Overengineering and power systems.

[RepresentingWrath]

We all like power systems, we all don't like overengineering. We also know what both terms mean, if not google it. The question I want do discuss today is the following. Can we apply overengineering to power systems? My opinion, we can, but I would like to hear what you all think.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

We all like power systems, we all don't like overengineering. We also know what both terms mean, if not google it. The question I want do discuss today is the following. Can we apply overengineering to power systems? My opinion, we can, but I would like to hear what you all think.

You should look at litRPGs written by nerds. Too much complication, 99% of which are useless to the story that will be dropped sooner or later anyway. Well, just not to be like the photocopy stories from which they got the idea from.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

You should look at litRPGs written by nerds. Too much complication, 99% of which are useless to the story that will be dropped sooner or later anyway.

 

[RepresentingPride]

We all like power systems, we all don't like overengineering. We also know what both terms mean, if not google it. The question I want do discuss today is the following. Can we apply overengineering to power systems? My opinion, we can, but I would like to hear what you all think.

We can, but it will be useless

Here a small exemple, create a fire arrow, but you overengineering it to be a "straight" arrow without any ondulation that fire would cause. Same power, just more time to give it a "perfect" appearance.

Ps: Now that I of it, it can be a "comic" way to portray a character who want to make everything he does "perfect"

 

[melchi]

Ooof

 

[RepresentingWrath]

We can, but it will be useless

Here a small exemple, create a fire arrow, but you overengineering it to be a "straight" arrow without any ondulation that fire would cause. Same power, just more time to give it a "perfect" appearance.

Ps: Now that I of it, it can be a "comic" way to portray a character who want to make everything he does "perfect"

I actually thought about the opposite when I was making the thread. How some power systems are overengineered as hell, but authors keep adding stuff to it. Yet your reply made me think about doing it on purpose. Doesn't even have to be comic. Makes me think of Emperor's Children from WH40K. Their pursuit of perfection led to a great corruption.

 

[RepresentingPride]

I actually thought about the opposite when I was making the thread. How some power systems are overengineered as hell, but authors keep adding stuff to it. Yet your reply made me think about doing it on purpose. Doesn't even have to be comic. Makes me think of Emperor's Children from WH40K. Their pursuit of perfection led to a great corruption.

Yeah some power systems become too complicated for nothing (now I'm thinking if mine are not complicated for nothing too )

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Yeah some power systems become too complicated for nothing (now I'm thinking if mine are not complicated for nothing too )

Don't worry about it. Some will probably say it is too complicated(I am one of them), but there are more than few people here who would say it's not complicated enough. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

 

[RepresentingPride]

Don't worry about it. Some will probably say it is too complicated(I am one of them), but there are more than few people here who would say it's not complicated enough. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

 

[Corty]

I agree. And it is a pitfall many stories fall into, like Dragon Ball. I think it also fell victim to it as it was pressured to always 1up the previous threat.

Every power system, if there is not a defined endpoint, gets over-convoluted, even if it starts out simple. By then, this probably gets ignored by the author, too, so it leaves us with the question of why we even have it in the first place.

 

[DeepWater]

Are you calling me out or something?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Are you calling me out or something?

My thread was first. Coincedence. ?‍

 

[DeepWater]

My thread was first. Coincedence. ?‍

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

I actually thought about the opposite when I was making the thread. How some power systems are overengineered as hell, but authors keep adding stuff to it. Yet your reply made me think about doing it on purpose. Doesn't even have to be comic. Makes me think of Emperor's Children from WH40K. Their pursuit of perfection led to a great corruption.

It sounds very doable.

Overengineering lead to a magic system that does not know the ‘simple process’. They are forced to overextend in order to make basic things happen. What makes it different from reinforcement/enhancement? It should be that you are adding stuff to make a finished product extend into a weird direction.

like turning a torch into a gun.

 

[nii07]

I think it would be possible. However, in my opinion it would only work best if it's a power system that's already well defined at the beginning. Like a world that has five levels of strength and each time someone goes to a new level they gain a new ability that improves on their previous ability. That would allow you to overengineer powers without it seeming too forced. So for example, let's say someone has the ability to control sound in their first level of power is they can make a loud sound that can knock people out. The next level would be to be able to focus that large range into a smaller range. This should allow you to build on the power system while still keeping it relatively simple because you've already defined the end goal.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Overengineering lead to a magic system that does not know the ‘simple process’.

I saw this done multiple time. That's why I was not talking about an in-book overengineering, but how authors overengineer their systems.

I think it would be possible. However, in my opinion it would only work best if it's a power system that's already well defined at the beginning. Like a world that has five levels of strength and each time someone goes to a new level they gain a new ability that improves on their previous ability. That would allow you to overengineer powers without it seeming too forced. So for example, let's say someone has the ability to control sound in their first level of power is they can make a loud sound that can knock people out. The next level would be to be able to focus that large range into a smaller range. This should allow you to build on the power system while still keeping it relatively simple because you've already defined the end goal.

Can an author overengineer their system accidentally? Can you even apply the term to power systems?

 

[nii07]

I saw this done multiple time. That's why I was not talking about an in-book overengineering, but how authors overengineer their systems.

Can an author overengineer their system accidentally? Can you even apply the term to power systems?

It's possible that it can be done accidentally, however, I don't think it's probable. From what I've seen, most authors had an end goal and then just worked backwards. To apply it to a general general power system I think would work best in something like magic or cultivation type novels.

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

D

I saw this done multiple time. That's why I was not talking about an in-book overengineering, but how authors overengineer their systems.

Can an author overengineer their system accidentally? Can you even apply the term to power systems?

Depends on whose POV you’re looking at. The character experiencing the system just thinks life’s laws of physics are weird. They do not grasp the intentions of the creator and do as they see fit with it. Discard what they deem useless and focus on the practical/easy steps.

There is no society in any alternate world that will look at ‘add an engine to a torch to turn it into a gun in order to give it the function of a welding tool’ and NOT want to simplify it. The characters using the system are so much more interesting than the authors who think up the physics.

 

[beast_regards]

It's called world-builder curse, and it applied to far more things than just power systems