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Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:15 pm
by renke_
Most points are already discussed (partly by me :)) but as Loren 2 is still in early(-ish) development I thought I place them here as master list/collection (no specific order)
* More context-sensitive artwork (a warrior shortly before a combat should wear not only a bikini, even one made of chain mail ^^)
* Retraining (resetting of all attribute and skill points and the possability to allocate them anew). This should not be some simple option but embedded in the story-line, e.g. at some point the party meets a NPC willing to train them (for gold, a fulfilled mission or even just because the NPC is nice without any preconditions)
* I liked the skill system of PS more, instead of multiple unique archetypes I prefer the system of generally available skills. Some classes can easier reach higher values for a specific sub-set of skills, but a combination of e.g. two-hand weapons (warrior) and poisoning (thief) shouldn't be impossible (only stupid/ineffective ;))
* Many of the dialogues in Loren are part of the romances, without (Romance) them the story line is much shortened (this is subjective, I could be wrong...). As the atmosphere is mostly talk-driven "just pal" dialogue lines would be greatly appreciated.
* This may be my fault but often the talk options (joking, friendly, forceful) were not connected to the actual line presented by the game. A system more like PS with a preview of the actual comment would be imho preferable
* The option (Romance) is just lame. There, I said it ;)
Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:26 pm
by jack1974
Point 1, no worries, there'll be real armors. The PC is customizable though, so if people want to have a lighter outfit, is their choice (still won't be like the first game, more realistic)
Retraining, if Anima (coder) says is possible with the new framework, yes sure, as you said integrated with the story and not something easy to do.
About the skills I'm not sure yet what system I'll use, so can't say much about it

As for the romance, will depend on writer, but since romances are one of the key aspect of this game, this might be the same as the first game, HOWEVER as said already, there won't be anymore the joking/friendly/forceful choices but a real preview of what the character is going to say. I might skill keep the "tone", and display it like:
"This is not your concern (forceful)"
"Yes let's talk about it! (friendly)"
"Do you know why elves have pointed ears? (joking)" (this is made up, I don't know any joke about elves ears!)
either with text or with an icon. And no clearly marked romance choice otherwise is too easy

Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:43 pm
by renke_
Great! (realistic wishes are advantageous - most of my issues are already addressed :D)
Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:34 pm
by yayswords
A thought on that response system. In Dragon Age 2 there is something similar, but the response you pick is the concept of your reaction, not the exact words. For example, let's say I pick the conversation option: I wanna bang you (flirt) Then my character will try to seduce that person, but doesn't outright say I wanna bang you. It's really nice in case your response is gonna be way too long, and when you respond with a joke you get twice the value since the response title is usually a joke and then you get to be surprised by how your character actually expresses the joke.
It would be the finishing touch to your system as far as I'm concerned.
Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:04 pm
by jack1974
Yes, I like that system too, so hopefully we can do something like that

Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:07 pm
by Lonestar51
HOWEVER as said already, there won't be anymore the joking/friendly/forceful choices but a real preview of what the character is going to say. I might skill keep the "tone", and display it like:
"This is not your concern (forceful)"
"Yes let's talk about it! (friendly)"
"Do you know why elves have pointed ears? (joking)"
This solves the biggest gripe I had with the first Loren. I just hope we will have a lot of options (unlike Loren, but like N'Mar) where I can choose like:
"Your sins are too great, you must die! BURN HERETIC BURN!"
"I will forgive you, now go and don't do it again."
"Hey, maybe technically illegal, but you are my man. Nicely done. You want a place in my party?"
Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:27 pm
by Grodul
I have come up with more feature suggestions for the upcoming sequel. Here are two of them:
XP for everyone. In the first game it was troublesome to have to grind the popularity side quests again and again to have my character up to the level I desired (even though I do enjoy grinding to some extent). Not only that, but only those characters that were present during a battle will earn XP. This is understandable, but to speed things up a little could the “not-in-battle” party members earn maybe half the XP the rest earn.
More loot. I find it weird when after every battle there is so very little loot. For very enemy there should be at least one item. I could understand this if we were to believe that some of the armor and weapons used by the enemies got destroyed during battle.
What do the rest of forum followers think of these suggestions?
Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:54 pm
by renke_
xelnaga92 wrote:With so many party members each have something interesting to say but nothing to keep track of their conversation is a big turn off for me. [..] There is nothing to show if a party member have any new to say so I have to go through them all.
Found this gem in the attic (urgh, dusty) - a valid point and imho easy solvable: Simply don't highlight the character if the only response will be the base line.
Another wish would be a more restrictive approach for fixed encounters (city tasks et al), maybe similar to the swamp in Loren 1 - but this is already planned (if memory serves correctly).
Grodul wrote:More loot. I find it weird when after every battle there is so very little loot.
I never had the feeling I'm not getting "paid" enough, the drops were in a range I expect from a combat.
Though one thing was irritating from a story POV: Early on Loren realises that she will not have access to the Amazon's gold as she left the citadel. Later she's appointed as military leader and designated queen and she STILL has to pay the dealer ;)
Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:50 pm
by jack1974
Some short replies (I'm busy working on SOTW

):
- more options to solve the quests are cool, but the expansion with all the various combinations was quite painful to debug. not saying we won't do that, but remember that it takes a lot more time
- shared EXP, yes I agree, depends also on other things. I'm talking from time to time with Anima about the rules and we have brainstormed some interesting ideas (well mostly him

)
- more loot, not sure. I am wondering if the "MMORPG loot/inventory" is actually cool or not. For PS2 for example we have much less inventory slots, I think will make my mind after that game is done and see how it works. Personally as played I'm not a fan of having huge amount of items, if then I have to sell them all. I mean for example: I kill 100 groups of mobs, each one gives me 5 items, and of course out of 500 items probably there are 20-25 really powerful ones/better than the one I have equipped in my party. Result, I have to dig and find them and resell all the rest since is garbage. Wouldn't be better if those 25 powerful/useful items were result of a quest or a few boss battles? I guess this depends on tastes though

Re: Features you want the most?
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:38 am
by yayswords
Another thing that comes to mind with the Dragon Age 2 conversation system. You did this in Loren already - the answers you typically pick define the personality of Saren/Elenor; it decides how they respond when you aren't allowed to choose for them. That's a good thing. However in Dragon Age 2 it's taken one step further. As a direct example from the game, let's say you usually pick "forceful" responses. Not afraid to be blunt, not afraid to speak the ugly truth. You gain an aura of seriousness; when you speak, you don't fuck around. There is one situation where you can try to threaten your way to the objective, but only if you have a "forceful" personality will the NPC actually believe you even though he doesn't know you are always a serious person. You simply radiate it; it's part of your charisma. Similarly if you have a joking personality you can make everyone laugh even in the most depressing situations and if you are friendly you can inspire great loyalty. Would be cool with a bit of that.