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Author Topic: Cave Population  (Read 1662 times)

Kenkaku

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Cave Population
« on: December 05, 2010, 02:58:36 PM »
Alright, I have a question regarding the spawn system(s) for the various caves surrounding Vallaki. On a normal day(IG), I visit 6 of the caves surrounding the city. Of these, only one has a static spawn, The Thoul Cave near the base of the mountains. As i've visited these caves each day, i've noticed a few things that just seem a little odd to me regarding the population or lack thereof.

First, There's been quite a few times when a cave will stay completely empty for several RL days at a time, sometimes even longer. The only opposition i'll meet is the occasional swarm of mundane bats clogging up a doorway. I have no problem with this seeing as I only look for the herbs and such, but it's kind of boring just dashing through the cave freely. Some sort of resistance, anything really, is always fun. I like the random spawns, always have, but sometimes they're lacking.

Second, I've also noticed that some populations never seem to leave. Most people (myself included) don't bother with spawns we deem 'Not worth it' like the Decrepit Skeleton caves. Now, I believe there's a script of some sort that changes the population from time to time to demonstrate new creatures taking over and wiping out the other inhabitants. The problem with this is I have so rarely seen it happen. Just recently (today, in fact) there was a Decrepit skeleton cave that no one entered since the last reset and is still growing in difficulty (which is still not worth the time). I'm not sure how the script runs, if it's even still in employ, but several months IG seems more than suitable for those Skeletons to be evicted by something a little more fearsome.

Last, I've noticed that some spawns just never seem to go away no matter how many times you decimate the population. Using the Skeleton cave as an example, I've completely cleared the place out of loot, creatures, herbs and traps several times already and the bloody things are still making it their home. This is good for some spawns (on an OOC basis), but others not so much.

My question is this: How do these systems work? Are they functioning properly? Is there some aspect i'm missing? I'm more curious about whether or not this is a minor issue in the scripts than anything since, as I stated already, I don't really care about opposition, I'm just there for the herbs. It just seems that things have changed since I originally came to Ravenloft regarding these caves.

I'm not entirely sure if i'm even allowed an answer, publicly or not so, if it should remain a secret, that's fine. Just let me know so I can shut my yap ^^'

Anyway, Thanks in advance for entertaining a curious mind.
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Norture

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2010, 03:08:53 PM »
Related topic to the skeleton caves:
The locks in the caves and on the chests have a ridiculously high DC (I think the highest I encountered in a skeleton cave was 40 on a door, but 30 is fairly normal), and sometimes delevel traps on the chests. This is in comparison to the loot in them, which is most likely going to be 10-50 fang worth of garbage. When I was at a lower level, I'd always skip skeletons because it just was not worth it. The curses and deleveling is harder to handle as a noob with fewer resources.

Soren / Zarathustra217

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2010, 03:37:40 AM »
There has been some issues with the skeleton population variation setup which should have been fixed now. I suspect this of having been the cause of a large part of these issues.

If it persists though, I'll look at tweaking the settings. :)

Kenkaku

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2010, 12:59:50 PM »
My qualm isn't with the Skeletons so much as just the general functioning of the spawns in these caves. I just used the Skeletons as an example since those bloody things never go away. Cockroaches, I swear -_-

I guess my question ultimately boils down to: How long do we wait until a flag should be raised? I've no problem with poor spawns or no spawns, it's just the frequency and persistence of some of them that bothers me.
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Soren / Zarathustra217

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2010, 01:02:26 PM »
Well, what I meant to say was that the improper setup of the skeletons were causing anomalies across the system. Now that that's fixed, we can more readily assess the entirety of the system as it's intended.

Kenkaku

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2010, 01:08:16 PM »
Ahh, okay. That makes a little more sense! *nodnod*

Much appreciated for the rapid response, Boss man!
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Norture

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2010, 02:37:20 PM »
Well, what I meant to say was that the improper setup of the skeletons were causing anomalies across the system. Now that that's fixed, we can more readily assess the entirety of the system as it's intended.

I'll take my level 11 ass out cave-crawlin' then and give it a look-see later.

Kenkaku

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2010, 02:54:08 PM »
Well, what I meant to say was that the improper setup of the skeletons were causing anomalies across the system. Now that that's fixed, we can more readily assess the entirety of the system as it's intended.

I'll take my level 11 ass out cave-crawlin' then and give it a look-see later.

Haste-mage, Away! xD
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Kenkaku

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Re: Cave Population
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2010, 08:05:22 PM »
As an update, I've noticed over the past week the caves I visit have been changing in population as it used to be save for one Barovia - Vallaki - Southern Forest- Lake - Forest Cave. This cave has been decrepit skeletons since before I originally started this topic.

On a side note, Those skeletons caves have become significantly better. The loot is actually worth the time, even if the xp for my level isn't (which is understandable). Though, One thing I would like to point out is the excessive number of traps that seem to be placed in these caves. Earlier today, in fact, I went into one that had no less than 8 Negative Energy traps that did 8-12 damage even with a Negative Energy Shield potion active. Not to mention the Strength damage on the things. I can't seem to make the save even with a +10 Fortitude against the things so end up taking about 6-10 Strength damage per cave. This isn't too bad, but seems a little excessive to me. Just my two cents.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2010, 08:07:20 PM by Kenkaku »
I am but a blade, A simple tool of destruction.