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Gameplay · guide

Levels, talents and reputation

Definitions plus one durable record, with a talent allocation validated whole because a client-built talent tree is a client-chosen power level.

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Documents

What it is#

A curve says what each level costs. A talent tree is a DAG of nodes with ranks, costs, row gates and prerequisites. A specialisation is one of a set. A profession and a faction are each one number and the ranks it passes through. A ProgressionState is all of that for one character — and it is an IRequirementContext, which is what makes doc 28's own example resolve:

requires: [ Level >= 80, HasTag(Profession.Smithing), NotHasTag(State.InCombat) ]

What it is for#

Everything a character accumulates that is not an item. Levels and XP, the points they spend, the skills they grind and the factions they please — and, because the state answers requirement queries, every gate in the game asks about them with the same algebra a vendor and an ability use.

Using it#

Compile a catalog into a ProgressionLibrary, give each character a ProgressionState, and award into it. Read Modifiers to get everything the progression grants as one modifier source, so respeccing removes it exactly.

⚠ A talent allocation is validated whole. The client sends what it thinks it has taken and the server checks it from scratch against the points the character actually has. Doc 28: *a client-built talent tree is a client-chosen power level.*

⚠ That forces every rule to be a property of the allocation. A row gate is a total and checks fine; "A before B" is a property of a sequence and is not expressible — nor missed, since it is unverifiable after a respec.

⚠ **A row gate counts the rows *above* it. Counting the whole tree lets the point being spent on a row be the point that opens it, so a three-point gate becomes a two-point one.

⚠ A rank multiplies the value rather than repeating the modifier — five +2 % modifiers from one source cannot be told apart on removal and compose wrongly in the multiplicative bucket.

⚠ The same string names a track's tag and its number. Profession.Smithing is both.

⚠ Gear score is a number a game sets.** Averaging an item level needs the inventory, and this library takes no dependency on it.

Examples#

A talent tree:

yaml
# Assets/Talents/fire.vxdef!TalentTreeDefinitiondisplayName: Firenodes:  - id: kindle    displayName: Kindle    maximumRanks: 3    modifiers: [ { attribute: Power, op: AddPercent, value: 0.02 } ]  - id: blaze    displayName: Blaze    requiredPoints: 3          # three points in rows above this one    requires: [ { node: kindle, ranks: 2 } ]    modifiers: [ { attribute: CritChance, op: Add, value: 0.05 } ]

Accepting a client's allocation:

csharp
using Vixen.Gameplay;using Vixen.Gameplay.Progression;static class Respec {    public static string Apply(ProgressionState character, DefId tree, TalentAllocation claimed) {        // Checked from scratch against the points they actually have, and rejected as a unit.        var verdict = character.Allocate(tree, claimed);        return verdict.IsLegal ? "applied" : verdict.Message;    }}

Everything a progression grants, as one removable source:

csharp
using System.Collections.Generic;using Vixen.Gameplay;using Vixen.Gameplay.Progression;static class Sheet {    public static void Apply(ProgressionState character, AttributeSet stats) {        var source = ModifierSource.From(DefId.From("progression"), 1);        var modifiers = new List<Modifier>();        // Off first, so recomputing after a respec cannot double anything.        stats.RemoveBySource(source);        character.Modifiers(source, modifiers);        foreach (var modifier in modifiers) {            stats.Add(modifier);        }    }}

Awarding experience and reputation:

csharp
using Vixen.Gameplay;using Vixen.Gameplay.Progression;static class Rewards {    public static int ForAQuest(ProgressionState character, DefId faction) {        var gain = character.Award(650);        character.Earn(faction, 250);        character.Train(DefId.From("professions/smithing"), 1);        // Levels gained is what a caller applies level-up effects for; wasted experience is what a        // caller shows as "you are at the cap".        return gain.Levels;    }}

See also#