(Sigh) This is why debating something with someone who doesn't understand the mechanics being referred to is frustrating.
You seem to believe that I am unaware of how scaling in Skyrim, and more generally in the industry works. This is obviously not the case, and given that I posted a specific example of where scaling went wrong (Legends of Amalur) other than Oblivion, leads us to the following:
#1 - I've played Oblivion, Legends of Amalur, Ultima IV-VIII and so forth, something you manifestly have not, and yet you continue to assume a higher level of knowledge
#2 - your arrogance / lack of good faith in engaging in conversation is at a high threshold
#3 - I've modded many RPG / ARPGs, including Morrowind / Oblivion / Torchlight I/II and so on.
For reference, the concept of static / dynamic scaling (your dungeon example) was introduced in Fallout 3, and they are named
Encounter Zones:
Encounter Zone
Encounter Zones group cells, worldspaces, and individual references into similarly leveled encounter areas.
Zone Level
The Zone Level is a value calculated the first time the player loads any of the Encounter Zone's cells. It is stored permanently on the Encounter Zone and is never recalculated. If the player returns to the zone after gaining several levels, the zone's level remains the same as when he first visited.
Leveled Lists use the calculated Zone Level, which is based on the player's level and the Encounter Zone Minimum Level. If the player's level is above the zone's, only a percentage of the player's level is used. The fLevelScalingMult gamesetting controls the amount.
Encounter Zones can be viewed, modified, and created from the Encounter Zone Dialog, found in the main toolbar under World>Encounter Zones. Cells are added to Encounter Zones individually from their Interior Data tab, found from the main toolbar under World>Cells. http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Encounter_ZoneGiven you asked a nonsensical question regarding MOD creation & levels, there's a technical page from Bethesda's Fallout 3 G.E.C.K, showing you how it's done in their engine. Special snowflake, if you're asking about modding & wondering about level scaling, the answer is: learn to use the kit provided.
Hint: if you
really want to know why Skyrim breaks, here's the Armor / Damage reduction graph for Skyrim (vanilla):
Damage Taken %
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/SsMlp.png)
Armor Reduction & Effectiveness
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/nlUxU.png)
Skyrim's armor system is messed up so that effective HP barely increases so little from 0 to 300 worn AR that even mediocre +health enchantments are more effective, skyrockets between 301 and 567 worn AR, and then falls off completelyhttp://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/481577-skyrims-armor-system-is-broken/Still think you know why you were one-shotting dragons? Methinks not.
Damage Cap: there is no damage cap in Skyrim.
Armor Cap: there is a cap to 80%
of total damage at 567 armor
e.g. If a player does 1,000 damage, the maximum a player / creature can reduce this to is 200. If the player does 10,000 this is 2,000.
[edit]
On checking, monsters apparently do not have a native getav damageresist #, however the difficulty setting applies a damage reduction % to the player:
Difficulty Player Damage Dealt Player Damage Taken
Novice 2x 0.5x
Apprentice 1.5x 0.75x
Adept 1x 1x
Expert 0.75x 1.5x
Master 0.5x 2x
Legendary 0.25x 3x
So on legendary difficulty, we can count the monsters as ~almost~ hitting AR cap % reduction. This is important because this penalty applies to
all monsters, thus rendering the higher threat dragons as more difficult to lower DPS characters.
[edit over]
This produces a massive issue with HP totals:
Dragon - Level - HP - Player level # add to lists
Basic - 10 - 950 - 0
Blood - 20 - 1421 - 18
Frost - 30 - 1860 - 27
Elder - 40 - 2255 - 36
Ancient - 50 - 3565 - 45
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dragon
In 40 levels, there is only an increase of 2615 HP,
and fixed HP amounts are used whereas the DPS of the character (
non-magic as magic damage is also broken, a different subject) follows this:
displayed damage = (base damage + smithing increase) * (1 + 0.5 * skill/100) * (1 + perk effects) * (1 + item effects)
Perk Effects = .2 * Barbarian/Armsman/Overdraw rank level
Damage =
((Right Hand displayed Damage * (1 + Power Attack Bonus) * (1 + Dual Power Attack Bonus) * (1 + Power Attack Perk)
* (1 + Dual Power Attack perk)) * Dual Power Attack Mod) + ((Left Hand displayed Damage * (1 + Power Attack Bonus)
* (1 + Dual Power Attack Bonus) * (1 + Power Attack Perk) * (1 + Dual Power Attack perk)) * Dual Power Attack Mod)
Power Attack Bonus = 1 if power attacking
Dual Power Attack Bonus = 0.125 if power attacking with dual weapons
Power Attack Perk = 0.25 if power attacking and you have Savage Strike or Devastating Blow
Dual Power Attack Perk = 0.5 if power attacking with two weapons and you have Dual Savagery
Dual Power Attack Mod is 2/3 for the right and 1/3 for the left hand
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Weapons
The use of multipliers (*) produces large numbers, even without enchanting. Players can expect to hit ~300-600 with an 'endgame' (100 skill / perks / daedric) build as early as level 25. As this is on a curve, it should be
obvious that attacking a level 10 dragon [950 HP] when your DPS is 40 will take longer than if your DPS is 250 attacking a level 40 dragon [3565 HP].
What do all these numbers mean?They mean that the player's DPS is never capped, and while the player enjoys a massive % damage reduction between 301-567 AR, the monsters never receive anything but the
difficulty modifier and their HP is a fixed total. Monsters don't seemingly have varying AR levels [barring humanoids, potentially], which further penalizes lower level DPS outputs with regards to HP totals. i.e. a 25% damage reduction on a DPS of 40 vrs HP 950 dragon has
much more impact than on a DPS of 500 vrs 3565.
Again, the difficulty setting applies a flat x3 damage bonus to
all monsters which again is effected as a % by AR. Thus, capping your 80% AR reduction will benefit the player that much more.
This means a player playing on legendary difficulty hits a point where the DPS of mobs is quickly reducing as their AR improves, at the same time as their DPS increases outscale the fixed HP of said mobs, who gain HP at fixed intervals.
Thus the AR / DPS mechanics break Skyrim, not the level scaling.As I stated a post or two ago:
The reason for this is that there's an exponential power curve in Skyrim due to % modifiers, and the game doesn't calc DPS etc very well...
If you're still in the dark: you one-shot dragons :: if they scaled correctly, they'd also one-shot you. DPS <> HP is that broken in Skyrim, especially over level 25 or so.
You
might understand my previous comments now. Here's hoping. I'm also 100% sure I understand the
mechanics of Skyrim's scaling, and I'm also fairly sure you that you do not, other than in a
"hey, I read this opinion piece in a gaming magazine, so I'll block quote it".and...
/thread
The reason for this is that a scaling system
simply cannot work in D:OS with the current mechanics, thus rendering this entire thread
pointless.
p.s. If you're going to block quote some random fluff gaming article, at least provide a link. Common courtesy to the person you're ripping off.
