Some suggestions
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 4:38 pm
Hello, I've been playing for a few weeks, and have made it to Lvl 49 and am working through the Lodar quests now. The non-crit beasts are a pain with a defensive build... needs some serious attack leveling now
In general, the game is great, very playable and enjoyable, and well balanced. It doesn't get boring (except for lvls 6-10-ish where a quest or two would help...), and flows nicely. Here is a list of ideas / suggestions that I've come up with while playing. Feel free to discuss etc.
BASIC IDEAS ("good to have")
- when there are effects on our hero, add the number of rounds to the display. I.e. poisoned write 3x2 (3 rounds, double poison, etc.) and then reduce the rounds number each round. This makes keeping track of how many HP you can expect to lose much easier, and also lets you see how long the effects will stay
- raise the brightness of the darker part of the cave toward Lodar to normal. Impossible to play in sunlight.
- add "roadblock signs" (the red/white or black/yellow striped ones, google for some images) to the paths where the map currently ends to make it clear where no quest etc. will let you pass. Nor City, Stoutford, the tower to the west, the cave to the east, etc. all could use this.
- also, it would be good to add some info to the quests that are unfinished at the currently available last step. There was a forum thread requesting this too.
- highlight the current "tapping on the screen" action (Attack/move/end turn) so it's obvious what a screen tap will do
- when in attack mode and out of APs for attacking, a tap should default to End Turn... same for move mode, etc.
- After drinking potions or equipping, tapping should also default to end turn when nothing else is doable, else to attack.
- indicate what weapons are 1 or 2 handed. Some of the axes and hammers could be either from just looking at them.
- let us buy more supplies at once. I can buy 50 Bonemeal potions at a time, but only 5 bread???
- a better highlight of who is being attacked. In sunlight the difference is not visible enough... maybe an option for a bracket around the target? Or a brighter color?
- mirror the non-human monsters. Either do it randomly, or based on their last movement direction (left/right). Can't do it for humans (and maybe some humanoids) because they would switch from left to right handed suddenly when carrying something... but anything without something in their hands could also exist flipped. This would make the monsters look more diverse / interesting.
- rename "Corpse Eater" to something less morbid, like "Life extractor" or something. Makes me feel less like a Zombie and more like a magic user...
- put the experience points gained in the combat log. Sometimes when there are no items I want to check what experience something gave (I have dialogs turned off)
- consolidate lines in the combat log. Add a (2x) or (3x) behind a line and only show the content once. This would most likely only apply to the "misses", but would shorten the log and make it more useful / readable
- another readability suggestion in the combat log: color the lines or an icon before the text to show what's from you and what's from the monster.
ADVANCED IDEAS ("discussion welcome!!")
- a grouping of the items. I know that reorganisation of items was requested, but maybe Tabs with ALL/Weapons/Armor/Food,Drink,Potions/Other would be a quick way to partly implement it?
- add some teleporters into the churches (maybe the ones who are sympathetic to the Blackwater research gruop?), like the ones in the Blackwater inner chamber. Something that you unlock once you've been to the far side so that you can hop from location to location without having to run everywhere.
- torches or potion of light/seeing/perception/... that lets you see a little bit (some small radius) in the dark mazes?
- quests from Levels 6-10 ... that part of the game is a bit tedious...
- change the way the monster difficulty is calculated for the Attack Dialog. Some "Very Easy" Monsters can kill with criticals etc. Maybe calculate avg damage per round for both and see who has a higher death risk? This could take current HPs into account, and basically serve as a risk indicator for attacking a monster, which can also be used for the Auto Combat setting (i.e. up to which level do you want to see a dialog asking if you want to attack?)
- possibly track "alignments" in the game? I.e. pro/contra Shadow, general good/evil based on choices made in the game, ... not sure if this is worth it, as it can add a lot of complexity and is less transparent to casual players.
- make our Hero less fat. He gets quite a bit of exercise !!! ...it would be hilarious to show him losing weight as he gains levels from spoilt kid to world dominator
DON'Ts (please...)
- don't add a weight system or item limit. Theres a lot of stuff where you never know when and where you need it. Else make the limits high, and add someplace to be able to deposit stuff easily.
- don't add a battle screen. The immersion in the game is nice as it is, and the battle system works well.
Thanks again for a great game, and for all the hard development work!!!
In general, the game is great, very playable and enjoyable, and well balanced. It doesn't get boring (except for lvls 6-10-ish where a quest or two would help...), and flows nicely. Here is a list of ideas / suggestions that I've come up with while playing. Feel free to discuss etc.
BASIC IDEAS ("good to have")
- when there are effects on our hero, add the number of rounds to the display. I.e. poisoned write 3x2 (3 rounds, double poison, etc.) and then reduce the rounds number each round. This makes keeping track of how many HP you can expect to lose much easier, and also lets you see how long the effects will stay
- raise the brightness of the darker part of the cave toward Lodar to normal. Impossible to play in sunlight.
- add "roadblock signs" (the red/white or black/yellow striped ones, google for some images) to the paths where the map currently ends to make it clear where no quest etc. will let you pass. Nor City, Stoutford, the tower to the west, the cave to the east, etc. all could use this.
- also, it would be good to add some info to the quests that are unfinished at the currently available last step. There was a forum thread requesting this too.
- highlight the current "tapping on the screen" action (Attack/move/end turn) so it's obvious what a screen tap will do
- when in attack mode and out of APs for attacking, a tap should default to End Turn... same for move mode, etc.
- After drinking potions or equipping, tapping should also default to end turn when nothing else is doable, else to attack.
- indicate what weapons are 1 or 2 handed. Some of the axes and hammers could be either from just looking at them.
- let us buy more supplies at once. I can buy 50 Bonemeal potions at a time, but only 5 bread???
- a better highlight of who is being attacked. In sunlight the difference is not visible enough... maybe an option for a bracket around the target? Or a brighter color?
- mirror the non-human monsters. Either do it randomly, or based on their last movement direction (left/right). Can't do it for humans (and maybe some humanoids) because they would switch from left to right handed suddenly when carrying something... but anything without something in their hands could also exist flipped. This would make the monsters look more diverse / interesting.
- rename "Corpse Eater" to something less morbid, like "Life extractor" or something. Makes me feel less like a Zombie and more like a magic user...
- put the experience points gained in the combat log. Sometimes when there are no items I want to check what experience something gave (I have dialogs turned off)
- consolidate lines in the combat log. Add a (2x) or (3x) behind a line and only show the content once. This would most likely only apply to the "misses", but would shorten the log and make it more useful / readable
- another readability suggestion in the combat log: color the lines or an icon before the text to show what's from you and what's from the monster.
ADVANCED IDEAS ("discussion welcome!!")
- a grouping of the items. I know that reorganisation of items was requested, but maybe Tabs with ALL/Weapons/Armor/Food,Drink,Potions/Other would be a quick way to partly implement it?
- add some teleporters into the churches (maybe the ones who are sympathetic to the Blackwater research gruop?), like the ones in the Blackwater inner chamber. Something that you unlock once you've been to the far side so that you can hop from location to location without having to run everywhere.
- torches or potion of light/seeing/perception/... that lets you see a little bit (some small radius) in the dark mazes?
- quests from Levels 6-10 ... that part of the game is a bit tedious...
- change the way the monster difficulty is calculated for the Attack Dialog. Some "Very Easy" Monsters can kill with criticals etc. Maybe calculate avg damage per round for both and see who has a higher death risk? This could take current HPs into account, and basically serve as a risk indicator for attacking a monster, which can also be used for the Auto Combat setting (i.e. up to which level do you want to see a dialog asking if you want to attack?)
- possibly track "alignments" in the game? I.e. pro/contra Shadow, general good/evil based on choices made in the game, ... not sure if this is worth it, as it can add a lot of complexity and is less transparent to casual players.
- make our Hero less fat. He gets quite a bit of exercise !!! ...it would be hilarious to show him losing weight as he gains levels from spoilt kid to world dominator
DON'Ts (please...)
- don't add a weight system or item limit. Theres a lot of stuff where you never know when and where you need it. Else make the limits high, and add someplace to be able to deposit stuff easily.
- don't add a battle screen. The immersion in the game is nice as it is, and the battle system works well.
Thanks again for a great game, and for all the hard development work!!!