space on the turn report. So far in arena I have created 4 guys (3 current) and only one of them has been prospering. At first I tried big bulky strong guys with heavy armor and weapons. This produced either average warriors or easy to kill ones. Next I tried really fast agile characters who couldn't really carry the big weapons or armor but could still get in their fair share of hits. This worked well for me. I guess some sort of compromise in between would be best - I guess I'll try and see. What seems to work best for others? Also, I am trying to piece together some info on how the certain stats affect the game. FOr isntance, how does strength relate to what you camn hold or carry? Right now it is trial and area. Send a guy out and if the report comes back saying he is carrying too much then take some away. Otherwise, just keep adding things until you find a limit. But this takes a lot of time and racks up losses. I think I should be able to know how much my guys can carry. Other stats are similar. I have noticed that higher speed and agility characters do get significantly more attacks. Even if you sacrifice some strength or stamina, you seem to get a good increase. What good is gold? Several of my guys are sitting on some gold now. I don't want to waste it on upgrading weapons or armor if I don't know whether they can fight effectively with it. (especially since finding out negatively would mean an almost sure loss) So, what do we do? Maybe we could use gold to challenge others? For instance, instead of just picking a challenge at random, maybe we could add a few gold pieces to the pot for a priority fighting. For instance, maybe I want to challenge the #1 guy. I could challenge with perhaps 5 gold. Then, if I win I get the normal 5 gold pot and if I lose then I loose 5 gold and the winner gets the arena 5 plus my five. Of course, the computer could still pick at random among the highest bids. (or among the no bids because not every contestant is worth spending money on to get the chance to fight) This not only gives some advantage to the people at top (they are the ones more likely to receive $$$ challenges) but it lets the fights that really want to go on happen. Of course this system could easily be abused because everyone starts with 100 gold and then could challenge loose and retire, but maybe there is still a way to work it out. (only fighters with 5+ wins could issue a priority challenge. If someone got to 5 wins, they certainly spent some money on weapons and/or armor and probably aren't trying to cheat) Also, how is the winner going to be determined? It says that on (some date) the person with the highest win/loss ratio is the winner. Here is another suggestion - why not take the top 10 or top 20 fighters and have some sort of 1 day championship. This allows fighters who for some reason didn't get the best of starts but have become champion fighters to still have a chance at winning. This sounds reasonable. What strategies do people find effective? I am still exploring, but barbarian seems to work well for strong guys and surprising elephant and snake don't seem to work so well for me. My guys end up standing around for a few rounds getting bashed up. For my quicker guys wasp and snake seem to have done well. I am experimenting with parry, which I have neglected. I have never used possum. My quick guys are using rabbit and or turtle for winded and rest type situations,but usually the fights never make it to that point. Anyways, thats some of my experiences, questions and comments. I hope some others can post theirs as I would really like to understand the game better. One list quickie - what is the "acceptable" number of warriors to have? I have 3 and that feels about right, but I would like to add a few guys to test out some ideas. Should I just add a few guys and not worry about it, or should I stick to a small number? Anyways, I don't want to hog the game with lots of new warriors, but I don't want to limit myself by not exploring other possible designs. What are others doing? (3 seems to be a fairly common number and so I think that is reasonable) Anyways.. thnaks... ______________________________________________________________________________ orb@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I chose to climb the nearest tree. And that has made all the difference." Referenced By Up