This calculator simulates the entire systems of a fictional game. The pitch for the game is "Monster Hunter with guns, but you are the gun". Narratively the fictional game would consist of hunting monsters so that you (as the gun) could absorb their power.

Spreadsheet Highlights:
 

• Levels & XP

• Numerical Modifier Calculator

• Mod XP

• Enemy Attack Patterns, Enemy Stats, and Attacks (in combination)

Glossary:

• Wielder: Character who holds you (a gun). Provides a passive and a mobility ability.

​

• Weapon Archetype: Baseline gun type. Chosen at the start of the game.

​

• Mission & Quest: Quests are hunts for a specific monster/enemy and are replayable and farmable. Missions are hunts for a specific monster/enemy that progress the story and are not replayable.

​

• Unique Materials: Materials uniquely dropped by a specific monster. Used to make Mods.

​

• Perks: Passive benefits specific to a Weapon Archetype that are unlocked as you gain levels. A player can have a number of perks selected equal to the number of perk tiers they have unlocked.

​

• Mods: Crafted bonuses equipped to your weapon that provide a Unique effect and 3 stat bonuses. These are crafted by combining 3 Unique Materials. A crafted Mod uses the Unique Effect associated with one of the 3 materials, then chooses one of the 2 stat bonuses from each of the 3 materials. The strength of the stat bonuses is then distributed between the stat bonuses randomly using a point buy system.

Each page is described in detail below:
 

• Weapon Archetypes - [Interactable]:

  • This page describes and holds the stats for each Weapon Archetype.

  • After filling out the stats, some information to assist in balancing will be calculated.

  • The Fire Style options are determined in the "Parameters" sheet.

​

• Levels & XP:

  • The spreadsheet containing the XP needed to level along with how it maps to progression through the game.

  • This spreadsheet is locked, and cannot be freely edited.

​

• Level & Damage:

  • The spreadsheet containing information on how much damage output is affected by level difference (for both enemies and players).

  • This also contains information on how this is presented to the player (it is obfuscated behind a "power level" system).

  • his spreadsheet is locked, and cannot be freely edited.

​

• Level Rewards - [Interactable]:

  • The table containing the rewards gained upon leveling up.

  • Leveling up also unlocks missions, which is not represented in this sheet.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

​

• Narrative Mission Milestones - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information about the quest & mission progression, along with the rewards for completing it.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

 

• Perk Economy - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains the materials necessary to unlock new perks in the 4th & 5th columns.

  • Players unlock the ability to buy perks from the 4th & 5th column after narrative milestones, and must use materials dropped from quests to unlock them before using them.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

​

• Mod Economy - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains the material costs associated with crafting and dismantling mods.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

 

• Mod XP:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on how mods gain XP and level.

  • Mods gain XP and levels while equipped similar to players, however they only have 10 max levels and require less XP to max.

  • Mods begin with only some of their effects unlocked, and must be leveled to fully unlock.

  • This spreadsheet is locked, and cannot be freely edited.

 

• Mod Point Buy Distributions - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains data on how mods distribute their stat bonus values.

  • Rather than distribute stat bonuses completely randomly, we use these distributions to favor more extreme distributions of stats.

  • A random distribution is chosen for each mod, and the order of the stat bonuses is randomized.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

 

• Wielders - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on the various wielders.

  • After filling out the stats, some information to assist in balancing will be calculated.

 

• Numerical Modifier Calculator - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet serves as a calculator to determine the strength of any numerical modifier to stats.

  • It is used by choosing the gun archetype, then filling in the stat changes in the "Value" portion of the calculator. The upper portion of the calculator will then list the various total increases to stats.

  • This is intended to be used in any case where numerical modifications are applied (i.e. mods, buffs/debuffs, perks, consumables, etc.)

​

• Numerical Modifier Calculator Mirror - [Interactable]:

  • Identical to the Numerical Modifier Calculator.

  • This second copy exists to allow more than one person to use the calculator at a time.

 

• Perks - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information about the perks.

  • Available numeric effects are determined in the "Parameters" spreadsheet.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

​

• Mod Unique Effects - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information about the Unique Effects (non-numerical effects) that can be placed on Mods.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

 

• Mod Numerical Effects - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains the numerical stat bonus effects of mods.

  • Available numeric effects are determined in the "Parameters" spreadsheet.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

​

• Consumables - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on consumables.

  • Available numeric effects are determined in the "Parameters" spreadsheet.

  • This sheet is not locked, but does not have any additional interactions beyond storing data.

 

• Quests & Missions - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on each quest and mission.

  • Enemies are determined in the "Enemy Stats" spreadsheet.

  • Drops are determined in the "Enemy Drop Tables" and "Quest & Mission Drop Tables" spreadsheets.

  • After filling out the information for a quest or mission, the expected drops from the mission (and the sources of those drops) are calculated and displayed.

 

• Enemy Stats - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on all enemies in the game.

  • After filling out the stats for the enemy, additional information will be calculated indicating roughly how hard and how time consuming it is to defeat this enemy.

  • Major & Minor is just a descriptor for enemies indicating that they should be strong boss-type enemies (Major) or weak mobs (Minor).

​

• Enemy Attack Patterns - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on the moveset of each enemy and their AI.

  • After filling out the information, the spreadsheet will give a (very) rough estimate of how dangerous the moveset is. This number is intended as an initial balancing point and should only be used when doing initial balancing before testing.

  • Enemies are determined in the "Enemy Stats" spreadsheet.

  • Attacks are determined in the "Attacks" spreadsheet.

​

• Attacks - [Interactable]:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on the individual attacks of enemies.

  • Many values are non-numerical descriptors intended for use by animators.

  • After filling out the values, the spreadsheet will output rough estimates on how likely the attack is to hit, and how dangerous it is.

  • The various hit and movement patterns are determined in the "Parameters" spreadsheet.

  • The estimations on how difficult an attack is to dodge are determined in the "Dodge Difficulty Estimations" spreadsheet.

 

• Dodge Difficulty Estimations:

  • This spreadsheet contains information on how likely an attack is to hit a player.

  • This is intended to be updated via observation, and exists to allow for rough estimates on how dangerous an attack is.

  • This spreadsheet is locked, and cannot be freely edited.

​

• Enemy Drop Tables - [Interactable]:

  • This sheet contains the data on what can drop from a given enemy (and the chance of a drop occurring).

  • Enemies are determined in the "Enemy Stats" spreadsheet.

  • Drops are determined in the "Drops" spreadsheet.

​

• Quest & Mission Drop Tables - [Interactable]:

  • This sheet contains the data on what can drop from a given quest or mission.

  • Quests & Missions are determined in the "Quests & Missions" spreadsheet.

  • Drops are determined in the "Drops" spreadsheet.

​

• Drops - [Interactable]:

  • This sheet contains information on all of the drops that can occur.

 

• Constants:

  • This sheet contains other information which is constant as the baseline values, but could be changed from the baseline values later (such as player HP).

  • This spreadsheet is locked, and cannot be freely edited.

 

• Parameters:

  • This sheet contains various Enum-like values that are used throughout the spreadsheet.

  • This spreadsheet is locked, and cannot be freely edited.