Creature Hunt II 0.2.1 is stuck

[Tix Mascot]

We're no longer able to kill creatures and even if we hit them, we only receive messages like this, while the number of creatures still alive remains the same:


Your attack is devestating, killing 0 of the Pink roundhead. 145 Pink roundhead of the swarm remain.


Help, please!

[Todge]

Apr 8, 2020 10:02:21 GMT -8 Tix Mascot said:

We're no longer able to kill creatures and even if we hit them, we only receive messages like this, while the number of creatures still alive remains the same:


Your attack is devestating, killing 0 of the Pink roundhead. 145 Pink roundhead of the swarm remain.


Help, please!

I assume you mean version 0.1.2? It's working fine for me on my test forum.

Can you please leave a link to the thread in question, and ensure that guests can view it please, so I can take a look.

Thank you.

[Tix Mascot]

Update: After some 20 persistent attempts, we are suddenly able to kill creatures again. That has never happened before since we started to use the plugin some years ago, because the slaying has always kicked in after 2-4 posts.

And yes, I typed the wrong version number - it should be 0.1.2 like you wrote, Todge .

This thread should be open for guests: heretix.boards.net/thread/8503/monsters-spotted-on-side

Thanks for your kind help!


Edit: I forgot to mention that my username over at Heretix is Tix Mascot. The reference to 'Puck' in one of the posts is related to an inside joke at Heretix. Lke ProBoards has Angry Bear, we have Puck, a prankster ghost that we blame for every glitch, bug and tech issue that we can't find rational explanations for.

[Todge]

Apr 9, 2020 16:00:40 GMT -8 Tix Mascot said:

Update: After some 20 persistent attempts, we are suddenly able to kill creatures again. That has never happened before since we started to use the plugin some years ago, because the slaying has always kicked in after 2-4 posts.

And yes, I typed the wrong version number - it should be 0.1.2 like you wrote, Todge .

This thread should be open for guests: heretix.boards.net/thread/8503/monsters-spotted-on-side

Thanks for your kind help!


Edit: I forgot to mention that my username over at Heretix is Tix Mascot. The reference to 'Puck' in one of the posts is related to an inside joke at Heretix. Lke ProBoards has Angry Bear, we have Puck, a prankster ghost that we blame for every glitch, bug and tech issue that we can't find rational explanations for.

I'm glad the plug appears to be 'unstuck' now, but I have a couple of questions..

Have you changed the HP of the Manicore? I ask because you have it set to 100-200, yet the first appearance of it had 81.. That's below the minimum.

Also, you have the Manticore's group, 'Monsters', set as a swarm.. Swarms are harder to hit than a single large creature, and get harder to hit as you kill them off.

And another thing.. You have the maximum hit points set to 10. While that is not a problem, unless set differently, the maximum damage a member can cause is the maximum HP they currently have.. So, with the maximum HP at 10, your members can only ever cause a maximum of 10 pints of damage, and that's assuming they have full health, as their HP falls so will their ability to cause damage. AND, as if you need another and, if a member does successfully hit a creature, the damage is worked out randomly according to his/her current HP, so, with a max HP of 10, even with a successful strike, you still have a 1 in 10 chance of causing 0 damage.

So, couple your low max HP, and the way swarms work, you will always have a better than average chance of missing or causing zero damage.

[Tix Mascot]

Yes, Todge, I had the minumum HP set to 50 when we started the Manticore thread, but I changed it so that I could experiment with other combinations on other threads that I started and deleted when I couldn't kill any creatures after 5 attempts (I copied the quote in the OP from one of them). I didn't think that any changes to the plugin settings had any effect on threads that are already started, though, since I once had a broken link to an image, changed it in the plugin, but it din't change in the thread.

We have always selectd the swarm option to give our users a prolonged excitement in the game, but never before experienced that we needed about 20 posts to have our first kill.

If I set the PH > 10, it will kill the entire swarm very quickly. Missing the creature is no problem - we only hit it with every 3rd post on average before, so something must have changed in the frequency or statistical distribution of possible hits.

Having a better than average chance of missing or causing zero damage is not a problem either, but there is a difference between 1/3 and 1/20.

Also, we have never had any message telling us "Your attack is devestating, killing 0 of the..." before. When we hit, there is always a number > 0. Zero is hardly 'devestating'.

Maybe you can advice me how to set the paramters to have the result the way we prefer?

We'd like the swarm to be around 100, to hit it ca every 3rd or 4th post and not kill more than 10 at the same time.

Thanks in advance and for the help you have already provided!

I also grab this opportunity to thank you for an excellent plugin that some of our users really adore. On behalf of Heretix Forum, I would like to wish you and your family a really Happy Easter!

Cheers Sven

[Todge]

Apr 11, 2020 3:13:08 GMT -8 Tix Mascot said:

Yes, Todge , I had the minumum HP set to 50 when we started the Manticore thread, but I changed it so that I could experiment with other combinations on other threads that I started and deleted when I couldn't kill any creatures after 5 attempts (I copied the quote in the OP from one of them). I didn't think that any changes to the plugin settings had any effect on threads that are already started, though, since I once had a broken link to an image, changed it in the plugin, but it din't change in the thread.

Changing the plugin settings mid way through hunt will change some attributes but not others.. Maximum hit points will change, but strike rate will not. Images will not be updated, and neither will the HP of the creature. You could end up having a maximum strike rate of 1000 but only a 1% chance of hitting the creature. That's pretty extreme, but it is possible.

We have always selectd the swarm option to give our users a prolonged excitement in the game, but never before experienced that we needed about 20 posts to have our first kill.

I see.. But can't you get the same effect by changing the creatures attributes? The trouble with using the swarm function and having such a small HP can take your strike rate way down, and then, when you do hit a creature, the plugin chooses a random number between 0 and your current HP, so when you only have an HP of 10, you are 10 times more likely to get a 0 than you whould if you had an HP of 100, for example. And as the creature tahes HP from you, that will become even less.. Go down to 4, and the chances of hitting the swarm would effectively be zero.. You can cap the minimum strike rate of a swarm, have you tried that? I've never tried it with low HP, but it should still work.

If I set the PH > 10, it will kill the entire swarm very quickly. Missing the creature is no problem - we only hit it with every 3rd post on average before, so something must have changed in the frequency or statistical distribution of possible hits.

Yeah, you need to get a good balance.. It's all experimentation.

Having a better than average chance of missing or causing zero damage is not a problem either, but there is a difference between 1/3 and 1/20.

That's for sure.

Also, we have never had any message telling us "Your attack is devestating, killing 0 of the..." before. When we hit, there is always a number > 0. Zero is hardly 'devestating'.

Yup.. I'm looking into that message, though it all seems to work for me on my test forum. One issue I have to work out, is once you get a possible strike rate below 3, then the seperation between each message level is below 1, and as the plugin compares a number of less than 1 with any number above 0, you will always get the same message, regardless of how devistating the attack is... And the the hits are rounded up od down, makes it possible to get a devistating attack but scoring zero HP.. That's what I am trying to sort out now.

Maybe you can advice me how to set the paramters to have the result the way we prefer?

We'd like the swarm to be around 100, to hit it ca every 3rd or 4th post and not kill more than 10 at the same time.

It should be possible.. I'll do some testing and get back to you if I find an answer.

Thanks in advance and for the help you have already provided!

I also grab this opportunity to thank you for an excellent plugin that some of our users really adore. On behalf of Heretix Forum, I would like to wish you and your family a really Happy Easter!

Cheers Sven

You are most welcome... Thank YOU, and I hope you had a Good Easter too.

[Tix Mascot]

Thanks again for that useful info, Todge!

We'll continue to fight the Manticore while waiting for your suggestions once you have figured out our optimal settings.

But no rush, please! I guess you're busy enough already, so take your time!

[Todge]

Apr 14, 2020 1:38:33 GMT -8 Tix Mascot said:

Thanks again for that useful info, Todge !

We'll continue to fight the Manticore while waiting for your suggestions once you have figured out our optimal settings.

But no rush, please! I guess you're busy enough already, so take your time!

I have rewritten the swarm function, so can you please try version 0.1.3

You can retain your settings, but I would suggest that you change them to....

Hit Points: 100
Minimum Swarm Ratio: 10 As a swarm is diminished, it becomes harder to hit, so is it recommended that you add a figure here.. It will then stop reducing the likelyhood of a successful attack when it hits this ratio.
Max Hit Points: 10 This will limit your members to a maximum of 10 HP with each attack.

Can you please let me know how you go.

It may be a good ides to reset the user_hits key too, otherwise your members will take an age to get to full health.

[Tix Mascot]

Thanks a bunch, Todge. I'm a bit busy the coming days, but if not before, I'll hope to have a look at it on Sunday.

[Tix Mascot]

Hi, Todge!

After I upgraded to version 0.1.3, the 'attack' function in the Manticore thread became disabled.

I changed the settings and started a test thread, where a hit is registered for every 3 posts on average, but the nimber is not subtracted from the total swarm, which remains stuck on 109 Red roundheads no matter how many times you hit a creature.

However, the text no longer says that a hit is devastating when it's at 0 points.

Here's the link to the test thread: heretix.boards.net/thread/8556/monster-testing

I guess some fine tuning must be done before it works again.

Thanks so far!

[Todge]

That's a strange one... On my test forum, if I hit the creature and cause 1 point of damage, it will only register a score about half the time. Very strange indeed...

I'll have another look...

[Todge]

Could you please tell me how you have set the key permissions for the plugin, also, if you could let me know the swarm ratio and max. hit points too.

Thanks.

[Tix Mascot]

Hi, Todge!

Both the swarm ratio and max hit points are currently set to 10.

All the key permissions are set to everybody, except members of the group 'vampire'.

For a while, it seemed as if you had fixed the Manticore thread, since it subtracted the hits from the total in retrospect, but my last hit didn't. Strange indeed...

Here are quotes from the two last posts:
Reply #57 (forum post 123200) - Your attack is devestating, killing 2 of the Manticore. 67 Manticore of the swarm remain.
Reply #58 (forum post 123204) - Your attack is devestating, killing 1 of the Manticore. 67 Manticore of the swarm remain.

Link to forum post 123204: heretix.boards.net/thread/8503/monsters-spotted-on-side?page=4&scrollTo=123204

Hope this isn't causing your hair to turn grey!

[Todge]

Do you have a test forum?

Also, I don't understand why you are getting a 'devestating' attack but are only scoring 1.. That should be a puny attack..

1-3 should be puny, 4-6 should be moderate and 7-10 should be devestating, so for some reason the plugin is acting differently on your forum than on mine.

Did you reset the user_hits key?

[Todge]

I also just noticed that at the start of the Manticore thread you allowed the swarm to counter-attack, but with the new version of the plugin, the swarm cannot. Is this on purpose, another issue, or a mistake in how you have set up the plugin?