Damage affecting horses

[Archonsod]

Something just occurred to me (I'm not trying to spam the suggestions board, honest!)

At the moment, unless your horse is crippled (lame) then it performs exactly the same no matter how much damage it takes in a combat.

It doesn't make much sense that a horse with fifteen crossbow bolts stuck in it would be capable of the same performance as a fresh, uninjured horse.

My suggestion is to have a horses speed and maneuverability reduced as it takes damage in combat.

For example, for every ten hit points lost, -1 speed and maneuverability. So a horse with 50 HP's reduced to 20 HP's would have -3 speed and maneuverability. This should affect all horses, not just your own.

 

[El Perdido]

Now that is one smart idea. Makes a lot more sense, my horse gets beat to the bone but he just keeps going. This would be great...imagine shooting someone's horse that's following you so he can't catch up. Or the other way around whatever .

 

[Conrad Poohs]

I like it! You could even have a similar thing for humans, reduce their strength and agility when close to death. Might be too frustrating though... but the horse thing is heartily endorsed by me!

 

[McPa]

I entirely agree, and yes it could be done for humans too, you can stick up to 3 javelins on an enemy depending on his armor (or even more?) and even if he only has 1/4 of HP left he can still move as if he was unscratched, but he isn't, not with a javelin on his right leg, a javelin on his left arm and a javelin in his belly.

 

[Archonsod]

I'm not too sure about applying it to humans.

It does make sense (walking around with five javelins sticking out of various parts does make you wonder) but I'm not too sure how it would effect the game balance. It would make it difficult for lower levels, especially if strength or agility isn't too great anyway. At higher levels it could most likely be ignored. And then there's the problem with strength restrictions on weapons. You could be left without a useable weapon (or indeed a useable mount) after one or two hits.

 

[barbaros]

I think it should be applied to both horses and humans. Some combat related skills such as athletics and power strike etc. can be reduced a bit. And weapon proficiencies should be reduced. This penalties should not be excessive otherwise this can be frustrating. Screen may turn to red slightly when you get excessive damage to represent loss of vision. And this features can be made optional for people who wants some extra realism and difficulty. So no one would complain.

 

[Beowulf]

I think it would be great for both humans and horses, there have been many times that it would have helped me. I get bogged down a lot in my lower levels, and as i'm running backwards, I slash a lot of enemies (who usually dont die before i do), but if they were hampered a little after taking a slash across the collerbone, i'm sure i would have won. Course this could go both ways, but i would like it like that.

 

[Kelpo]

If damage would reduce performance for both man and horse, then at least it would discourage people from soloing hordes of enemies single handed, which is or course famous for its silliness. Hence, a pair of thumbs up for damage reducing performance.

 

[NikkTheTrick]

I think this should be included in stamina (if it is introduced).

Damage should drain stamina a LOT.

 

[Volkier]

I have posted exactly what I think regarding this suggestion, how it should affect stamina, wounded horses etc. in Enhancing Horses thread. Won't make another essay though, feel free to comment :

(By the way realistically speaking, a wounded horse would actually perform relatively well, if not just as well or better - due to their natural reflexes of survival, just for a shorter period of time (ie. untill it collapses and/or dies/get killed). They would push themselves (or the human would push the horse rather) so a horse with 15 crossbow bolts sticking from its sides would still run and turn as fast - providing it is still able to stand. It would just bleed to death and collapse sooner, but would keep going to the last breath if the rider is pushing it, or in an attempt to survive / protect the human on top. Obviously the effect would be different depending on what body part a horse is injured in, but that can come as a suggestion once hit boxes is separated into body part damage.)

Personally I would argue that implimenting such to humans would make a lot more sense, and should be done first before going on to horses, IF horses should be affected at all in term of performance (which I strongly argue against) since horses can withstand pain by a far margin better than humans. What I can imagine, is horse reacting to pain in terms of rearing, falling down in shock, going on frong knees, leaping forward etc. but not really the above mentioned suggestion. Sorry to disagree with the general discussion, but having worked with horses I feel that this is actually a lot less realistic than it would seem from the outside, up to the extent of just being silly. Just my humble oppinion, so please don't take offence.

 

[Archonsod]

(By the way realistically speaking, a wounded horse would actually perform relatively well, if not just as well or better - due to their natural reflexes of survival, just for a shorter period of time

The same could be said of humans. Thats andrenaline for ya!

Its an abstraction rather than a simulation, just like the hit point system is in the first place. If we wanted to get completely realistic, we'd need to redesign the whole engine.
If it helps, think of it more as a cumulative effect. The lower performance represents physical injury, psychological effects or just the fact that a 3' javelin sticking in a leg can really hamper movement.

Personally I would argue that implimenting such to humans would make a lot more sense, and should be done first before going on to horses, IF horses should be affected at all in term of performance (which I strongly argue against) since horses can withstand pain by a far margin better than humans. Sorry to disagree with the general discussion, but thats just how I feel.

This is more of a game balance issue than realism to me. If you haven't invested in athletics, your slow enough on foot anyway. Like I pointed out, it may also introduce other problems such as strength being lowered below a weapons minimum requirement.
While it may make sense to have it affect humans too, I think the balance of the game may go out of the window. At least if your horse becomes too slow you can usually acquire a new one on the battlefield. If your character begins to slow it could effectively end the battle - imagine trying to run down a horse archer at a speed comparable to the average tortoise.