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Post by JRooster76 on Jul 16, 2013 15:30:03 GMT -5
Kongregate looks alright but if we make this Mobile I think we should add a lot of character customization, maybe even as the main hub before going into battle. Games on your personal device should be personal. I know I'm making a code chore but we can make different sets of armor, maybe even belts. If any of these have some advantage that's cool too, but not needed. When joining a game your armor would be rendered in color according to team. I agree that there ought to be some character customization. How deep that will go I'm not sure. Certainly face, hair, and skin can and should be customizable. However, the ability to change into different armors would mean creating an armory for every single class. It gets even more complicated if the armor affects stats. It would mean that players can upgrade their weapons. Now we get into grinding and leveling up and creating a store to purchase new items, etc. At this stage I would say no since it would require way too much manpower to pull something like that off. The avatar maker here is actually a good example of how to personalize your character. The tricky part is that if you change the look of the base character too much, you'll run into a problem when switching classes. It would be different if the game mechanics were like a typical MMO where you pick a class from the start and stick with it for the rest of the game. This is not the case here, so your base character has to stay relatively the same. If you can think of an alternative solution, let me know. |
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Aeolus
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Mega Mystery
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Post by Aeolus on Jul 16, 2013 16:03:07 GMT -5
Would it be complicated if instead of having hats that change your characters entire appearance we have most weapons on a weapon rack and other items on tables? We would be cutting out hat machines, and the rack could just re-spawn the weapon after a player removes it, but the player would keep the customized look exactly as is only holding a weapon and acquiring weapon abilities. If that works then helmets could be added to custom options. The space now not occupied by hat machines could allow us to put in a smelter & anvil for the blacksmith and all ore & wood would go to either an outpost or the blacksmith's station. It would solve Red's problem of setting a clear difference between workers and blacksmiths, the blacksmith only would be able to upgrade weapons. For the upgrade process i'm thinking something like when the blacksmith removes a weapon from the rack and takes it to the anvil he uses gathered ore & wood, upon completion a once empty slot on the rack would spawn the new weapon.  |
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Post by JRooster76 on Jul 16, 2013 16:18:44 GMT -5
So if I understand it right, classes would be defined by the type of weapon the player wields. So if I pick up a sword then I'm a knight-type character. If I pick up a bow then I'm a ranger-type character, etc. The rest of their appearance would remain the same. Is this correct? That's more in tune with typical MMOs. What about a giant-type character? Since they do not wield any weapons how would they change? I suppose they can have their own special method (eat a mushroom or something like that). Not a bad idea though. Nice rack, btw  |
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Aeolus
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Mega Mystery
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Post by Aeolus on Jul 16, 2013 16:53:31 GMT -5
That's the idea, but i didn't think of DLC...maybe the mushrooms could be provided by the cook? Ninjas grab a katana from a display of shogun armor near the weapons rack, and pirates remove a cutlass from a treasure chest somewhere in the castle. idk
Seems like changing to ninja, giant, or pirate would have to remove armor though, kinda recreating the original problem.
I like the idea of room in the castle and it's such a big change that even if we kept the Titania look we'd have clear differences and only similar mechanics.
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Post by JRooster76 on Jul 16, 2013 20:23:17 GMT -5
Ninja and pirate wouldn't be a problem. It would simply be a different set of weapons on the rack. Villager and giant are unique in that they do not hold weapons (not counting bombs or potions). Having the cook make an ingredient for giant could certainly be an option. Of course this will all depend on the theme we end up using...
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redquill
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BLU (r)Mage
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Post by redquill on Jul 17, 2013 16:00:08 GMT -5
Speaking from the two themes I've elaborated on, I intend classes to be either protyping specs to alter your armour and weapon to a class-oriented shape, or souls of ancient magi which do the same thing. As now, they'll be dropped if you're killed.
As for individual customizations aside from the sort we already see in FP, I have a couple ideas. The simplest one is borrowed from Naughty Dog and probably others: customizable emblems. Even with only two layers and limited graphical options, scaling, rotation and colour make it easy to have your own unique emblem. Secondly, the one positive thing I picked up from Gotham City Imposters: special skins and clothing unlocked by completing special tasks, some of which are always available and some of which are special events. Clothing will be difficult given that the class dictates the clothing and the faction dictates the colour scheme, but the current model for FP shows that with a little creativity the goofy styles can be made to work with all of the class skins.
Simple things like an extra horn for your Warrior if you meet their challenge should be fine, and are a good way to show off your talents to anyone who sees you.
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Post by JRooster76 on Jul 17, 2013 17:23:18 GMT -5
The emblem idea is fine. Additional accessories may pose a problem depending on which way we go. If you want each class to look different then it would take a lot of work to add accessories for each individual class. If you keep the character the same but only change the weapon, then its a bit easier. That's what Aeo is proposing. Forgo the different looks of each class and instead have a character that you can customize any way you want a la LBP. Your abilities would be dictated by the weapon you're currently wielding.
There's pros and cons for each method. On one hand having each class look different makes it much easier to spot in the battlefield. However, we're limited to how much customization can be done. You'd need an entire art department to come up with accessories for the 12 or so classes we currently have. Going the other route, we can come up with as many accessories we like. However, differentiating each class would be difficult. One way to tell what class a person is could be by having a class icon above the player's head. Still, not as friendly on the eyes as simply as having a specific model per class.
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redquill
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Post by redquill on Jul 17, 2013 21:34:07 GMT -5
I think my point was missed. Some of the customizations will be as they are now, modifications to your base character that are partially overwritten by the class you choose. So if you want people to see your awesomely huge hair, you'll have to stay a villager. That works well. The clothing customizations would be for one class ONLY; that bonus Warrior spike would be from completing some kind or Warrior challenge and would only show up when you're a Warrior. This formula works fine for changing weapon appearance too. Class spanning modifications are way too much work for our small team of volunteers, so base form cosmetics like we have now and class-specific flares are the only way to go.
I've seen timed challenges leading to rare unlockable flairs increase the replayability of games immensely. There's no reason not to take advantage of this. Make sense now?
Something I neglected to mention is that these options don't need to be available at release. Like all good indie games lately, the team will still be working on it afterward, particularly after our first release. The browser/mobile version of our game is not the end of it. That's practice and publicity for the real project, console release. While we're working on that and the first version is out generating interest, it wouldn't be too much trouble to do a little more work on the visuals to keep people interested, would it?
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Post by JRooster76 on Jul 18, 2013 0:10:51 GMT -5
Honestly, I think either way it's gonna work out to be the same amount of work. It's 1 mod X 60 accessories vs 12 mods X 5 accessories. It's just a matter of how you envision the game. By your reply I take it you want to have a unique mod per class with class specific accessories. Those accessories would be earned through various class specific challenges. Is this correct?
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redquill
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Post by redquill on Jul 18, 2013 21:38:33 GMT -5
Yeah. It's definitely not the focus at the moment, but something to keep in mind.
The art guys can answer this question best I think, but feel free to take a crack: are patterns possible without relying on colour? By which I mean, you'd still be noticably blue or red or yellow to show your faction, but you'd have a pattern on your uniform? A texture, I guess?
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redquill
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Post by redquill on Aug 16, 2013 16:32:20 GMT -5
Now that we're closing in on our final theme, people should start thinking about this again. Personally, I'm happy with the options and overwrites in FP, but I'm not everybody. Even I can't deny there's an appeal to showing off you went a whole game without dying always wearing a warrior hat by having a skull helmet when you play a warrior. If we can do it, we definitely should.
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