Messages

46

General / Re: The stuff we deal with during development

« on: November 10, 2014, 05:13:37 pm »

It's a great way to easily create multi-directional sprites, especially for isometric graphics. So it's not surprising that it was (and still is) a popular practice.

47

Suggestions / Re: Non-combat oriented character guide

« on: November 09, 2014, 12:12:00 pm »

Yeah oddity is better since you'll get more xp by exploring than in classic xp mode. Oddities are saved on your character, so if you've acquired max amount of one oddity you won't be able to pick up any more even if you export/import your character.

48

Suggestions / Re: Non-combat oriented character guide

« on: November 08, 2014, 10:31:14 pm »

I'd like to try a pacifist playthrough in the future. I think Underrail is combat focused though so I'd imagine it's hard to pull off but who doesn't like a challenge?

49

Suggestions / Re: Less cartoonish tile set?

« on: November 03, 2014, 09:04:48 pm »

A lot of the assets (especially in early game) has been around since some of the earliest screenshots revealed, the cave tiles is one of those. Once all the mechanics are implemented, maybe Stygian will take a look at some of the old assets and replace them, at least that's my hope.

50

Development Log / Re: Dev Log #35: Portraits and Music

« on: October 29, 2014, 11:37:06 am »

Awesome stuff! The new portraits look great, I like the idea that the background and lighting changes depending on area, that's neat.

The music sample was really cool too. Looking forward to making a new character when the next update hits Steam.

51

General / Re: Level cap and carry capacity

« on: October 20, 2014, 02:52:38 pm »

That's a good point, I've been thinking about that from time to time; whether narrative progression is as important as your own progression as an agent. The problem is will the narrative progression accommodate to the agent's progression? And to what extent? In a lot of RPGs, the narrative will assume that you have a certain skill level when you enounter specific points in the story. In games like Underrail or any other non-linear games with player progression, the juxtaposition between your skill level and the skill level the game assumes you have can become very jarring. One game that did this very well was Morrowind, because the story never assumed anything about you, it would always check your stats and conform to that. There's a point in the early main quest where, if you're too low level, the character will tell you to go away and do other stuff until you're prepared, and you can either go away and improve yourself or accept the challenge regardless, that was a very nice touch and added a lot to the experience.

Too bad not a lot of games do that nowaday. I don't think the agent progression vs narrative progression problem becomes as big as people think when you at least try to join the two together in a way that makes sense from both perspectives.

I haven't actually finished the current version of Underrail or its story so I'm mainly talking from a general point of view.

52

General / Re: Level cap and carry capacity

« on: October 13, 2014, 10:34:23 pm »

That is not the question I made however. What I asked was. If they are not buying the specific item, then you can't just go and trade it for something else right?.. It's not about being able to trade or not but rather, if the merchant won't buy it cause he doesn't buys that type of stuff or has already reached the limit of that type of stuff that he buys, then he wont trade either because he doesn't needs the item? That's the question. Although it's kinda pointless cause evn trading I'd never be able to sell all the excess stuff that I'd get, it does at least satisfies some intellectual curiosity.

Sorry for misunderstanding. It's only on rare occassions that I can't trade things with the vendors and get the things I want because I don't exhaust their limit every time I return to town.

As for the systems. You may feel like both this and the previous was wrong, but the previous actually didn't got you as much money as the current one. It also didn't drive some people crazy by not being able to sell all the loot. Though yes, some people prefer the new one cause to them it feels more realistic to have to leave stuff behind though to me it feels like it wastes my time. I went there for nothing as a reward... Pretty much the same reason I kept saying that the vault in the SGS was bad. it is time wasted for no rewards inside. Now there is some form of reward if you play on oddity but if not it's a waste of time... Even then it kinda is a waste of time cause you hit the level cap way before you reach the end of the current content.

I didn't notice a difference in the amount of money gained with the old and the new system, and for the rest of the paragraph, you've already said that and I understand what you mean as I've already said, I just don't see that as a problem because we have different playstyles and means of play.

Still it's possible to please everyone. All you need is an option to remove all carry weights and merchant buying limits. Those who like to play with those, play with them, those who do don't like them, play without them. And everybody is happy. If you want to go even further because having options is good. You can add options that you select at the beggining of the campaign to say, have merchants buy things cheaper and sell at more expensive prices. Have less drops. Things like that... think of it as ratehr than have a difficulty setting that goes from easy to hard. You have adjustable settings over several paramenters.

That would be great but I don't expect Styg to go that far cause that's more development time and thus more money that needs to be invested into the game. I'm not sure how having a customisable difficulty setting would actually impact on the development schedule. Some simple things like disable this or that I'm sure it's dirty quick to do. things like making merchants buy cheaper and sell higher is also something very easy to code and very quick. But certain difficulty settings might not be as simple and quick... but hey, it's not something to dismiss.

I agree, options are nice. But it all boils down to whether compromising the vision for the sake of having different options is a good thing in this case. As a content creator and as someone who have gone through a few playtest sessions with testers for my own game, there are some things that you just can't change because the systems and mechanics are mandatory for the atmosphere to be preserved, even if a a number of people disagree, artistic integrity and all. I don't know about Styg and co but they have been persistent with the changes and I'm confident to say that it's for good reasons. If the current way the economy works is for the sake of building a certain type of realism and also used as a tool to establish the harshness of Underrail then I'm all for it. I just have to adapt to it.

To give an example: Dark Souls, that game have a steep difficulty curve and unforgiving combat, not for the sake of being hard because that was never the goal of the combat system, but it was created to establish a certain type of atmosphere. I don't really like Dark Souls because of that so I just didn't continue playing it after a certain point, my loss I guess.

But who knows they might add options for this kind of thing later on in Underrail, I don't know. But if they don't then I'm ok with that, it's their game after all. I just don't know if going on about it again and again is going to change anything.

53

General / Re: Level cap and carry capacity

« on: October 13, 2014, 02:54:19 pm »

As I said, I don't think the new system is bad for the same reasons as you but we both have a problem with the new system and I outlaid the reason I find it problematic. I think this can also be served as an example that you ultimately can't please everyone because what you think is a problem is not a problem in my eyes and vice versa. Obviously that doesn't mean it's not worth mentioning subjective viewpoints on specific mechanics and systems in part of critique but, you know, weighing opinions and such, there's only so much a dev can do.

I didn't start trading items in the beginning of the game but once you hit Junkyard, it's very much a viable thing to do throughout the rest of the game (from my experience). I guess it depends on your playstyle, the only thing I needed to buy was ammo and repair kits so it worked fine for me.

54

General / Re: Level cap and carry capacity

« on: October 13, 2014, 01:12:39 pm »

As for level cap, I haven't reached it yet as I haven't played Underrail since like 2 updates ago or so but I can imagine that the cap will be raised as development progresses. Have anyone hit cap long before the end of the current version?

I believe most players will hit the level cap long before they're done with the current version. The last 2 updates added a lot of content, so there's plenty of XP around.

I see, that could become a problem then. I remember in Fallout 3 that I hit lvl cap before the end of the game and it sort of dragged from there because the game lost the sense of progression it had before that. But they raised it (I think twice) with the expansions so it's not really a big problem anymore. I'm not too worried about Underrail though, I think Styg and co will do what's best for the game.

@Elhazzared: I get what you're saying and in some ways I agree that the new system is problematic (though just slightly) but not for the same reasons as you. For me, it's that the new system didn't really fix what I felt was the core problem, that you get way too much money and not enough ways to sink that money; removing it from the system. Sure, the new system have sinks: repair cost, trade limits, carry weight etc. but it's not enough, you carry way too much money for the area you visit. In fact, you don't really need money since you can easily just do good ol' trading your stuff for equipment because items carry extreme value, especially weapons.

55

Development Log / Re: Dev Log #34: With Fire and Brimstone

« on: October 07, 2014, 10:58:29 am »

Ok not a problem, thanks for taking the time to reply. Still loving the game so far I just want to be careful how many times I play through it because sometimes the starting few missions are a bit of a pain in the backside when you've done it 7 or 8 times.

Yeah Burnout can become a problem, but that's more a problem with the Early Acces model than anything. Personally, I play through the game once every 2 major update or so, keeps things fresh for me.

56

General / Re: Level cap and carry capacity

« on: October 07, 2014, 10:53:21 am »

You do have personal storage space in your room in the private quarters. So you can dump the stuff you don't want and get moving. Though I want to stress that you are not supposed to pick everything up, or sell everything. It was a bit of a hassle when the carry weight and vendor systems were implemented but that was because of habbits more than anything. You can play the game perfectly from beginning to end without being low on funds. In fact, you'll most likely be the richest person in Underrail despite those restrictions. And you'll be carrying more guns than you can handle but nowhere to trade it. So yeah.

As for level cap, I haven't reached it yet as I haven't played Underrail since like 2 updates ago or so but I can imagine that the cap will be raised as development progresses. Have anyone hit cap long before the end of the current version?

57

Other Games / Re: Wasteland 2

« on: September 29, 2014, 11:02:14 am »

Super slow games is not something I have time for though. I've got places to go and things to do now that I have a job and responsibilities. And the fact of the matter is (like you say) that the game is slow paced and perhaps that's intentional but it's worth noting in case someone wants to pick up the game but don't have a lot of time on their hands. Like me. 20 hours is not a short time either, it's a long ass time for a game to pick up the pace haha.

58

Other Games / Re: Wasteland 2

« on: September 28, 2014, 08:42:32 pm »

Having played it now for about 20 hours since release. I've got to say that the game is not as "meh" as I thought it would be when I made this thread. In fact, the things that keeps me hooked with this game is the same thing that I liked about Underrail: strategic and interesting combat, in-depth character development and an interesting story. The only thing that I don't really dig is that the game is super slow paced, being 20 hours into the game and feeling like I haven't gotten anywhere doesn't really engage me that much, good thing everything else about the game is really good else I probably would've stopped long ago.

That said, if you like Underrail, you'll probably like Wasteland 2. It's very similar.

59

Bugs / Re: Bandages doesn't heal

« on: August 26, 2014, 08:13:17 pm »

I don't think I've created a character that I haven't put 20 points into biology for no other reason than the Doctor feat. It's basically mandatory, not really related to the topic at hand but yeah, just throwing it out there. Never forget the Doctor feat!

60

General / Re: Afk for a couple of weeks

« on: August 26, 2014, 08:10:59 pm »

You deserve it, have a nice vacation!