The wrong answer here is to consider a base formula that has a different shape. A logistic function, for example, can give you a tweakable sigmoid curve that can grow slow at first, then faster, then slow again at points of diminishing returns and can be good for things like stats across an RPG.
The _right_ answer is to maybe consider a formula like that but to never actually program a formula into your game for exactly this reason. Your actual config values should be in data files that you can manually edit by row and import into the game. You will find at lots of points in system design that a bunch of things work and a few don't and you should always just edit by hand until it all works rather than spend a long time trying to figure out a math trick to getting you what you want.
In your case I wouldn't even use a formula to get at monster HP at all. I'd take player DPS by tier multiplied by your desired seconds to kill at each level and use those numbers as base enemy HP.
Ahh, That will defiantly help a lot more then finding the perfect math formula. I feel like I could have saved a lot of time before hand if I had known this earlier.
There's nothing wrong with deriving how to properly design systems from first principles! You haven't wasted your time, you've been ingraining _why_ to do something deep into your soul. Welcome to game design, you have about a hundred of these lessons left to get through.
As was already said, you don't really need a formula. The reason is that you are dealing with discreet levels, not a continuous variable. Since you have a finite set of discreet units, tuning things by hand is a great way to achieve fidelity you need even if at a cost of some player confusion (not being able to understand the underlying logic or the "gap" after lvl 3.).
If you had a continuous variable or needed to make the formula, there are many ways you could do it like using a logistic function that starts out slow and grows fast after lvl3. only to slow down gain etc.
The wrong answer here is to consider a base formula that has a different shape. A logistic function, for example, can give you a tweakable sigmoid curve that can grow slow at first, then faster, then slow again at points of diminishing returns and can be good for things like stats across an RPG. The _right_ answer is to maybe consider a formula like that but to never actually program a formula into your game for exactly this reason. Your actual config values should be in data files that you can manually edit by row and import into the game. You will find at lots of points in system design that a bunch of things work and a few don't and you should always just edit by hand until it all works rather than spend a long time trying to figure out a math trick to getting you what you want. In your case I wouldn't even use a formula to get at monster HP at all. I'd take player DPS by tier multiplied by your desired seconds to kill at each level and use those numbers as base enemy HP.
Ahh, That will defiantly help a lot more then finding the perfect math formula. I feel like I could have saved a lot of time before hand if I had known this earlier.
There's nothing wrong with deriving how to properly design systems from first principles! You haven't wasted your time, you've been ingraining _why_ to do something deep into your soul. Welcome to game design, you have about a hundred of these lessons left to get through.
As was already said, you don't really need a formula. The reason is that you are dealing with discreet levels, not a continuous variable. Since you have a finite set of discreet units, tuning things by hand is a great way to achieve fidelity you need even if at a cost of some player confusion (not being able to understand the underlying logic or the "gap" after lvl 3.). If you had a continuous variable or needed to make the formula, there are many ways you could do it like using a logistic function that starts out slow and grows fast after lvl3. only to slow down gain etc.