General Question: How many battles are too many?

[ShadGreen]

I'm making an rpg right now, and the hardest thing is trying to find out how many battles per area is too many. I want to have a large number of battles to give the player some difficulty, but I don't want it too feel repetitive. I just want to poll people for a general understanding.

Just as a side note, I am going to have 16 areas, 14 of which are just pairs of larger areas split in two.

 

[Nightblade50]

21-30. It gives difficulty without being too repetitive.

 

[VertigoAffliction]

Yeah, I say twenty-five or less.
But no fewer than twelve, or eight if the area is relatively small.

And, for balanced, none of this 1 step, 2 step, 3 step, battle nonsense either.
If I wanted to play something that ridiculous, I'd play Kaizo Mario World (and I have).

 

[Ms Littlefish]

To me, it's going to depend on the variety of battles. Often, high numbers of battles introduce difficulty by becoming a game of resource and item management, which can get repetitive and isn't exactly the most fun in my opinion. I'd rather have fewer battles that offer up a selection of more challenging troop formations and unique mid-boss and boss events.

 

[gstv87]

I can't remember the last time I played an oldschool adventure RPG, so I wouldn't have a comparison,...
but, from the story point of view? (mandatory battles) 10-15 is a good number.
on top of that, you can add a sort of side quest system where you fight battles not affecting the main narrative.

if you have a story, a story has at much 4 acts: introduction, complication, resolution and ending.
I remember playing Shining Force for the Sega Genesis, and it had some six acts or so, three or four battles each, but I couldn't name a number.

 

[VertigoAffliction]

I remember playing Shining Force for the Sega Genesis...

Still have that one myself. That's a game based more in strategy than in 'the grind'...

I also think that the number of battles should also be based upon the overall difficulty of said battles. Fewer harder battles, but more of the easier ones.

 

[gstv87]

I can't remember the last time I played an oldschool adventure RPG, so I wouldn't have a comparison,...

actually, it just came to me: Epic Battle Fantasy 4, a flash game.
I got to maybe the fifth stage (late Jungle, almost Desert scenario, out of a sequence of Forest, Cavern, Town, Factory, Jungle, Desert, and.... I don't know what, because I never got there)
played well over 50 battles.

 

[Tai_MT]

Personally, depending on the size of "play area", I prefer certain amounts of combat. Basically, I expect a single encounter every 15-18 tiles. If I have to cross a room that is 15 tiles long, I expect a single battle in there. If I'm crossing over 48 tiles in a single room (it's a maze or something), I expect roughly 3 or 4 battles there.

15 tiles at "regular walking speed" in most games is plenty of time "between combats" for me. That's what I prefer.

Just kind of a "quick and dirty" rule for me.

Unfortunately, the RPG Makers don't really have a "minimum" and instead rely upon "averages". So, to get that 15 tile encounter consistently, I typically have to jack the encounter rate up to 40 or so... sometimes even 45. If I put it at 15 or 30, I run into a lot of instances where I hit 5-8 spaces and have another encounter.

 

[bgillisp]

Depends on the zone and what you wish to portray. I'd expect more encounters in a snake nest than in a wide open plain outside a city.

@Tai_MT : I think there's a way to with scripting set a minimum number of steps into the engine. I remember I did it before I moved to visual battlers instead, and I think I got that code still sitting around somewhere. Though it is for ACE, I bet the same could be done for MV easily.

 

[Tai_MT]

There was a simple fix for VX Ace and I employed that. But, I haven't really seen it for MV, so... my encounter rates are like 40 to ensure the 15 spaces between battles, ha ha.

 

[ChampX]

Here is the MV solution I made in like 30 seconds very hastily. I didn't test it but feel free to use, no credit needed even.

 * @param Minimum Steps
 * @type number
 * @min 1
 * @desc minimum steps before encounter
 * Default: 1
 * @default 1
 * @help Enter minimum number of steps before an encounter is triggered

(function() 
{   
    var minstep = Number(parameters['Minimum Steps']);
    minstep = minstep < 1 ? 1 : minstep;   

    Game_Player.prototype.makeEncounterCount = function() 
    {
        var n = $gameMap.encounterStep();
        this._encounterCount = Math.randomInt(n) + Math.randomInt(n) + minstep;
    };
   
})();