Quote:Original post by kseh
Usually you'd take a risk on a potion in a rougelike because you were desperate. Whether it was from a lack of food or you're about to be thrashed by numerous enemies. You'd use the potion hoping for the best and then deal with the effects and concequences. Perhaps what you want to do is make resources relatively scarce galaxy wide. Though I doubt the effects of making ship/vehical repairs with an unknown metal would be as interesting as a crew member eating an unknown fruit.
You know that's a cool idea. It's funny how easily all of this can be translated from fantasy to SF, especially if you're willing to tolerate a bit of science fantasy. Your spirits are AIs, your potions are complex serums or genetic concoctions. That unknown metal needs to be highly reactive (maybe some sort of nanotech or even more advanced attotech?).
The biggest problem I've always had is that as an explorer you're expected to pretty much be buttoned up in self-contained environmental gear unlike some hapless rogue wandering through a swamp. So logically why the heck are you taking off your suit to get stung by strange bees or to inhale psychotropic poisons? Doesn't make sense. My science fantasy answer involving miniature wormholes allowing stuff to pass through your protection likely makes even less sense, but I haven't come up with anything better.
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It does make sense that people might be able to go certain places more effectively than the ATV but I think you need to be sure the player has a reason to deploy the crew in any terrain and not just for certain types.
You're right about this, but it may be that I end up creating modes corresponding to terrain. If it's flat, dull and easy to cross you can't get out. You can only get out at blockages, like jungles or alien ruins. It doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense but sometimes a game has to protect the player from doing things that would be boring.
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And while venturing out into the jungle on foot might be fun and suspensful, demolishing a path for the ATV would probably get tedious after the first few times.
Good point. Darn these ideas sound good at first brush but I can see this being even more tedious than wading through mobs of monsters (which at least fight back) In games where you need to find a path (maze gameplay essentially) it's often a real-time pressure that makes the experience more interesting, and it doesn't make sense to apply that pressure in all environments-- for instance, on an earth like world if you run out of gas you're just out of gas.