KOTF mod

[Cecil XIX]

Yeah, I'm doing 50-80 next. 40-100 was neither useful for gameplay needs, nor realistic. It completely contradicted what econ (correctly) said. I'm not going to bother posting it, since I'm getting tired. Fortunately 50-80 will be a lot quicker to do.

[Cecil XIX]

Finished collecting data on 50-80; now working on a more thourough statistical analysis. Seemed to work perfectly though: After repeating the test three times with 100 characters each, when you average the data both the median and the average age of death are 60-61! Just like normal! I'm gonna see if I can calculate the range with 95% confidence, since I just so happen to be taking a class on this kind of thing this quarter.

EDIT: All right, finished. Based on three hundred samples, I can say with 95% confidence that when the age range is 50-80 the average age of death is 60-62. I'd say this is practically perfect. Since a person who dies at fifty (and the earliest anybody died was age 51) would still have about 50 turns of life, I'd say this age range is the perfect compromise.

[_Tristan_]

I'm not sure this is a good way to model mortality. Low life expectancies in real life usually reflect risks during childhood. In developing countries, if you make it into adulthood then - AIDS aside - you are very likely to make it to 60. Medieval Europe probably had higher mortality but still I am very leery about avatars dying of natural causes before 50.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the vanilla model of avatars reaching 60 and then croaking. In real life, once you get to 60, your days charging around the battlefield are surely coming to an end. Players are reluctant to retire in that way. So the game forces them to.

In European Middle Ages, at least ubntil the later part, you were considered lucky if you happened to live longer than 40... but I don't think this would add anything to the game though I wa all in favor before...

[Ignoramus]

Finished collecting data on 50-80; now working on a more thourough statistical analysis. Seemed to work perfectly though: After repeating the test three times with 100 characters each, when you average the data both the median and the average age of death are 60-61! Just like normal! I'm gonna see if I can calculate the range with 95% confidence, since I just so happen to be taking a class on this kind of thing this quarter.

EDIT: All right, finished. Based on three hundred samples, I can say with 95% confidence that when the age range is 50-80 the average age of death is 60-62. I'd say this is practically perfect. Since a person who dies at fifty (and the earliest anybody died was age 51) would still have about 50 turns of life, I'd say this age range is the perfect compromise.

I agree. It's adds a small dose of unpredictability, which can create dramatic or subtle changes to the game.

Some of you guys won't know, but my first avatar in KotR was actuall assassinated by the AI at age 42!

[econ21]

In European Middle Ages, at least ubntil the later part, you were considered lucky if you happened to live longer than 40...

Indeed, but I don't think that contradicts what I wrote. Low life expectancy tends to come mainly from high mortality in childhood - once you are past that, you can expect to live to late middle age. I don't have time to get a more academic link, but here's the first thing google threw up, rather for kiddies but makes the point:

The average life span in the Middle Ages was indeed shorter than today but how much smaller is often exaggerated. Average life expectancy at birth was only 35. That does not mean that people dropped dead when they reached that age! Instead many of the people born died while they were still children. Out of all people born between one third and one half died before the age of about 16. However if you could survive to your mid-teens you would probably live to your 50s or early 60s. Even in the Middle Ages some people did live to their 70s or 80s.

http://www.localhistories.org/middle.html

Cecil, your results for 50-80 sound good and get my vote.

[_Tristan_]

Will implement them and upload a new version of the mod tonight...

Will playtest some and if I can get Zim agreement I should be able to make the save available for mugshots and everything else at the same time.

[TinCow]

For the record, I think avatars living to 80+ would be bad for the game. At that age, few people are going to play more than one avatar unless they die in battle. If the first King lived to be 100, he'd rule for almost the entire game. I don't think that would be a good thing.

[Ignoramus]

For the record, I think avatars living to 80+ would be bad for the game. At that age, few people are going to play more than one avatar unless they die in battle. If the first King lived to be 100, he'd rule for almost the entire game. I don't think that would be a good thing.

I suppose the Dauphin may get impatient and decide to "force" the issue...

[AussieGiant]

I suppose the Dauphin may get impatient and decide to "force" the issue...

Stop making inflammatory statements Igno!!

[Ramses II CP]

The Prince was historically highly loyal and has absolutely no intention of (telegraphing) any move against the King!