Incitement 3

[Matseb2611]

I see. I was just thinking if the player is starting to lose to a random encounter (not likely, but still possible), they can just pull out at the last moment, which in essence means one can never get a game over on random encounters. I'll probably end up making Escape succeed all the time, since I do see the appeal in that for majority of the players. Just that I want to make sure it doesn't make the game too easy before I go with this idea.

 

[Kes]

I don't think it will make the game too easy.  As Susan said, if they escape too often they will be underlevelled for the boss fights and come unstuck then.

 

[Scythuz]

Yeah as Susan and Ksjp17 have said, it'll make the game harder rather than easier.  I'm often pretty under-leveled on rpgs as a result of over-using the escape command.  I'd suggest making it so that your random encounters are exciting enough that people won't want to use escape all the time.  I've played a lot of games where the battles are just too slow and dull and this makes me want to escape for that reason rather than for the difficulty. 

 

[Susan]

Maybe a way for you to achieve 'middle ground', is to either add an 'Easy/Hybrid' mode where the players will always succeed in escaping random battles, or adding on an accessory that allows the player to have 100% chance in escaping.

That way, you can maintain the Normal and Challenging modes with their normal escape rates. ^^

 

[Matseb2611]

Thanks for the input, guys. Looks like I'll be making battle escape a certainty.

I was considering of making an item that allows escape to be a certainty, which will be finite, and hence keeping this more controlled, but it seems most people would prefer to be able to always succeed in escaping, so perhaps making this happen normally will be a better way to go.

 

[The Stranger]

You already know my opinion on the matter. I really don't think having escape be 100% successful will hurt the difficulty of the game. It would've prevented a lot of frustration, though.

 

[cabfe]

Or maybe set it high, like 90% but not always successful?

I only escape battles when I'm in dire straits, so a low escape chance often kills me (and sometimes even my will to continue playing).

 

[Kyuukon]

Set it to a value that uses a formula considering troop and party lvl. That way you will avoid player going underlevel, keep some realism and don't keep it bored when going through the same places.

 

[Matseb2611]

^Wouldn't that end up with the same problem as it was before - players being unable to escape when they want and hence getting annoyed?

 

[Kyuukon]

If they get annoyed then they wouldn't be enjoying the game the way you intended. You can't give everything in a silver plate. That's my opinion :3

 

[Susan]

Not sure since when, but I've more-or-less stopped running from battles (unless forced by the story) for a long time now.

In reality, the success rate of escaping battles doesn't really matter to me.

Anyway, even if the player abuses the escape option and runs from random battles at the most critical movement, nothing's going to stop them from getting the gameover scene in fixed or boss battles, either through being under-leveled, or through not understanding what the skills do and being unable to strategize properly.

I think the pros of having a high, or definite, successful escape rate outweigh the cons. Perhaps a 'normal' escape success rate may be acceptable to a lot of players if battles were possibly avoidable (on map encounters).

In the end, it depends on the game developer.

 

[Matseb2611]

Hope you guys don't mind. I've got more questions. Feel free to skip out any if you wish. You don't have to answer them all. Any responses to those are welcome.

1. Did you manage to find and complete the sidequest involving a rogue engineer (in the mining city)? Could you also let me know whether you've played this part of the game in the first demo or the second demo? I've added more hints in the second one, so just wondering if they've helped.

2. Did the shared inventory bother you (the times when the party split up)?

3. Do you think the story is going too fast?

4. Who was the most useful character to use in battles so far?

5. Who was the least useful character to use in battles so far?

 

[cabfe]

1- I don't remember this at all. I did the side quest in the mine (infestation) but nothing else.

2- Bother, no. A little strange, but so handy not to have to micro-manage for a short time part of the game. I don't mind it as long as this is about groups that were together just before splitting.

3- It is fast, indeed, but there are elements in the story that justify it. On the contrary, with this urgency, being able to lose one's time in a town while others are fighting for their lives would seem odd. Similar to some games where the end of the world is near, but the MC goes to the casino or does errand jobs.

4- Eryn as she is the only party-wide healer. Adrial for the fights (useful buffs, even only for himself - large choice of elemental/standard attacks compared to the others)

5- Telran. I never used him as his skills do not match my style of fighting. AGI debuf? Let's shoot instead. Self-healing? Not enough is alone, useless with Eryn and so on.

 

[Matseb2611]

Similar to some games where the end of the world is near, but the MC goes to the casino or does errand jobs.

That made me lol, because it's so true.

Thanks for the answers, Cabfe. Hopefully the others will reply too. This will give me some idea of things that need balancing.

Perhaps I should make that sidequest with the rogue engineer easier to spot. You get it by talking to one of the npcs on the 4th floor of town. He seems weird and all. Then when you get back down to the 1st floor, a scene will occur with two troopers talking about an information thief disguised as an engineer. If you then go back, you find the guy at a different part of that same floor. You and one trooper confront him, but he escapes. The trooper then asks you if you want to help with this matter, and hence opening a possibility for a follow-up quest.

 

[cabfe]

Since we don't spend that much time there, having an event where you need to see something, then go elsewhere and back might not work for a lot of players. I think it's best for a hub-sort town, next to shops.

I know I didn't find it, even though I spoke to everyone (once).

 

[The Stranger]

1. Did you manage to find and complete the sidequest involving a rogue engineer (in the mining city)? Could you also let me know whether you've played this part of the game in the first demo or the second demo? I've added more hints in the second one, so just wondering if they've helped.

A) Yes. I did manage to find and complete this side-quest, but only after talking to you about it beforehand. The first time I played the demo, I completely missed the event, even though I triggered it by speaking to the bloke - I didn't know I had to try and find him again. He does act slightly differently than the other miners, but it isn't something which stands out.

2. Did the shared inventory bother you (the times when the party split up)?

A) Nope! Not one bit. Didn't even notice it until you brought it up now.

3. Do you think the story is going too fast?

A) Somewhat. We've spoke at length of my opinion on the matter. No need to go into it again.

4. Who was the most useful character to use in battles so far?

A) I found Hesper to be the most useful. She wound up being the fastest character in the entire party, as such, she could heal others and debuff enemies right at the start of the battle. She was also pretty powerful, so she could always get in those kidney punches before the enemy had time to act.

5. Who was the least useful character to use in battles so far?

A) It's a tie between Telran and Eryn. Beyond healing Eryn's nothing, and I didn't even use her for that. Telran just seems kind of weak compared to all of the other characters.Never found a good reason to use him, apart from when I was forced to have him in my party.

 

[Matseb2611]

Thanks for the replies, guys. They help me with balancing and stuff, so a few things will be changed. I particularly see both of you mentioned Telran being too weak, so one of his skills will be changed to make him more useful.

Some new screenshots for now. The beginning of act 3. City of Epsilan (yes, the same one that you visit in the 2nd game, just a different part of it).

And check out these awesome robots by Hiddenone:

 

[cabfe]

Ah, a city to explore, at last!

Cool sprites. Did Hiddenone draw the "battlers" animations too or did you do it yourself?

 

[Matseb2611]

That one is a fairly small city area, with just 1 sidequest, but there will be several of them coming up in this act. Sort of different areas of the same city, with battles and dungeons in between. You'll get to meet the rebels again, more closely this time.

Which battlers? You mean the ones in the demo? Those were by me. The robots on the screenshot above are the first ones I've commissioned Hiddenone to do, but I'll be commissioning her for more stuff in the game.

 

[Susan]

I'm kind of late to respond, but here are my opinions:

1) Had no problem finding the sidequest with the rogue engineer, all the way to him escaping. This was in the first demo. It's hard to discover if the player isn't talking to every person on and off the street, but most non-RM games have sidequests without indicators. I still keep wondering how the engineer running away counts as a 'completion', though.

2) The shared inventory is weird, but I doubt it will bother a lot of people. Now, if the separate parties didn't have contact with each other for an extended amount of time, or never at all, that would be beyond weird.

3) Agree with cabfe. I didn't feel the story was going too fast because of the sense of urgency. Breaking out isn't supposed to be a leisurely walk in the park. Although the party is 'taking time' to explore the dungeon and fight battles, they are essentially running for their lives. The fast paced cutscenes of events occuring elsewhere suits the timing in my opinion.

4) Eryn - for her healing and support abiliities.

5) None so far. Even Telran was useful to me for his Lock-On abilities.

I can't answer questions 4 and 5 fully until I've played through the game with every party member (when they are all together).