The Bears Pit: v1.13 Time Capsule (How-to Library) » "How does it work?" Part 7b: Gaining Chances to Level Up

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"How does it work?" Part 7b: Gaining Chances to Level Up[message #197272]

Thu, 25 September 2008 15:57

Headrock

Messages:1760
Registered:March 2006
Location: Jerusalem

This is part 2 of an article about levelling up. I am assuming that you've read Part 1: Levelling Up, because if you haven't then you will probably not understand much of what is written here. Please read the first half of the article before continuing, or at least try to understand what the heck it was all about.

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APPLYING MEDICAL TREATMENT

Every hour of game time, the program can give several Chances-To-Advance to any Doctor who has patients in his sector. The amount of chances awarded depends on the amount of healing that the doctor has done this hour.

Damage_Healed = Amount of damage healed for all patients * 10
Number_of_Chances for Medical = Damage Healed / 100
Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = Damage Healed / 100
Number_of_Chances for Wisdom = Damage Healed / 100

I won't go into the Medical Treatment formulas now, but suffice to say that a good doctor can heal around 10 points per hour, split semi-intelligently between all patients (including the doctor himself, if injured). For each actual damage or bandaged damage healed, the doctor gets one chance to get an advancement point in Medical, Dexterity, and Wisdom.

Also, if the medical kit runs out, the merc may only fulfill part of his potential - unused points do not go towards advancement.

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REPAIRING ITEMS

When a merc is assigned to Repair Items, he or she gets a certain number of Chances to Advance up based on the amount of damage repaired in the last hour. The amount of repair per hour is shown above a character's portrait in the strategic screen. If there's less damage to repair than the merc can handle in an hour, leftover point are NOT included.

Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = (Damage_Repaired / 2)
Number_of_Chances for Mechanical = (Damage_Repaired / 2)

So for each 2 points of item damage actually repaired, the merc gets one chance to level up in both skills.

Also, if the repair kit runs out, the merc may only fulfill part of his potential - unused points do not go towards advancement.

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TRAINING

When a merc is training others, or training Militia, they get a certain number of Chances to Advance based on the amount of training they can do in an hour, every hour. Training itself is quite a complex formula, and depends on a lot of factors which I don't care to explain at the moment. However, like with Repairs and Medical Treatment, the value displayed over our character as he is training helps.

Please note that "Training" refers to three different types of activities. I'll cover each one.

MILITIA

When training militia, we get one chance per turn to level up our Leadership and our Wisdom (1 each!). In addition, the better our ability at training, the more chances we get.

Training_Points = The number over your character's portrait
Number_of_Extra_Chances for Leadership = Training Points / 20
Number_of_Extra_Chances for Wisdom = Training Points / 40

This is on top of the 1 free chance.

TRAINING ANOTHER MERC

When training others, the student gets chances to advance in the field being trained, while the trainer gets chances to advance in both Leadership and Wisdom. The actual calculation of how many chances we get is somewhat obscure to me at the moment, but here's what I do have:

The trainer gains the same number of chances to advance in both Leadership and Wisdom. The exact number of chances is based on many things, including both trainer and student's skills and wisdom, as well as modifiers for tiredness and the TEACHING trait, and even on JA2_OPTIONS.INI values.
The student gains a certain number of chances to advance in the studied field, and half that amount of chances to advance wisdom. Again, the amount depends on both student and teacher skills, traits, fatigue, and JA2_OPTIONS.INI.

TRAINING ONESELF

I assume this refers to practice, but the code calls it "TRAIN_SELF". In this case, the practicing merc gets a certain number of skill increases in the practiced field, and half that amount of chances in WISDOM. However in this case, there is no bonus from the TRAINER's abilities as there is no trainer.

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UNJAMMING GUNS IN REPAIR MODE

When a merc is set to repair items, he/she will automatically attempt to unjam any guns carried by mercs in the same sector.

5 chances to advance in MECHANICAL for each unjammed gun
5 chances to advance in DEXTERITY for each unjammed gun

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BANDAGING MERCS AFTER AUTORESOLVE

This is a virtual goldmine for anyone wanting to level up their Medical and Dexterity stats. When autoresolve is over, there's a button that allows automatic bandaging. This works similarly to automatic bandaging of mercs after tactical combat.

Damage_Bandaged = The total amount of bleeding that has been turned into bandages (pink) by this merc.
Number_of_Chances for Medical = Damage_Bandaged / 2
Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = Damage_Bandaged / 4

Bandaging is very effective, and can often heal a huge amount of damage, especially if other teammembers are seriously wounded. Since it is only divided by 2, it can give a whole lot of chances to raise your Medical skill, and half as many to raise the Dexterity level.

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FIRING A SHOT IN AUTORESOLVE

Characters will always try to use firearms during autoresolve, if they have any.

3 Chances to advance in Marksmanship for any shot in Auto-Resolve
6 Extra Chances to advance in Marksmanship for any shot that HITS, in Auto-Resolve

This is where it gets ugly though - it seems that whoever set up melee attacks in Autoresolve was careless, and had copied some stuff over without making sure it was the right stuff. For that reason:

6 Chances to advance in Marksmanship for any MELEE/KNIFE attack that hits, in Auto-Resolve

Hmpf.

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DODGING HITS IN AUTORESOLVE

In autoresolve, any attack that missed the target will give the target some chances to advance in Agility.

5 Chances to advance in Agility when "dodging" any type of attack in Auto-Resolve

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BEING HIT IN AUTORESOLVE

Yet another goldmine for advancing easily (but risky!) - In autoresolve, any attack that hits the target will give the target some chances to advance in Experience Level

Damage_Taken = Actual damage to the merc's health, from any attack.
Number_of_Chances for Experience Level = (Damage_Taken / 2)

Get yourself shot, mate!

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KILLING TARGETS IN AUTORESOLVE

Any attack that kills an enemy in Autoresolve is supposed to give some chances to advance in Experience Level, to the killer and anyone else who had shot bullets at the target right before it died (called Assisters). However, it seems as though the program has an oddity that prevents any chances from actually being handed out.

Supposedly, the killer should get 10 * pTarget's_pathing.bLevel chances, where Target's_pathing.bLevel always seems to equal 0. The assisters get 5 * pTarget's_pathing.bLevel chances each, which, again, always equals 0. I think the pathing.bLevel value should equal 1 when the enemy is standing on a roof... but there are no roofs in AutoResolve (the sector isn't even loaded), so it seems to always be 0. GRRRRR.

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TRAVELLING BETWEEN SECTORS

We can get experience for travelling as well, and some people exploit this for easy strength gains. It is awarded every time a merc arrives at a sector. The number of Chances-to-Advance we get from travelling is relatively easy to calculate. Unfortunately, Health increases are utterly bugged.

Travelling_Time = The time it takes to travel from the previous sector to the new sector, in minutes.
Number_of_Chances for HEALTH = Travelling_Time / (4.5 - Merc's_Maximum_Health)

This is the formula that calculates how many chances to advance health we get each time we move between any two sectors (including when we're on route to somewhere else). As you can see, the result will always be negative unless the merc's maximum health is ridiculously low. This is due to a programming error - someone forgot to put the correct parenthesis there. Here's the original code:

uiPoints = pGroup->uiTraverseTime / (450 / 100 - pSoldier->stats.bLifeMax );

Obviously, there should be parenthesis around "100 - pSoldier->stats.bLifeMax", but there aren't. Unfortunate, but I hope now that I've discovered it, maybe someone can correct it.

In any case, we can also increase our strength by travelling between two sectors:

Carried_Weight_Percent = Percentage of weight carried vs. maximum weight. You can see this on your merc's inventory data sheet. 
Travelling_Time = The time it takes to travel from the previous sector to the new sector, in minutes.
Travelling_Bonus = Travelling_Time / (450 / (100 - Merc's_Strength_Level) )  
Number_of_Chances for STRENGTH = (Carried_Weight_Percent - 50) * Travelling_Bonus / 100

Alright, it's written correctly here, and it works in the game.

The reason why this is exploited is that the Travelling_Time factor is not based on how much the group has actually travelled, but on the declared amount of time required to cross between the origin and destination sectors. Therefore, when cancelling a move order right after issuing it means that Travelling_Time still equals the full amount of time to cross between the sectors, hence giving us loads of chances to level up Strength...

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PLANTING EXPLOSIVES/MINES

Whenever an armed explosive is planted, we gain chances to advance in Explosives

25 (!!) chances to advance in Explosives for each bomb planted

Then again we don't get many chances to do it... unless we replant the same bomb over and over again, as some people do...

If we fail planting the explosive, we also get some chances:

10 chances to advance in Explosives for each bomb planted unsuccessfully

The downside of explosives handling.... you could lose an arm. Or a head.

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LOCATING HIDDEN ITEMS

I don't think I've ever found a hidden item - these are items that are invisible, until you try to interact with the tile they are in. I actually didn't know it was possible, and seriously, I wouldn't bother looking for them myself. But I guess, if you have lots of time on your hands, have fun.

5 chances to advance in Wisdom, if picked up a hidden item

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DETECTING AND DISARMING A BOOBY TRAP

Found a buried mine? You get chances to advance explosives and wisdom straight away. If you try to disarm it you'll get more. If you don't die. Smile

3 Chances to Advance in Explosives, for each difficulty level of the mine.
3 Chances to Advance in Wisdom, for each difficulty level of the mine.
2 Chances to Advance in Explosives, for each difficulty level of the mine, if it was set by the same merc.
4 Chances to Advance in Explosives, for each difficulty level of the mine, if it was set by another merc.
6 Chances to Advance in Explosives, for each difficulty level of the mine, if it was set by anyone else.
3 Chances to Advance in Explosives, for each difficulty level of the mine, if failed.

Also, it may be possible for some items to be booby-trapped (ever played SOG '69?). In this case, the same thing can trigger from the map screen sector inventory. If so, it always treats the trap as being set by someone else (we can't boobytrap our own equipment, anyway).

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COMBINING ITEMS

This sort of action is rather common, and depends on XMLized values in AttachmentInfo.XML. It only happens when attaching combo objects that require a Mechanical skill check.

(20 - AttachmentSkillCheckMod) Chances to advance in Mechanical
(20 - AttachmentSkillCheckMod) Chances to advance in Wisdom

AttachmentSkillCheckMod is drawn from XML out of the attachment info relevant to the items in question. The easier it is, the less chances we get. In 1.13, attaching the copper wire appears to give no chances. Attaching the X-Ray tube and the Remote Detonator appear to give MORE than 20 chances (their AttachmentSkillCheckMods are negative!).

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ATTACHING ITEMS THAT REQUIRE A MECHANICAL CHECK

There are several such items, which are flagged as "USE_ITEM_HARD". They require a skill check at -30, and if it fails the item is damaged. I don't know exactly which items do this as I haven't been able to figure out how the "USE_ITEM_HARD" flag is set. But heck, someone else can probably explain it.

25 chances to advance in Mechanical for attaching a Hard-to-attach object.
5 chances to advance in Wisdom for attaching a Hard-to-attach object.

A great way to advance in Mechanical and Wisdom skills, assuming of course that you're not worried about destroying the item...

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ATTACHING DETONATORS TO EXPLOSIVES

Yet another easy way of gaining explosives skill, and not a very dangerous one either. The skill check is at -30, and the worst result is some damage to the detonator and explosive.

25 chances to advance in Explosives for attaching a detonator to an explosive item.
5 chances to advance in Wisdom for attaching a detonator to an explosive item.

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FORCING A LOCK

We get the same amount of chances-to-advance if we do it with a crowbar as without.

20 chances to advance in Strength, for successfully breaking open a lock.
5 chances to advance in Strength, for damaging a lock ("Lock hit" message appears on screen)
1 chance to advance in Strength, for failing to force open a lock.

The comments and variable names used in the relevant function indicate that this applies to doors, but I think it applies to containers as well. Anyway, if I'm wrong, then we aren't given experience for breaking into locked containers at all!

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SUCCESSFULLY PICKING A LOCK

We get chances to level up in several fields, but only if we've successfully picked the lock. No reward for trying.

(Lock_Difficulty / 5) chances to advance in Mechanical, for picking open a lock.
(Lock_Difficulty / 10) chances to advance in Dexterity, for picking open a lock.
(Lock_Difficulty / 10) chances to advance in Wisdom, for picking open an electronic lock.
(Lock_Difficulty / 15) chances to advance in Wisdom, for picking open a regular (mechanical) lock.

Again, I assume we get this for both doors and containers.

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SUCCESSFULLY BLASTING A LOCK

Firing at locked doors may sound silly when you've got a good lockpicker on your team, but boy is this a great way to increase your marksmanship skill... IF IT WORKS. I seem to get very mixed results when firing at locks, even with lockbuster shotgun ammo. Doesn't always seem to do anything.

10 chances to advance (!!) in Marksmanship for blasting open a lock.

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ISSUING ORDERS TO MILITIA ON THE TACTICAL MAP (IN COMBAT?)

Any order you give to militia, ANY order, will give you one chance to level up your Leadership. I think this even applies in real time with no enemies around. If so, what a wicked way to level up your Leadership!! Can someone test this?

1 chance to advance in Leadership, for any order given to militia on the tactical map.

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SPOTTING AN ENEMY WITHOUT BEING SPOTTED

Exactly what it says.

10 chances to advance in Experience Level, when spotting an enemy that hasn't spotted you.

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SPOTTING A PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN ATTACKER

The opposite of the above, this occurs when the enemy already saw you first, but now you can see him too.

5 chances to advance in Experience Level, when spotting a previously unseen attacker.

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KILLIN'

Naturally, you will gain experience for everything you kill, except Crows and Cows. The amount depends on the Experience Level of the recently deceased.

(10 * Target's Experience Level) chances to advance in Experience Level, when killing things/people/whatnot.

Also, the program keeps track of whoever was the last OTHER person to shoot at the same target (or hit it? Not sure). They receive a share too:

(5 * Target's Experience Level) chances to advance in Experience Level, for assisting in a kill.

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BEING HIT IN TACTICAL COMBAT

Being hit helps our physique!

4 chances to advance in Health, when hit during tactical combat.
2 chances to advance in Strength, when hit during tactical combat.

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SNEAKING

For each tile we sneak past an enemy, we get chances to advance in agility. For this to happen, you must:

A) See the enemy when we arrive at the new tile
cool

The enemy can't see us when we arrive at the new tile
C) Our merc is now within the enemy's Sight_Distance (regardless of whether the enemy is actually looking in the right direction)

5 chances to advance in Agility for sneaking successfully into an enemy's "personal space"

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BLOWING PEOPLE UP

Whenever an enemy is hit by your grenades/explosives, you're eligible for some advancements. I'm not sure exactly what triggers this, but I think it only refers to explosives that blow up (I.E. immediate damage delivery).

If Damage caused by Explosive item, then
   Combined_Damage = (Amount of Health Damage to the target / 10) + (Amount of Breath Damage to the target / 2000)
   Number_of_Chances for Explosives = 10 * Combined_Damage

Breath damage is a rather obscure factor as I've mentioned in the past, so it's hard to give a more clear explanation on exactly how many chances it gives you. Please also note that this is flagged as a FAILURE-type chance, meaning it can't actually give you an extra point in Explosives, but can get you a lot of advancement points, up to one less than the required amount to advance to the next level.

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BEING HIT

Any damage your mercs take will give some chances to advance in Experience Level.

[code]
Combined_Damage = (Amount of Health Damage to the target / 10) + (Amount of Breath Damage to the target / 2000)
Number_of_Chances for Experience Level = 5 * Combined_Damage
[/code

Once again, the amount of breath damage taken is a rather vague number which I unfortunately can't explain properly yet. And once again this is a FAILURE type advancement, so it can't take you up to the next Experience Level, but it can get you right to the edge.

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BANDAGING IN TACTICAL MODE

Like in AutoResolve, bandaging in tactical also grants some chances to advance in Medical and Dexterity. However, the numbers are a bit different here, for some reason.

Damage_Bandaged = Total amount of "bleeding" (yellow) health points turned into "Bandaged" (pink) health points.
Number_of_Chances for Medical = Damage_Bandaged / 2
Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = Damage_Bandaged / 6

As you see, dexterity is 1/6th of the bandaged amount, unlike autoresolve where it is 1/4th. Weird.

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UNJAMMING A WEAPON IN TACTICAL MODE

Same as unjamming a weapon while assigned to Repair Items.

5 Chances to advance in Mechanical, when a weapon is unjammed.
5 Chances to advance in Dexterity, when a weapon is unjammed.

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FIRING A GUN IN TACTICAL MODE

Marksmanship goes up nicely when firing, and as you'll see, the accuracy of the shot makes a world of difference.

Experience_Gain = 0
If Shot it going to Hit, then
   CTH_Bonus = (100 - Chance-to-Hit) / 25
   Experience_Gain is increased by CTH_Bonus
   If spent extra aiming APs, then
      If Experience_Gain is greater than APs_Spent_on_Aiming, then
         Aiming_Bonus = APs_Spent_on_Aiming
      Else,
         Aiming_Bonus = Experience_Gain
      Experience_Gain is increased by Aiming_Bonus
   Experience_Gain is increased by 3

Experience_Gain is increased by 3

If Firing two pistols/SMGs, then
   Experience_Gain reduced by 1/3 of its value
If Firing at a Cow or Crow, then
   Experience_Gain reduced by 1/2
If Firing at Vehicle, Robot or Tank, then
   Experience_Gain = 0

Number_of_Chances for Marskmanship = Experience_Gain

This is very important stuff, so let's go through it. Please note that the order of the formula above is very important, especially if the shot's going to hit.

We start with 0 chances.
If the shot's going to hit, we get a number of chances equal to 1/25 of our chance-to-MISS. That's the opposite of Chance-to-Hit. Smile

If it's going to hit, we get more chances based on our APs Spent on Aiming, but only if the shot was made with low enough accuracy.
Any shot that hits will then give an extra 3 chances.
At this point, we get another 3 chances for any shot, regardless of whether it hit or miss.
Then we check to see if we've fired two weapons. If so, we only get 2/3 as many chances to level up. But remember, we shot twice, so we actually end up with more chances after both weapons are calculated.
Firing at wildlife halves our chances to gain experience.
Finally, firing at immobile targets (or the robot) means we don't get ANY chances at all.

The order is important because things add up, get divided, and are weighed against one another in a specific order...

Note also that if the shot is a miss, then these chances are counted as FAILURE-type - they can't push us up to the next Marksmanship level, but they can get us as close as possible to levelling up, if enough chances are rolled successfully.

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THROWING KNIVES IN TACTICAL MODE

This is similar to firing weapons, although more lucrative in terms of the number of chances we get from it.

Experience_Gain = 0
If knife is going to hit, then
   CTH_Bonus = (100 - Chance-to-Hit) / 10
   Experience_Gain is increased by CTH_Bonus
   If spent extra aiming APs, then
      If Experience_Gain is greater than APs_Spent_on_Aiming, then
         Aiming_Bonus = APs_Spent_on_Aiming
      Else,
         Aiming_Bonus = Experience_Gain
      Experience_Gain is increased by (2 * Aiming_Bonus)
   Experience_Gain is increased by 10

Experience_Gain is increased by 10

If throwing at a Cow or Crow, then
   Experience_Gain reduced by 1/2
If throwing at Vehicle, Robot or Tank, then
   Experience_Gain = 0

Number_of_Chances for Marksmanship = (Experience_Gain / 2)
Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = (Experience_Gain / 2)

Very similar to the weapons formula, but more lucrative.

We start with 0 chances.
If the throw is going to hit, we get a number of chances equal to 1/10 of our chance-to-MISS.
If it's going to hit, we get more chances based on our APs Spent on Aiming, but only if the shot was made with low enough accuracy.
Any throw that hits will then give an extra 10 chances.
At this point, we get another 10 chances for any throw, regardless of whether it hit or miss.
Throwing knives at wildlife halves our chances to gain experience.
Finally, throwing at immobile targets (or the robot) means we don't get ANY chances at all.
The final amount is then HALVED, which is still almost twice as lucrative as when shooting weapons. Plus, we get chances to advance in TWO skills rather than just one.

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ATTACKING WITH A KNIFE IN TACTICAL COMBAT

This is almost exactly the same as attacking with Throwing Knives, as explained just above, with a slight difference. So I'm not going to explain the whole thing, just show the difference here:

Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = Experience_Gain
Number_of_Chances for Agility = (Experience_Gain / 3)
Number_of_Chances for Strength = (Experience_Gain / 3)

Huge amount of dexterity increases, as unlike in the throwing knives formula, the large number of chances is not dividided by two. For agility and strength we get a little less, around the same amount we'd get to Marksmanship when using firearms.

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DODGING KNIFE ATTACKS IN TACTICAL COMBAT

We get a nice amount of chances whenever we manage to dodge a knife attack.

15 Chances to advance in Dexterity
5 Chances to advance in Agility
5 Chances to advance in Strength

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ATTEMPTS AT STEALING

Any attempt at stealing will give you some chances to advance. Successful stealing is of course much more lucrative.

Please note that the program makes sure you don't get points for trying to steal from Vehicles, Robots, or Tanks.

In case of success

8 chances to advance in Strength
3 chances to advance in Dexterity
3 chances to advance in Agility

In case of failure

4 Chances to advance in Strength
1 chance to advance in Dexterity
1 chance to advance in Agility
All these chances are considered FAILURES

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ATTACKING WITH PUNCHES OR BLUNT-WEAPONS IN TACTICAL COMBAT

Hand-to-hand attacks give a number of chances, even if they miss.

If attack was a hit, then
   If target is a Tank, Vehicle, or Robot, then
      No chances.
   If target is a Cow or Crow, then
      Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = 4
      Number_of_Chances for Strength = 1
      Number_of_Chances for Agility = 1
   Else,
      Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = 8
      Number_of_Chances for Strength = 3
      Number_of_Chances for Agility = 3

If attack was a miss, then
   If target is a Tank, Vehicle, or Robot, then
      No chances.
   If target is a Cow or Crow, then
      Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = 2
      Number_of_Chances for Strength = 1
      Number_of_Chances for Agility = 1
   Else,
      Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = 4
      Number_of_Chances for Strength = 1
      Number_of_Chances for Agility = 1

Surprisingly, even a missed attack gives SUCCESS-type chances (I.E. even if you miss, you can still gain actual levels in DEX, STR, and AGI).

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DODGING A PUNCH OR BLUNT-WEAPON ATTACK IN TACTICAL COMBAT

This always gives a certain number of chances, about half as much as dodging a knife.

8 Chances to advance in Dexterity
3 Chances to advance in Agility
3 Chances to advance in Strength

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THROWING GRENADES IN TACTICAL COMBAT

This formula is a bit more mathematical. Note that you only get chances-to-advance if you're actually throwing at targets. They don't have to be in the target tile, but they have to be in the radius of the blast. The more targets are within the blast radius, the more chances you get!!!

Experience_Gain_For_Range = ( ( Weight_of_Grenade * Range_in_METERS ) + 30 ) / 60
Number_of_Chances for Strength = Experience_Gain_For_Range

The comment in the program says that the idea is to get 10 chances for a "pineapple" grenade thrown at 10 tiles (100 meters). I guess that depends on the MODDABLE weight of the grenade though Wink

Experience_Gain_For_Accuracy = 5 + (2 * ( Number_of_Targets_Within_Blast_Radius - 1) )
If grenade has hit the tile it was thrown at, then
   Experience_Gain_For_Accuracy is DOUBLED
CTH_Bonus = (100 - Chance_to_Hit) / 10
Experience_Gain_For_Accuracy is increased by CTH_Bonus

Number_of_Chances for Dexterity = (Experience_Gain_for_Accuracy / 2)
Number_of_Chances for Marksmanship = (Experience_Gain_for_Accuracy / 2)

The more targets you hit, the better. I've not yet researched CTH for grenades, but it factors in here at the same rate as Thrown Knives.

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AVOIDING SHOTS IN TACTICAL MODE

I don't know exactly how to approach this one, but I think I understand most of it. Basically, this type of experience gain happens when a bullet meant for your merc misses (or strikes an obstacle). It goes in line with dodging melee/knife attacks... but with bullets.

5 chances to advance in Agility

This is a FAILURE-type chance. You can't actually gain a level in Agility from this, but it can get you closer to levelling, nonetheless.

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QUEST EXPERIENCE REWARDS

I may update this section in the future, because I think some of the triggers that cause this are still alluding me. All of the quest rewards give us chances to advance in EXPERIENCE_LEVEL only.

100 chances to advance in Experience Level for Killing Kingpin
100 chances to advance in Experience Level for rescuing a captured merc from ALMA prison
100 chances to advance in Experience Level for rescuing Maria (Angel gives you the deed to his shop)
400 chances to advance in Experience Level for killing the Bug Queen

The reward is given only to mercs who are in the sector at the time, and only if they are conscious.

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PHYSICAL EXERTION IN TACTICAL

When undertaking any action in tactical mode which requires the loss of breath points (I.E., physical exertion), we gain a few chances to advance in Health and Strength.

There is a minimum amount of breath points that must be lost for us to qualify for this experience gain. The minimum is equal to the Breath cost of moving across Grass tiles. In the code this is defined as "10 breath points", however the scale of breath points is hard to understand. The ratio between "breath points" and actual visible stamina (the blue bar, and the character's stamina value as displayed when mousing over the stamina bar) is 100 to 1. Therefore, every 100 points of Breath Loss would cause a Stamina loss of 1 point. At least, that's how it seems - the calculation is a bit too complicated for me...

Also, the action we're undertaking must be "proactive", meaning that the loss is caused by an activity rather than by passive breath loss (such as taking damage from enemy attacks).

The more exerting our action was, the more likely we are to get experience increase.

If Breath_Point_Loss > 10, then
   If "Proactive", then
      Random_Number = anything between 0 and 1000
      If Random_Number < Breath_Point_Loss, then
         Gain 4 chances to advance in Health
         Gain 2 chances to advance in Strength

Again, since breath points are difficult to explain, it's simply easier to say that the more breath points you lose due to your actions, the more likely you are to gain points to advance.

[Updated on: Mon, 27 April 2015 23:45] by Moderator