Peebles' Perfectly Pointless Popular Prattle - Random Banter #211

[Cuthalion]

Yes. It does mean that I've only a limited amount of animals to take pictures of (and most of the sheep look pretty similar), though, until we get some more.

Baa humbug.

[HalfTangible]

I'd play it.

While I'm not sure, I believe that functionality is called "deckbuilding elements," even though it doesn't necessarily involve cards of any sort. Either way, it sounds pretty cool.

I also have an idea for a game, though I intend to be enigmatic about it for a while. Speaking of which, how does it make sense that people in games like Don't Starve know their own sanity level... wouldn't it make more sense if they couldn't judge that at all, and were poorer judges of their own wellness and hunger when it was (invisibly) lowered?

Thanks guys.

Y'know what? Screw being enigmatic!

The game I'm planning to make is a semi-hardcore first-person Roguelike. There will be seven different resource-stats to maintain, six of which (Mana, Life, Stamina, Food, Water, and Air) are displayed at all times in the form of bars on the HUD. The display-bars will not necessarily be completely accurate, however: they will deviate by a constantly-fluctuating amount that can be up to {[100%-(current_sanity/total_sanity)]/2} such that when your sanity's near-empty, the displays are near-useless, but when your sanity's completely and perfectly full, they're completely and perfectly accurate

The seventh resource-stat, Sanity, can only be (directly) viewed at all under special circumstances, such as while under the effects of very specific (and not particularly common) spells or items. In addition to the deviation on the other stats' displays, Sanity will affect view-distance, and a few other things.

I'm not a huge fan of roguelikes, so take this with a grain of salt.

I see a potential issue in regards to fairness. Not so much because a roguelike should be fair, but more from a player's perspective sorta thing. Since these resources are necessary for the character to survive and they can't tell how accurate the numbers are, the player can feel like they were cheated if these resource shortages that they can't even discern properly end up killing them.

In addition, Darkest Dungeon has an issue with its sanity mechanic in that it's far, FAR too easy to rack up max insanity and far too difficult to bring it down.

Hmm, I think the hardest part in creating such a game will be to ensure that the different characteristics won't feel bland and generic. The different combinations must synergise with eachother in unique ways so that I won't have to feel like I've played everything after having tried out each characteristic once. Games which try this "build your own faction" approach often suffer from sacrificing the character of the faction without adding enough variance for the players to build their own.

A valid concern. Dark Crusade and Warcraft are huge influences for this idea; I intend to give each faction their own flavor, and name the different categories in a way that helps to build the world.

[LaZodiac]

Dom showed me his flight simulator thing over the internet and I got to be the shipboard AI. I served him and Finn hamburgers and it was really fun. He scratched the end of the plane on the tarmak during lift off though. I blame the ever traiterous autopilot.

Man, the internet is great.

[Teddy]

I'm not sure what this question means (even though I feel like I should be) so I think I'll just say some more of the general ideas I have for the game, as well as expanding on the ones I already mentioned.

Spoiler: Details on the seven resource stats

Show

In addition to the effects mentioned earlier, lowered Sanity can create sounds of monsters that aren't even there, and make monsters that are there become silent. On top of that, when it reaches zero, your character goes completely stark-raving-mad and you get a game over.

Mana is purely a resource used for magic. It recovers more slowly the lower it is: the current mana available doubles every minute (over the course of that minute, and up to the value of your maximum mana)... meaning that a half-full mana meter will refill completely in one minute, but an empty one won't refill at all (not on its own, at least.)

Stamina affects speed, and can kill you of exhaustion if you run out completely. It uses the same recovery mechanic mana does, and is lowered by heavy exertion (including sprinting and lifting heavy things.)

Food and water both decrease at constant rates; water does so somewhat more quickly. If either is below one half, you do not regain stamina; if both are, you start losing stamina and sanity at a variable rate; the lower food is, the faster stamina lowers, and the lower water is, the faster sanity lowers. If one is completely empty, you also start losing life, rapidly; if both are, you die instantly.

Air runs out like food and water, but much faster; it only does so when you can't breathe, however. It recovers when you can breathe again, though at a constant rate, rather than the "doubling every minute" that stamina and mana do. If you run out, you die.

Life is self-explanatory: if you run out, you die. It does not recover automatically, and is generally the thing that's lowered by monsters' attacks (and other sources of injury.)

Another major element to the game will be a strange, ominous smoke that seems to sap the strength from people and drive them mad. Mechanical effects of standing in smoke, not counting the obscured vision and the lack of breath, are that stats regenerate slower and degrade faster, with the symptoms becoming more severe proportionate to the thickness of the smoke. Smoke can be dispersed by powerful magic, but only temporarily.

Further ideas are, of course, welcome.

Well, I mean, what do you do in it? You said it's a roguelike, so it's a dungeon crawler? Or is it more of an open world survival horror? Are the controls going to be clumsy á la Amnesia, or will the player be a more ordinary protagonist tank until the resources are starting to run low? What is the goal of the game, and how do you work yourself there?

A valid concern. Dark Crusade and Warcraft are huge influences for this idea; I intend to give each faction their own flavor, and name the different categories in a way that helps to build the world.

Names alone won't suffice, that's for sure. I've been playing a bit of Civilization: Beyond Earth as of lately, and I'll give the affinity system there as an example of when an attempt to increase the variety among too few factions (there are 8) fails. You get certain benefits from leveling up your affinity, most notably in upgrading your units with bonuses geared toward different scenarios, but there's little to no impact of your actions on which affinity you'll steer toward. I could play a Harmony civ killing every alien I see and covering the planet with terrascapes, or a Purity civ taking care to preserve everything on this new world, and the game won't react upon it.

So, yes, when you design this system, make sure it's thorough and not just "Here's your special unit, here's your special building".

Dom showed me his flight simulator thing over the internet and I got to be the shipboard AI. I served him and Finn hamburgers and it was really fun. He scratched the end of the plane on the tarmak during lift off though. I blame the ever traiterous autopilot.

Man, the internet is great.

All hail the medium of silly cats and tomfoolish games! It's...
*has a sudden vision of all the infrastructure within*
It's the greatest... wonder... of mankind...

ION:
Played Three Kingdoms for the first time over at gaming club tonight. We only got halfway through, but what I got was really fun. And what's best of all is that it's one of the few games which is designed for three players to start with and also pulls it off well. Or as my friend put it, "it's the world's best board game for three player". I could definitely envision myself playing more of this in the future.

[HalfTangible]

Names alone won't suffice, that's for sure. I've been playing a bit of Civilization: Beyond Earth as of lately, and I'll give the affinity system there as an example of when an attempt to increase the variety among too few factions (there are 8) fails. You get certain benefits from leveling up your affinity, most notably in upgrading your units with bonuses geared toward different scenarios, but there's little to no impact of your actions on which affinity you'll steer toward. I could play a Harmony civ killing every alien I see and covering the planet with terrascapes, or a Purity civ taking care to preserve everything on this new world, and the game won't react upon it.

So, yes, when you design this system, make sure it's thorough and not just "Here's your special unit, here's your special building".

Believe me, I know that names and the occasional special unit aren't enough.

[enderlord99]

Well, I mean, what do you do in it? You said it's a roguelike, so it's a dungeon crawler?

Yes.

Are the controls going to be clumsy á la Amnesia, or will the player be a more ordinary protagonist tank until the resources are starting to run low?

The latter, basically.

What is the goal of the game, and how do you work yourself there?

I don't think there will be a specific "goal," beyond the basic "see how deep you can go into the dungeon."

[Solse]

I don't think there will be a specific "goal," beyond the basic "see how deep you can go into the dungeon."

Basically my experience with Nethack. I know that there's an actual ending, but I suck too much to get even remotely near it. Even with God Mode and cheats on, I still can't beat it.

[HalfTangible]

So!

Double legendary drop in Dota 2.

...

That is awesome.

[FinnLassie]

Dom showed me his flight simulator thing over the internet and I got to be the shipboard AI. I served him and Finn hamburgers and it was really fun. He scratched the end of the plane on the tarmak during lift off though. I blame the ever traiterous autopilot.

Man, the internet is great.

It was the best idea to skype you! Me and Randman really thought you were absolutely the best AI ever. I mean, my French is impeccable, right? Randman refuses to acknowledge the fact that the end of the plane did indeed scratch the ground, but it was so obvious like come on! Also, let's not forget we flew from Yellowknife... and that the plane, a Boeing 747, was ultimately TOO BIG for the airport. Nearly couldn't turn there.

Beep boop~ Z.O.D.I.~

[enderlord99]

Spoiler: My reaction to spicy food (after settling down enough to briefly remember how to internet... which took hours)

Show

Yeah, I'm a wimp.

[LaZodiac]

It was the best idea to skype you! Me and Randman really thought you were absolutely the best AI ever. I mean, my French is impeccable, right? Randman refuses to acknowledge the fact that the end of the plane did indeed scratch the ground, but it was so obvious like come on! Also, let's not forget we flew from Yellowknife... and that the plane, a Boeing 747, was ultimately TOO BIG for the airport. Nearly couldn't turn there.

Beep boop~ Z.O.D.I.~

BEEP BOOP.

Spoiler: My reaction to spicy food (after settling down enough to briefly remember how to internet... which took hours)

Show

Yeah, I'm a wimp.

Your image isn't actually showing up. That said, if I recall you're middle eastern so spicy stuff SHOULDN'T be too much of a problem for you genetically. Maybe it's just SUPER spicy. Either way, I don't think you're weak.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Ahaha. Just got my first paycheck for Student Senate after a semester of no pay. Feels good.

[LaZodiac]

Ahaha. Just got my first paycheck for Student Senate after a semester of now pay. Feels good.

Awesome. Not to bring you down but uh...Leonard Nimoy died.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Awesome. Not to bring you down but uh...Leonard Nimoy died.

My wife just told me.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Awesome. Not to bring you down but uh...Leonard Nimoy died.

I know. I was watching TOS and quickly wanted to check someone's twitter and they retweeted the news.
Damn. Not a nice way to find out.

There's an In Memoriam thread over in Media.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Awesome. Not to bring you down but uh...Leonard Nimoy died.

There was already a thread for that, don't spread the bad news needlessly.

[HalfTangible]

There was already a thread for that, don't spread the bad news needlessly.

I didn't know >.> Don't be rude, AT

[CurlyKitGirl]

I didn't know >.> Don't be rude, AT

It's the shock talking, he doesn't mean to be so harsh.

[AtlanteanTroll]

I didn't know >.> Don't be rude, AT

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just saying no need to spread bad news in an unassuming place and bring people down.

[Solse]

Your image isn't actually showing up. That said, if I recall you're middle eastern so spicy stuff SHOULDN'T be too much of a problem for you genetically. Maybe it's just SUPER spicy. Either way, I don't think you're weak.

I think that the image had hotlinking disabled. In any case, it says: "THE SCOVILLE RATING IS TOO -- AAH! THE PAIN!" This text is overlayed in an image macro format on top of a picture of the "Rent is too damn high" guy. Thanks, Inspect Element!

[Teddy]

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just saying no need to spread bad news in an unassuming place and bring people down.

I don't think I'm entirely comfortable with declaring RB a 'bad news'-free zone, since this is where I (and many others) come when I need to get something heavy off my heart or otherwise rant about something...

I think that the image had hotlinking disabled. In any case, it says: "THE SCOVILLE RATING IS TOO -- AAH! THE PAIN!" This text is overlayed in an image macro format on top of a picture of the "Rent is too damn high" guy. Thanks, Inspect Element!

Actually, it wasn't a hotlink at all, but the link to the page with the hotlink. The forum software isn't quite potent enough to handle that case...

[HalfTangible]

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just saying no need to spread bad news in an unassuming place and bring people down.

It's the random banter thread. People talk about what they wanna talk about.

[Solse]

Actually, it wasn't a hotlink at all, but the link to the page with the hotlink. The forum software isn't quite potent enough to handle that case...

That makes more sense. For some reason my knowledge of how webservers work disappeared, leaving me to think that somehow, the hotlink converted the src attribute of the actual HTML <img> tag to the page instead of the direct link.

ION: I'm sick! Yay! I hate having colds. They make me feel so crappy.

[HalfTangible]

I'm fairly religious + "Daemon" being used to refer to what i think is a protocol type in Ubuntu = Awkward.

...

Yeah, I know it's just a name, but still ._. feels weird.

[enderlord99]

Your image isn't actually showing up. That said, if I recall you're middle eastern so spicy stuff SHOULDN'T be too much of a problem for you genetically. Maybe it's just SUPER spicy. Either way, I don't think you're weak.

...I'm not Middle Eastern. I'm of mixed European heritage, and have lived my whole life so far in North America. I'm not used to spicy things at all.

What made you think I was Middle Eastern?

[Solse]

I'm fairly religious + "Daemon" being used to refer to what i think is a protocol type in Ubuntu = Awkward.

...

Yeah, I know it's just a name, but still ._. feels weird.

Technical time! I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that a daemon isn't a protocol type, but a housekeeping program of sorts that runs in the background of your computer. Usually, they're referred to as daemons in all Unix-like systems, not just Ubuntu.

The more you know!

Also if Teddy or Razanir or any other techie could come correct me, that'd be awesome.

[LaZodiac]

...I'm not Middle Eastern. I'm of mixed European heritage, and have lived my whole life so far in North America. I'm not used to spicy things at all.

What made you think I was Middle Eastern?

You knew a lot of Arabic and had trouble with English. I mad a poor assumption and I apologize.

[HalfTangible]

Technical time! I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that a daemon isn't a protocol type, but a housekeeping program of sorts that runs in the background of your computer. Usually, they're referred to as daemons in all Unix-like systems, not just Ubuntu.

The more you know!

Also if Teddy or Razanir or any other techie could come correct me, that'd be awesome.

*shrug* I only just heard the term today. For all I know, you're right.

[enderlord99]

You knew a lot of Arabic and had trouble with English. I mad a poor assumption and I apologize.

I don't know any Arabic. I just think it looks cool when you Google Translate things into it. Not as cool as Sanskrit, though.

Well, technically, I know that "Al Qaeda" means "The base," "Jihad" means "Struggle," and "Allah(hu) Ackbar" means "God Willing." But I only know those because they're in the media so much.

Also, it isn't English I have trouble with; it's slang and metaphor I have trouble with.

[Solse]

*snip* "Jihad" means "Struggle," *snip*

Incidentally, Mein Kampf means "My Struggle".

What is it with bad people and struggles?