Hello, I am Remi. I wish to share my ideas for Overgrowth's future even though I have a slender chance of the developers even seeing this, even more slender that they will implement them. But I just wanna get these suggestions off my chest and let you guys know. Feel free to support, or even suggest your own.
- First off, I think the starting menu should be upgraded to a more detailed state. I think that instead of a regular picture and level selection, it should be a slide show in the background of different concept arts sliding from the right, and the present picture slides to the left. This will -probably- allow artistic featuring and move the boundaries of imagination with artists. I say probably because all of us have our opinions.
-My second idea is that achievements should come with rewards, such as when you beat a challenge level (I had this idea off the Overgrowth Alpha 185 unofficial update this week.) You should be able to pick 2 types of items you can start off with, such as a scabbard and sword, or a two handed weapon. This would give players a head start without having to go into developer mode and cheat a weapon in.
-My third idea is to add some sort of armor. With armor, players can last longer, obviously. But with different types of armor, it can lead to weight problems and you wont be able to move as fast. such as, if the player was wearing leather or cloth armor, he would be running slightly slower than originally no armor at all. Plate Armor, however, can be rather heavy and can slow you down substantially. The armor can bend, slice open and expose the player, or even break and shatter. Bending will give weak spots, and can slice open to expose the player. Or even break and shatter if hit enough. With armor, players can learn to protect themselves in combat, and even learn more about unarmed combat.
-Last idea is improved fighting animations, Im not trying to say "Your anim's suck" I am saying that you should variation between attacks, such as if the player moves to the left or right, the punch will go that way, such as if the player walks left with the enemy, the player will use his right hand and punch the enemy. Or vice versa. This will allow easier combat with enemies, and add customized combinations for different types of players.
Again, these are just ideas.
Some Suggestions.
Re: Some Suggestions.
As for the animations idea, the entire fighting system is based on dynamically interpreting your movements and intent to attack-- for example, standing farther from an opponent will execute a different kind of kick than standing close, which is again different from the type of kick used when moving or crouching.
As for armor, I support the idea in concept, but it sounds very complicated and would drastically change the game. Perhaps a simple shield would be a better solution, to avoid having to animate a bunch of armor objects separately from the character models.
As for armor, I support the idea in concept, but it sounds very complicated and would drastically change the game. Perhaps a simple shield would be a better solution, to avoid having to animate a bunch of armor objects separately from the character models.
Re: Some Suggestions.
It does seem reasonable to have a shield instead of armor, but with armor you could have different variations for your character that you are trying to use in the game.
Re: Some Suggestions.
As for the achievements. They aren't like normal achievements. They won't span the entire game. They are level specific, giving you feedback on how you played. In Lugaru, you were often rewarded bonus points for doing special things. For example, I got a reward for jumping from behind cover, flipping and throwing a knife for a kill. The reward was something about being ninja, but it got me some extra points.
But, because these are per-level and seem geared towards documenting skill in the challenge levels, I imagine that they wouldn't be used for giving the player extra items going into levels. I'm not sure how David will handle the player's gear level to level, but I have faith in his design choices.
David has plans for a modular armor system, as well as shields. Plate armor is going to be rather uncommon, as far as I know, although some characters use it. I believe there are some old blog posts on armor and such. While the bending and shattering would be complex, I imagine that David will put a lot of detail into it. He's very good at knowing where to put detail in the design and where to leave some out. The devil's in the details and it seems like David is always winning golden fiddles
I'm not sure the punches are controllable, but you can cause Turner to kick left or right by moving that direction. It's useful for knocking enemies into harder surfaces like wood or stone.
But, because these are per-level and seem geared towards documenting skill in the challenge levels, I imagine that they wouldn't be used for giving the player extra items going into levels. I'm not sure how David will handle the player's gear level to level, but I have faith in his design choices.
David has plans for a modular armor system, as well as shields. Plate armor is going to be rather uncommon, as far as I know, although some characters use it. I believe there are some old blog posts on armor and such. While the bending and shattering would be complex, I imagine that David will put a lot of detail into it. He's very good at knowing where to put detail in the design and where to leave some out. The devil's in the details and it seems like David is always winning golden fiddles
I'm not sure the punches are controllable, but you can cause Turner to kick left or right by moving that direction. It's useful for knocking enemies into harder surfaces like wood or stone.
Re: Some Suggestions.
Your First Idea will probably come true, but much later in development. When the game is nearly finished all the UI will be much more detailed than it currently is now.
As for the second idea, I totally disagree. Right now there's no point in giving rewards for achievements. Why give the player a weapon for doing something really tricky when the player can just spawn his own weapon whenever he wants? When the challenge campaign is finished I think it would be silly as well, maybe if there was some kind of points system for achievements it could work, but the only sensible reward for most achievement systems is just bragging rights.
It's not cheating by giving yourself a weapon at the moment, more like ruining the fun for yourself. It's not like the editor has some Dwarf-Fortress-esque UI, it couldn't really be much simpler to spawn your own weapons.
I can almost guarantee that armour will be added, they have shown off possible modular armour systems already, but none work with the game yet, and I agree with your last idea. They need to balance the fighting a bit more, too. Right now too much of the fighting relies on leg cannons and spin-kicks.
As for the second idea, I totally disagree. Right now there's no point in giving rewards for achievements. Why give the player a weapon for doing something really tricky when the player can just spawn his own weapon whenever he wants? When the challenge campaign is finished I think it would be silly as well, maybe if there was some kind of points system for achievements it could work, but the only sensible reward for most achievement systems is just bragging rights.
It's not cheating by giving yourself a weapon at the moment, more like ruining the fun for yourself. It's not like the editor has some Dwarf-Fortress-esque UI, it couldn't really be much simpler to spawn your own weapons.
I can almost guarantee that armour will be added, they have shown off possible modular armour systems already, but none work with the game yet, and I agree with your last idea. They need to balance the fighting a bit more, too. Right now too much of the fighting relies on leg cannons and spin-kicks.