Big J Money
Regular
As these aren't gameplay change suggestions, I'm not going to bury this thread deep into the Privy Council where nobody will ever see it. Instead, I'd like to post my initial observations upon playing the game for the first time in a good while again. If this really, REALLY belongs in the Privy thread, go ahead and move it.
- It's hard to see tavern and merchant signs. Maybe they could have some inherent glow to them?
- It seems to me that River Pirates are easier to fight now, which is very nice (maybe it's my imagination). Although I still am of the opinion that they and possiby a few other enemies should not jig side to side to avoid ranged fire. The newbie player needs something in between a combat dummy and a difficult target to practice on.
- Being a slaver is still the only way to make enough money to survive the early game. There ought to be an alternative. Maybe turning them into the Constable will give you half as much as the slave driver. River pirates seem to spawn twice as fast now. This is good because it speeds up the initial game, but possibly bad because they get away from you much more easily.
- You still have to fork out cash to your hired help after the first day.
- I rested in the Tavern overnight in the beginning, but nothing happened. I did it again later and it healed me a little bit. I don't remember tavern healing taking this long before.
- Now that weather is in the game in full force, it seems a little weird that it doesn't obey any natural laws or patterns. It can be raining on the battlefield one momemnt and then sunny in town 5 minutes later. I know that's because of the way it's designed. I'm just trying to say that a more steady approach would make the game more immersive like an RPG (actually with the combination of the music and weather, I almost feel like I'm playing Daggerfall again). By 'steady' I simply mean weather patterns that last for several hours at a time, and maybe a message telling you the changes.
- I noticed that it's possible to leave your weapons in the training ground chests, but any weapons you take out of the chest automatically go back. At first I was freaked out and thought a squire started the game with no weapons until I went back and got them. Just have the trainer tell the player not to leave their stuff behind. Actually it might be kind of cool if in the future there was a crime system and players can actually try to steal stuff from the tutorial becoming bad guys right away
- The text is all fuzzy and smeared (although it's a nice effect if used sparingly).
- In 16bit mode, the sky textures are ruined. There need to be 16bit versions of them.
- When you leave a room, like the merchant for example, it should place you at the door you entered from, facing in an appropriate direction.
- Have the night skies been brightened? It seems like it. (I guess I'm not saying much here)
- I'm starting to notice how small the world map is now that the game is feeling more like an RPG. BTW, does the world map have a compass?
- I think it's neat that Zendar gets an arena. It would be cool if a few other towns had unique features like that as well. Maybe a place with some jousting somewhere (including a significant role-playing/story tournament event), a place with a weekly archery contest, and maybe also knife throwing/darts in the taverns.
- It seems weird that when you pick your character's class/background, there is no message telling you where you come from, why you are in Zendar or how you got your starting equipment.
- Playing with combat dummies, I've discovered that the base melee damage from horseback is slightly lower than on foot, due to the fact that the wielder is further from his target when he swings. This probably can't be changed (maybe it is supposed to be this way), but I think it's imteresting to note. The momentum makes up for it, though.
- It would be nice if there were more interactive environmental things. That ax stuck in the log in Zendar being able to be taken, for example. I know the system isn't coded for anything too complex and there are no physics, but you can make up for that with popup text dialogs.
Okay, these are all the things I noticed when I first booted the game up and began playing again. The game runs MUCH more smoothly than .75x and I have a sucky GFX card. In fact, I can finally play with the foliage turned on! This is because I was able to tone down a lot of graphics options we weren't allowed to touch before. I think playing in 16bit mode and lowered texture resolution make a huge difference. All the new changes are so awesome. This game is still the coolest thing in the world. If only there were a multiplayer version one day...
=$= Big J Money =$=
- It's hard to see tavern and merchant signs. Maybe they could have some inherent glow to them?
- It seems to me that River Pirates are easier to fight now, which is very nice (maybe it's my imagination). Although I still am of the opinion that they and possiby a few other enemies should not jig side to side to avoid ranged fire. The newbie player needs something in between a combat dummy and a difficult target to practice on.
- Being a slaver is still the only way to make enough money to survive the early game. There ought to be an alternative. Maybe turning them into the Constable will give you half as much as the slave driver. River pirates seem to spawn twice as fast now. This is good because it speeds up the initial game, but possibly bad because they get away from you much more easily.
- You still have to fork out cash to your hired help after the first day.
- I rested in the Tavern overnight in the beginning, but nothing happened. I did it again later and it healed me a little bit. I don't remember tavern healing taking this long before.
- Now that weather is in the game in full force, it seems a little weird that it doesn't obey any natural laws or patterns. It can be raining on the battlefield one momemnt and then sunny in town 5 minutes later. I know that's because of the way it's designed. I'm just trying to say that a more steady approach would make the game more immersive like an RPG (actually with the combination of the music and weather, I almost feel like I'm playing Daggerfall again). By 'steady' I simply mean weather patterns that last for several hours at a time, and maybe a message telling you the changes.
- I noticed that it's possible to leave your weapons in the training ground chests, but any weapons you take out of the chest automatically go back. At first I was freaked out and thought a squire started the game with no weapons until I went back and got them. Just have the trainer tell the player not to leave their stuff behind. Actually it might be kind of cool if in the future there was a crime system and players can actually try to steal stuff from the tutorial becoming bad guys right away
- The text is all fuzzy and smeared (although it's a nice effect if used sparingly).
- In 16bit mode, the sky textures are ruined. There need to be 16bit versions of them.
- When you leave a room, like the merchant for example, it should place you at the door you entered from, facing in an appropriate direction.
- Have the night skies been brightened? It seems like it. (I guess I'm not saying much here)
- I'm starting to notice how small the world map is now that the game is feeling more like an RPG. BTW, does the world map have a compass?
- I think it's neat that Zendar gets an arena. It would be cool if a few other towns had unique features like that as well. Maybe a place with some jousting somewhere (including a significant role-playing/story tournament event), a place with a weekly archery contest, and maybe also knife throwing/darts in the taverns.
- It seems weird that when you pick your character's class/background, there is no message telling you where you come from, why you are in Zendar or how you got your starting equipment.
- Playing with combat dummies, I've discovered that the base melee damage from horseback is slightly lower than on foot, due to the fact that the wielder is further from his target when he swings. This probably can't be changed (maybe it is supposed to be this way), but I think it's imteresting to note. The momentum makes up for it, though.
- It would be nice if there were more interactive environmental things. That ax stuck in the log in Zendar being able to be taken, for example. I know the system isn't coded for anything too complex and there are no physics, but you can make up for that with popup text dialogs.
Okay, these are all the things I noticed when I first booted the game up and began playing again. The game runs MUCH more smoothly than .75x and I have a sucky GFX card. In fact, I can finally play with the foliage turned on! This is because I was able to tone down a lot of graphics options we weren't allowed to touch before. I think playing in 16bit mode and lowered texture resolution make a huge difference. All the new changes are so awesome. This game is still the coolest thing in the world. If only there were a multiplayer version one day...
=$= Big J Money =$=
