Thoughts of a new player
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:52 pm
Greetings all.
First of all, I would like to state how rare it is for me to actually make an account on the games I play, which should show how deeply impressed I am with this game. I only bought it a couple of days ago, but have already spent a great amount of time with it and I want to now add my thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
Transport – I have always disliked fast forward buttons, I feel that it can take away from a games natural flow, as well as being a bit of a black hole where more imaginative solutions could reside. I.E, the two speeds above ’normal’ could be replaced by some form of transport (horses, camels, pogo sticks, whatever). This would add a more strategic element, as well as a greater feeling of progression, at first you would be limited to nearby towns, simply due to the amount of time it would take to get further afield, but as you gained more cash you could buy (or steal) say, a camel. This camel could carry more than a man and could travel faster, but could require feeding (see consumables). This could also be a mechanism to encourage the splitting of ones forces, if you only have two camels, you wouldn’t want a group of footmen running after trying to keep up, or else slowing the whole party down. The faster form of transport could be the horse, faster, but perhaps able to carry less. These animals could be used for a more aggressive purpose, hunting down and charging trade caravans for example. Hell, if you got into trouble out in the desert, you could kill and eat your transport (Mmmm, pogostick soup, tangy!)
Animation - The animation quality blew me away the first time I entered combat, it’s smooth, and the way the characters react to injury is incredibly realistic, whilst still maintaining the fun factor. Limping away from the enemy with a downed man on your shoulder makes for truly tense gameplay, and I hope that this will be taken further (loss of limb, etc). The question of how characters with lost limbs continue to be useful in a game such as this is a dificult one. Losing one hand could mean that said character could only fight with one handed weapons, or perhaps have a crude prosthetic attached. Equally, these characters could be used as teachers for others, if they have higher stats they could impart their knowledge onto others. Seriously injured characters (for example those with no legs or arms could present a more phycological challenge to the player, if they are just stuck in bed at base as a drain on resoources, it may be best to either leave them in town for the villagers to tend to or even simply kill them. If they are characters the player has had for a while then it may be a hard decision.
Money – As I have played through the game one thing has become obvious above all else; there is very little reason to spend money, other than to buy items to trade for more money, which can be better done by attacking anyway. Whilst I am sure there are plans afoot to increase the amount of cats that need to be spent to survive, I will add my thoughts regardless;
Consumables – Food, water, the usual; stuff that you would obviously need to survive in the desert for extended periods. I read somewhere (can’t find it as of writing) that farming is planned, so I assume that hunger (and perhaps thirst) will be added sooner or later.
Weapon/Apparel maintenance and replacement – Obvious really, stuff gets worn down the more it is used, if it breaks it has to be replaced.
Diurnal cycle – I don’t know if this is in the works, but it seems like a no-brainer, if this were implemented, I would suggest making the nights really, really dark, so much so that you can’t see what’s beyond a few meters from your characters, unless you are carrying a light source. An extension to this could be the ability to set up temporary campsites, tents, campfire and all. All of which would be items that would have to be carried. I guess what I want is that men without backpacks should have most of their inventory space taken up with what they need to survive, leaving the large amounts of item carrying to the merchants (with backpacks) and transports.
Weather and climate – Obviously this world (thus far) is primarily desert, as such having wild seasonal swings would be counter intuitive, but this does not mean that there can’t be areas that experience extremes of temperature (cold at night perhaps, and occasionally suffering from heat waves). These could make it dangerous to stay in the area for an extended period, whist simultaneously creating lucrative opportunities for those brave, stupid or crazy enough to continue trading with the towns within the extreme. Other ideas include sandstorms, drought, disease, etc.
These are just some of the thoughts I have had, and I plan to keep the ides coming, but let me know if my ideas are misguided. Very rarely does a game impress me so, and I want to be a part of its development from here on out.
First of all, I would like to state how rare it is for me to actually make an account on the games I play, which should show how deeply impressed I am with this game. I only bought it a couple of days ago, but have already spent a great amount of time with it and I want to now add my thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
Transport – I have always disliked fast forward buttons, I feel that it can take away from a games natural flow, as well as being a bit of a black hole where more imaginative solutions could reside. I.E, the two speeds above ’normal’ could be replaced by some form of transport (horses, camels, pogo sticks, whatever). This would add a more strategic element, as well as a greater feeling of progression, at first you would be limited to nearby towns, simply due to the amount of time it would take to get further afield, but as you gained more cash you could buy (or steal) say, a camel. This camel could carry more than a man and could travel faster, but could require feeding (see consumables). This could also be a mechanism to encourage the splitting of ones forces, if you only have two camels, you wouldn’t want a group of footmen running after trying to keep up, or else slowing the whole party down. The faster form of transport could be the horse, faster, but perhaps able to carry less. These animals could be used for a more aggressive purpose, hunting down and charging trade caravans for example. Hell, if you got into trouble out in the desert, you could kill and eat your transport (Mmmm, pogostick soup, tangy!)
Animation - The animation quality blew me away the first time I entered combat, it’s smooth, and the way the characters react to injury is incredibly realistic, whilst still maintaining the fun factor. Limping away from the enemy with a downed man on your shoulder makes for truly tense gameplay, and I hope that this will be taken further (loss of limb, etc). The question of how characters with lost limbs continue to be useful in a game such as this is a dificult one. Losing one hand could mean that said character could only fight with one handed weapons, or perhaps have a crude prosthetic attached. Equally, these characters could be used as teachers for others, if they have higher stats they could impart their knowledge onto others. Seriously injured characters (for example those with no legs or arms could present a more phycological challenge to the player, if they are just stuck in bed at base as a drain on resoources, it may be best to either leave them in town for the villagers to tend to or even simply kill them. If they are characters the player has had for a while then it may be a hard decision.
Money – As I have played through the game one thing has become obvious above all else; there is very little reason to spend money, other than to buy items to trade for more money, which can be better done by attacking anyway. Whilst I am sure there are plans afoot to increase the amount of cats that need to be spent to survive, I will add my thoughts regardless;
Consumables – Food, water, the usual; stuff that you would obviously need to survive in the desert for extended periods. I read somewhere (can’t find it as of writing) that farming is planned, so I assume that hunger (and perhaps thirst) will be added sooner or later.
Weapon/Apparel maintenance and replacement – Obvious really, stuff gets worn down the more it is used, if it breaks it has to be replaced.
Diurnal cycle – I don’t know if this is in the works, but it seems like a no-brainer, if this were implemented, I would suggest making the nights really, really dark, so much so that you can’t see what’s beyond a few meters from your characters, unless you are carrying a light source. An extension to this could be the ability to set up temporary campsites, tents, campfire and all. All of which would be items that would have to be carried. I guess what I want is that men without backpacks should have most of their inventory space taken up with what they need to survive, leaving the large amounts of item carrying to the merchants (with backpacks) and transports.
Weather and climate – Obviously this world (thus far) is primarily desert, as such having wild seasonal swings would be counter intuitive, but this does not mean that there can’t be areas that experience extremes of temperature (cold at night perhaps, and occasionally suffering from heat waves). These could make it dangerous to stay in the area for an extended period, whist simultaneously creating lucrative opportunities for those brave, stupid or crazy enough to continue trading with the towns within the extreme. Other ideas include sandstorms, drought, disease, etc.
These are just some of the thoughts I have had, and I plan to keep the ides coming, but let me know if my ideas are misguided. Very rarely does a game impress me so, and I want to be a part of its development from here on out.
) I think it has been said somewhere that there won't be anything people can ride with (might be wrong tough). Maybe some mules to carry stuff.
Should I laugh or cry? 