FTL is a very nice game, to which I return every now and then.



I think it gets the pace right in having short games, but having such an amount of content that there is always the need to replay the game to find everything, giving certain value to replay.



They have set up a nice amount of species, each with their unique bonuses, and strong ones. Yet the game has a breadth of facets that there is no single 'killer race' which trumps all others.



An amoeba hero could maybe know part or all of the layout of the dungeon beforehand. Perhaps with an enhanced skill it would know if the next map has features such a major module, merchant or enemies.



A sophon hero would yield better bonuses when operating equipment. A craver would be best at fighting, but have a penalty somewhere else.



The game still has undeveloped areas - nothing aabout science and tech to speak of so far - which makes it hard to pin down the exact bonuses each hero should have, since those areas could be beneficiary of some those.

XGrimxLimbX wrote:
Will there be different types of modes?



example:

x easy

x medium

x hard



Depending on the type of hardness, if you choose to ignore giving food to a hero to have them on your team, they could run off and do something drastic. Could follow along the lines of what was mentioned earlier about sabotaging your strategy.



Also, I've found that beginning some games have been ridiculously hard when those tough little bastard androids that ignore you and go straight for the crystal are the first thing you encounter, and massacre your power before you are able to open a second door. Will we be able to choose which characters we start out with? Starting with two weak characters is pretty brutal.



OH! And will there be more cut scenes? I like the pixelated art.

Weak heroes? All I heard was a challenge.

What's the point of the suicide/dismiss function? It is only really useful when you want to hire someone else (ie. replacing one of your people), I don't really get why this should be an option in the normal screen.

Skills are not in yet, but it seems that there are what, 3 slots?



I think each equipment should also have one additional skill slot to it. It does not mean every equipment would have a skill, but some equipment could have an active or passive skill.



An advanced medkit tool could, besides the normal effect of healing HP over time, consume food automatically to prevent the hero from dying for example.



A sword could have a 'monofilament decapitation' attack which could do a one-hit kill on a monster.

May be I haven't played enough to figure it out or just missed it... I'm unable to understand heroes' ability to "Manage a module". How does that work? What good does it do to have a Hero dedicate his time to "manage" a food source/ industry?

Uns33n wrote:
May be I haven't played enough to figure it out or just missed it... I'm unable to understand heroes' ability to "Manage a module". How does that work? What good does it do to have a Hero dedicate his time to "manage" a food source/ industry?

If a hero is next to a module when you open a new room you gain extra resources depending on the hero's wit.

mbails wrote:
If a hero is next to a module when you open a new room you gain extra resources depending on the hero's wit.

Oh yeah! Just played and finally figured it out! Wasn't very clear to me before :] Thanks!

From Steam:

"NightFury83" wrote:
I would also like to be able to feel more involved in the levelling of my hero(s).

Just simple stuff doesnt have to be extreme. I'm not expecting a huge talent tree with various options etc. But, more Diablo 1 like, such as whether I want to put points in a certain ability - more crit for someone who I would want to do dmg with, more health for a "tank" type person who could take more hits etc.

So, when my hero levels up, you could get x amount of points to spend, with perhaps a maximum amount going to one certain skill? Example:

Level One hero has 20 attack power. I level them to level two, where I get 6 points to spend amoungst the 6 abilities available with a max of 3 in a single ability. (attack range of melee/ranged doesnt count!)

I want this hero to hit hard so I invest 3 points in attack power, with the 3 spread elsewhere.

I think this is the first time this has been mentioned. I think it's a neat way to diversify the heroes while giving the player more to do than pressing the level up button being done with it.

Lulz! wrote:
From Steam:



I think this is the first time this has been mentioned. I think it's a neat way to diversify the heroes while giving the player more to do than pressing the level up button being done with it.

You may notice construction stripes across "skills" and so on in the hero tab, I think it is likely that when a hero reaches a particular level or particular conditions are met - operated lots of major modules, done a lot of repairs - they will be able to gain "skills" at some build later on.

I don't think that's what NightFury is saying though (and to be sure, I'm not insinuating that I thought the heroes were working in their fullest capacity either). As I read the GDD on Heroes, I didn't see any mention along the lines of hero customization in terms of his or her growth, so I thought it was pertinent to mention NightFury's suggestion as something that he (and I as well) thinks would be cool to see.

Lulz! wrote:
From Steam:



I think this is the first time this has been mentioned. I think it's a neat way to diversify the heroes while giving the player more to do than pressing the level up button being done with it.

Maybe take a page from FTL and make it so some of the passive bonuses your heroes earn come from the actions they do consistently?



For example: If you have one character whose constantly working one or more module, their next level reflects that focus. Maybe they have an increase in Wits--but don't gain much more HP, or attack. Likewise, the guy whose always opening the doors might become tougher and more aggressive--but how does that change his psychoses/wits?



While we're on this talk of heroes: How many heroes are we looking at? Are they all humanoids? Will we ever run into locals/natives on this planet who we might be able to sway to our cause with food?



I'm partial to the idea of finding natives who might help out. It'd add a third level of complexity to the character roster (guards, prisoners, and the local population) which could make for some really complicated psychoses issues--buuut that's more programming ya'd have to do.



There again, going to the GDD 7 post on the background and story--a great way to characterize this planet without walls of texts would be through characterizing some of the natives.

I think that each hero should have a favorite piece of equipment for each of the 3 slots.

When using that equipment, the hero would get additional bonuses.

When using 2 pieces of favorite equipment, another extra bonus apply.

When using all 3 yet another bonus comes into effect.

fepriest wrote:
Maybe take a page from FTL and make it so some of the passive bonuses your heroes earn come from the actions they do consistently?



For example: If you have one character whose constantly working one or more module, their next level reflects that focus. Maybe they have an increase in Wits--but don't gain much more HP, or attack. Likewise, the guy whose always opening the doors might become tougher and more aggressive--but how does that change his psychoses/wits?



While we're on this talk of heroes: How many heroes are we looking at? Are they all humanoids? Will we ever run into locals/natives on this planet who we might be able to sway to our cause with food?

I think that's a good way to go about it while keeping it relatively simple. Also, there was mention (somewhere) I think of heroes being more than just humanoid type races (ie. Human and Hissho); they've got plenty of source material to go on with ES. I'm imagining something like a Craver hero (how to be friends with something that just wants to eat you/everything?) or a Sower one. Those should be interesting to see.



As for the idea of favourite equipment, there's going to be something like 70+ heroes in the game? Set bonuses might be kinda cool, but I think it's a lot of extra work that the developers wouldn't be looking at right now. Don't know how many items there's gunna be either.

Will there be different types of modes?



example:

x easy

x medium

x hard



Depending on the type of hardness, if you choose to ignore giving food to a hero to have them on your team, they could run off and do something drastic. Could follow along the lines of what was mentioned earlier about sabotaging your strategy.



Also, I've found that beginning some games have been ridiculously hard when those tough little bastard androids that ignore you and go straight for the crystal are the first thing you encounter, and massacre your power before you are able to open a second door. Will we be able to choose which characters we start out with? Starting with two weak characters is pretty brutal.



OH! And will there be more cut scenes? I like the pixelated art.

Character ideas (I'm surethe developers already have their own ideas. This is more of a wishlist)



A Craver bishop/queen--Prisoner of War

A Sower unit set to maintain the planet for the Endless

A Horatio engineer on the Success

A harmony Person of Interest

A Rogue Sheredyn intelligence officer

A political dissenter from the United Empire

A Hissho Drug Lord

Lulz! wrote:
From Steam:Originally Posted by NightFury83

"I would also like to be able to feel more involved in the levelling of my hero(s). So, when my hero levels up, you could get x amount of points to spend, with perhaps a maximum amount going to one certain skill?"



I think this is the first time this has been mentioned. I think it's a neat way to diversify the heroes while giving the player more to do than pressing the level up button being done with it.

Alternative proposal:

The orientation of leveling depend of which ressource we add to food. That's give 4 possibilities fot the levelling:

_food only

_food + industry

_food + science

_food + mist (is it correct? brume in french, la flemme de chercher le bon terme :P)

I really like the Hero system, the characters are all really well balanced and compliment each other nicely. As for food-leveling, I love it. I just wish eating food in real life would give me some serious stat boosts instead of fat boosts.

Baarfind wrote:
Alternative proposal:

The orientation of leveling depend of which ressource we add to food. That's give 4 possibilities fot the levelling:

_food only

_food + industry

_food + science

_food + mist (is it correct? brume in french, la flemme de chercher le bon terme :P)

This was a concept I had rolling around in my brain as I was playing. Or rather each category can consume different resources and a characters level is derived from how many times they have had stat upgrades purchased. There would be + markers next to every stat and when hovered over and bubble would appear indicating how much of what resources would be consumed in order to upgrade the stat. Examples:



HP: Food

Attack: Industry

Defense: Industry + Food

Wit: Science

Speed: Science + Food



Range and Haste (cooldown) should be weapon derivative, in my opinion.



The cost of a stat in these scenarios is dependent on your level. Every stat purchase, regardless of what one it is, will increases your total level by 1. Example:



HP grants 50 hp every time it's purchased. Upgrading HP always uses food

Attack grants 1 point every time it's purchased. Upgrading Attack always uses industry



Level 1 costs 5 resources regardless of what stat is upgraded. For HP 5 food is consumed. For attack 5 industry is consumed Hero is then progressed to level 2

Level 2 costs 10 resources regardless of what stat is upgraded. For HP 10 food is consumed. For attack 10 industry is consumed. Hero is then progressed to level 3

Level 3 costs 20 resources regardless of what stat is upgraded. For HP 20 food is consumed. For attack 20 industry is consumed. Hero is then progressed to level 4

ETC.



*These numbers are just place holders and I'm not suggesting these be the actual numbers used, they are just examples



Doing a leveling style like this makes it so players are more likely to build characters in a specific direction because it's more difficult to switch down a different path once prices become too bloated to easily build up weaker stats, making it just not worth it. It compliments the already built in concept of heroes with unique specialties and personalities without having to build an individual leveling path for each hero. A hero who starts with high attack and defense stats will find players often upgrading those stats primarily because it's better to have a specialist who excels at one thing in games like this rather than an all arounder who is mediocre at everything. The player has freedom of choice to build his heroes as s/he pleases but is still pushed in a certain direction in order to compliment the heroes predefined play styles.



It also adds a fun end game element. In the event that a player has a hero that has stuck around (not died) for a seemingly endless amount of time (assuming an infinite mode is added) that player could potentially create a "god" hero with outrageous stats given proper resource management. An excellent reward for playing well and keeping a hero alive long enough. And just imagine the brutal pain you would feel if that legendary hero you raised did eventually meet their demise due to some unfortunate circumstance?

Jangles wrote:


Awesome stuff

This is so cool and I think it fits well with the current mechanics. It's relatively simple (which is what the devs want to keep) while adding a decent amount of depth to the hero's development and gameplay at large. It might allow certain heroes to take on different roles than what they are currently pinned into or you may instead specialize them for a certain role; adding speed to Gork might allow him to be a little more versatile while suffering a penalty to his attack or you might level his attack and HP much more instead turning him into a one-man wall. Certain ratios could be given to the heroes to diversify them (ie. costs less to upgrade Gork's HP/Attk but more to increase Speed, Sara might be the opposite). I could see balancing being an issue here, but I do think this makes the heroes more interesting as a whole.

Lulz! wrote:
This is so cool and I think it fits well with the current mechanics. It's relatively simple (which is what the devs want to keep) while adding a decent amount of depth to the hero's development and gameplay at large. It might allow certain heroes to take on different roles than what they are currently pinned into or you may instead specialize them for a certain role; adding speed to Gork might allow him to be a little more versatile while suffering a penalty to his attack or you might level his attack and HP much more instead turning him into a one-man wall. Certain ratios could be given to the heroes to diversify them (ie. costs less to upgrade Gork's HP/Attk but more to increase Speed, Sara might be the opposite). I could see balancing being an issue here, but I do think this makes the heroes more interesting as a whole.

Thanks for the support. Balancing is always an issue that I'd rather leave to the pros to sort out, but I will say under my proposed idea at least any over powered heroes will be likely a result of an enormous amount of resources spent. Imagine at some point having to pay 500 Industry for a single additional attack point (or any other stat), at least at this point the cost is as ridiculous as your hero has become. There may not be a set level cap but at this point you may say, "screw it it isn't worth it anymore," and start focusing more on other heroes with less cost.

Well I feel awkward, not too many people are posting here but I won't let that stop my enthusiasm. More ideas! This time based around hero skills.



Skills being linked with stat levels. The idea came to me when I noticed certain heroes can fix modules, others can not. Instead of this being an intrinsic thing that some just can't do, what if it was a passive skill earned once a certain wit level is achieved. Say 5 wit grants you the ability to repair modules. Then I started thinking, "Why stop there?" and so here is what I came up with:



Skills could have levels or tiers based on the level of the stat associated with it. Sticking with the idea of being able to repair modules lets go with the concept of the base passive skill is added at 5 wit. If you read my earlier post you know I like the idea of being able to pump up the stats of your choosing by spending various resources so allow me to continue with that idea and proceed from here with that leveling system in place. You decide to keep pumping a heroes stats and it gets to 20 and he moves to tier 2 of module repair, granted the title "Mr. Fixit" and so long as there are no enemies on the map he can instantly repair any module. Next let's say you decide you want to just pump up wit as far as you can and see what happens and you somehow get it to 50, you move to tier 3 within the skill and are granted the title, "One with technology." All modules that are in the same room as the hero have a slow regen even when enemies are present. The regen would be very slow and just make it a bit more difficult for enemies to destroy a module so long as that hero is in the room.



Example Summary: 5 wit grants hero ability to fix modules. 20 Wit grants hero to instantly fix modules so long as no hostiles are present on map. 50 Wit grants slow passive regen to all modules in the same room as hero regardless of enemy presence.



This idea could extend to just the way skills work in general, passive or active. If a hero has an active offensive skill that skill could reach tier 2 once his attack stat makes it to a certain level. Same with defensive skills, passive skills, etc. Skills that grow and change as the hero becomes more proficient in the primary stat it's associated with makes for even more interesting gameplay and character development.



K one last thing I want to add to this. I love the idea of title earning as an expression of your passive skills. Your hero is so damn good at something he receives the honors of, "One with technology," a nice Matrix reference (I've noticed the game enjoy making references to other franchises) and a fun way to make the player feel like something was special was accomplished. Different passive skills could be acquired by getting the appropriate stats to predefined levels which would then unlock a new title that would be offered to the hero. In order to make sure a hero can't gain every single passive skill it could be set up that once a title is about to be earned the player may have the choice of rejecting the title and could only accept up to three titles. If a player would like they could also choose to dismiss a title later on in place of a new one in the event that they already have three filled in. However, once a title is rejected or dismissed you can not reacquire it later! It's gone, so choose wisely. Certain particularly good titles could take two slots or even all three (title slots). I have an idea to join this in with the combo system too but I'm already getting a bit convoluted so I'll stop here.

Some ideas for heroes development:



1) 2 characters gain power up while both in the same team. For example it could be brother and sister. Sister is good in "magic". She were locked in research labs for experiments, but her brother (military "warrior" character type) save her and help to escape. So we have classical warrior+mage combo. For example sister will gain defense bonus if brother in the same room. Brother is getting increased attack.



2) Lets play with light! For example "ninja" style character that gains attack bonus in not powered rooms (no light here). Or person with "shadow phobia" (reduced attack in not powered rooms).



3) Soul Eater "highlander" character type for solo lovers. He can kill your heroes to gain extra exp. and power ups.

just a suggestion about simply *finding* your heroes: the green circle marker at their feet when they are selected is not visible when the hero is near a southern wall in narrow rooms. could some transparency be implemented so the green marker shows thru the wall?

hero interface suggestion: besides making the inventory button bigger - suggested elsewhere - how about having all the skill buttons open and ready for all heroes all the time? this way one wouldnt have to select/click individual heroes in the heat of battle to look for and activate the skill(s) you want. I know there is the option to pause combat to select skills more carefully, but I still like the idea of having all the skill options readily available at a glance. perhaps by having the skill icons vertically under each hero, although I could see this as a problem with high level heroes with many skills, taking too much of the screen.

The hero system as it is currently implemented is fantastic. There's still tons of room to play within the current design constraints, so it's hard to recommend any changes or additions. My only feedback I guess would be many of the passive skills seem *too* passive, as in they don't seem to have any noticeable affect on the decisions that you make while playing.(I can't think of any off the top of my head, I'll make some notes next time I'm playing...)



This probably falls more under the Combat GDD, but flashier feedback about when a hero is being attacked or is about to die would be nice. I've lost so many heroes before I even realized they were in trouble. The answer seems to be "pause the game more often" but that's not always the most fun way to play this game



An alignment system (e.g. Good, Neutral, Evil) might be fun someday, but would require a whole new class of encounters to be meaningful.

I understood that some heroes are falsely accused innocents and some really are truants. Is it indicated somewhere, apart from the backstory of course?

What about a "righteousness" bar which can go from "Evil" to "Good" and which could change several things on the game based on the average righteousness of the team ?



For example it can changes :

- The end (one for a Good team and another for an Evil team, and maybe more based on other parameters),

- Events or Quests (some options are enable/disable if the team have not the correct alignment... even if I do not know if DotE has "options" during events),

- Recruitable heroes (idem, some heroes will not join if the team have not the correct alignment),

- The mystery combo mechanism between heroes,

- The team cooperation, Good heroes would work better with Good heroes, same thing for the Evil ones,

- Special blueprints and/or technologies (?).



However, a hero's righteousness could change during the game thanks to (special ?) events. Of course a team can stays neutral, it will not benefits from the righteousness bonuses but will not suffers from the disadvantages either.

Leveling up by eating lots of food seems like something I would do.



Each hero can use only one weapon type? Truth be told, it's unusual but may actually work pretty good.

@Divine_Moments_of_Truth



Yes, one weapon type by hero. But we want to have a small number of types (4-5) and a lot of variations!

Mysterarts wrote:


VIP's Feedback

• They suggested special interactions like combine 2 heroes or divide themselves into less powerful but completely independent units... crazy VIPs ^^
  
  

Well, some VIPs played too much Pokemon, I believe. The only division of heroes I support is by claymore.



One comment: I'd prefer to abandon a hero instead of making him commit suicide. The outcome may be the same, but it is only a "may", not a definite.

^^ could be pokemon. But to me it sounds like the VIPs play Dota 2 too much.

Stealth_Hawk wrote:
^^ could be pokemon. But to me it sounds like the VIPs play Dota 2 too much.

Steph'nie does, I play LoL if anything. I'm not a Dota 2 fan.

Stealth_Hawk wrote:
^^ could be pokemon. But to me it sounds like the VIPs play Dota 2 too much.

Pfft... Warcraft 3. The Pandaren brewmaster split up into elements as his ultimate - An ability I'm sure DOTA copied over back in the days when it was a WC3 map lol

@Nosferatiel



Yes, I see your point... But I like the idea of forcing the player to do a horrible action, kill one of her heroes, if she wants to replace him by another one

Precisely because I think definite choices are more intense and disturbing.



But I'm noting your remark, maybe we can leave the choice to the player (but we have to find a compensation).

Mysterarts wrote:
@Nosferatiel



Yes, I see your point... But I like the idea of forcing the player to do a horrible action, kill one of her heroes, if she wants to replace him by another one

Precisely because I think definite choices are more intense and disturbing.



But I'm noting your remark, maybe we can leave the choice to the player (but we have to find a compensation).

Actually, I'd give them the choice between three heroes vs one and committing murder, instead of suicide, or between abandoning a hero and risking that hero sabotaging, looting, pillaging, murdering or plain opening doors on them. That's drastic enough in my opinion.

Making someone commit suicide, though... Hard to do, especially if they're only loosely bound. If someone tells you to jump off a cliff, you simply won't heed his wishes.

Hooray for heros, hooray for combos! lol



Pretty solid GDD, the UI for the heros seems to be plain and functional, as I hoped for it to be

Nosferatiel wrote:
Actually, I'd give them the choice between three heroes vs one and committing murder, instead of suicide, or between abandoning a hero and risking that hero sabotaging, looting, pillaging, murdering or plain opening doors on them. That's drastic enough in my opinion.

Making someone commit suicide, though... Hard to do, especially if they're only loosely bound. If someone tells you to jump off a cliff, you simply won't heed his wishes.

I like the idea of a saboteur or defector

What about being able to brainwash a hero into doing an action like committing suicide? Exposure to dust cause subtle changes to the brain allowing the user to manipulate those around him/her.



DarkMeph

Heroes



They are the key elements of the game with the Crystal. If all of her heroes die, the game is over.

When the game starts, the player has at least 1 hero. The game contains a collection of predefined ones. A hero can appear only once per dungeon.



Each hero has:

• A name
• A backstory
• An appearance (body and portrait)
• A set of initial stats
• A slot for a type of weapon
  
  

During the game, the hero has:

• A level
• A set of stats (speed, HP, wit, attack, haste, defense, range)
• Pieces of equipment (3 types: weapon, armor, special)
  
  

When the player clicks on a hero, the hero’s panel opens to:

• Display more info (like stats)
• Manage equipment
• Level up
• Suicide
  
  

Skills and leveling[/COLOR]



Each hero possesses different skills, stats, management bonuses (wit), and hero item slots which depend on his level.

The skills are automatically unlocked at specific levels and give only passive bonuses or active abilities (the most powerful ones cost Dust :dust. The available active abilities are displayed next to the hero’s portrait.



There is no XP in the game. The player can spend Food to level up her heroes by clicking on their portraits. The cost increases as the hero gains levels.



Heroes’ items[/COLOR]



The player can find hero items by exploring rooms, completing events, or purchasing them. When the player gets a new hero item, it’s automatically stacked in her inventory (there is no hero-specific inventory). Regardless of its type, a hero item brings passive effects to the hero (battle bonus, passive skills, management bonus…).



To assign a hero item, the player clicks on the hero item slot in a hero’s panel. The inventory displays the available hero items (those of the same type as the slot), and clicking on one equips it.



Hero items can be sold to a merchant in exchange for a resource.





Hiring[/COLOR]



Heroes can be found in the dungeon. The player can hire them by clicking on an empty hero slot. The number of hero slots is currently set at 4. If a hero dies, it frees up a slot.





Hero actions[/COLOR]



Automated actions



A hero can fulfil several actions:

• Manage a module
• Repair a module
• Analyze Endless ruins
• Stop an emergency (e.g. extinguish flames)
• Fight Monsters
  
  

All those actions are automatically managed by the game. When a hero enters a room, he does the following actions in this priority order:

[LIST=1]

If there is a monster, he can attack. He fights until the monster dies

If there is an emergency, he tries to stop it

If the module is damaged, he repairs it

If there is no hero managing the module, the hero starts managing it

Else he stays idle in the room

[/LIST]



Special actions



The player can order heroes to take special actions (ones that aren’t automatically activated):

• Open a door (the player chooses the door if there are several possibilities)
• Block / unblock a door with a barricade (the player chooses the door if there are several possibilities, and a barricade can be removed from either side of the door)
• Analyze Endless ruins (the player chooses the focus of the research)
• Open shop panel of a merchant (see Merchant)
• Take off / Drop off the Crystal (see Energy)
  
  

The HUD displays actions only if they are possible.



When a hero does one of these (auto or special) actions, an icon on his portrait is displayed (or the portrait changes).



Repairing a module, barricading a door and analyzing Endless ruins take a fixed time. The progression is displayed above the head of the hero and above his portrait.

Ordering the hero to a different room stops his current task. The progression isn’t lost, however, and another hero can continue the job.







VIP's Feedback

This game design document has been shown to the VIP. At the end of each topic, we will add a little summary of the fruitful discussions.

• We discussed about the lack of control during battles (more information about fights in another GDD)
• We confirmed that there will be interactions between heroes thanks to a combos system
• We discussed about more random heroes but we prefer keeping the system of pool (see 3rd question about rogue-like and DotE)
• They suggested more advanced interactions, based on relations between them (trying to help, antagonist personalities...), and we like the idea!
• They suggested special interactions like combine 2 heroes or divide themselves into less powerful but completely independent units... crazy VIPs ^^
  
  

Poor heros - has nobody yet wondered why they can suicide?

it is the strain of having to live in a dungeon? While they have people looking down on them from above as they think are we part of some game to these people.



DarkMeph

DarkMeph wrote:
it is the strain of having to live in a dungeon? While they have people looking down on them from above as they think are we part of some game to these people.



DarkMeph

Who watches the Watchmen? lol

@Nosferatiel, @DarkMeph, @Tredecim



About the suicide option: I must admit we chose this solution for the moment to make it easier (just a button and we play the death animation).

It's currently a minor feature which only allows to accept a new hero in place of another.

(And it's a classic solution for a "team rogue-like", as in Organ Trail for example)

But I really like all your proposals, very good inspirations if we have the possibility to improve this feature





@Doshaburi



I didn't mention in this document a feature that we want to add for the heroes: a variable of moral (in the meaning of courage and not alignment as you suggest) but nothing has been decided yet.

You're right though, we want to play with different "personalities" and I'm keeping in mind your list of ideas! However, we want to avoid displaying a "righteousness" bar.

Would your characters appearance change if they did action that affect the moral compass? Thank you saying that you like my idea and for explaining the suicide option.



DarkMeph

What is the point of view of the player? Are we one of the characters, or we are an omniscient spectator?



Maybe the player could be the ship's AI which had damaged memory banks and does not know everything about every character, or maybe it did never have any info on some of them in the firstplace. The player-as-AI helps the heroes from a strategical point of view, using intercomms and locator devices, thus the 'player vision'.



If the player's knowledge is the same of one character's knowledge or a damaged/limited AI knowledge, then we will not know whether the other characters' stories are true or false... unless we can decrypt data from their badges (usually taken from their corpses, and IF we have some decryptor device available), or find some data log, or something else like an endless 'mental raping' device which extracts the victim's memories.



It would be interesting to have the character stories detached from their looks, and have them randomly generated. Let's say a character story is composed of 3 to 5 sequences. They are then combined with some substring replacement for adjustment of names and places. The characters would have a 'true story' and a story they tell, which may or may not be the same.



There could even be schizophrenic heroes which tell a different story every time.



Each character should have hidden attributes about their true nature, which would affect how much they enjoy and perform specific tasks. That a-simple-guyshould be inferred from in-game subtext. A violent murderer faking as an 'ive-been-framed-I-am-just-a-simple-guy' might give himself out when it ravels at stabbing an enemy... "Ha! take that, silicon-based scumbag lifeform! And that! And that! And that! and THAT! *splorrrgshht* Muhehehehehehe"

@DarkMeph



For production reasons, we can hardly change the characters appearances: currently, we have 200 sprites by appearance, thus 200*30 characters = 6000 poses with only one appearance by heroes ^^.





@Brazilian_Joe



The player controls a team of heroes with a top down view. She is almost omniscient, but she can't view the entire level, only the powered rooms and where her heroes are.

In the same spirit, she knows the "public" biography of her heroes but she discovers some secret elements during the games.



I like the idea of the player who is the AI of the spaceship I don't know if we need a justification but it's a good proposal.



About the character and the story: we hesitated but we decided to make heroes with a specific appearance, name and backstory. I talk about it in Three Questions about the Rogue-Like in DotE:

Please note that we have made the choice to not push the procedural generation to its maximum. For instance, the playable heroes will be pre-defined (but there’ll be plenty of them!), just like monsters. What we seem to be losing in terms of diversity, we will earn it in the form of knowledge and attachment: little by little, the player is going to get used and learn how to master these heroes, they will know the monsters’ behaviours and how to get rid of them. This will also allow us to provide a more efficient work on the visuals, background stories, personalities and the uniqueness of each hero.

I see your point about the characters changing. 6000 poses that must be one hell of a work out lol



DarkMeph

6k poses.. whew D:



Topdown is always welcome for tactic stuff

Death of a hero, forcing a hero to "commit suicide", leave or similar eviction technique should have a negative impact on the party/game or notable consequence for doing so unless the party has an agreed reason on their departure such as unfortunate "somehow tripped on to a mine" incident or "mad man syndrome" - unless of course someone is performing summary execution commissar style to "spur on the rest of the men". The consequence could go along the lines of attacking the party, *sabotage, a deadly return or none at all; then the hero in question could show up in a future as a New Hero event or never show up again but become a merchant or wanderer in another expedition. These reactions could be based off of personalities.

I think that too much pressure is put on the Dust resource. It may happen that players never use the character skills to hoard dust.

To mitigate this, i would like to propose a different mechanic for Hero Skills.



I think that heroes should have 'Action Points' to activate their skills.

Those points would only regenerate partially, after each TURN (i.e. Open Door).

Some heroes could have enhanced action regeneration, or may use an equipment which speeds it up.

Some skills would consume more than one Skill Point.

Player may use Dust to completely refill the Hero's Skill Points.