How Should Bounties Work in My Game?

Help and Feedback Game Design Support
#1

Hey there,

I’m @Infinite_Visions. I’m working on my game High Seas (the latest devlog can be found here), but am struggling thinking through the Bounty System. I want a bounty system similar to The Wild West, but cannot seem to envision it.

Currently, I have the following:

Basically, when you rob a player or NPC, you get a set amount of gold from them. Your bounty increases by 70% of that amount.

For example, you rob an NPC for 10 gold. However, your bounty increases by 7 gold.

My Question:

When a player captures your bounty, how much gold do you lose?

Should all of your bounty be subtracted from your total money (ex: You have 7 gold bounty, and 10 gold overall. Your bounty is captured, you now have 3 gold).

Or should you only lose a fraction of your bounty? (ex: You have 7 gold bounty, and 10 gold overall. Your bounty is captured, you now have 6 gold)

You are guaranteed not to lose everything either way (when you rob, you keep some no matter what). The player who collects your bounty gets all of the bounty money in either scenario. However, how harsh should this system be? Why or why not?

I really need help thinking this through, as it is a major aspect of my game. Any of your thoughts are appreciated. Thank you!

  • All of your bounty money is subtracted from your total money
  • 30-50% of your bounty money is subtracted from your total money

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High Seas | Sunken Ships, Treasure Hunting, Merchant/Ship AI - Devlog #7
#2

I personally don’t like the way TWW does its system. Usually, I prefer bounty to be a totally different thing from money. You can gain bounty by killing others with bounty. Maybe you can earn a respect system with the bounty.

If you want to make stats, making PVP only to people with a certain amount of levels will help new players not to get spawn killed when just joining.

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#3

i think the harshness of the system should be based on how easy it is to obtain bounty/gold in the game. if its easy to get gold, then theres not a huge penalty in losing it, plus having a higher bounty raises the stakes. there should probably be some kind of reward for having a high bounty, because if you lose all the gold you ended up making, then there was almost no point in it- sure you have tons of money, but you have to play the rest of the game with every player hunting you down. on the other hand, if its hard to make money, and hard to rob, dont take too much- the player should be more rewarded for being able to rob something.

also if the player loses their bounty, what if they spend the money they got from robbing on something? do they go in debt if theyre caught?

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#4

Well technically you wouldn’t lose any money if you had a bounty since the government would be supplying you with the bounty money.

But i feel like losing all of your bounty money is a little harsh on the player and can demotivate them from taking that path.

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#5

yeah- perhaps an alternative punishment for getting caught, rather than taking money? especially if you want the game to encourage this path, you definitely dont want a high penalty for something like this- especially if robbing is difficult. im not saying do the jail system like the wild west, because i almost think you get off too easy there- however, a jail system isnt bad as long as you make it interesting. especially if the game is heavily encouraging this path, then a lot of people will be in the jail. have a bail out system, you or your friends can bail you out; have a ways of breaking people out, your friends have to buy certain items and follow numerous steps to break you out?

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#6

Yeah, that’s a good idea. Currently, there is no reason to kill people who are new, as they drop nothing. I’ll be sure to implement something like that.

#7

That’s a good point. Gold is pretty easy to earn, but just as easy to lose (you lose 10% every time you die). Being a pirate is more so a get rich quick scheme, that doesn’t always pay off. You take on more risk.

I believe I’m going to base the system on a %. When you die, you lose 10% of your gold. However, the higher your bounty, the more you lose when you are turned in (up to 30%). Thus, you have incentive to stay alive, and pay off your bounty if you have a lot to lose.

Fair point, there just needs to be incentive to not lose your bounty.

This is a neat idea, thank you :slight_smile:

#8

I believe I have come to a conclusion. As your bounty scales larger, the risk grows - with 0 bounty, you lose 10% of your gold as you die. However, as your bounty expands, you lose more and more, up to 30ish%. People hunt you down, and the risk grows higher.

#9

That is true but people like to kill others just for the fun of it.

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#10

Heheh, good point. I’ve decided to add “safe zones” in the game, where you know you can survive.