by jorb » Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:19 pm
Our development is fast paced. We do try make it a priority to fix critical problems ASAP. When deciding on numbers for a system like this, It's very hard for us to have a clear idea on a) How much agility does most players have? and b) How far should they be able to travel using that agility? We are really restricted to using guesstimates. Having an opinion on the average agility of the decently developed characters, and relating that agility to the relevant locations those players would want to go to, in terms of distance, is nigh on impossible. (I do not know how far you guys are normally spread out, what kinds of distances you'd like to travel, how often you'd like to do so, and whatnot.) We have to test. In order to test, we need to implement. Testing this in a closed environment is a bullshit idea. That means I'd be the only one doing any serious testing on it (Loftar dicks around a lot when he plays. I'm definitely more of a gamer than he is.) First, I can't do it in a meaningful way, since the game is very much based on a philosophy of emergent gameplay. I do not expect people to cartograph entire regions by their onesises, for example, I expect maps to get copied. Setting up a system of usable Crossroads is a community effort based in the philosophies of rational self interest and emergence, which means I can't test it by myself. I need other players. I need you guys.
A lot of people are obviously scared/angry/whatever about this development, but our ambition with this system is obviously to increase the ability of players to penetrate the map, not reduce it, as I wrote in my wall of text the other day. In the future, It will probably be possible to quick travel to your claim at any time (The reason you can't right now is because of implementaional difficulties, the claims do not save their location) and possibly also to have a "Mark" action, where you can mark a point arbitrarily, and then quick travel there as long as you do not set a new mark, for some quick back and forth between a hunting trip and your camp, for example.
Also, there is a case to be made that some of you have lucked out. You've built camps all across the place, your relevant locations are spread out miles apart, and now you can't really travel between them in a good way. To some extent, this might be as it should be. When building a new camp you'll obviously be able to keep this dimension of the game in mind, and not settle at unreasonable distances. You could consider this broken, but we cannot allow development to institutionalize bad practices just to keep the status quo. Sometimes, the status quo has to be broken for the game to move forward. Obviously that will hurt for some people. I think this is why we still call it an alpha.
Let me be clear: We have several systems in the pipeline that might alter the pace of the game completely. Be a little zen about stuff like this.
This system has several advantages. First, it allows villages to become localized centers of trade and commerce, to which outlying farmers travel, not because they are necessarily members of the village, but in order to use their Crossroads. Second, this system allows *objects* to be insta traveled. Which means you can now trade in anvils, beehives, herbalist tables, and whatever. Third, it removes a lot of boring walking around -- I expect Brodgar to set up Crossroads to Swampcrazed and Cakeport ASAP, for example. Previously, those distances -- which are still very small compared to the total scope of the game world -- were a bitch. Now they could be reduced to a nuisance. Fourth, it does all this while still allowing distance to remain a very important factor.
Our plan was always to make it so that you could reduce weariness by drinking alcohol, and that will, guaranteed, happen next dev session, which is rarely more than half a week or so away. I also see a lot of potential fun in equipment that can make travel easier for you: Ranger's boots might be a good place to start. Traveling with the wind on your back (Wind cape? A potion made from wind?) could also make it easier.
Oh, and about these boats that everyone is bitching about: The problem is not drawing the boats, although that is a bit of work in itself. The problem is making the character sprite capable of interacting with the objects. That workload is huge, and I would like to think it through before I start working on it. I have been thinking about it, and I have drawn some stuff for it, but please understand that boats is a pretty big undertaking.
But I suspected we'd get some heat for this update, it is controversial, and I do feel some of the raeg. I do think most people will come to appreciate this system once its better understood, though. Some people are quick to attack systems they do not understand. I haven't heard anyone complain about steel for a while, and we got shitloads of negative first reactions on that.
We also have a balancer on the black arts that is fairly easy to implement, and should get put in next session, so we haven't forgotten about that either.
"The psychological trials of dwellers in the last times will be equal to the physical trials of the martyrs. In order to face these trials we must be living in a different world."
-- Hieromonk Seraphim Rose
