A self-indulgent musing from Chris.

[x4000]

Hey folks.

So listen, I like making action-y games sometimes.  Nothing super complex in this particular case, but I remember in SimCity I always really coveted the ability to go down and walk around in my city, or drive a car, or whatever, right?  I think it was City Life that enabled the ability to do that, and it was neat, but at the same time it was limited since all you did was walk and that was it.

I'm curious how you'd feel if I included a little pointless minigame in here that basically you could toggle into some ship (not one of your actual ships) and fly around in various areas and shoot enemies (not actual enemy ships).  It would not be network-synced, and in a lot of respects would be probably termed as something like "pilot training" using "real world locales."

If someone is having "Netflix time," they could do this for a bit to blow off some steam.  Or do whatever else they want.  It wouldn't be complicated or involved, and for me personally it would be a neat little diversion, practically an easter egg that simply isn't all that hidden.

This wouldn't solve any grand problem or be part of the core gameplay loop at all, or indeed accomplish ANYTHING in the main game.  So from an actual main-game standpoint this is utterly pointless.  Just like walking around your city in City Life.

But man I still liked the ability to do that every so often.

It wouldn't impact Keith's code at all, I wouldn't add it for a while, and it would only take me a couple of days at most to get the simplified version of it in there.  I'm curious how folks react to the idea of this bit of self-indulgence, though, because that's ultimately what it is.

[Captain Jack]

Prime stretch goal material and should be handled as such.

And I never realized I wanted Arcen to make its own Wing Commander/Freespace. 

Fake edit: Cinth's thread is basically his answer to this, you should merge the threads.

[Cinth]

Fake edit: Cinth's thread is basically his answer to this, you should merge the threads.

No it isn't.  I'm being evil and I think you'll understand why soon enough.

[Captain Jack]

Fake edit: Cinth's thread is basically his answer to this, you should merge the threads.

No it isn't.  I'm being evil and I think you'll understand why soon enough.

I understood perfectly well, unless both units are being removed from the game or unless the Dark Spire are a major faction in their own right. In which case I still understand. 

[Cyborg]

Hey folks.

So listen, I like making action-y games sometimes.  Nothing super complex in this particular case, but I remember in SimCity I always really coveted the ability to go down and walk around in my city, or drive a car, or whatever, right?  I think it was City Life that enabled the ability to do that, and it was neat, but at the same time it was limited since all you did was walk and that was it.

I'm curious how you'd feel if I included a little pointless minigame in here that basically you could toggle into some ship (not one of your actual ships) and fly around in various areas and shoot enemies (not actual enemy ships).  It would not be network-synced, and in a lot of respects would be probably termed as something like "pilot training" using "real world locales."

If someone is having "Netflix time," they could do this for a bit to blow off some steam.  Or do whatever else they want.  It wouldn't be complicated or involved, and for me personally it would be a neat little diversion, practically an easter egg that simply isn't all that hidden.

This wouldn't solve any grand problem or be part of the core gameplay loop at all, or indeed accomplish ANYTHING in the main game.  So from an actual main-game standpoint this is utterly pointless.  Just like walking around your city in City Life.

But man I still liked the ability to do that every so often.

It wouldn't impact Keith's code at all, I wouldn't add it for a while, and it would only take me a couple of days at most to get the simplified version of it in there.  I'm curious how folks react to the idea of this bit of self-indulgence, though, because that's ultimately what it is.

I suggested something like this in the other thread. It's an idea worthy of thinking about. Maybe, first-person control of one ship or defensive unit.

[Misery]

Well, this certainly isn't an idea I expected to see, but it's kinda interesting.  This'd be flying stuff from a first-person point of view in the minigame?  That could be fun.

Does sound stretch-goal-ish though.  But having something like that around to spice stuff up during dull moments seems a fine idea to me.

[Draco18s]

Have you played Dungeon Keeper 2 perchance?
Or the newer revival...uh...War for the Overworld.

[Cinth]

Have you played Dungeon Keeper 2 perchance?
Or the newer revival...uh...War for the Overworld.

Oh god yes, yes, yes....  I love DKII.  I still have my CD siting nearby.  Is War for the Overworld any good?  I know that was the running title for the third game but Bullfrog got run over.

[Draco18s]

I know that was the running title for the third game but Bullfrog got run over.

Its the game that got Kickstarted.  My (old) computer couldn't really handle it (I did complete a couple maps) and it's a solid--actually hands down ironclad solid--remake of DKII.  It is gorgeous, it has the same types of mechanics, it has the same voice actor.  It's fantastic.

[Aklyon]

Have you played Dungeon Keeper 2 perchance?
Or the newer revival...uh...War for the Overworld.

Oh god yes, yes, yes....  I love DKII.  I still have my CD siting nearby.  Is War for the Overworld any good?  I know that was the running title for the third game but Bullfrog got run over.

I would call WftO "Best of what we've got so far" as far as DK-likes go. Its got its own problems (some of which might've been fixed since the last I saw of it) but its decent, its had quite a few updates to beat it into shape, and its even got the same voice actor for the narrator as the originals did.

[Cinth]

Have you played Dungeon Keeper 2 perchance?
Or the newer revival...uh...War for the Overworld.

Oh god yes, yes, yes....  I love DKII.  I still have my CD siting nearby.  Is War for the Overworld any good?  I know that was the running title for the third game but Bullfrog got run over.

I would call WftO "Best of what we've got so far" as far as DK-likes go. Its got its own problems (some of which might've been fixed since the last I saw of it) but its decent, its had quite a few updates to beat it into shape, and its even got the same voice actor for the narrator as the originals did.

Neat.  I played one of the spiritual successors that didn't hit the mark.  I miss my torture chamber.

[Draco18s]

Neat.  I played one of the spiritual successors that didn't hit the mark.  I miss my torture chamber.

Dungeons from Kalypso Media?  Yeah, that game was ass. The whole "spiritual successor to DKII" was a marketing thing and it was basically false.  There was nothing about it that screamed "Dungeon Keeper" aside from the visual trappings.  An employee called me a troll on their forums for saying "the tutorial is very lacking."

And it's also the game that spawned the phrase, "Anything other than direct confrontational murder makes you less of a person" (if you've heard it) due to the game's mechanic of "if the Dungeon Lord doesn't kill the hero, half of their soul points vanishes into the ether" (so you can only collect half).  (Above linked thread was a new player who assumed that not killing the hero meant that they were penalized stored resources already collected, not that the hero was then worth less to harvest).

[Misery]

An employee called me a troll on their forums for saying "the tutorial is very lacking."

How very... professional of them.

Also, I see that traditional Arcen derailment has occurred here.  All is as it should be, then.

[Draco18s]

An employee called me a troll on their forums for saying "the tutorial is very lacking."

How very... professional of them.

Quite.  I included a link to the post as part of my refund request to Steam.

[Cinth]

Neat.  I played one of the spiritual successors that didn't hit the mark.  I miss my torture chamber.

Dungeons from Kalypso Media?  Yeah, that game was ass. The whole "spiritual successor to DKII" was a marketing thing and it was basically false.  There was nothing about it that screamed "Dungeon Keeper" aside from the visual trappings.  An employee called me a troll on their forums for saying "the tutorial is very lacking."

And it's also the game that spawned the phrase, "Anything other than direct confrontational murder makes you less of a person" (if you've heard it) due to the game's mechanic of "if the Dungeon Lord doesn't kill the hero, half of their soul points vanishes into the ether" (so you can only collect half).  (Above linked thread was a new player who assumed that not killing the hero meant that they were penalized stored resources already collected, not that the hero was then worth less to harvest).

That be the one.  It was mediocre to say the least.  I didn't get my jollies there and went to find my DK2 disk.  Quite funny that comment.

Also, I see that traditional Arcen derailment has occurred here.  All is as it should be, then.

One good train wreck deserves another?