L&D impressions, the aftermath

ID:138391
 
Sep 10 2000, 3:03 pm
Aside from the various problems we ran into related to stats and memory filling, my impression was that L&D is getting more interesting for multi-player.

In particular, having a player as Lwen is interesting.

I think I have to tweak the droppable items -- no one including me thinks to use them in the heat of the moment. Perhaps you should be able to apply them to the person you're attacking, and perhaps (Tom suggestion) they should impact a wider area.

I just thought of a really cool one too...

Playing Lwen in single-player right now is not too interesting because there is still a game assumption that you have human opponents. I will fix that this week.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions or responses to today's game let me know! I am also happy to get critical ones -- it helps improve the game, and I certainly give people my fair share.
Sep 10 2000, 3:13 pm
I'm also seriously considering adding a turn-based mode. Things get so intense that it might help if player turns took up a few seconds.
Sep 10 2000, 3:51 pm
In response to Deadron
I'm also seriously considering adding a turn-based mode. Things get so intense that it might help if player turns took up a few seconds.

A turn-based version might be good, but the confusion was (for me) part of the fun. Granted, there are times in multiplayer when there are so many event notifications that it can be hard to keep up with them, but that's hardly a major gripe.

I haven't seen a need for gameplay changes in single-player, and I didn't see a need in the multiplayer tonight. Personally, I would think it'd be more fruitful to add a couple levels and see what additional ideas they suggest.

I'll try to rack up a better score this week, and see if anything comes to mind. If you want to try multiplayer again before you leave for vacation, I'd be game for it!
Sep 10 2000, 4:14 pm
On 9/10/00 7:03 pm Deadron wrote:
Perhaps you should be able to apply them to the person you're attacking, and perhaps (Tom suggestion) they should impact a wider area.

Hey! I suggested that! (Though maybe Tom did too.)

The frustrating thing for me was that sometimes so many things were happening that I couldn't get a command in edgewise. I'd just have to stand there and let someone poke me to death. I wouldn't mind if auto-attacking went slower... that would also give you more time to stop attacking if you'd clicked on the wrong target by accident.

Z
Sep 10 2000, 4:23 pm
In response to Guy T.
On 9/10/00 7:51 pm Guy T. wrote:
I haven't seen a need for gameplay changes in single-player, and I didn't see a need in the multiplayer tonight. Personally, I would think it'd be more fruitful to add a couple levels and see what additional ideas they suggest.


Well the Lwen single player doesn't make any sense right now, cause there's no way for Lwen to lose...but I have a fun solution for that. If you play Lwen, the Hunter version of you will play the hunter, following the same rules that a human would. So you are being killed by yourself.

I think this is a very twisted solution, thank you very much.

And I'd like to add a multi-player game for "Random Lwen" in which a random player becomes Lwen and you have to figure out who it is.

Both of these things should be doable within the week, while I'm not sure a new level is (I have to work out all the artwork, design and create new weapons, add all new algorithms for a different style of NPC play that is coming...)
Sep 10 2000, 4:24 pm
In response to Zilal
On 9/10/00 8:14 pm Zilal wrote:
On 9/10/00 7:03 pm Deadron wrote:
The frustrating thing for me was that sometimes so many things were happening that I couldn't get a command in edgewise.


Yeah, turn-based would help with that. It would still be FAST turn-based, but it would just give you a few more chances to make choices.
Sep 10 2000, 4:30 pm
In response to Zilal
On 9/10/00 8:14 pm Zilal wrote:
On 9/10/00 7:03 pm Deadron wrote:
Perhaps you should be able to apply them to the person you're attacking, and perhaps (Tom suggestion) they should impact a wider area.

Hey! I suggested that! (Though maybe Tom did too.)

I don't recall mentioning it, although it is a good idea so I'm more than happy to take credit for it.

I have a couple of random thoughts:

  • The custom icons were a surprisingly excellent addition. And judging by the icons I did see, some of you are holding out either your artistic abilities or plaguristic skills. Come clean!
  • The inventory panel fills up with too much unwanted crap, like extra fingers, guns, etc. I think that you should either have a limit as to the amount of stuff you can carry, or you shouldn't allow picking up extra copies of thngs, or you should indicate duplicates with a (quantity) suffix, etc.
  • When a player dies, how come you don't get his stuff (or at least some of it). Or do you? I don't recall if I even managed to avoid dying first. Shows you how good I am.
  • In auto attack mode, it's too easy to lose all of your firepower with a single attack. I spent all my hard earned cash buying some bullets, and-- pow! -- one accidental click and they were wiped out.
  • Aside from that horrific stat bug (which I did see, thank you), that Lwen mind control is excellent. It was perplexing to see the pcs jump from player to player. But should we be aware of who they are? You can tell by doing a "who".

    The numerous comments mean that I had a great time. Keep up the good work!
Sep 10 2000, 6:09 pm
In response to Tom H.
On 9/10/00 8:30 pm Tom H. wrote:
Aside from that horrific stat bug (which I did see, thank you), that Lwen mind control is excellent. It was perplexing to see the pcs jump from player to player. But should we be aware of who they are? You can tell by doing a "who".


Ack! Exploit!

You can get banned for doing that sort of thing!

I do need to work on the duplicate items thing -- though the inventory panel doesn't really have much purpose right now.

As for not getting a player's loot...well in game terms the player is not really "dying", just going away for a bit. Given how common it is to die in the game, it would be cruel to take away that hard-earned sword cane the next time you die, and I can't see having them drop the loot AND keep a copy. Talk about an economic nightmare!
Sep 10 2000, 9:02 pm
In response to Deadron
Okay I've uploaded a version of L&D with an experimental game delay feature. Players can use the 'increase game delay' and 'reduce game delay' verbs (hmm I will change those to 'faster game' and 'slower game' in the next release) to set the number of ticks between turns.

This simply puts a delay before each event cycle in the game, which can allow you to catch your breath. My playtesting seems to indicate that 6 ticks might be good for group play insanity. You can go all the way to 20 ticks, which makes for a glacially slow but definitely more strategic game.

If you play with this, let me know what speed seems most comfortable.

I also plugged the Tom Exploit of checking the who verb to see who Lwen is. Or maybe I should call it the Dan Backdoor, since it was happening in Dan's Social library code...