Fate of Io: Where [Eumonetic Energy] is Drawn From

Where [Eumonetic Energy] is Drawn From

2003/06/28 00:00:37 PDT by mystik3eb [0/43]

K, a good idea would be to get this figured out.

We keep saying how eumonite and EDs will get their energy from surrounding enviornments...well, what? From people? Trees? Animals? Grass? What? Maybe just the earth. What I was thinking is that the energy is all around them, just because they're standing on the planet (which I don't think we've named, lol). So they could store energy in eumonite and EDs wherever they are (unless specific areas say otherwise, which would be a challenging idea for some parts, including side quests), but at a specific rate.

I suggest that the rate of storing could be as follows:
-The size/shape/purity/quantity of eumonite determines how fast energy is drawn
-The specific EDs draw at different rates (kinda like weapons with different ap earnings in FF7) depending on the actual ED

Well...your-input time =)

2003/06/28 09:31:55 PDT by Dev [manager]

::blink::

Uuuuhhhhhhmmm....

Quote from Temporal:

A eumoneticist may draw on his or her own internal eumonetic energy to perform tasks, and most do so quite frequently. However, doing so is not without a cost. The user is left weaker, tired, or out of breath. If used to much, eumonetics can kill the user. In game terms, the use of eumonetics costs hit points (HP). The energy is replenished with food, water, and rest.

2003/06/28 13:20:07 PDT by Temporal [manager]

Quote from Temporal:

Eumonetic devices are normally powered by eumonite. Once the eumonite is depleted, it stops working. Of course, eumoneticists like Rheya can recharge the eumonite from their HP if they need to.

Remember, eumonite is a container for energy. It does NOT recharge itself automatically. Doing so would mean "stealing" energy from unwilling victims, which is not normally allowed.

Eumonite and ED's do not draw their energy from their surroundings... or, at least, *I* really don't think they should.

2003/06/28 14:00:47 PDT by Siemova [0/24]
Awards: 1 from Dev

Well, yes Dev, but that's for people. Eumoneticists. They can draw from their own energy, or from energy found in eumonite. But what about ED's? They don't have their own internal energy. They need a power source, which we've determined is eumonite, but in that case how does eumonite "re/charge"? I think that's what Mystik is talking about, and it's something I'd like to figure out as well.

If users must store their own energy in eumonite to power ED's, I have a few ideas:

This gives Pylos a good and lucrative reason, besides research, to employ eumoneticists. Public-use ED's would need "recharging" on a regular basis, and your average human couldn't do this, of course. Voila - Pylos has a constant cash flow above and beyond device sales.
Regarding practical in-game use, Rheya could re/charge ED's from her own store of energy. This store could be replenished slowly over time, and at an accelerated rate during sleep.
At the end of the game, the party abolishes "magic". I'm not sure how this is accomplished (scientifically), or if that's even been decided yet, so... What if they use a "spell" to corrupt all eumonite in such a way that it no longer stores or transfers EE? Yes, this way "magic" is not completely abolished, but it has the same effects (as far as we need it to): Kydran, having poured all of his own energy into the stockpile of eumonite, is effectively powerless. His resurrection device has no power source either; thus it fails. The same goes for Pylos Epsilon and for Kydran's automatons in Antares.
Basically, I'm just proposing a valid explanation for those events, heh. :)

So that's one observation, one pertinent proposal, and one indirectly related proposal. :P Thoughts?

2003/06/28 17:50:21 PDT by Temporal [manager]

Siemova: Your points #1 and #2 are exactly what I've been saying since I introduced the idea of "techno wizardry" devices years ago. :P

2003/07/01 20:39:59 PDT by mystik3eb [0/43]

Urg...I knew about the drawing from themselves deal, I just hated it. I don't like the idea of drawing EE from your life...that just doesn't work for me. I liked MP, some source of energy certain people were born with (eumonetic magicians, considering I'm under the impression that eumoneticists are people who dabble with EDs, not like Dell and Brooke who are the "magicians" of the group), but since we aren't going with that, I wanted to implement te enviornment (since this world is generally pretty green)...I dunno, I guess I'm outvoted, but I personally don't like using HP as MP in this case. Maybe stamina...oh well, let's not get into other "bars".

2003/07/01 22:55:49 PDT by Temporal [manager]

"Eumoneticist" means "one who uses eumonetic techniques". I meant that to include Dell and Rheya.

Yeah, the idea of taking Eumonetic energy from HP sounds unattractive at first, but I think it will actually add a lot of strategy to the game. Also, every RPG in the world uses MP, and I like being different. :P I think the players would likely want to keep plenty of eumonite around and draw from that most of the time anyway.

2003/07/03 16:34:06 PDT by Dev [manager]
Edited at 2003/07/03 16:34:25 PDT

I agree with Temp. This system would make gameplay different and challenge preconceptions that the player would have, presumably having played many other fantasy games.

If you want to think of it in terms of "bars," here's what I envision. There will obviously be some sort of bar or display that shows your health (HP). Then we'll have another bar that shows the maximum energy that your eumonite can hold, and how much it is currently holding. This bar obviously grows larger (has a bigger capacity) when you obtain more eumonite. This bar goes down whenever you use your eumonite for a technique or for Rheya's ED. If you have no energy in eumonite storage and you still command a tech to be performed, it will come out of the eumoneticist's HP. (Thoughts: Is that automatic? Can a player elect to use HP if she wants to preserve the energy in the eumonite?)

The only way to restore the eumonite energy is to dump HP into it. I believe Temp and I were thinking that the party restores HP gradually over time, so whenever you felt like stacking some more energy in, go for it. You probably wouldn't want Rheya or Dell to stock up their HP in the middle of a battle, for instance, but you might if you're just planning on shopping for a while in Trosene.

2003/07/03 18:30:29 PDT by mystik3eb [0/43]

Alright, then that's the way it will be, I say =)

And to answer your inquery about the using HP for techs: I think if someone wanted to cast a tech, but it's turn to do it was after something else just spent up the last amount of energy in the eumonite, then the player should be asked to continue doing the attack with HP or giving them the option to cancel. I think they should also be able to choose whether to use their HP if they still have energy in their eumonite or not.

A side note: if a technique has a certain amount of energy needed to perform it and there isn't enough stored in the eumonite, then I think they should be able to cast it, but not to it's full ability (like less power if an attack tech, less healed if a healing spell, poison only drains slower or less, boosts/ailments don't last as long/do as much, etc.) What do you think of that?

2003/07/03 21:41:40 PDT by Temporal [manager]

I think it makes sense for spells to be able to use variable amounts of energy in order to increase or decrease the effect. The question, though, is how to allow this without an overly cumbersome interface...

2003/07/04 17:21:04 PDT by mystik3eb [0/43]

Well I was only talking about if they want to do a tech and they didn't have enough energy; then they would use the rest of the energy and it wouldn't have as much an effect. However, I had an idea when you said that: each tech could have a boundary: minimum required energy used to cast with weakest ability, and maximum possible energy able to use to bring the best out of the tech. Does anyone like that idea? I personally don't, I just like being able to use whatever energy is left when you don't have enough...

2003/07/11 18:46:53 PDT by Black Squall [0/5]

I like the idea of having letting the energy be able to come out of your HP when you don't have enough Eumonite. Even having the option of letting it drain your HP instead of Eumonite supply. We could simply just include a check box in part of the GUI that allows you to check one or both. When one box is checked then you have either an HP or Eumonite energy drain and when both are checked, you'll drain your HP when you run out of Eumonite.