Full Version: when is it too much content?
Just looking at the content I have planned for the game, I already have nearly 300 playable characters, (but only 2 classes between them) 300 monsters, 100 different weapons, 120 different armor items, 250 or so spells, and about 96 different items. Is this going to be a problem from a performance perspective?
I don't think so because the data you mentioned is not used complete at the same time (only in some special cases, but that doesn't take too much processor power)- so don't worry about that.
By the way- 300 Characters? Omg...
By the way- 300 Characters? Omg...
What exactly do you mean by nearly 300 characters?
Each character will have the following stats
HP
MP
Tech Points
Strength
Magic
Dex
Speed
Constitution
Darkness
starting skill level (there are a total of 11 different skills: slashing, piercing, bludgeon, bow, unarmed, fire, water, earth, wind, light, dark)
experience level (for each skill level. always starts at 0 when recruited)
starting techs
starting spells
techs and spells technically are all drawn from the "spells" area. they just have different flags.
the project I'm basing this game on has very customizable characters. So instead of having a character tied to a class, race, and locked step skill sets, each character is instead just his attributes, some affinities, and pre-set skills. If you've played Romancing Saga 3, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.
Once you pull away the locked step progression, implementing new characters become remarkably easy.
Now, having said that there is one big clarifying point I need to make. There are 300 different characters total in the entire game. But in reality you really only have about say, 55 or stock type. Between the 55, at least 40 of them have at least 8 different palette swaps. Each palette swapped version has it's own set of stats and skills though, and that is why I still had to handle them as separate characters. (And it's honestly the only reason why I would even contemplate doing up to 300 of them)
In fact, here's the base sprite sheet that I'm using: (note, it's a pretty big image, so I'll spoiler it)
Notice that after each character, a lot of them will have 7 other palette swaps. each one of them is in fact a separate character of it's own.
Also, because of the way play progresses, you never really have access to all 300 at the same time. More like you have access to say, 30 or so characters at the same time. In the early parts of the game, you probably have access to maybe 20 or so. And since their "class" simply denotes their affinities, rather than a strict progression, you have a bit of wiggle room to play around. But at the same time, if you're shooting for optimized play, you don't really have THAT many choices at the same time.
seeing as this game is a square game, I also intend to add in a couple cameo characters from other square games just for the hell of it. (I think Chrono might be a good one)
HP
MP
Tech Points
Strength
Magic
Dex
Speed
Constitution
Darkness
starting skill level (there are a total of 11 different skills: slashing, piercing, bludgeon, bow, unarmed, fire, water, earth, wind, light, dark)
experience level (for each skill level. always starts at 0 when recruited)
starting techs
starting spells
techs and spells technically are all drawn from the "spells" area. they just have different flags.
the project I'm basing this game on has very customizable characters. So instead of having a character tied to a class, race, and locked step skill sets, each character is instead just his attributes, some affinities, and pre-set skills. If you've played Romancing Saga 3, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.
Once you pull away the locked step progression, implementing new characters become remarkably easy.
Now, having said that there is one big clarifying point I need to make. There are 300 different characters total in the entire game. But in reality you really only have about say, 55 or stock type. Between the 55, at least 40 of them have at least 8 different palette swaps. Each palette swapped version has it's own set of stats and skills though, and that is why I still had to handle them as separate characters. (And it's honestly the only reason why I would even contemplate doing up to 300 of them)
In fact, here's the base sprite sheet that I'm using: (note, it's a pretty big image, so I'll spoiler it)
Character Sprite sheet
Notice that after each character, a lot of them will have 7 other palette swaps. each one of them is in fact a separate character of it's own.
Also, because of the way play progresses, you never really have access to all 300 at the same time. More like you have access to say, 30 or so characters at the same time. In the early parts of the game, you probably have access to maybe 20 or so. And since their "class" simply denotes their affinities, rather than a strict progression, you have a bit of wiggle room to play around. But at the same time, if you're shooting for optimized play, you don't really have THAT many choices at the same time.
seeing as this game is a square game, I also intend to add in a couple cameo characters from other square games just for the hell of it. (I think Chrono might be a good one)
This really won't affect your performance, I can assure you- 300 Events at one time- maybe. But data? Never.
ahh, good to know.
this also means I don't feel AS bad if I weren't 100% efficient with my data structure then.
this also means I don't feel AS bad if I weren't 100% efficient with my data structure then.
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