The Joys of Item Randomization, and how it could be better.

[WalrusJones]

So, Recently, I turned on both start randomization, and item randomization. I must say, with just the minimal amount of item randomization there is with these settings, this game feels far better then it did before. While its original state made it so the game was easier to pick up and learn, and master through expertise, I must say that the organized randomization really does help the game shine.

However, the randomization does have its issues, but the incredibly organized, logical randomization also has its strenghts.

I will give some feedback on the two types of randomization, and what I think their futures should be.

Start Randomiztion: Its funny, adds some serious variety to game start that was lacking before, and makes me feel much more eager to play it on any given day.
However, some changes I would like to see (From a design standpoint:)
- The original pistol start also has its charm, seeing this added to the random start list would be nice.
- It feels kinda half baked in how it handles the new starting weapons, I would think of adding a startAmmo variable to the various starting weapons, which could then be used in floor-by-floor item drops as a substitute for a portion of the 9mm pistol ammo drops. So, you could get revolver ammo more often and earlier on the Griffon start.
-- startAmmoSaturation could also be a variable that could be used to balance the pink death with the Vlong john, and other heavy rifle things. It would play a part in the total item randomization, adding weight to the likelyhood of your starting weapons ammo appearing on any floor. This would be useful for balancing starts with lack-luster weapons, like the VlongJohn. Sure, its the worst heavy rifle in many situations, but it existing makes the game drop larger amounts of heavy rifle ammo. Or dynamite, in the instance of my least favorite start.
- A few starts that promote playstyles/weapons that are not normally adopted by the players with existing items would be cool. IE, a triple barrel nailgun start, an SMG start (Due to their higher then normal costs, lower then average payback in this cost. General wastefulness, which can oftentimes be fun.)


Total Randomization: It makes the game more tense, and makes it so I occasionally use things other then the AGL1 to break down walls. However, it also has its issues:
- What can drop on a floor and what is probable to drop an a floor is always static... The two overlap.
-- I would like to see a system where a supermajority of item drops do come from that floors loot pool, but you could also get drops from one to two floors away.
--- An example for floor threes item drops (In the percentage probability that any item drop is of a loot pool:) poolFloorOne: 2, poolFloorTwo: 5, poolFloorThree:85, poolFloorFour:4, poolFloorFive:3, poolUnique:1.
--- Floor one would probably replace the lower floor lootpools with a high chance of getting some sort of unique items, unique items would probably have a cap on the number of each that can appear (There can only be one box of chocolate, one griffon, ETC ETC,) but would otherwise require randomized starts to get.
--- This would make the game mostly predictable, but would also make the randomization shine far brighter then it does for other games of the genera.
-- Similar things could be done with the number of weapons that appear laying on the ground/in boxes per floor. (IE: Firstfloor: 1 weaponslot-10%, 2 Weaponslots-85%, 3 Weaponslots-5%.)


Now, I hope you can understand why this may be enjoyable. I personally would love the added support for variety, but I do wonder what the rest of you guys think.

[Hoberdoger]

I really like the idea of randomization. It would really make Teleglitch feel more like ... teleglitch!

[WalrusJones]

You can get some basic randomization through the console, but this is mostly about how said randomization could be so much... *Better*