Game Design Megathread

[Bushido]

wait what game is this

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[IkeTheGeneric]

I'm making an adventure exploration game

[Bushido]

have you looked into the way that resident evil lets you save all the time, but you have to use consumable save items to do so

[IkeTheGeneric]

Basically I'm trying to think of a way to allow the player to save progress in such a way that it doesn't detract from the stakes set by gameplay but not inconvenient enough to make the player annoyed.

[ßlöükfáce]

thanks

for?

[Foxscotch]

I'm not really a fan of obviously tiered magic systems
I don't think it's very interesting, or even makes a whole lot of sense (but I guess it could make sense depending on your explanation of magic...)
like, skyrim's spells, for instance, have very obvious tiers. firebolt is, basically, an upgraded flames. it behaves slightly differently but even that is just a range upgrade
then fireball is an upgrade to firebolt (which is really confusing by the way), and incinerate is an upgrade to fireball. then you have fire storm which seems like an attempt to make a cool-looking really powerful spell but in practice it feels completely worthless to me

anyway the point is I don't like tiered spells
I'm sure they're more straightforward to balance, but what's the fun in taking the easy route anyway

[Bushido]

its fine as long as they work consistently the same

fire I through fire V are just the same spell but they hit harder, etc

[Frequency]

imo, "hitting harder" should just be based on your "skill" with that type of magic and not be represented by a tiered system.

you should however have a difference in moves, each with their own pros and cons

as an example, firebolts could be fast but not do as much damage, and fireballs could be slow but do more damage, except the difference in damage is only relative to each other. your overall damage with the spell just goes up as you improve it.

just my two cents. if I were to design a game using superpowers or magic like that, that's how i'd do it

[Foxscotch]

its fine as long as they work consistently the same
fire I through fire V are just the same spell but they hit harder, etc

I like that even less
I guess it makes sense in like, upgrade game platformers or something, but it'll feel really lacking, in my opinion, in a big lore-heavy fantasy world

[Bushido]

the thing is that it doesnt make sense that a skilled mage would only be able to hit really hard

like there are uses for lower level spells- dealing specific amounts of damage, dealing damage efficiently to save magic, using certain spell elements as necessary to open up a weakness or something

like just a flat increase makes even less sense, having more skill implies you'd have more control not less

[IkeTheGeneric]

For my game I'm not going to add in any blatantly offensive magic skills like magic missile or firebolt

I'm opting in for more utility spells like turn undead, telekinesis, mage armor, magic traps and leave the offensive magic to be used as weaker one-shot magic scrolls that anyone can use.

In a game that focuses on combat, magic archetypes should act as their own kind of style rather than just be another ranged projectile thrower. The idea that you have an arsenal extremely situational magic spells that you as a player are left to explore the mechanics of is probably a good basis for gameplay

[Nymph]

forget I can't decide on how I want players to save their progress. Part of the reason why skyrim is such an unenjoyable experience in the long run is because the automatic save-scumming all but removes the sort of tension you get from losing progress because you died.

I think this is sorta why games like Dark Souls have an edge on real, meaningful difficulty because your accomplishments don't feel shallow. Going toe-to-toe with a boss could mean losing lots of progress and effort so the stakes are high. In skyrim you can just quicksave and quickload at strategic points and never lose.

With that said, I don't know how scarce save states should be. Obviously it's very situational, kinda like the contrast between autosaving after a climax and RE1's idea of having a limited amount of saves.

The game I am working on uses a very similar system to Metroid Prime. It works very well for creating tension but can become a hassle to actually save. If you can properly place the save points though, I think it might be good to have save points. Generally, save points are good to have near boss fights and anywhere in between. You might like the idea of forcing a player to fight a boss without any save points around to raise tension ALOT, but if a player is having trouble with a boss you will cause unnecessary frustration by having them have to run and fight all the way back.

[Bushido]

[Element]

-snip-

please make that an animation for the sprite in the game

[}]Crazy[{]

dont forget walls n floors
the recovery delay should vary depending on force of impact