Experience Points, Player Level Progression and Tech Trees

Discussion in 'FAQ & Feedback' started by EleonGameStudios, Oct 31, 2015.

  1. Eviscerator

    Eviscerator Commander

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    I'm sure he will, but sometimes people still need to be told to shut up. They've made their point and there's nothing to be gained by endless repetition.
     
    #201
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  2. Mindkiller

    Mindkiller Lieutenant

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    Was halfway kidding anyway. but difficulty settings seems like a good idea so that everyone can make the game fit for himself. maybe a menu where u can select: AI on /off etc. What do u guys think ?
     
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  3. Ex3mpt

    Ex3mpt Lieutenant

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    Option to enable all tech from start. Job done
     
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  4. Mindkiller

    Mindkiller Lieutenant

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    Since u can alter settings on dedicated servers aswell sounds kind of logic to me. And it would make the game SOOO customizeable.
     
    #204
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  5. Otterbear

    Otterbear Commander

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    Many of the newest and greatest games on the market give you ALL you can get from the start. Most are trading games(Not a bad idea in this game actually, as you can end up with a ton of stuff you don't want, and/or need stuff you can't find or get.)* Yes, OK, I can just trash it, but it seems a waste to trash 500 computer components.

    Games like Rebel Galaxy, X3 and others, give you everything you can possibly use, from minute ONE! You just have to get the resources or money to purchase or build them. Its not a terrible idea, AND you can choose which goal YOU want and go for it. It just doesn't suit everybody I guess.
     
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  6. Alo

    Alo Captain

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    I don't quite follow. Do you mean that you want an option to turn AI off in Survival mode? If so, could you elaborate on that?

    I don't really see the use for such an option since this is a survival game and, although we'll get to play this in multiplayer at some point, the majority of the (at least early game) is probably going to be PvE, where AI plays a major role.

    I know by now you really don't want to see a tech tree implemented in the game. But if we asumed for a moment that the tech tree is going to happen I'm wondering; is there a middle ground for you? If so, what would you want it to look like for you to still play this game?

    Or would the implementation of a tech tree (of sorts) guarantee you quitting the game for good?
     
    #206
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  7. Navonil Mukherjee

    Navonil Mukherjee Captain

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    X3 :Terran Conflict??? Did you even play that game???
    Don't answer that..answer @Alo 's last post instead...
     
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  8. Otterbear

    Otterbear Commander

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    Good question.
    If I'm going to have to have a Tech-tree I guess I would like it to involve enhancement to the player and equipment.

    Nothing that Ham-strings the player. Improvements yes!
    (Found, or researched, NOT based on XP, but on research time/resources)
    So you would start out with ALL the items in your "cook-book" but you can't make them until you get the resources and build them, AND you can improve them in the way YOU want to invest the time and resources.

    Blueprints,
    Enhanced armor,
    Better engine tuning.
    STABLE FLIGHT!
    Enhanced breathing (less O2 usage),(levels) Top level "Native" can breathe hostile/lethal planet atmosphere
    Enhanced metabolism, (eat less often,)
    Enhanced construction, (Less resources needed for a particular area, say...ammo, food, energy..ect.)
    Better mining (more ore, more efficiency, faster or both)
    The ability to find hidden or hard to see Extra ore deposits. (special head-piece or some such.)
    Recycling, (A way to use some of the tons of stuff you can't possibly use all of ...IE: You can make TONS of plastic from corn...What do you do with it when you have 10,000 units?)
    Better stamina, (longer time to run...please!) ;)
    Quicker re-charge on stamina.
    Better armor(personal)
    Tougher? (Not getting hurt every-time you run or jump over a small mole hill.)
    Auto-targeting on personal/Craft weapons.
    HUD display enhancements
    Quicker research times.
    Enhanced Science lab(?)
    Better Power usage..
    Enhanced stealth(Levels) (Enemies, creatures, won't attack you unless your really close.)
    Ect.

    Simple stuff that IMPROVES the users experience with the game, not ham-stings them artificially.

    NOT = "You can't build a fire, you need to earn XP first." <--- Thats leveling in camouflage.

    All these things could be put into categories but, I would hope not a simple unlock all of X type of thing, so you could focus on one particular improvement, without removing the "challenge" of working towards the other items/enhancements in said category.

    Just wanted to add that I think this would be a nice touch to the game...NOT about the tech-tree though.:
    *Renewable resources...by which I mean, any planet left unattended(for dead), will very slowly re-stock the ores AND AI POI's. So that dead planets don't have to stay dead forever...but a long enough time to "push" you to move on. That would be cool. I'll leave how long is "long" to the devs.
     
    #208
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2015
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  9. Otterbear

    Otterbear Commander

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    Yea, I loved it!

    Got TONS of mods for it.
    I got a little fatigued with it lately, but I still go back and kill some time with it now and again.
     
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  10. Alo

    Alo Captain

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    Cheers mate. Sounds similiar to something I've suggested earlier so you have my vote. Though I wouldn't neccesarily want the system you described to replace the tech tree. I'd be fine with both player improvement and tech tree.

    Main reason I asked is because of my own curiousity; was wondering what a "hater" of the tech tree WOULD put up with. Also, this is relevant for the devs ;)
     
    #210
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  11. Otterbear

    Otterbear Commander

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    :D

    I've added a few ideas, and updated my post a bit, you may want to take another look. I appreciate your feed-back on my ideas. I also moved/copied my suggestions to the correct forum page.
     
    #211
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2015
  12. spherehead

    spherehead Ensign

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    Considering that a lot of people seem to like the XP system and many who find it immersion breaking, perhaps creating another game mode could be the answer, play mode if you want to focus on some form of advancement based on score (with the XP system) and simulation mode, for those who want the "astronaut trying to survive on a hostile planet" experience, as I do. There is a game called GRAV that totally satisfies the need to smack everything you see to create floaty number thingies that constantly tell you your getting stuff, if thats your thing.
     
    #212
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  13. Navonil Mukherjee

    Navonil Mukherjee Captain

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    Here is my full progressions system suggestion. This includes ideas from @Morkar ,@Frankyln , @Alo , @Leatherneck , @Otterbear , @Mindkiller and of-course mine

    THIS SYSTEM IS COMPLEX AND I HAVE NO IDEA IT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED OR NOT... BUT I POST IT ANYWAY.

    Three tools are needed
    1. a portable analyzer (available from the start) - it will analyze and create blueprint of an item, also analyze plant and animal life.
    2. a science station (available with proper technology progression) - it will analyze the technology of an item and unlock related technology.
    3. a PDA integrated on the suit: to store all the learned information.


    Three Systems

    1. A soft class system

    A player need to chose a class among the following at the beginning of the game:

    a. Soldier - gives boost on weapon damage and increase proficiency of weapon system faster.
    b. Pilot - gives boost on piloting skill and increase proficiency on piloting faster
    c. Scientist - starts with more known technology and analize technology faster
    d. Miner - mine faster with more efficiency
    e. farmer - grow food faster, know more about plants and animal

    Class is not a fixed trait, its linked with backstory of how you selected for 'Project Phoenix', every class will learn (and have to learn)

    about skills of other classes as they see fit to their game-play.

    2. A Player Skill system

    A player have all this following skill. Depending on there initial class the amount of skill a player start with will vary but after startingthe game they develop as the player play the game. More the player do a task, related skill level increse.

    Following are the skills(add more if you want):

    Advanced Mining - Can Mine Faster (increase with L-click mining)
    Precision Mining - Uses Less Ammo (increase with R-click mining)
    Energy Conservation - Reduce the energy cost of components (increase with making battery and researching certain technology)
    Weapon Systems- Increase the Damage of Weapons/decrease relode time (increase with more use of weapon)
    Pricision - Increase aim time, decrease hand sway , increase damage of sniper rifle (increse with more sniper rifle use)
    Medic - Increase the effectiveness of medicens (increas with making more medicin, also certain research)
    Botany - Increase the Perish Time of plants and give more loot per plant (increase with collecting plant)
    Pilot - Increase control over plane manuverability (increase with more piloting)
    Cook - Increase Perish time of prepared foods(increase with more cooking)
    Athletic - Reduce O2 loss when Running/increase stamina (increase with more running)

    3. Tech Tree

    the full tech tree will be hidden from the player, it will open up gradually upon discvering new items, analizing unkown tech etc.Tech tree will contain linked tech advancement. If learned, each tech will unlock many new items related to that tech or increase skill of the player. A scientist may know the next advancement of the tech but others cannot(or they can know the next advancement of the tech related to their skill)

    a. Upon analyzing an item with the portable analyzer, player will know the name of the tech and can create that particular item.
    b. upon analyzing a blueprint/item in science station, the tech of the item will unlock and all the item related to that tech will unlock too.
    c. upon analyzing a plant or animal or item collected from plant/animal unlock new recipe.


    This is how the system will work...
    a. A player start his/her game with the class they chosen. according to the class they will have some skill more than other, and some tech related to their class.

    b. player will have a portable analyzer and the PDA from start.

    c. with each things player analyze player will gain some knowledge which will save in the PDA .

    d. upon analyze a item with portable analyzer)player get the blueprint of that item and will abale to craft that in their constructor. This will also unlock the knowledge about the existence about that tech in the tech tree and only that item. for example : if a player analyze a SV thruster, they can make a SV thruster and will know about the propulsion technology, but it wont unlock the other items under propulsion technology like HV thrusters or directional thrusters.

    e. upon analyze a item/ blueprint with science station it will unlock the related tech.(for example : analyzing a SV thruster in science station will unlock the propulsion tech and all the related items like HV thrustes or directional thrusters)

    f. tech can be unlock by hacking alien core,finding blueprints in alien structures.


    For those who will think it limiting freedom, in survival setting it is not. you crashed your ship in a unknown planet with the knowledge of the profession you were previously on. now how will you survive its your dissension, you will research more to get new tech or fight more... that's your decision, what skill you will need and increase, that upto you.. you don't have to run around to increase you stamina if you fly all the time...don't bother about running then, that skill is useless to you, but maybe useful to someone else, you cannot know everything.. that's why you cannot build everything, if you are a pilot you maybe know more about planes..so those tech will be unlocked for you from the start, but you cannot know how to build a O2 converter or science station if you are pilot, that's scientists job...you can learn to build them though, if you want
     
    #213
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2015
  14. Eviscerator

    Eviscerator Commander

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    I've always been a fan of being able to toggle functions on and off, or increase and decrease the severity of mechanics. 7 Days to Die is a great example of how to handle things going forward.

    But it still took them years, with a full dev team, to get things hashed out and they're still adding features after what..2..3 years in alpha?

    Basically, don't get too bent out of shape about game features. Just take a break and play something else until the next patch if it's no longer fun.
     
    #214
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  15. Alo

    Alo Captain

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    I'll start of by saying good job on you mr. Mukherjee. Good job. You clearly put time into this "suggestion"; I'd dare to call it a blueprint for a system that looks very appealing to me.

    Had to focus a bit to make sure I interpreted everything correctly but I think I managed and although I can see some immediate loopholes (being picked up by a buddy would allow you to unlock everything in a stupidly short amount of time), there's nothing I read that I consider beyond the realm of possibilities. Not at all actually.

    The biggest problem that I immediately foresee lies with the character progression system and mainly balancing issues. Weighing abilities that aren't exactly comparable can be a very tricky tricky thing. I also think that a player progression system like this might clash with what the devs already have in mind to implement as upgrades to our suits (we've all seen the slots, we all know they're there for a reason). Then again, we're still in an alpha so they could always scratch the planned suit upgrades if a vast majority of players prefered a system like this.
    For me, I'd have to see what the devs have in mind with the suit to compare the system you describe but what I can already tell you is that if I started playing Empyrion and a system like this was already in place my response would be as following:

    - I'd immediately feel at home, seeing a class system being presented to me (but that's personal)
    - I'd enjoy weighing advantages each class offers
    - It would probably (providing the system made a noticable impact on the game) make me want to come back at some point in the future to try it another way around (replayability)
    - I like that everyone eventually masters all the same skills. This makes balancing much easier and it doesn't leave me with a nagging feeling, wondering if I made the right (read: optimal) choice when selecting my class. Eventually we all discover the same (endgame) skills anyway.

    On the tech tree I can be a bit shorter:

    This is a system that would actually work for me, if the tech is going to be locked away, anyway. Why does it work for me? Because it makes sense. I guess that's personal for everyone but when there's an experience system in work I need it to make sense, to put up with the system. Personally, I enjoy these 'discovery' type of systems where it feels like I really have to figure it all out, rather than being presented with a fully visible tech tree, which will make me sit down for 30 minutes to figure out what my optimal tech-route is. What's even nicer is that this system makes use of the procedurally generated world we walk around in, in such a way that the location (or rather, the stuff I'll get to analyze closest to me) you start in, will determine the "early game".
     
    #215
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  16. Roadie

    Roadie Ensign

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    I really like the way 7D2d has the options set up. It allows you to tweak the game to your playstyle.

    From some of the dev streams when gal civ 3 was being made; a question about dumbing games down (aka reducing micromanagement) would come up and the answer would boil down to the fact only 20 something % of gamers these days would be considered hardcore. (Hardcore as in micromanaging everything from the last credit to the last grain of rice and ok with taking the time to be in total control. Hardcore is not how many hours someone is amused.)
    But anyways, if you owned a candy factory and only 20% of consumers like strawberry and the other 80% liked blue berry. What flavor are you going to sell if your confectioners were not cheap to employ and making both flavors would not be economically feasible? Why spend hours making one feature that only 20% will use when you can use that time to please the 80%. It takes double the time to please both and double pay so the 20% really isn't that important from a profit standpoint.

    Lets take x-com from the 20th century by Julian Gallop for example,,, they had action points for a character in the turn based game. The more strength and agility the more actions you could make in the turn. Many possibilities could be done due to this system and more strategy could be imposed.
    Now lets look at X-com in the 21st century done by Feraxis, in your turn you can only do three actions period. Now here is a 540mb game were you could do easily more things in one turn and had more depth and immersion than you experience in the 6gb game made today. The new game had great sales but it was too shallow in game play to keep allot of loyal x-com fans happy and retain loyalty. It was an acceptable remake and I like it but I didnt love it. I easily put over 1,000 hours in x-com apoc back in the day compared to maybe 200 in the newer x-com. Now if the newer x-com allowed us to be able to have the choice between action points or just the three actions, they probably would have hit the 100% satisfaction rating and replay value. The game was dumbed down and part of the blame is it was multi-platform for console as well.


    The trick is to find that middle ground but the problem is, hardcore doesn't tolerate middle ground anymore than a casual has time to play between two jobs and possibly a lonely spouse.

    The solution is to make good engaging mechanics to a game and yes I mean a tech tree/char perk system, but better options to tweak them mechanics IMO. A true sandbox
     
    #216
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2015
  17. Leatherneck

    Leatherneck Captain

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    You can copy your player file from an old save prior to the tech tree to all new saves, for the short term solution.
     
    #217
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  18. tscottbean

    tscottbean Ensign

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    #218
  19. Eviscerator

    Eviscerator Commander

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    Right. Do you understand context? Because I spoke in context of the LEVELLING and EXPERIENCE system. Not giving people battleaxes and magic.

    You're a nutter or a troll, and there's really no discernible difference between the two when you fail so badly.
     
    #219
  20. Navonil Mukherjee

    Navonil Mukherjee Captain

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    I don't think so, that why I did not count health, hunger, defense as a skill set, also O2, vision is their by mistake, I forgot to delete them later...besides as you said this is just a blueprint of progression system how I want to see it.. many balancing/twicking is required.

    I also see many people want this as a pure sand box where you can go to space(which basically creative mode)..... not a survival, I don't know what kind of system they want (as no one mentioned) but possible fix is to add a option to unlock all tech/have all skills to the max from the start (what can be done now by using Hex editor, process mentioned by the devs in 3.6.1 release note).
     
    #220

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