Ammo in RPG games

[Olli Kalma]

Well it depents what kind of game is...
For example in Diablo, you must have unlimited ammo for bow!

But in other games... It harder to say.
If your bow do little damage compared into other weapons, like sword etc.
Then it would be good to have unlimited arrows...
Other case non would use that weapon...

But usually I like limited ammo, so I voted for it!

[pritchke]

Originally posted by Rimjaw: Limited. However some magic items could be permitted to provide unlimited ammo (like in ToB)

I picked 3 as a result of the magic items that sort of provide unlimited ammo or ammo that returns to the user.

[antryg]

Unlimmited ammo reminds me of all the old WWII movies. Clint Eastwood was especially good at getting 5-6,000 shots out of a 20 round clip. It was so bad that Mad Magazine parodied [i]The Guns of Navaronne[i] based on Clint's magic gun.

[Kakero]

I'm used to playing might and magic and the ammo there is unlimited. this cause me so much problem when playing with games that got limits to their ammo like D2 or some of the AD&D games. just imagine in a middle of a fight the ammo rans out!

[GokuZool]

Originally posted by Beaumanoir: quote: Originally posted by pcgiant: Bows need ammo. So do slings. Crossbows, of course, need ammo. There're three examples [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Yes but do they actually count as Ammuntition? I'm not sure, but thats what i think Goku's getting at [/QUOTE]Yeah that's right! [img]smile.gif[/img]

When ever I think of ammo, I automatically think of gun ammo

Carry on

[Paladin2000]

Either D&D or Fallout, I would prefer to have limited ammo because it adds realism. He he... I remember in Fallout 2, I kept a few thousand rounds of ammo for my favorite weapons even though I would never get to finish them all.

[ 05-02-2003, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: Paladin2000 ]

[SomeGuy]

Unlimited ammo. hat way, we're conserving our resources. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Actually limited, though it doesn't matter, in some games, I get so much ammo I have to much. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Aelia Jusa]

Definitely limited. But there has to be a balance, you have to be able to find ammo in dungeons and so on, not so you have to take a thousand rounds with you everywhere you go because you can't find any. Unlimited is very unrealistic. At the very least, it shouldn't be available until very late in the game when you're highly powered enough that using ranged weapons are superfluous if you have to justify lugging quiverfuls everywhere. And, speaking from a BG IWD etc perspective, there shouldn't be such a focus on bows and arrows instead of crossbows. They're like the bastard sword of ranged weaponry

[Legolas]

Picked 3. I do think limited is best, but the limiteds I've seen so far are only... uhm, limited. Not really limited at all I mean. Yeah, I'm making sense now, aren't I?

The thing is, arrows and bolts and bullets and whatnot are only limited in that they would eventually run out if you kept firing and never bought/picked up new ones. But since fletching seems to be a popular activity on rainy days, such ammunition is so very plentiful and cheap that you'll only ever end up being forced to put your missile weapon away if you yourself negected to check the ammolevel. Limited ammunition in most games is not a true limitation.
Have them be more expensive, have characters be unable to carry more than fits a quiver or two, have fewer stores selling such items. Enable characters to gather used but undamaged arrows and bolts after a battle and most of all, have them come in smaller amounts (in BG2, for example, there are no less than 40 arrows taking up just a single slot in your inventory, which is as much as a single key, or, admittedly, a full set of plate armour).
So it's actually option 2 for me, but not in the way it's used right now.
Missile weapons should be supporting arms. Carrying a thousand arrows is unrealistic and unhandy, but rather than trying to spread ammunition throughout dungeons so you'll have some close at hand right at any time, I'd like to see fewer bolts alltogether. If you're no good at combat, that's tough. Use spells instead, try your luck anyway or just run.
Firing into a combat shouldn't be as easy as it is anyway, atm you can just hold up foes with one tough character and fire bullets from a distance with the others. You don't have to worry about your 'tank' getting hit anyway. That, too, just isn't realistic.
On the other hand, you shouldn't have to beg and grovel for every single arrow. It's a balance, yes.

[Micah Foehammer]

Part of the problem with ammo in FRPG is that it is usually assigned zero weight and only factors into character encumberance in that it takes up inventory slots. The Fallout series, is an exception. Ammo might have been fun finding and using with that .50 cal heavy machine gun, but MAN did you pay a price in weight load for the ammo!!!!

I am not a fond supporter of unlimited ammo for weapons, especially when the ammo is enchanted. +5 weapons aren't in abundance, but +5 ammo often appears to be. With that said, I will admit that one of my favorite items in PnP AD&D is the Quiver of Ehlonna.