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