Unlockables?

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Unlockables?

Postby WellingtonTheThird » Wed 18. Sep 2013, 00:33

Heya, Dev.

I was curious if you had any unlock-able ships or playable alien races in mind for the future of prospector. It would help add to re-playability I'd think if certain feats or actions could open up new gaming mechanics. Also since we're so close to the subject how do you feel about achievements?
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby Happy Corner » Wed 18. Sep 2013, 01:11

That would be kind of like the DoomRL. (Another roguelike I'm very fond of.)

I do like achievements, as long as they're well done. They don't belong in every game, but I think Prospector could fit them... it has quite a few mechanics/features that lend themselves well to achievements.

Magellan is the developer, however, so the decision about achievements lays solely with him.
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby WellingtonTheThird » Wed 18. Sep 2013, 01:42

Right! Those new features keep you going and insure that the game doesn't go stale if there is always something new to be discovered and entirely different ways to go through the game. The universe is a big place :D
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby magellan » Wed 18. Sep 2013, 19:54

I actually went the other way with this in a way in the current version, achieving a similar effect:
There are no longer general shipyards and equipment stores, but specialized ones, producing only a subset of all equipment.
I also added a bunch of "Managed to do X" to the mission summary.
I am generally open to ideas and suggestions in this area.
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby WellingtonTheThird » Thu 19. Sep 2013, 03:13

Right, but can we eventually look forward to seeing playable alien (or android/robot) races? Will there be any gameplay elements that become unlocked after completing certain goals in game?
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby Happy Corner » Thu 19. Sep 2013, 07:16

I'm not sure how I'd feel about robot/android crew. On one hand (given the tech level in the setting), it wouldn't be unthinkable. But they wouldn't need air... if you had a whole crew of androids, the whole oxygen issue becomes moot. They would need some drawback to balance that out (though hopefully not as severe as some of the undead in DCSS).
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby WellingtonTheThird » Thu 19. Sep 2013, 15:52

That would be simple, though. They could run on energy cells and be less resistant to corrosive atmospheres. It would also open up a whole new world of items that are Cyborg specific.
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby Masterski » Thu 19. Sep 2013, 17:25

When I see word Achievements something twists inside me. In a bad way. I hate them, and I believe they bring nothing to the games, and most of the time make you feel stupid. Do I need to get an achevement popping out and filling the screen congratulating me for my first log in, or a 10th, or 100th kill? Who cares? Its artificial, fake. I know how much I killed and what I have achieved. Whether I saved the galaxy or managed to get through the gas fields alive.

Unlockables on the other hand, is a different thing. I wouldn't mind to have something that alters the gameplay after the first succesfull endgame, just like in Desktop Dungeons, where after you win the game with certain classes, you unlock a new one. After you beat it with that one, you unlock another, and another, and another.

On the other hand, this game is a game of exploration, and I'm not sure whether a player should be encouraged to finish it, just so he can play with android crew (or something else).

This subject needs to be approached carefully.
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby Happy Corner » Thu 19. Sep 2013, 17:57

For what it's worth, I've been writing my own roguelike in my spare time (currently alpha status), and it does have achievements and unlocks. I handled it more like the Doom RL - you don't get a Steam-style popup in game when you achieve something, they're just notes/medals that get added to your mortem when you die. If you don't like it, you can just ignore it.

The unlocks are different from DoomRL, though. You need achievements in DoomRL to unlock more content, but I preferred to divorce mine from the achievement system. Right now, the unlocks just go by how well you did point-wise (the system couldn't care less how you got those points). Get far enough, and you unlock traits, options, and other bonuses for future games. I made it that way to take some of the sting out of permadeath. This way, even if you splat agonizingly close to victory, you still have SOMETHING to show for your efforts...
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Re: Unlockables?

Postby magellan » Thu 19. Sep 2013, 21:48

There was one Idea once, that I loved (Save for the horror of changing the code to achieve that), that would come close to unlockables:
Persitant universes.
A new universe only get's generated if you choose so. Otherwise only the explored maps get reversed to unexplored.
As some of you may know there are some things achieved in game that change what is availiable in terms of equipment.

(I need to look for an easier to use spoiler tag)
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