Exploration?

[wwwhhattt]

I don't know how much of this game is planned at the moment, but I'm wondering if there'll be much room for exploration in this game.

There might not be much scope for interacting with the environment - obstacles might just be a nuisance for top down flying - but as the game is currently said to be set in the upper atmosphere Arcen could easily fill the background with beautifully drawn scenery for us to fly over. For all that AE is going to have to focus on blowing stuff up and sticking stuff together, it would be a huge bonus to be able to search worlds for new vistas to gaze over.

This might just be me (I'd play anything that looks and sounds pretty enough, almost regardless of the rest of the game), but think: if it looks good enough then we'd have something to point to whenever the seemingly inevitable 'Arcen have crap artwork' comments turn up.


On a side not, there could be some basic environmental effects that could be easy enough to add - engines could run worse in hot climates (deserts etc.), wind currents, stuff like that. I'm not sure much could be added along those lines without creating more work than Arcen need though.

[x4000]

This is something we were still experimenting with last time we were working on this particular game, so I'm not really sure what the answer is going to ultimately be to that.  I do plan on having floating islands and other things to dock at, such as for fuel.

[wwwhhattt]

I do plan on having floating islands

Not sure why, but there's something I love about skislands. Skylands. Them.

[x4000]

Me too!  Always have.

[Panopticon]

Skylands you dock at to refuel and the like brings to mind Carrier Command. Are you guys be thinking about a strategic layer to the gameplay where you conquer these Skylands to create a logistics chain and power up? Strategy is never far from your minds after all.

[x4000]

Actually, the concept for this game has evolved a LOT in the last couple of months, and doesn't bear much resemblance to what I was initially planning.  I always like to say that great game design is the intersection of multiple great ideas, not just based on one great idea alone.  This game had some solid ideas to start with, and mechanics that work well, but it was missing a sense of purpose for me.  I've more recently had several bits of inspiration that give it more purpose, but will also fundamentally change the nature of how the game plays out (combat basics aside).

I'm not really ready to talk about that yet, it's still in the marination stage while I'm more focused directly on other projects.  But I am definitely excited about this one much more than I was a few months ago.

[Draco18s]

Actually, the concept for this game has evolved a LOT in the last couple of months, and doesn't bear much resemblance to what I was initially planning.  I always like to say that great game design is the intersection of multiple great ideas, not just based on one great idea alone.

Oh yeah, totally.  Keep practicing that self torture, for all our sakes (at least the ones that are still alive).

[x4000]

Hahahaha.