Arcen Games
General Category => A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 => Topic started by: x4000 on May 03, 2012, 09:02:36 pm
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Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/05/avww-post-release-1008-windy-boomstick.html
This one is focused squarely on the things that most annoy players who like the game. There's more to come on that score hopefully tomorrow, but this release addresses a lot of the major complaints that we've gotten so far. That doesn't sound very exciting, but actually I think it is.
Boomsticks
First of all, there's a new enchant category called "Boomstick." It causes all of your spells to knock you backwards in shotgun-like fashion (hence the name), but also do more damage. This is something that is very much a taste-specific sort of enchant, so not everybody is going to love it. But we had a lot of players wanting this sort of playstyle, and so we did what we did with the "power sliding" ability: made it optional!
Boomstick enchants are particularly interesting underwater, because they can help you "swim" in a pretty different sort of fashion than was previously possible.
Multi-Monitor Support Improvements
With both AI War and AVWW, there's been ongoing annoyances with Unity 3D's inability to capture the mouse to the game window. It only affects people with multiple monitors, but that describes a lot of our fanbase (hey, including us). Thanks to the hack we figured out last week, we've now been able to improve our multi-monitor support despite the underlying engine not really supporting it; these features will be coming soon to AI War as well.
Windstorms!
So, windstorms -- and particularly wind shelter missions -- have been the bane of a lot of players' existence. Hard barely begins to describe them, as they were near-impossible if you didn't use tricks like turning yourself into a bat.
We've listened to a lot of player feedback, and come up with something that wraps together a lot of the more interesting suggestions along with ideas of our own. The wind is now life-sapping from you rather than something that buffs monsters, and it gets worse the further into windstorm territory you go on the world map.
The life-sap won't outright kill you, though; so it's not a true timer. It won't take you below 1 health, and it also gets smaller and smaller in the effect it has on you the lower your health gets. So it's this constant drain on you that requires you to kill enemies to keep your health at reasonable levels, but it's not something that just ends you outright if you dawdle around or take your time.
Going along with this, ports now work differently in windstorms, the wind shelter missions themselves have been fixed up substantially to be better balanced, and turning yourself into a bat now comes with severe consequences in the storms. See the release notes for the details.
Anachronism Missions, Take Three
The reflected damage wasn't popular with these. It was an improvement over the older way of doing things, I think, but it was still too easy to kill yourself accidentally. The new system is more forgiving of stray shots, and instead penalizes you with two newly-spawned monsters if you kill the wrong kind of monster. We'll see what folks think!
Note that we know this wasn't the most-hated mission type -- that belonged to the supply depot missions by a longshot. I'd hoped to have my changes in for that mission type today, but the windstorm changes really were more involved than I expected because I kept finding new things to improve. So the supply depot mission improvements should be hitting tomorrow instead, knock on wood.
Multiplayer Stuff
New admin commands, bug fixes, and some new keybinds to make sharing your goodies with allies easier. Nice!
Consciousness Shards
Substantial changes here. Rather than there being six colors, there is now only one. They also aren't used for guardian power scrolls anymore -- in fact, for this release they are temporarily pointless. They also aren't stored in the settlement stockpile, but rather go inside your main inventory now. Curious, eh?
We have some cool stuff planned for these that I think everybody will really like, and our hope is to get that in place tomorrow... but we'll just see how the schedule goes because people are constantly asking us for stuff and that can kind of throw our anticipated schedule out of whack as we adjust on the fly. One way or another it's coming soon, anyway.
As usual, there was a variety of random other tweaks and fixes in this one; we didn't get to remotely everything we had hoped to pack into this release, but so it goes. There's always tomorrow! More to come soon. Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 0.500 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time. If you don't have 0.500 or later, you can download that here.
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These new windstorm changes are awesome. They make the windstorm truly dangerous. Before, by increasing the tier level, it made them slower. I would equip a stealth enchant and engage things at my leisure. Now, it's a fast slog to get what you need to get done, and get out.
Or, at least that's what I think I should be doing. It's really an inhospitable place, as it should be. A very new challenge.
We lose JtP missions instantly now, if they occur in the windstorm. This seems like the right thing, but maybe not? It's a journey doomed from the first step, so I guess that makes sense.
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These new windstorm changes are awesome. They make the windstorm truly dangerous. Before, by increasing the tier level, it made them slower. I would equip a stealth enchant and engage things at my leisure. Now, it's a fast slog to get what you need to get done, and get out.
Or, at least that's what I think I should be doing. It's really an inhospitable place, as it should be. A very new challenge.
We lose JtP missions instantly now, if they occur in the windstorm. This seems like the right thing, but maybe not? It's a journey doomed from the first step, so I guess that makes sense.
I think it'd be more fun to make certain (harder) rules for JtP in a windstorm. Maybe you have a health bar AND you lose if it goes all the way down AND you lose if you get touched by monsters.
Maybe the hardcore missions should be the ones spawning in a windstorm?
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Just want to pop in to say I'm really impressed with the constant support this is getting. I mean, a lot of indie developers are active in their community, but the pace that you've been pumping out these updates (some of them rather impressively drastic) is remarkable.
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Just want to pop in to say I'm really impressed with the constant support this is getting. I mean, a lot of indie developers are active in their community, but the pace that you've been pumping out these updates (some of them rather impressively drastic) is remarkable.
This may seem crazy fast updates (and it is), but pre-release it wasn't uncommon to get one release a day, sometimes 2 releases in a day. On rare occasions 3.
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It is really easy to screw yourself in the new anachronism missions, but in a totally fair way. I tried just killing everything to see if that would be a simple way to "cheese" the mission, boy was that a bad tactic!
Unlike the insta-fail, or the insta-death (on some difficulties), this one seems much more organic and proper. Things are messed up in this area, and you are there to fix it. You can also screw it up way worse than when you got there. I like it! :D
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I tried just killing everything to see if that would be a simple way to "cheese" the mission, boy was that a bad tactic!
;D I was hoping it would have that effect :)
And if necessary you can just abandon the mission and try it again, if it gets too out of hand.
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Hmm, I now feel like abusing the engine and see how many units I can pile into one area. (This forum needs a "I'm about to do something devious" smilley)
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And if necessary you can just abandon the mission and try it again, if it gets too out of hand.
Didn't live nearly long enough to get to the door :-[
I know I've always been in the minority in liking these, but they are now my favorite mission. I really like consequences brought about slowly by your own compounded errors.
Edit: Exploding espers are so evil....
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"Thanks to many players for ongoing feedback on these missions. We're definitely looking for logical arguments and consistent feedback rather than emotional responses that go all over the place, but we're grateful that largely we're getting the former and we can work with that."
Arcen, your patch notes suck, and here's why:
:)
Seriously, guilty as charged! Listen, I regret having posted directly after having died for the sixth time in a row during one of these anachronism missions. What I should have done was wait a few minutes, let my frustration pass and then attempted a more diplomatic approach. Sorry about that; I was irresponsible and rude.
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Nomads is bounced to 1.008. Enjoy.
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Seriously, guilty as charged! Listen, I regret having posted directly after having died for the sixth time in a row during one of these anachronism missions. What I should have done was wait a few minutes, let my frustration pass and then attempted a more diplomatic approach. Sorry about that; I was irresponsible and rude.
Haha, I didn't have anyone particular in mind, but thanks for working past that :) I don't mind people blowing off a little steam from time to time, so long as we can all stay focused on getting to the sorts of feedback that actually help us make the game better, etc. And certainly if someone is genuinely rude and later asks forgiveness, I'm more than happy to extend it. And I hope for the same treatment when (not if) I cross lines myself ;)
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Any word on fixing the bug where you can't choose a lizard-man character at character selection, even when they're unlocked? It's rather annoying having to choose a Robot if you want to go into Lava Flats without a heat-suit! Also, there never seems to be a male Industrial Revolution Character. I dunno if this is a bug or intentional, but it's weird, as every other time period has both male and female.
Also, any word on renaming your characters without having to glyph-transfer out and rename them in the settlement? I know I made another topic on it, but being able to change only YOUR active character's name (Since a lot of servers prohibit glyph-transferring) would really allow some personalization and allow others to tell who did what.
EDIT: The changes are pretty awesome. Dropping the Consciousness Orb requirement of Powers eliminates a HUGE portion of the grind and the Wind Shelter missions are actually beatable outside of bat form!
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Hm. The recoil from boomstick enchants doesn't seem to be working for me. I found one with +30% recoil and +12% damage, but I don't seem to move. I tried several different spells and firing in a couple different states(standing still, jumping), so I'm not sure if I'm missing something or what.
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Well, I just did one of the new Wind Shelter missions.
Gotta say, great job on this patch, guys. These missions went from "Argh I dont wanna do this" straight to "epic". As is fitting for something like this that is so central to the game.
Finding that the microbosses and other things offer an interesting choice; do I try to run past them, inevitably giving them more time to launch projectiles (or in the case of bats, more time to SIT ON MY HEAD.... bloody bats), or do I take a moment.... and take a risk of even larger damage..... in order to get rid of them and gain some health?
That, is SO much more interesting than before.
I also noticed just how the wind affects things; I reached one point where there was an urban crawler blocking the way; when it's health went down, and it exploded, the wind BLEW ALL OF THE FIRE AT ME. That...... was pretty cool. And dangerous.
Very, very excellent patch so far.
I'm curious though as to what you intend on having the Shards be used for. Whatever they're used for, I apparantly have some 7000 of them. Gotta wonder just where the characters HOLD all this stuff.....
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I'm curious though as to what you intend on having the Shards be used for. Whatever they're used for, I apparantly have some 7000 of them. Gotta wonder just where the characters HOLD all this stuff.....
Ever play Liesure Suit Larry? "You stick a ladder in your pocket. (Ouch.)"
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Or any point & click, like monkey island.
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It's my girlfriend's birthday on Monday and she is a keen player of the game and she LOVES CATS. Can you have a cat enemy of some kind? (preferably a tabby, as her home cat she sees rarely now, called Lady, is a tabby) It would literally make her day. And mine. I love cats too.
Suggestion for it: Maybe it can not be damaged by weapons but take damage from the health orbs of other enemies when the cat goes near it (only love can destroy cuteness). So you have to lead it to other enemies so it gets near enough for the health orbs to attract to the cat and damage it. But rather than 'kill' it, when it reaches zero HP it just stops attacking / scratching you (and it could do surprisingly lots of damage, because cat scratches really bloody hurt!) and just kind of wanders around (maybe even follow the player, and maybe then attack nearby enemies AKA Wolves in Minecraft). And also, maybe it can be sleeping until a player gets a certain distance away. Maybe there can also be an ingredient that can be found that's "catnip" (from a plant of some kind, as catnip comes from a root) that you can drop and the cat will be attracted to that and not attack the player. Once 'defeated' it would be great to be able to name it (if it follows the player around afterwards). Oh, and it SHOULD NOT be found in desert areas, as I know from experience that cats HATE sand. Maybe they can be really rare too, because usually they will be away from battle areas sleeping.
For reference, a picture of the girlfriend's cat.
(http://i.imgur.com/MjS6Y.jpg)
With ears folded back (she really likes that):
(http://i.imgur.com/bNJqg.jpg)
For added reference, a top down view for if it's needed:
(http://i.imgur.com/6QYXe.jpg)
Thanks!
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I'm seriously not sure what to say to that. I can't even find an appropriate internet meme.
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I had SOMETHING I was gonna say here.
And then cats happened, and now I cant remember what it was.
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Umm...cats? I dunno, everytime I think of cats, they would just be sleeping in some corner, hardly the fearsome monsters that we'd have to face. Not to mention, a bit out of place with the current monsters we have on the table....
King
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I'd like to see more summons and THAT left me speechless.
Err, less speeched.
Undersprechened.
Ya.
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I had a comment. I realized I was drinking too hard and my intent wouldn't come out as intended.
I shall rephrase in a way that won't be misunderstood for the intent... WHAT?! They're an indie developer, not desperate. WHAT?!
Please remember, it's "puff puff pass", not "Puff puff smoke the roach here's the tip". My second comment comes from the fact that not only did you edit it, you emphasized it!
I can't help but laugh. If that was your intent, thank you. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. If it wasn't... errr... seriously, GOTO LINE 10.
Found it!
(http://www.antifeministtech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/godzilla_facepalm.jpg)
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Cute cat, though.
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Wait, what? Now AVWW has catsplosion?
(http://dwarffortresswiki.org/images/c/c9/Catsplosion_after.png)
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We shall combine the power of cakes, ponies, and cats and take over this forum and establish a new kingdom based on internet memes and silly image macros. Our power shall be unstoppable. BWA HA HA HA!!
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Wait, what? Now AVWW has catsplosion?
The ability to set the surface temperature of an entity type, and let emergent behavior do the rest, is almost motivation enough to make a thoroughgoing simulation game.
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Wait, what? Now AVWW has catsplosion?
The ability to set the surface temperature of an entity type, and let emergent behavior do the rest, is almost motivation enough to make a thoroughgoing simulation game.
Ya those catsplosions are better then the standard :P
I would love to see Arcen do a DF like game, if there anyone who could do it its you guys :)
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I would love to see Arcen do a DF like game, if there anyone who could do it its you guys :)
It would be interesting, but Toady's already doing it :)
There's a lot to be said for building a solid simulation and seeing what hilarious things happen emergently; I'd love to make a game with really thorough-going building destruction like Red Faction Guerilla or X-Com Apocalypse.
In the latter my favorite thing was taking a bunch of hacked-to-be-massively-OP high explosives over to one of the ginormous multi-floor-office-buildings-on-stilts sites, drilling through the supports, placing a big string of the explosives connecting all the supports, tossing in a grenade, and watching my CPU churn as it tried to simulate the result.
In RF:G my only regret was not having bigger skyscrapers and whatnot to blow up; that one 6/7 floor one in the last zone that could be repop'd by restarting the demolition mission probably gave me about 100 hours of entertainment by itself. Many of them from hijacking a jeep, parking it on the ridge some hundreds of feet away, placing remote-detonation charges very carefully, and trying to make it arc so that it falls into the skyscraper from the top. One time I got it perfect and took it all down with just that.
But I still think I'm the kind of designer/implementer that I can make something more fun if I just aim at the gameplay goals I want, rather than trying to build a very sophisticated simulation that may produce fun gameplay as a side-effect.
So, uh, tangent ;)
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New one! http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,10573.0.html
No cats, sorry. :(
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I don't find the Boomstick very useful at all, since it goes into the Left arm slot where the overload goes. Why would I want that when I can fire my projectiles extremely fast?
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I don't find the Boomstick very useful at all, since it goes into the Left arm slot where the overload goes. Why would I want that when I can fire my projectiles extremely fast?
You would want it if you wanted maximum +damage, or if you wanted to swim :)
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or if you wanted to swim :)
Or just use crates.
But I guess it's better than power-slide enchantments lol.