Post by Leonard on Mar 31, 2017 19:20:06 GMT
Party Member development
For the faithful followers of DDs it's already known that in the next two acts, player will be in control of many more characters. Alongside with that option, player will be able to have an input to have to further develop them, to fit more into player's playstyle. While including the option for this was possible already in act I, I decided against it for two reasons. Plotwise, it makes sense for characters to be more independent and have their training guided by their respective mentor, and not by omnipotent player. Other party members learnt their skills on their own, at the fixed story points and with fixed progression (and also earning some exp behind the scenes). For the gameplay reasons, I decided against it to not overwhelm the players and to let players get solid understanding of the character roles, before forcing them to make decisions. By the end of act I, players will hopefully be familiar with the characters and know what they want them to do.
Teammate skills
Unlike the main character, party members will not be as flexible - their skills will still reflect their personality and fighting style. They will also have fewer skill points available in general. There are going to be two major uses to skill points: learning new skills and upgrading the ones the characters already have. Learning new skills is going to work like it did for the main character, by providing the characters with additional skills to use. But it'll also be possible to make the skills they currently have better - by improving their parameters, reducing their energy cost, or adding the extra functionality. For example, upgrading Kestrelpaw's Sand Throw to Sandstorm, letting him hit all the enemies instead of only one.
Passive skills
The new way to expand the characters are going to be passive skills. They will, too, cost skill points and will provide bonuses that work all the time. Each character will have a few of these available as options (player character being the one with the greatest number of choices, to provide options for Kittypet's flexible role). They will be similar to some special training options that the player had during Act I, but I want them all to be something more than simply an increase of one of character's stats. This will let characters develop in additional ways. Here's some of Duskheart's skills (interface requires small modifications to account for passives).
Some characters currently have a lot of 'secret' traits (like Nettlepaw starting with extra energy and having higher energy limit, or Voideyes having different damage type). They all will be redone as passive traits that these characters will simply start with. This will provide more clarity with regards to how the characters work.
Hopefully, all the extra options will provide a lot more flexibility and strategic depth for the players. That's it for this Developer's Diary. The skill list (and passives) are tentative as of now and will expand at later time.
For the faithful followers of DDs it's already known that in the next two acts, player will be in control of many more characters. Alongside with that option, player will be able to have an input to have to further develop them, to fit more into player's playstyle. While including the option for this was possible already in act I, I decided against it for two reasons. Plotwise, it makes sense for characters to be more independent and have their training guided by their respective mentor, and not by omnipotent player. Other party members learnt their skills on their own, at the fixed story points and with fixed progression (and also earning some exp behind the scenes). For the gameplay reasons, I decided against it to not overwhelm the players and to let players get solid understanding of the character roles, before forcing them to make decisions. By the end of act I, players will hopefully be familiar with the characters and know what they want them to do.
Teammate skills
Unlike the main character, party members will not be as flexible - their skills will still reflect their personality and fighting style. They will also have fewer skill points available in general. There are going to be two major uses to skill points: learning new skills and upgrading the ones the characters already have. Learning new skills is going to work like it did for the main character, by providing the characters with additional skills to use. But it'll also be possible to make the skills they currently have better - by improving their parameters, reducing their energy cost, or adding the extra functionality. For example, upgrading Kestrelpaw's Sand Throw to Sandstorm, letting him hit all the enemies instead of only one.
Passive skills
The new way to expand the characters are going to be passive skills. They will, too, cost skill points and will provide bonuses that work all the time. Each character will have a few of these available as options (player character being the one with the greatest number of choices, to provide options for Kittypet's flexible role). They will be similar to some special training options that the player had during Act I, but I want them all to be something more than simply an increase of one of character's stats. This will let characters develop in additional ways. Here's some of Duskheart's skills (interface requires small modifications to account for passives).
Some characters currently have a lot of 'secret' traits (like Nettlepaw starting with extra energy and having higher energy limit, or Voideyes having different damage type). They all will be redone as passive traits that these characters will simply start with. This will provide more clarity with regards to how the characters work.
Hopefully, all the extra options will provide a lot more flexibility and strategic depth for the players. That's it for this Developer's Diary. The skill list (and passives) are tentative as of now and will expand at later time.