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    Scavenger

    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "Anonymous1157" said:
    "MageKing17" said:
    "roburky" said:
    There will be no 'level up' system. I really dislike that kind of thing. You will not get stronger because of some abstract numbers going up. Your abilities will increase when you manage to build artificial organs for your body, new weapons, and so on.
    Excellent. I would, however, like a basic nod to "abstract numbers" levelling systems, in something like if you fire off weapons a lot, your character slowly gets better aim. After all, firing off round after round, you'll eventually get better at directing where they go, correct?
    True. But, we don't want it to look like Runescape, do we? Things like your ability to aim a weapon are okay, but don't make a level-up bar for every little detail.
    Nono, make the bar hidden. And the effect subtle.
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    Anonymous1157 18 years ago
    "MageKing17" said:
    "Anonymous1157" said:
    "MageKing17" said:
    "roburky" said:
    There will be no 'level up' system. I really dislike that kind of thing. You will not get stronger because of some abstract numbers going up. Your abilities will increase when you manage to build artificial organs for your body, new weapons, and so on.
    Excellent. I would, however, like a basic nod to "abstract numbers" levelling systems, in something like if you fire off weapons a lot, your character slowly gets better aim. After all, firing off round after round, you'll eventually get better at directing where they go, correct?
    True. But, we don't want it to look like Runescape, do we? Things like your ability to aim a weapon are okay, but don't make a level-up bar for every little detail.
    Nono, make the bar hidden. And the effect subtle.
    Ah, I'm beginning to understand. Very interesting indeed.
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    roburky 18 years ago
    Nah.

    A world of cybernetic enhancements is one with the belief that self-improvement cannot come from within - it must be created and installed. Why exercise to improve your muscles when you can just build some stronger muscles to replace them? I intend to reflect this in my game.
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    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    A world of cybernetic enhancements is one with the belief that self-improvement cannot come from within - it must be created and installed. Why exercise to improve your muscles when you can just build some stronger muscles to replace them? I intend to reflect this in my game.
    That should be up to the player, I think.
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    Amarth 18 years ago
    "MageKing17" said:
    That should be up to the player, I think.
    Why? Can't the creator have some sort of message, some sort of point?

    I like roburky's view. In fact, this whole thread is full of great ideas. I'm going to try the mod when I'm able to.
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    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "Amarth" said:
    "MageKing17" said:
    That should be up to the player, I think.
    Why? Can't the creator have some sort of message, some sort of point?
    The creator can always have some sort of message or point, that doesn't require limiting player options. You could get the same message across by disabling the levelling system for any parts of the body that have been converted into cybernetic parts.
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    roburky 18 years ago
    A discussion I've been reading about recently is the game design technique of representing the character of the player's character not by giving them dialogue, but by changing the rest of the world to present the character's view of it. If that makes sense.

    It's a nice idea, but it doesn't fit with this mod.

    I might have something similar, but inverted. The longer you survive, the weaker and more dependent you get, as the alien environment takes its toll on you. Getting addicted to the poisons in the water springs, for example.

    That would hopefully from a game mechanic perspective as well. Instead of frustrating players in the early stages, it will act to increase the challenge as time goes on.
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    Redemption 18 years ago
    Thats a great Idea, one of the main problems in werivar was the near invincibility of having the warp drill gun.
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    Amarth 18 years ago
    That's a grand idea. Puts some time limit on gameplay. Could also give some very strong narration. Can you imagine the character using his last strengths to write his final journey entry, commenting on how unfair his life was?

    OTOH, it could be very frustrating or annoying for the player. I'd say, don't wait too long (ingame) to introduce it, and warn the player. Some nice journal entries, some strange things happening, then nothing for some time, and then illness or something starts to break out.
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    roburky 18 years ago
    I have a rough plan for datacube items that can be found, with little hints and nuggets of information about the world, the creatures, the items, etc. And these could obviously be used to gradually warn the player about the dangers of relying on springs, or whatever else I decide to make.

    The idea being that you can read these at your leisure, rather than having journal entries forced upon you while you're playing. I don't know about anyone else, but I tended to right click through the journals at the beginning of a day in Notrium, as I was always in the middle of something when it popped up.

    It also lets you get a peek at items and creatures that you haven't yet encountered, hopefully making you interested enough to keep playing, and letting you start planning for them.

    I don't intend to start implementing this until I have an amount of content locked down, otherwise the datacubes will become out of date as I keep changing stuff.
    #
    roburky 18 years ago
    Update!

    <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.03.zip">http://www.roburky.co.uk/etc/Scavenger0.03.zip</a><!-- m -->

    Biggest changes are the return of the hunger bar, and LASER EYES. The hunger drain is very slow, so you have plenty of time to get your bearings and start hunting the slug-beasts for food. The laser eyes need to be constructed, but I think they're going to change the dynamic of the game. Let me know how you think the laser eyes change how the mod plays.

    Complete change log:

    Miscellaneous:
    - Hunger bar is back (referred to as sustenance bar). Slug meat will replenish it.
    - The wrecks now all have different ambient sounds.
    - The music has been changed. It also happens to be a smaller file size, making the whole mod easier to download.

    Items:
    - New items found at crash sites: weapon chassis, electromagnet, food ration, propellant unit
    - Food rations are available as an option to satisfy hunger. You start with a couple to make the early game easier, but ones available to find are limited (just like original Notrium, I guess).
    - The projectile weapon is buildable, using the weapon chassis, propellant unit, and multi-metal.
    - Projectile weapon rate of fire increased slightly.
    - The player now has an ocular filter item, which is equipped to the head slot. When you have nanites, the filter is automatically equipped, and the red glow in front of the player is in effect. When you run out of nanites, it is automatically unequipped.
    - The nanite link and the nanite cell can be combined to make an energy converter.
    - The energy converter can be combined with your ocular filter to make Laser Eyes. This is an auto-equipped organ like the ocular filter, and allows you to shoot lasers from your eyes at any time using the right mouse button.

    Creatures:
    - New mini versions of the insects are spread about the world. Unlike the larger ones, they will not attack.
    - Insects leave a little trail.
    - Insects have fiery blood.
    - Blue plants give the same effects whether they die from attacking or being attacked. They also have nanite particles for 'blood'.
    - Blue plants are now more common around springs.
    - Mosquito drone will now properly 'fly'.
    - Mosquito drone's weapon has been tweaked in all areas.

    -new-

    I'm not entirely happy with the laser eyes. I would have liked more visual effects for it. But to get the constant beam effect, I have it firing very rapidly, which means having any kind of particle when it fires or hits would make a /lot/ of particles.
    #
    MageKing17 18 years ago
    "roburky" said:
    I'm not entirely happy with the laser eyes. I would have liked more visual effects for it. But to get the constant beam effect, I have it firing very rapidly, which means having any kind of particle when it fires or hits would make a /lot/ of particles.
    If you want a good-looking "constant beam" effect, take a look at the fusion beam from opposing force. I really like the visual effect it has.

    Changes look good, I'll be trying it out later.

    Oh, and... don't double post.
    #
    zerocoal 17 years ago
    this was extremely hard but other than that if you actually get it to a decent sized area to play in and have more items it has potential to be very fun
    #
    Quanrian 17 years ago
    "MageKing17" said:
    Oh, and... don't double post.

    In regards to that here is what you can do. You can copy your old post by going to edit and than copying it out. You can than paste it into your newer post so your thread still shows a new post, rather than just updating the old one which doesn't update the thread. Than delete the old post, or PM one of the moderators to do it for you if you can't. I will do it for you this time.
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    D0M0 17 years ago
    it's got a problem for me. i run and graphics go wild. my charachter changes from an insect to slug for no reason and is just a white square for some time

    EDIT: i also don't see the ragdoll in my inventory
    #
    roburky 16 years ago
    In case people hadn't guessed from my reappearance in the modding questions thread etc, I've been working on this again. I discovered I had the whole of January with nothing to do before teaching starts at Uni again, so I've been trying to turn this into something playable as a complete game, even if it's not as grand and large and deep as my initial aims. I'm very pleased with what I've put together since the start of the christmas break, and I've reached the stage where I'm happy to begin playtesting on my family and friends.

    I aim to release something on the internet by the 28th January. It will be a very short Notrium-style game, but it will be one of the few mods released that form a complete experience. Hopefully some people will enjoy it, too.
    #
    Crazy 16 years ago
    It's very pretty.
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    Aegis 16 years ago
    Lots of fire = good
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    Amarth 16 years ago
    Love the "You feel hot" message.
    #
    roburky 16 years ago
    I was going to release this tonight, but I had another playtester today, and I don't think it's ready.

    My game is quite complex, I think, and I don't think I'm doing a good enough job teaching about how to play it. In particular, people don't seem to understand the nanites bar or the healing organ, and get themselves into all sorts of trouble as a result. The game is pretty complicated even without the nanites, and I think it's just too much to expect people to figure out / take in all at once. I don't want to lengthen my tutorial sequence much further, because I hate long boring game tutorials that interrupt a lot.

    I think I need to make the nanites bar less complicated. I've got two options, I think. I can make it more traditional and easier to understand - turn it into a simple bar that recharges at a set rate and never runs out. Or I can reduce the number of items at the beginning that rely on it. Specifically, have the starting weapon use something else for ammunition. Later weapons will use the nanite bar, but new players won't be left weaponless so easily while they figure out the game.

    That's the theory anyway. I'm leaning towards the second option, but I fear that will just delay the problem rather than solve it.
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    Aegis 16 years ago
    You could make the nanites recharge once your sustenance bar and your water bar are high.
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    roburky 16 years ago
    Sigh. I thought I was being clever, designing more unusual methods of ammunition and healing and so on. I've eventually realised that what I had made was not only difficult to understand, it's not quite as fun as the old methods.

    So my mod has been becoming slightly more traditional over the past few days. I've even added the healing plants back in, unable to think of a better alternative for a static consumable health source.

    I'm not overly sad about it, as what I enjoy about making this mod is designing the creatures and environments, and my playtesters just weren't getting to explore them much due to not being able to get past the confusing central mechanics of the game. So hopefully now people will be able to actually see the bits of the game I'm most proud of.
    #
    Zeron 16 years ago
    Actually, adding an unholy hybrid of the repair unit and health pack might be better for a healing item.
    #
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