Age Based Stats, What do you think?

[Cobalt]

So in my Dragon Warrior clone I have a system that adjusts your stats based upon your characters age\level.
so the more you try and level up to be come ALL powerful the weaker you can get!

though these numbers seem a bit too skewed as you get older.

You seem to peak in agility in your mid 30s and strength in your late 30s.
While this math peaks your age at 66 your agility and strength actually go negative by mid 50s!

What do you guys think, does this progression seem too realistic for a game? With these numbers your basically going to get your but kicked by a Slime(the first monster you ever fight) by the time your 60! Even with the best weapon and armor in the game!
Does it fall off TOO fast or TOO soon you think?
Granted with a RANDOMIZE TIMER these numbers may differ.

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. SCREEN _NEWIMAGE(80, 37, 0)
2. P.Age = 17
3. PRINT "Lvl"; TAB(7); "S+"; TAB(12); "A+"; TAB(17); "Age"; TAB(22); "STR"; TAB(27); "AGI"
4. FOR i%% = 0 TO 32
5.  Sadj = INT(RND * 6) + 1 - INT((-5 + (P.Age - 20)) * (.15 + ((P.Age - 17) / 100)) - .49)
6.  P.Strength = P.Strength + Sadj
7.  Aadj = INT(RND * 6) + 1 - INT((-8 + (P.Age - 20)) * (.4 + ((P.Age - 17) / 100)) - .49)
8.  P.Agility = P.Agility + Aadj
9.  P.Luck = P.Luck + INT(RND * 3) + INT(0 + (P.Age - 25)) * (.4 + ((P.Age - 17) / 50) + .49)
10.  P.Max_HP = P.Max_HP + INT(RND * (10 - (P.Age / 10))) + 1
11.  P.Max_MP = P.Max_MP + INT(RND * (5 + (P.Age / 10)))
12.  P.Level = P.Level + 1
13.  P.Age = 17 + INT(P.Level * 1.5 - .49)
14.  
15.  PRINT i%%; "-"; TAB(7); Sadj; TAB(12); Aadj; TAB(17); P.Age; TAB(22); P.Strength; TAB(27); P.Agility
16. NEXT i%%
17.  

on my system, as this code is;
 Strength peaks at 52 on level 15 at age 40
 Agility peaks at 73 on level 13 at age 36
and at Max level 32 age is 66, Strength is -115 and Agility is -176 (you will never hit anything at that score, nor be missed by any attack)

Just wondering if you guy think I need to play with these numbers a bit or not.

[bplus]

I think people play these games to escape reality.

If you make them less strong at older age you better give them some compensating advantage or why play or why play that character?

BTW questions relating to Dragon Warrior should be done with that thread IMHO:
A for the bump, draw attention, maintain presence
B for the context
C for the bump with context ;-) show issues that come in evolving a game.

I am hoping this game or one of yours is featured in Games and lots of feedback help numbers arguments.

[SMcNeill]

If I was going to incorporate age into Dragon Warrior, I'd do it by:

Starting character at age 12, or so....  You're a young peon killing slimes with a bamboo stick for goodness sake.   STR -4, DEX -4, CON -4, INT -4 for reduced stats.

Each hour of game play, the character ages a year.  (5 minutes game play represents a month.)  Physical stats go up 1 per year for the next 4 years.  Mental stats go up by 1 per every two years for the next 8 years.  Give a nice in-game notification/pop-up to make the player aware of this event.)

At this point, your character is basically an adult and won't automatically "grow/wither" for the next twenty years or so.  Around the age of 40, physical stats slowly decrease but mental stats increase.  (Age makes us slower/older, but smarter/wiser, they claim.)

After another 20 years or so, the mental growth stops...

Another 20 years and even the mental stats start to drop...

****************

I don't think most people play Dragon Quest for countless hours, but it adds an element of character growth that stands out as slightly different from the original, without being something which would make game play frustrating to the point of unplayability.