[DONE][Suggestion] Mana pool

[ohartenstein23]

I made a test mod to play with making a kind of "ammo system" for psi attacks using scripts - you can see it here. However, gating MC/Panic behind this kind of system would require Yankes to finish writing his proposed script hook for determining whether or not you can use an item.

[The Reaver of Darkness]

I'm wondering how mana levels would be communicated to the player though. If it isn't easily readable on the battlescape it sounds like it would be terribly tedious to manage.

Why not do it like stamina/energy? In combat, the Psi Skill bar gets replaced with Psi Energy (or whatever the modder calls it) and it gets used up as psi attacks get used, causing effective psi skill to go down.

[Meridian]

Why not do it like stamina/energy? In combat, the Psi Skill bar gets replaced with Psi Energy (or whatever the modder calls it) and it gets used up as psi attacks get used, causing effective psi skill to go down.

Ideally, you would want to see it directly on the battlescape GUI, just like current TU/energy/health/stun/morale.
Going to another screen to get this info is... sub-optimal.

But if nothing better is possible, I think it is acceptable.

[Nord]

Why not do it like stamina/energy? In combat, the Psi Skill bar gets replaced with Psi Energy (or whatever the modder calls it) and it gets used up as psi attacks get used, causing effective psi skill to go down.

I like this idea very much. Maybe not ideal, but great and easy to understand.

[BTAxis]

I don't like the idea of psi effectiveness dropping with each use of a psi skill though. It'd put too much emphasis on making the best use of that first, full-power use.

[Meridian]

I don't like the idea of psi effectiveness dropping with each use of a psi skill though. It'd put too much emphasis on making the best use of that first, full-power use.

It wouldn't... as I said, Psi Skill remains a constant... no discussion.

Only the field, which used to show Psi Skill, and would now be showing Mana instead (i.e. a completely different attribute), would be going down as the mana gets used during the battle.

[Nord]

It wouldn't... as I said, Psi Skill remains a constant... no discussion.

Only the field, which used to show Psi Skill, and would now be showing Mana instead (i.e. a completely different attribute), would be going down as the mana gets used during the battle.

And then the modder can use both constant psi-skill or variable mana in item properties. :-)

[The Reaver of Darkness]

Ideally, you would want to see it directly on the battlescape GUI, just like current TU/energy/health/stun/morale.
Going to another screen to get this info is... sub-optimal.

That's what I meant. On the battlescape GUI, what you see is your current remaining Psi Energy. You can easily determine your Psi Skill because it is equal to your maximum Psi Energy. But I also figured the act of using the Psi Energy was causing the effective skill of the attack to drop. But whether or not the effective Psi Skill drops, using the GUI Psi Skill bar to display both Psi Skill and Psi Energy (by showing Psi Energy current/max) works perfectly.

[Meridian]

That's what I meant. On the battlescape GUI, what you see is your current remaining Psi Energy. You can easily determine your Psi Skill because it is equal to your maximum Psi Energy. But I also figured the act of using the Psi Energy was causing the effective skill of the attack to drop. But whether or not the effective Psi Skill drops, using the GUI Psi Skill bar to display both Psi Skill and Psi Energy (by showing Psi Energy current/max) works perfectly.

OK, I thought you must be talking about Soldier Info GUI... because there is just no more space to put this on the Battlescape GUI.
But maybe someone will come up with a clever trick to sqeeze it somewhere, somehow.

[The Reaver of Darkness]

OK, I thought you must be talking about Soldier Info GUI... because there is just no more space to put this on the Battlescape GUI.
But maybe someone will come up with a clever trick to sqeeze it somewhere, somehow.

Maybe add a feature to let the modder or player decide which four bars are displayed. But in my plays, I don't use psi attacks enough that I'd feel the Psi Energy needs to show outside of the soldier info screen. I could easily just check the info screen for remaining Psi Energy, same as I do to check their effective psi power before using a psi attack, or to check their remaining armor after they take a hit or before going into line of fire.

I'm sure an artist could find a way to squeeze in a fifth bar, if anyone is up to the challenge. But if nobody does redesign it, I don't foresee it being a major issue.

[Stoddard]

OK, I thought you must be talking about Soldier Info GUI... because there is just no more space to put this on the Battlescape GUI.
But maybe someone will come up with a clever trick to sqeeze it somewhere, somehow.

Show it like stun is shown, another color on the same bar as energy for example, but draw higher values first, so f.ex if energy is higher than mana, mana is drawn on top of energy and both are visible at all times.

[The Reaver of Darkness]

Show it like stun is shown, another color on the same bar as energy for example, but draw higher values first, so f.ex if energy is higher than mana, mana is drawn on top of energy and both are visible at all times.

The problem with that is that Stamina and Psi Energy don't use the same maximum value.

[Stoddard]

The problem with that is that Stamina and Psi Energy don't use the same maximum value.

That's not a problem, like I said, draw the maximum value from largest to lowest, as with actual value.

[BTAxis]

If you're going to piggyback on energy in general, how about clicking on the numerical energy display to toggle showing the exact amount of mana?

[Yankes]

Why not display this on PsiAmp? we have place for ammo that is not used. We could override this value and use this for something else.