First of all, i've purposely designed hunger and thirst so that people have to stick to the road or they won't come across watering holes on long journeys across deserts etc, beyond that it would do these automatically so long as you bought food regularly and refilled your water pouch. This would ensure that players have to remember it, but not make it so tedious as to be a hastle. This would also give you a reason to add in non-aggressive animals that the player could hunt while out in the wilderness.
As for the hot and cold systems it would be pretty strait forward, in the north you need warm clothes, in the south you should dress light. Beyond that there's not much to it, i mean how hard is it for you to think "Hey I'm going to Canada, I should bring a jacket. It's simple but it will allow there to be more reasons to wear different types of armor and clothes for different occasions, a quick less than hassling thing to do for a lot of realism.
Finally, as for the large quantity of negative effects, it is simple, more effects means more options for different kind of spells and attacks. There's only so much you can do with fire and ice spells. And I'm also hoping to add to the positive affects but i'm having trouble thinking of them.
Status Changes for my Action/RPG (Revised)
I see your point, but most players want to spend their precious time finding items, pvp'ing, and following the storyline. Don't put too much weight on the player's shoulders.
What does the actual gameplay revolve around in your game? Melee combat? First person shooting?
The sleepy status doesn't seem like it would add anything to the game other than constant interruptions.
And unless the setting is a desert or wasteland, I wouldn't bother with hunger and thirst. It would be annoying to be forced to "use" food items every few game hours instead of focusing on the fun part of the gameplay. GTA: SA is a great example of how a hunger stat doesn't add anything at all to a game.
The sleepy status doesn't seem like it would add anything to the game other than constant interruptions.
And unless the setting is a desert or wasteland, I wouldn't bother with hunger and thirst. It would be annoying to be forced to "use" food items every few game hours instead of focusing on the fun part of the gameplay. GTA: SA is a great example of how a hunger stat doesn't add anything at all to a game.
Randy?
Stoned?
Tourettes level?
PMT?
I have to agree with the others that thirst and hunger really can't work as gameplay elements successfully. Just the presence of a status bar for either, even if it never went below 99%, pisses me off.
Sorry, not very helpful, other than to cause you to think - do i really need those to be realistic?
[Edited by - thelovegoose on December 5, 2007 1:53:09 PM]
Stoned?
Tourettes level?
PMT?
I have to agree with the others that thirst and hunger really can't work as gameplay elements successfully. Just the presence of a status bar for either, even if it never went below 99%, pisses me off.
Sorry, not very helpful, other than to cause you to think - do i really need those to be realistic?
[Edited by - thelovegoose on December 5, 2007 1:53:09 PM]
A serious one could be confidence -
The more successful beatings you dish out the higher your confidence gets. Sustain a few losses in a row or one particularly bad beating and your confidence will drop.
More complicated things like fighting a baddie you have never seen before could make it drop, unless your character has high natural confidence.
Your confidence will affect your ability to execute more powerful moves correctly, and to defend better.
Another is complacency. Fight the same baddie repeatedly and you'll become complacent against that type of baddie, your defense and attacks will start to worsen. Fight a baddie well below your skill level and this could also happen. Unless you have high natural resistance to complacency.
Both of these together, combined with much higer experience gains for tougher baddies will discourage grinding chickens and the like and make battles more excting... in theory :)
The more successful beatings you dish out the higher your confidence gets. Sustain a few losses in a row or one particularly bad beating and your confidence will drop.
More complicated things like fighting a baddie you have never seen before could make it drop, unless your character has high natural confidence.
Your confidence will affect your ability to execute more powerful moves correctly, and to defend better.
Another is complacency. Fight the same baddie repeatedly and you'll become complacent against that type of baddie, your defense and attacks will start to worsen. Fight a baddie well below your skill level and this could also happen. Unless you have high natural resistance to complacency.
Both of these together, combined with much higer experience gains for tougher baddies will discourage grinding chickens and the like and make battles more excting... in theory :)
Quote:Original post by PatchesV
These things seem like a lot of work to avoid but would come into play rarely.
Then why not spend your time/energy/dev pool into something that comes into play more often and/or is more interesting?
Quote:
This would ensure that players have to remember it, but not make it so tedious as to be a hastle.
This (in my eyes) seems like a direct contradiction. As soon as you're making them remember/go through motions, it's a hassle.
[edit: Though in retrospect, it might be a little harsh of me since this is more of a brainstorm list than a final list. Those things will likely get culled in development/review/playtesting if they're really not fun.]
ps. I like that Asphyxia.
Since this is specifically an action RPG, you have a big opportunity in some interesting effects; make them inhibit the player's control rather than the character. Things like stat reductions are rather boring, but inverting the controls for confusion for instance is good. Similarly, make drunk characters stagger around; Neocron did this, and it might sound annoying, but watching your character clumsily stagger behind cover while a huge Warbot was chasing after you produced many a giggle-worthy moment. In an action game the player should feel more in control of the character, so make the player feel like they have the status effect on them.
A few ideas off the top of my head:
Paranoid: Creates monsters that run up behind you but dissapear when you turn to face them.
Buzzing: (Possibly produced by drinking too much coffee) Gives a slight increase in stamina but makes the control pad rumble whenever you are standing idle (would require a rumble pad obviously).
Dissociated: (You ate the wrong mushrooms) Makes the trees talk to you, perhaps even sprouting evil smiley faces.
Conceited: (Have this as an optional extra when drunk, or after a big killing spree) Player's damage caused appears higher and damage received appears lower than it really is.
A few ideas off the top of my head:
Paranoid: Creates monsters that run up behind you but dissapear when you turn to face them.
Buzzing: (Possibly produced by drinking too much coffee) Gives a slight increase in stamina but makes the control pad rumble whenever you are standing idle (would require a rumble pad obviously).
Dissociated: (You ate the wrong mushrooms) Makes the trees talk to you, perhaps even sprouting evil smiley faces.
Conceited: (Have this as an optional extra when drunk, or after a big killing spree) Player's damage caused appears higher and damage received appears lower than it really is.
The basics of implementing hunger is that it will only really be something to think about when you're planning a long journey. Just to make people stop and think about what they should pack. This is mostly aimed to make people more aware of their environment, something many games lack. As for the paranoid and talking trees, I think I'll combine those into one effect, thanks. Suffocating and disease have already been added to the list, thanks for the ideas. And you have to remember this is all the pre-programming planning. If hunger or drunkenness aren't fun then they'll be cut plain and simple. And to prove that hassles can be fun, look at "The Sims", all that game is is one problem after another but people play it obcessively. I'm trying to make a medieval Action/MMORP (don't comment, ive heard it all) that has those aspects as well as the fun killin and dieing. As for the moral, confidence, and other things of the sort involving mood; I think that happens to the person. If you fight ogres all day and stomp them then you see an ogre and you're like "Ha! guys, watch this!" but if you see a dragon and your last encounter was chomp-death then your response is "CRAP! CRAP! HE'S CHASING ME!!!!". However I've already added that as part of something NPC's experience, like the crew on your ship (that's right boy's and girls, all my different posts are for the same game)
Quote:Original post by PatchesV
The basics of implementing hunger is that it will only really be something to think about when you're planning a long journey. Just to make people stop and think about what they should pack.
How can you do that, exactly? Without forcing them to eat food every so many time units?
Quote:And to prove that hassles can be fun, look at "The Sims", all that game is is one problem after another but people play it obcessively.
That's not very good proof. The Sims is addictive, but the fun seems to wear off pretty quick. Most of the status bars become incredibly tedious after you get to a certain point in your character's development. From that point on, hunger doesn't add strategy or depth. It just requires you to click on the frig every so many queue items.
If you ask me, all of The Sim features and actions deteriorate into this at some point. It's just that many people seem to stay addicted to the game even though they aren't having fun with it anymore. Most likely to reach some self-set goal they've layed out for themselves. I guess the line drawn between addiction and fun is pretty faint from our (designer) perspectives.
I think most of The Sims actions would annoy the crap out of players if those actions were required in other typical games - games that are fun instead of addictive, like first person shooters. The motivation to play fun games is very different than addictive games. Then again, most RPG games seem to embrace addictiveness over fun. Just not any of my favorites.
If hunger and thirst are in the game then why not go all the way?
Why not add a "Need to see a man about a horse" as well as "Much pinch a loaf promtly" status?
Everyone enjoys a good bowel movement just like everyone enjoys a good meal. It will be fun!
And speaking iof stopping the flow of the game to do some tedious BS. How about a "brain fart" status where you force players to re-enter something trivial like the characters name just to continue playing. That would be fun! [/sarcasm]
Why not add a "Need to see a man about a horse" as well as "Much pinch a loaf promtly" status?
Everyone enjoys a good bowel movement just like everyone enjoys a good meal. It will be fun!
And speaking iof stopping the flow of the game to do some tedious BS. How about a "brain fart" status where you force players to re-enter something trivial like the characters name just to continue playing. That would be fun! [/sarcasm]
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