Post by Leonard on Mar 31, 2016 22:19:03 GMT
Developer's Diary #4 - Mechanics and UI modifications
While I think that some mechanics were done well enough for the demo, I think that there is a lot of room for improvements.
Skill learning system
Part of the freedom of The Road to Immortality is an ability to customize your character. Customization on a cosmetic level was already handled in the first DD, but now I'd like to focus on the character in a mechanical way. The demo already showcased the ability to choose the skills for the player's character and the execution was good, I think that the form was little off. Teaching skills through dialogue boxes in a fixed game places was good enough when the scene only appears two times, but if it's to be used many more times, it needs improvements. The solution used also had some problems, with people not understanding the skill teaching dialogue, because of how awkwardly it was phrased. Striving for clarity, a new menu system for teaching skills was added. Players, instead of being forced to learn skills on the spot, will instead be granted a skill point. That skill point can then be used in skill learning menu to learn a new skill. Handling it this way will create a consistent way of development for all the characters, as well as more intuitive environment for player to learn about potential skills.
Battle system
Replacing of the default RPG Maker mana system with the energy system had a few goals in mind. First one, was thematic cohesiveness with the Warriors universe. Cats in the books don't take a break from the fights to drink mana potions. Although the separation of game mechanics from the storyline would have been understandable, I thought it would make an interesting challenge to create a system that narrows that gap. The other goal, was to create a constant conflict and tension through the battle system. Participation in the battle is a necessary way to recover the needed energy, which further fits thematically with the concept of Warriors. Furthermore conceptual balance of some parts of the game reflects on a way the game is played. For example, limited access to healing in battle removes the risk of battles ending up as prolonged battles of attrition, with healing serving as a key tactical resource instead.
The other important mechanics is lack of grinding in the game. Players are not bogged down by random encounters, and even when such things become available, fighting them over and over will not be a feasible way of overcoming dangers. I think that the game progression should not be hindered by a necessity of fighting over and over with the same enemies until they are able to get stats high enough to defeat the next set of bosses. Fights should rely on finding the right strategy for the opponents the player is fighting, not a grind.
I think that conceptually the energy system is working well in the game, however the implementation had some issues. The two main ways of gaining energy, attacking and blocking, were not particularly well balanced. Blocking ended up way too good in comparison to standard attacks, and I think that should change. From the get go, energy gained from basic attack is upped from 3 to 4, and there will be a way to further increase it to 5 for aggressive characters. My initial worry while designing the system was that blocking would end up completely useless, which is why it ended up being too powerful. Even after the changes, I think it will remain a viable alternative to standard attacks in many cases.
While energy system is the main resource for most of the characters in the game, there will be alternate systems for some characters. That should create a different flow and feel for these characters, and introduce more variety.
Here's the screen of Tempestpaw, combo system user:
UI modifications
One of the big issues I found with the demo, was the lack of clarity behind some parts of the game. I think that game shouldn't force the player to prolonged experimenting to obtain the basic information needed to make the decisions, and instead should be able to make informed choices. Battle UI was particularly lacking in this case. To change this, I'm introducing another window in the game, which will provide information about the skills. This way, player won't have to guess what's the real use of the skills is and how they compare to each other. This should create a more friendly user interface and better experience for the player.
While I think that some mechanics were done well enough for the demo, I think that there is a lot of room for improvements.
Skill learning system
Part of the freedom of The Road to Immortality is an ability to customize your character. Customization on a cosmetic level was already handled in the first DD, but now I'd like to focus on the character in a mechanical way. The demo already showcased the ability to choose the skills for the player's character and the execution was good, I think that the form was little off. Teaching skills through dialogue boxes in a fixed game places was good enough when the scene only appears two times, but if it's to be used many more times, it needs improvements. The solution used also had some problems, with people not understanding the skill teaching dialogue, because of how awkwardly it was phrased. Striving for clarity, a new menu system for teaching skills was added. Players, instead of being forced to learn skills on the spot, will instead be granted a skill point. That skill point can then be used in skill learning menu to learn a new skill. Handling it this way will create a consistent way of development for all the characters, as well as more intuitive environment for player to learn about potential skills.
Battle system
Replacing of the default RPG Maker mana system with the energy system had a few goals in mind. First one, was thematic cohesiveness with the Warriors universe. Cats in the books don't take a break from the fights to drink mana potions. Although the separation of game mechanics from the storyline would have been understandable, I thought it would make an interesting challenge to create a system that narrows that gap. The other goal, was to create a constant conflict and tension through the battle system. Participation in the battle is a necessary way to recover the needed energy, which further fits thematically with the concept of Warriors. Furthermore conceptual balance of some parts of the game reflects on a way the game is played. For example, limited access to healing in battle removes the risk of battles ending up as prolonged battles of attrition, with healing serving as a key tactical resource instead.
The other important mechanics is lack of grinding in the game. Players are not bogged down by random encounters, and even when such things become available, fighting them over and over will not be a feasible way of overcoming dangers. I think that the game progression should not be hindered by a necessity of fighting over and over with the same enemies until they are able to get stats high enough to defeat the next set of bosses. Fights should rely on finding the right strategy for the opponents the player is fighting, not a grind.
I think that conceptually the energy system is working well in the game, however the implementation had some issues. The two main ways of gaining energy, attacking and blocking, were not particularly well balanced. Blocking ended up way too good in comparison to standard attacks, and I think that should change. From the get go, energy gained from basic attack is upped from 3 to 4, and there will be a way to further increase it to 5 for aggressive characters. My initial worry while designing the system was that blocking would end up completely useless, which is why it ended up being too powerful. Even after the changes, I think it will remain a viable alternative to standard attacks in many cases.
While energy system is the main resource for most of the characters in the game, there will be alternate systems for some characters. That should create a different flow and feel for these characters, and introduce more variety.
Here's the screen of Tempestpaw, combo system user:
UI modifications
One of the big issues I found with the demo, was the lack of clarity behind some parts of the game. I think that game shouldn't force the player to prolonged experimenting to obtain the basic information needed to make the decisions, and instead should be able to make informed choices. Battle UI was particularly lacking in this case. To change this, I'm introducing another window in the game, which will provide information about the skills. This way, player won't have to guess what's the real use of the skills is and how they compare to each other. This should create a more friendly user interface and better experience for the player.