4) Having lances break on couches, but not necessarily every single time rather based on some algorithm involving wpf, armor, and whatever else may be relevant, seems like a good idea. I don't think it should deliver less damage when it breaks though, it broke for a reason (see: delivering damage).
5) Five. Things veered into crazytown on five. But...... I love it.
Well, realistically, a lance would break just about any time it impacted a person.Where do you get that from? If a lance would break on impact, it would severely reduce the impact it has. This might have been the case for tourney lances, which were designed that way to prevent deadly casualties, but actual lances, I am not so sure if they would break everytime.
Where do you get that from? If a lance would break on impact, it would severely reduce the impact it has. This might have been the case for tourney lances, which were designed that way to prevent deadly casualties, but actual lances, I am not so sure if they would break everytime.
What do you think happens if a lance charges into a plated knight? And why, when it breaks off into the target which it was impaled, would it breaking mean it caused less damage when doing so? It broke because it was driven with great speed into a solid mass, it didn't break before making impact, it broke upon impact, having already delivered the damage.Actually the lance breaking will reduce the impact considerably. It's like trying to punch through a piece of wood with your hands, as long as it breaks you won't hurt yourself much. Now if you hit with the same force and it doesn't break, you are going to be in a lot more pain. Same with lances, but then sort of the other way around. If the lance does not break, the target is going to be in a lot more pain than when it would not have. If the lance breaks the impact will be as big as the lance itself could withstand, if it does not break the impact will be the maximal possible impact, which is as large as the forward momentum of the horse concentrated on the tip of the lance.
Actually the lance breaking will reduce the impact considerably. It's like trying to punch through a piece of wood with your hands, as long as it breaks you won't hurt yourself much. Now if you hit with the same force and it doesn't break, you are going to be in a lot more pain. Same with lances, but then sort of the other way around. If the lance does not break, the target is going to be in a lot more pain than when it would not have. If the lance breaks the impact will be as big as the lance itself could withstand, if it does not break the impact will be the maximal possible impact, which is as large as the forward momentum of the horse concentrated on the tip of the lance.
Also, the differentiation the OP makes between the effect of a lances on a peasant and a tincan isn't realistic at all if you ask me. A peasant weighing 75 kilo's and a tincan weighing 75+25 kilo worth of armour isn't going to make that much of a difference for a 700 kilo horse going 40 km/h. There could be a difference in that you skewer the peasant and fail to pierce through the tincan and instead kill the tin can by blunt trauma and knocking him over, but then you'd be able to couch multiple tincans rather than peasants. Continuing to couch with 75 kilos worth peasant hanging from your lance is quite difficult.
Actually the lance breaking will reduce the impact considerably. It's like trying to punch through a piece of wood with your hands, as long as it breaks you won't hurt yourself much. Now if you hit with the same force and it doesn't break, you are going to be in a lot more pain. Same with lances, but then sort of the other way around. If the lance does not break, the target is going to be in a lot more pain than when it would not have. If the lance breaks the impact will be as big as the lance itself could withstand, if it does not break the impact will be the maximal possible impact, which is as large as the forward momentum of the horse concentrated on the tip of the lance.
Also, the differentiation the OP makes between the effect of a lances on a peasant and a tincan isn't realistic at all if you ask me. A peasant weighing 75 kilo's and a tincan weighing 75+25 kilo worth of armour isn't going to make that much of a difference for a 700 kilo horse going 40 km/h. There could be a difference in that you skewer the peasant and fail to pierce through the tincan and instead kill the tin can by blunt trauma and knocking him over, but then you'd be able to couch multiple tincans rather than peasants. Continuing to couch with 75 kilos worth peasant hanging from your lance is quite difficult.
They already do break. Why would you otherwise repair it at round end all the time? visitors can't see pics , please register or login
The analogy does work. Forces work the same both ways, a force is always counter acted by the same force going the other way. The same principle applies to punching wooden boards as to couching lances. I think your problem is that you differentiate the moment of impact with the moment of breaking. You state that a lance would break after delivering the impact, which is incorrect. It breaks on impact, not after, not before, it breaks on impact. If a force like a fast moving couched lance gets applied to a slower target, something has to budge to make room. Ideally the target would do the majority of the budging, by getting knocked away or pierced. If the lance breaks it is the lance that also does some or a lot of the budging, reducing the amount of budging (knocking away or piercing) on the target. In this case the lance was the weakest link.(click to show/hide)
The analogy does work. Forces work the same both ways, a force is always counter acted by the same force going the other way. The same principle applies to punching wooden boards as to couching lances. I think your problem is that you differentiate the moment of impact with the moment of breaking. You state that a lance would break after delivering the impact, which is incorrect. It breaks on impact, not after, not before, it breaks on impact. If a force like a fast moving couched lance gets applied to a slower target, something has to budge to make room. Ideally the target would do the majority of the budging, by getting knocked away or pierced. If the lance breaks it is the lance that also does some or a lot of the budging, reducing the amount of budging (knocking away or piercing) on the target. In this case the lance was the weakest link.
Impact is only as big as the impact the weakest link can withstand. If it is the lance, the impact is lower than if the target would have been the weakest link.
Hm, so in gameplay terms would this have to translate to a damage decrease when a lance breaks? Even if we go with the opponent getting knocked down every time they get couched? How would the weakest link here be determined? And even if the lance is breaking upon impact, does that assume the piercing was already done and sunk into the opponent, or does the break prevent that from happening in the first place?A lance breaks if it has to withstand an impact beyond its breaking point, which in gameplay terms would translate best to a raw damage cap if you ask me. Let's say a lance would have a raw damage cap of 80. Raw damage would be damage rating + speed bonus before armor kicks in. If the couch does a 100 raw damage, the lance will deliver 80 raw damage and break. The impact is as big as the weakest link. Please note that when I said that breaking reduces impact, I meant compared to when the lance would have been stronger, in this case it would have done the full 100 raw damage for example. I don't think the breaking itself reduces damage compared to a similar impact just below the breaking point. If the couch does 79 raw damage, the lance will deliver 79 damage and not break, as it is not the weakest link.