Game Suggestions
 

I haven't beta tested or played the game, but here are some suggestions which will increase replay value. The greater the replay value the more likely gamers will purchase sequels and expansions. These might already be included and some might have to wait for a sequel.

1) Random Game Generator = Hooray! This is already within the game and very valuable. Hopefully the random generator will also generate new quests, new NPCs, new enemy bosses, new shops, and different crafting mixtures for each game.

2) Game Engine/Editor = Excellent this is also available. I have found some game editors to be very complex hopefully this game will have friendly functionality. Any complex sections will hopefully have manuals.

3) It appears the gamer plays a character named Rapius... for gamers to feel more attached to the character most game developers allow players to name their own characters. Also character customization creates more of a personal attachment to the character.

4) Multiplayer = A great feature to add which would increase the games community, the games replay value and word of mouth for game sales.

5) Variety of Death Difficulty Settings = Have the gamer choose his death difficulty setting since so many different opinions exist regarding this topic. Here are some examples:
A) Easy Death Setting: Respawn at rebirth location
B) Moderate Death Setting: Same as previous above yet loss of gold and experience
C) Advanced Death Setting: Same as above death setting yet loss of 1 point from a random skill
D) Expert Death Setting: Same as above death setting yet loss of 1 point from a random skill and random statistic.
E) HardCore Death Setting: Death is Permanent... no way out.

6) Randomly Generated Unique Beings/Monsters = Every once in a blue moon the player should encounter some unique special being/monster to fight which was randomly created. For Example = Once in a blue moon combined with the normal 4 skelletons there should also be one which is unique thus a two headed skelleton or a giant skelleton. These features can be combined as well thus creating a giant two headed skelleton. This variable should exist for any beings/monsters on the map. This will help allow for something to come out of the shadows which scares even the best skilled characters.

7) Random Item Formula = Allows items within the game to be more unique and thus increases replay value.
Examples = Variables A, B and C are randomly selected from separate lists.
Kings(A) Poisonous(B) Axe(item) of Death(C)
Ice(B) Knife(item)
Dukes(A) Helm(item) of Minds(C)
Fire(B) Boots(item) of Speed(C)

Using a random item formula means each new game will have new unique items! Hope these ideas help. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I second everything NTJedi said. I also have one question. Is there a limit as to the number of items (different swords,armor,wands,etc.) as well as monsters Scallywag can support in a mod?

GB

P.S. LOVE the graphics...

Re: Game Suggestions
 

There is absolutely no limit to the number of modifications you can make. edit: there is no limit in the full version. the demo is capped at 15 levels, and is missing a lot of the mutators that are used for special abilities and magical effects. the demo version is also unable to run MODs from the main menu, or load plug-ins.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

A question...Are all rooms in the dungeon diamond-shaped, or is this just the demo?

GB

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Caverns are diamond shaped and rooms are square (rooms are not encountered in the demo). Some areas are a combination of overlapping room types for unusually shaped domains - plus for those writing native plugins, new map generators can be plugged in.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I have played and enjoyed the demo. Here are a few ideas:

- If you are at max health don't consume health items and food. Currently it will consume the item even if you are at full health - wasting it.

- Display full stats when you mouse over items on the ground (just like inventory mouse over).

- Add or allow for attack animations

- Display name and full stats when you mouse over items on the mini-map icons.

- Color floor squares another color when that 'area' has been fully explored. This will help to find areas of the map that are unexplored.

- Display all the names of all items on the ground when you hold down a key (ALT - like Diablo?)

- Allow the user to change the camera height and rotation to allow them to see the maze from 'top down' if they wish. Might not be able to do since the sprites are 2d.

- Add the concept of 'gold' and the random chance of a store creation to sell (buy?) extra items. I love collecting and selling items in games.

- Allow the user to select which stats to increase on level-ups - this makes each character not the same and add some character building options.

- Add a score based on the character stats and things in the inventory.

- Ability to change the character's name (suggested before I think)

- Add a top-ten list of characters and the deepest level seen and a score (see idea above)

Re: Game Suggestions
 

In the full version, can quests be modded in?

GB

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Quests are a great idea!

I think you would need to use a library (code change mod) to add them. Let's see what Scott has to say.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

You might be able to script up a type of widget, similar to the staircase, that needs some other kind of item to activate it. E.g. collect the key from such and such a creature and place it on the altar..etc.

For collecting things, or completing goals in a certain time limit etc., you'd need a plugin.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Will any of these suggestions be incorporated into the full game (or is it too late in development...)?

GB

Re: Game Suggestions
 

What we see in the future from plug-ins and patches remains to be seen. I personally have plans for some interesting plug-ins that should pave the way for other modders, and add some fun new options for those who just want to script and swap in new media.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

The game allows the users the ability to add many new things. I don't know too many games that allow plug-ins. It seems very easy to add monsters, items, weapons, and armor.

I think we should make a 'feature request' thread. When the game ships maybe the community can help to bring some of these ideas into the game.

It would be nice if a community could develop around this game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Game Suggestions
 

One of Scallywag's strengths is definitely the relative ease of adding new content. In this way it's almost a dungeon-sandbox (although there's no need to stick to the fantasy realm...I've been thinking about how well a Space Hulk mod could work, for example).

Obviously there are limits to what you can do (i.e. you're not going to be able to turn it into a completely new genre of game), but within the confines of what you have to work with, there are many, many possible routes to take with only your imagination and free time being the limiting factors.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I agree. A Space Hulk mod would be awesome. I can see something like that working.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

GeorgiaBoy, what kind of quests did you have in mind?

As for a Space Hulk mod, I agree, RAG is very well suited to having these different character types and various pieces of equipment and weaponry. All we need is mission objectives, as GeorgiaBoy suggested.

Looking at the mission book I can see:

Suicide Mission: Deliver a flamer hit on the control room
Exterminate: Kill 30 stealers before the squad is destroyed
Rescue: Get the undamaged C.A.T safely to an airlock
Cleanse and Burn: Get a Flamer hit on both of two gene banks
Decoy: move 5 marines off the map at the point shown on map
Defend: Stop stealers damaging the duct wall for 16 turns


Objectives could be specified in the LevelInfo for a given map. How could we do this kind of thing?

[ExterminateGoals]
Type=Objective
Victory=XP(60)

and:

[ExterminateLevelInfo]
Type=MyPluginLevelInfo
Objectives=ExterminateGoals

We could catch killing 30 stealers by assigning them a known XP (e.g. 2) and setting XP(60) as a win condition.


Now how about the other missions?

Suicide, needs a flamer hit on the air duct. We could write a plug-in for area of effect weapons, then script up a little object that was immune to anything except fire. We would need to be able to add new types of room, like air locks etc. so there's a little more work with this mission.

Just thinking out loud how all this could be done. It's not technically difficult, I think it would just need a gathering of minds to get it done cleanly.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Oh, we'd need to add functionality for controlling more than one character too. !! =)

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Space Hulk for the 3d0 was one of my favorite games. The map generator would have to create less diamond shape rooms and more one tile corridors.

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Room types and map density are openly scriptable already.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Sigh, now I'm going to have to play some space hulk tonight http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif One fond memory is when a flamer dies and it sets fire to everything around it , I died so many times due to that http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Is it possible to mod the game so that the player doesn't control or follow one unit?

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I was just browsing the QT3 forums and saw a thread entitled "Suspenseful Game Moments" and noticed that the first comment was about Space Hulk. I thought, "Wow, what a strange coincidence, Space Hulk is suddenly *everywhere*." but then I paid attention to the author and realized there's not a sudden Space Hulk conspiracy on the rise. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Haha, I saw it here and remembered space hulk, and I also played Killer 7 that day as well.

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Re: Game Suggestions
 

Can rarity be set below 0.1? Like 0.00001?

GB

Re: Game Suggestions
 

How about expanded 'mutators' like paralyzation (a SUPER slow, perhaps), drunk could be stun, summon monster, lightning damage, magical resistance, invulnerability to another mutator (definable duration), drain 2 levels (a double 'Drain'. The chance to drain should be definable...

GB

Re: Game Suggestions
 

(Georgia Boy on a roll...)

How about item sets?

I also guess levels can be edited into 'worlds'...any limit to level size?

I second the request to have money (gold/silver/copper) (and stuff to spend it on, even though that can be modded...)

GB

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Yes, Rarity is a floating point value, so it can be any decimal value you like.

Mutators are not scriptable in Scallywag, but there's always a way around that with a plug-in. We really need to start keeping a list of requests, sorted into priority order (most wanted etc.).

Magic resistance, lightning etc. can all already be done with edge types and the immune/prone/weakness mutators. See the scripting guide for more info.

What do you mean by item sets?

Levels can be edited into worlds. There is no limit to level size, but scallywag only uses frustum culling, so you may hit a limit if you push it too far. Try it, let me know your results.

As for money and somewhere to spend it, if enough people shout loudly enough about this, I might write a shop plug-in. It's going to be needed when somebody turns up and wants to make Moria3d anyway. =)

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Hi Scott:

Item sets are a combination of items which, if completed, give additional bonuses. For example, three items, GB's armor gives 8 protection. GB's shield gives 4 protection and GB's Helm gives 3 protection. Together that is 15. However, since you have the complete set (lucky devil), the set actually gives you 20 plus regenerates for 1 point.

GB

P.S. Will the quests mentioned above be doable?

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Item sets could be done with a plug-in mutator.

Give each piece of that set EquipEffects=GBArmour. Then, in GBArmour::Apply you get the number of other GBArmour mutators active on that actor, and if it's 3 or some scripted number, you know the whole set is equipped and you can apply your special benefits.

As for the quests, I'm keeping my eye on everything that's getting discussed here, and once the full version of Scallywag has been out a little while and we've gathered some more feedback, we'll look at what we're going to do, be that quests, or anything else in popular demand at the time.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I've got to write the native scripting guide between now and August 26th. The perfect way to illustrate writing plug-ins, is to write some in that tutorial. I think item sets would be a neat way to show how new mutators can be created.

What else would we like to see in that tutorial if possible?

Anything that gets made during the tutorial is clearly going to be available for use by regular attribute scripters too..

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Been out of town (Las Vegas)--they wanted 15 USD/day to have lousy internet access. Oh well. Anyway, how about the item set plugin (as above),a rudimentry quest plugin, a mutator plugin (some ideas only--summon monster, resurrects dead monster, lays eggs which spawn into additional monsters, teleporting from one location to another in same room, time stop--freezes character for x seconds).

GB

P.S. Having gold and quests in the game is a must in my opinion. Speaking of gold, I did not lose any in LV. I ate until I won...

P.P.S. How about a wysiwyg map editor? How about multiplayer via tcp/ip as an expansion pack?

Re: Game Suggestions
 

One suggestion about the script guide, a great way to learn could be having an example mod in it and show all the text written needed to produce it.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

GeorgiaBoy, I'll see what I can do for the native modding guide, and pfreak, I'll see if I can combine your request with GeorgiaBoy's.

As for multiplayer and a map editor, let's see if we get a reasonable amount of interest first, and if we do, we'll do it!

Re: Game Suggestions
 

pfreak, did you see the Zombie Fest MOD? Would this satisfy your request?

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Where is that again?

Re: Game Suggestions
 

You can find the mod on the dev's website:

http://www.chronicreality.co.uk/mods.html

Have Fun!

Re: Game Suggestions
 

The game idea is good and the graphics are reasonable, when you can see them. The problem is a game design choice. Recognizing that dungeons are supposed to be dark and unknown, there is the variable lamp with a fuel supply. When you turn it down, you save fuel, but can not see as far.

In the games I played last night, I died several times due to fuel shortages. So I turned down the lamp and found that I was not able to see much. All working as designed. The problem is that it is not much fun. I run around looking at the minimap, turn the lamp up and down quickly and am always watching the fuel level. I am not hacking and slashing, I am playing a fuel management simulator.

Truly. There are twice as many controls for the lamp as there are for combat. Fuel is more dangerous than the enemies, because you can at least run away from enemies. Your stats don�t really matter, but the number next to the fuel level is critical. I learned where that was before I learned where my health bar was. The focus of the game is oil.

To make it worse, the better you manage your fuel, the less you see. Instead of rewarding good play, it punishes it with less visual stimulation. The reward structure of the game needs to be looked at. I would not go so far as to say gold is needed, as another poster has, but gold is a popular reward. Look at Diablo. You don�t need the gold and eventually it is just a scoring system, but everyone still picks it up and likes it. You get something for doing well. Here, you lose something (visuals) for doing well. I know the concept is fairly integral to the game, but I feel it needs to be reviewed.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Sorry to hear that you feel the quest for fire overpowers the rest of the game. The beauty of Scallywag though is that with a few keystrokes you can change that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

If you look at the Scallywag directory there is a subdirectory called config (should be Game\Media\Config). There are several files in there that you can open with notepad. For oil you could change how it burns in the 'Core' file (look for OilBurnRate at the bottom) and make it burn much, much slower. Or you can change how often you come across it by modifying the 'Items' file. You'll find a rarity line for oil.

For complete modding instructions check out:
http://www.chronicreality.co.uk/mods.html

Hope this helps!

Re: Game Suggestions
 

If you watch any player of more than a couple hours' experience, they just roll around the dungeon sliding their lantern up and down as they need without really thinking about it much - the emphasis turns to looting, mapping, and playing with objects.

It's a fair point though Saxon, I don't dismiss what you're saying, but as Mr Krol pointed out - the config files are right there, so feel free to have some fun with that.

As an aside, what do people think of the oil/lantern feature with regards to further developments? For example, Moria makes good use of needing fuel to light your way, with the final punishment being just a black-out (which I actually find more annoying than just dying, flailing around in the dark getting picked on is just so annoying!?).

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I was one of the beta testers for the game just FYI, and I don't know if I'm just lucky but not once during my time with the game did I ever run out of oil. I just kept the oil level at 2 or 3 and I never had a problem. I like to keep a stock of 20 oil in my inventory at all times which seemed to work fine.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I think any RPG that has consumption elements in it will probably always lead to divided opinions on the subject. I haven't felt Scallywag's oil usage was too draconian, but at the same time I get really annoyed with RPGs that force you to eat. There's nothing worse than being a bad *** barbarian who skins demons with his eyes closed on level twenty, slowly dying because you forgot to pack enough Powerbars.

Of course a lot depends on how it is handled. If you starve and the effect is you lose a couple hit points and that's it, fine. Likewise, yeah, if you're punished by flailing around in the dark that sucks.

Perhaps for future development oil consumption is an option that could be toggled off and on? If on it works as normal, if off the lantern becomes a magic lantern that never burns oil.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Nice wordplay on the Quest for Fire title!

I half expected a response to mod the game and appreciate that it is an option. However, as I only have the demo, I can not mod. Also, I must admit that I am a loath to pay for a game which I know I am going to have to �fix� to enjoy. I know others see the option to mod everything as a huge attraction, but I am one of those guys who takes his car to the mechanic rather than fiddling with it myself. I guess my temperament is not for this game.

I love the idea of RPG lite and think you are on to something good here. I wish you the best with this project.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Actually you can mod that in the demo. There's a whole lot you can tinker with in the demo, where it cuts off is you can't download someone else's mod and apply it. There may be something else, but Scott Wakeling would have to discuss it since it's his demo. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Before tinkering with the .cfg files just rename the one you're going to modify first. I just usually add 'OLD' to the end. Then open it up in Notepad, modify, and 'Save As'. When you do that make sure you save it as the original name, and make sure that you also add .cfg to the end (don't save it as a .txt file, but as any file). Restart the demo and your modification will be in place.

Try it and see how it is then. If the fuel management ish was your only complaint hopefully you'll find it more enjoyable. Another suggestion is check back in a couple of months and see what other people have done with it. Maybe then you'll see a mod or two that intrigues you, and you won't have to worry about tinkering with it since someone has already done it for you.

While we're of course sorry to hear that it may not be the game you're looking for, thanks for checking out the demo! That's why we put them out. A lot better than forcing people to blindly purchase a game to find out whether they like it or not. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I would think that a game where everyone can mod their own preferences and "fixes" is a better thing than hunting around for one that is already all the way that you want it to be. Some of my absolute favorite games are only still my favorite games because of player mods.

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Future game development should allow multiple ways to provide the player light. Other items of light could be torches, magic spells, special food providing darkvision, and perhaps some items which once used permanently light a specific area. This would allow the fantasy to seem more real.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Arrrgghhh!!! What a disappointment! I shared the URL for the demo of Scallywag with friends and all have same response - Great game - stupid design that you die on the bleeding edge of failing the oil managment sim!

Our views echo many here - why such a bad design decision? Especially for the demo! Who other than gamer geeks such as myself is going to navigate forums and edit config files to get the game experience people should be getting in the first place: A fun little game where your lantern is something you keep an eye on - not something that becomes the sole focus of the game to sprint from flask to flask while you try to stay alive, and forget about even taking your eye off that goal for a single second to enjoy any other aspect of the program.

You should re-release the demo with a more sane oil consumption rate, and maybe less people will be arguing heatedly over how stupid a dent that hammer puts in an otherwise fantastic little game.

The previous poster had a good idea about allowing multiple ways to provide better light - and another would be just to make the consumption rate adjustable on the options screen.

Scallywag = Great game gimped by stupid lantern

Re: Game Suggestions
 

Heh. Well, darkentrees, I'm not ready to say that everyone won't enjoy the lantern oil management.

Case in point, the review which lists as a strong point: "oil is a neat resource to deal with" (http://jaguarusf.blogspot.com/2007/1...sa-review.html)

However, ya, that was my reaction to the demo, too. I like much of the overall design, but don't enjoy the oil aspect, which seemed like the most challenging part, in a way I don't enjoy. I don't really like being rushed through things on fear of running out of oil which must be found in the dark unknown.

Nethack is a common reference point which shows how lighting can be an interesting element without an overshadowing one:
* Many areas are lit by things other than the player. (In the Scallywag demo I didn't encounter any light sources except my own lamp, which didn't seem to make much sense.)
* Being in the dark can be dangerous, inconvenient, frustrating, but it just has certain logical effects, not insta-death.
* There are many ways to acquire light sources, and players can make decisions with tradeoffs to focus on lighting or not.

And personally even in Nethack, I find the lighting and food resource requirements overly steep and sometimes frustrating.

I also wish combat were more tactically interesting and less of a hitpoint exchange contest. Also I was really not looking forward to gathering rocks and using a sling for improved ability to fight flying monsters - seemed like a pain and not logical - it seems like it'd be obviously much easier to hit a bat with a stick than by trying to use a sling in the dark, unless it's stationary.

But, my conclusion was that this looks like it'd probably be a fun game for players who are more casual gamers and aren't FRPG grognards like myself.

PvK

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Maybe one solution for larger maps would be to have other light sources, (torches on walls, magic lamp posts,etc) That when your in their light your lantern stops draining oil for the time being.

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Pfreak, that's a cool idea.

I must admit I've been rather surprised at the negative reaction the lantern has gotten by some. Personally I haven't run into a situation in the game where I felt hosed because of the oil, but that's just me.

One thing that I feel may be being overlooked is what I've mentioned earlier in response to Saxon, and that's changing the oil burn rate takes 10 seconds to do and you don't have to worry about it anymore. Chronic Reality designed the game from the get-go for easy modability, and fooling around with the lantern is a great way to get a feel for how easy it is. Don't look at Scallywag as simply a single adventure, but a toolkit for endless adventures.

The demo allows you to play around with a great many variables. Just look in your directory at the .CFG files.

Re: Game Suggestions
 

I hope the mod community takes off for this game. If I can mod the game (altered the enemy damage rate during beta) then anyone can mod this.

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I'm sorry to see so many people bugging out about the oil problem, a minor fixable issue. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Here are a couple lines in the core.cfg that should improve the demo(for those who don't like the oil burning rate).
It makes the oil burn much slower, so running out of oil isn't much of an issue. It also makes you faster and able to see further. Just open <gamedir\Media\Config\Core.cfg and replace the entry [Rapuis] with this:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/stupid.gif
[Rapius]
Type=HumanoidPlayer
Text=Rapius
HasLantern=1
OilBurnRate=0.050000
Speed=400
MaxVisDist=12

There is so much more that can be done, try adding a line
Special=Strength(4),Armour(4)
to give the player better starting stats.[img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Lightning.gif[/img]

Hope the community picks up a bit. Seems like its been quite in here for awhile.