Why no stats?

PrismRa · #1 January 5th, 2006, 12:01 AM

Where can i find stats in the game about the quality of a weapon, or shield or see if a weapon deflects missiles etc?

nihilix · #2 January 5th, 2006, 03:15 PM

They're not in the game. The game likes you to figure out these things for yourself.

But if you go outside the game, you can open up the .ini files (which is what you change when you're modding) and you find all sorts of things laid out for you - like weapon and shield stats.

PrismRa · #3 January 6th, 2006, 06:03 AM

It seems like a concious decision on the part of the developer. Any of the devs or people in the know care to comment as to why?

nihilix · #4 January 6th, 2006, 03:32 PM

I've been a Fearless Tester for both this game and the original SAIS, so I'd guess I'm somewhat in the know...

This game - Wierd Worlds - is great, but it's not deep. There's simple things you do, there are a lot but a limited number of items you can have, only so many enemies. It's like a solitaire game, kind of - same deck, shuffled and you get certian things sometimes and others at other times.

Anyway, a game that takes between 5 to 45 minutes to play is helped when it has something in it that is not immediately apparent... something that it takes you a while to discover.

So that's part of the reason that the weapons and shields and devices and stuff aren't explicitly laid out. Because it takes you a while to discover - oh, that the Sardion Optimizer, in addition to making your weapons hit more often, also increases your fire rate. That the beam that the Urluquai use has a long firing time, and that's useful to blow up incoming missiles. What the Melodium Conograph does. (Have you figured that out yet? Did you laugh?)

Another reason is because it kind of messes with the flavor of the game to have some things laid out for you. You can read the shield descriptions and get some idea of what is better than what - 'adequate' is not as good as 'superior'. But to have it all laid out - fire rate, damage per second, antimissile yes/no - would make it feel different.

The designers played paper wargames, the old Avalon Hills etc. and that's what is under the combat game here. But you don't have to see it to run in it.

So that's the choice that was made. Fingers or Zdim may also chime in on it, but I'm pretty sure I've hit the main reasons.

ZylonBane · #5 January 7th, 2006, 05:32 PM

"Replayability through obscurity", eh?

Brainiac4 · #6 January 11th, 2006, 02:09 AM

Kind of.

Another Fearless Tester chiming it.

It is a deliberate decision. I asked for more numbers, or at least more indications of relative strength, multiple times during the early testing phases and got turned down. They did add the coin values to items as a nod to relative strength indication -- comparing two drives or weapons and seeing that one is rated at 1 coin and the other at 3 is a fairly good indication which one is better.

Ripcord O'Reilly · #7 January 26th, 2006, 02:34 PM

Use your formidable powers of observation. Read the descriptions. Watch combat closely. Listen to combat sounds closely. Nearly everything you need to know is there, and these things become more and more apparent with subsequent plays.

Brainiac4 · #8 February 6th, 2006, 01:19 AM

That there would be one of the devs talking, so I think it's safe to conclude that yes, it's a deliberate choice.