An alternative approach to windstorms

[zebramatt]

Following this discussion, I thought it might be interesting to slightly change up the mechanics for windstorms. To quote from that other thread:

I realise that much of the above are just general complaints about monster spawning rate/type/positions which are simply exemplified by the nature of windstorms - and thus would be relatively trivial to alleviate with just a little tweaking - but just in case there's any scope for a different design approach to windstorms altogether:

Let's say they don't buff monsters. Let's say, instead, they actually make the monsters weaker. Now, hear me out. Let's say they also, in addition to making it harder to move about and whatnot, hurt you over time. (It's an established mechanic, sure,  in water or hot or cold environments - but the physical restrictions it imposes are variant enough, I think.) Finally, let's say monsters spawn in greater numbers, and you can't warp anywhere.

Then what you've got is an environmental effect which doesn't just ROLFSTOMP you into the ground but actually encourages you to fight a lot of, albeit weaker, enemies in order to maintain your health - i.e. it's a lot more interesting.

Thoughts?

Also now logged on Mantis:

http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=7405

Let me know what y'all think!

[x4000]

It's something that personally I think is a really good idea, but I'm curious what others think.  Killing monsters then becomes your lifeline, and there would be no suits or enchants or anything to prolong your time-to-live inside a windstorm.  Just health upgrades.

[Hyfrydle]

I'm not a fan of this idea in fact I'm not a fan of any idea that means I can't use certain abilities this is something I've seen happening more and more as exploits etc get found in the way certain missions work.

My idea would be to make the regions on the edge of a windstorm area still a challenge but make the challenge stronger as you move deeper into the windstorm regions on the worldmap perhaps this reducing health mechanic may work for this. This would then allow wind shelters to make more sense as you use them to actively push the storm further away and allow safer access to otherwise deadly areas. Alongside this perhaps a reason to actually explore deep in a windstorm region could be provided.

Just some thoughts I thought I'd pass on.

[zebramatt]

I'm not a fan of any idea that means I can't use certain abilities

Do you mean the suggested inability to warp? How do you feel about the idea without that aspect?

[Bluddy]

I like the general idea with some variation.

I think the concept of tier increasing with windstorms is pretty solid. It does the job of discouraging venturing into those areas, and especially if the tier gets higher and higher as you go, I think the effect is good.

What I would like to see more of is the wind flinging you about randomly. Gusts of wind could come and pick you up, or throw you violently against the landscape. It would be extra cool if it did the same to the enemies. You'd lose health from falling damage, or from being knocked against something. This is a more organic mechanic of health reduction than just having decreasing health. The way I picture moving against a windstorm, is that you're trudging through a violent storm, and at any opportunity you duck into a house or cave to rest up or just 'fortify your position'.

This is also how I'd like the windshield placement to play out. There would be little houses and caves you could duck into for a minute, and then you'd go on. The key is, you'd want to have a way to visualize a huge gust of wind approaching, and ducking into a house should cause time to move forward somewhat. So maybe it'll be easier to do (programming wise) if you make little shelters where you can hide from the wind in the same chunk. Miss a few giant gusts of wind and you'll be down to your last bit of health.

I don't think you need any bosses in this type of mission -- they just don't belong there thematically. This should literally be a struggle against the environment with the wind as your enemy. And the more helpless enemies you see flailing about in the wind (possibly hitting you for damage as they fly), the cooler this mission/area type will be.

It could actually be an attraction to go to different area types and see how different native enemies are thrown about in the wind helplessly. It would really convey the idea that this wind is DANGEROUS -- so dangerous that the critters of this world are helpless against it.

[Hyfrydle]

I'm not a fan of any idea that means I can't use certain abilities

Do you mean the suggested inability to warp? How do you feel about the idea without that aspect?

I like the idea in general and Bluddy's idea of making wind shelters into safe havens sounds good too. Would be nice to maybe have enchants help with the difficulty in this kind of exploration. I strongly feel the wind side of the game needs to have more impact on the gameplay and any ideas in that direction are fine by me.

[zebramatt]

Bluddy, I think the visible gusts of wind idea is a great one for the wind shelter (or another, new) mission type for sure. That's something really different to all the mission types there are at the moment.

I'm thinking a shake up of the windstorm mechanic akin to what I described above might work as the basis for all windswept areas. The missions could take the same basic mechanic and build on it with something like gusts, so that you're not just battling your way across the landscape killing anything you can to stay alive, but you're also having to contest with being blown backwards (and away from the enemies you need to stay alive)!