Game Development: Castles in the Sand

[dchow002]

I think the Vistor idea is brilliant in its simplicity,
and makes raiding less dependent on a villager doing something stupid.

However I don't think that it solves the real issue with raiding, which is logging in one day and EVERYTHING being gone.

I think getting through defenses should be easier, however the damage that can be done when inside needs to be reduced.
An idea is that committing crimes adds 'mental weight' something like a curio to the study box, and when you commit enough crimes you have no more mental space to carry the weight of the crimes and cannot commit any more. The raider will then need to go away and 'reflect' or on the crimes before more can be committed.

This will give the raided group time to mount defenses for the next raid or decide to take what they can and flee the area. It will also mean that the raiders will not commit as much petty vandalism because it consumes mental weight, which could be better spend on the theft of valuables.

The mental weight can be calculated by the type of crime, higher for murder, negligible for trespass.
Then have something like charisma of the claim owner increase the mental weight. As charisma I assume is a reflection of someones standing in the community, so chieftains should be charismatic and this encourages the chieftain of a village to invest in charisma.

The amount of mental weight a criminal can carry could use the same system as the curiosities, so the intelligence not only limits the amount of crimes that can be committed, but crimes also come with the down side of not being able to study as many curios/less LP gain.

I think a system like this would make the back and forth between raiding more interesting and it will have to play out over a wider time frame.

One possible solution/suggestion in reference to "everything being gone."

Why not take some aspects of EvE online? For example, before being able to attack a village, territorial claim units would have to be destroyed. Maybe they could be small outposts that require resources to be built (maybe even LP). Attackers get some form of mini loot if they destroy the outpost and defenders have a chance to respond by repairing it, etc. point is, you wouldn't lose everything overnight.

Alternatively, one thing that might work is that these small outposts provide defensive buffs to the village. For example having 4 in the area surrounding the village extends the duration for Rams to harden or adds soak to walls.

I don't think this would be too immersion breaking.

[BEBA]

+1, but J&L you need to make a great stone wall DD. Half of the high of tower and posible to run on the wall

2k stone holy fuck

[Turtlesir]

everything

YES

i like this. it solves some dire problems. it creates more immersion, and simultaneously softens the blow. i like this.

[Archiplex]

Someone get J&L to see this suggestion I am absolutely loving it

[lachlaan]

The only thing that will solve is making lifeless factions more capable of griefing. Whatever the reason may be that they can sustain creating a multitude of crime alts, they will do it. And the one hermit getting his face handed to him through his ass will then need to either become just as lifeless with swapping out 50 retaliatory defenders if he wants to get revenge or he will simply be outclassed. The premise also seems inelegant if I'm honest, in that it's just another brute roadblock in what people can do.

To express my disapproval of it differently, let's just say that i've seen too many people call "facebook game" at the idea of arbitrary timers, so more of those arbitrarily set limits seem bad. If anything the cost of commiting crimes could be more harsh, and the freedom to regenerate health on the go could be limited, but at least that could perhaps be overcome in a more streamlined way.

That said, I'm not sure what amount of inspiration Jorb/Loftar can draw from their old game, now that they've relinquished control of it. But I personally liked the arson system added, and think something along those lines might be a decent middle ground. Either a similar mechanic or something with the fundamental idea being similar. You don't need to stop the attacker artificially but just make it not worth his time to keep bashing away at stuff for the sake of malice. Make it possible to do with a lot of effort, so that people can still send horribly horrible messages to their mortal enemies, but a looting should be a looting and not a razing to the ground (which, the razing, would also consist of torching stuff and leaving it to burn).

[ethan]

The only thing that will solve is making lifeless factions more capable of griefing. Whatever the reason may be that they can sustain creating a multitude of crime alts, they will do it. And the one hermit getting his face handed to him through his ass will then need to either become just as lifeless with swapping out 50 retaliatory defenders if he wants to get revenge or he will simply be outclassed. The premise also seems inelegant if I'm honest, in that it's just another brute roadblock in what people can do.

If a large powerful lifeless faction has decided to target a hermit, he is going to be dicked no matter the system put in place, and harshly, I think this is how it should be.

Village vs Village would require balancing to make it more efficient to invest in a fewer characters, than a swarms of spruce caps.

To express my disapproval of it differently, let's just say that i've seen too many people call "facebook game" at the idea of arbitrary timers, so more of those arbitrarily set limits seem bad. If anything the cost of commiting crimes could be more harsh, and the freedom to regenerate health on the go could be limited, but at least that could perhaps be overcome in a more streamlined way.

Agree, but its incredibly hard to get away from arbitrarily limits in video games. You need X amount of Y before you can do/get/win Z. Especially in a game that has 'Grind'.

Like you say the trick is to make something that you want the player to avoid, sufficiently difficult that they don't bother.

[nethack]

That's one sexy update... It feels like the game is dreaming big.

Gratz. I'd say keep being ambitious and keep fixing the small stuff at the same time (last updates were nice). Of course there will be problems along the road. But the tribulations, they can be handled, even enjoyed.
Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a mothefucking tower to build.

[LittleJohn]

Loftjorbs pls, i am waiting for crossbows, maces, pikes, pitch ditches, moat, siege towers, mangonels, catapults, trebuchets ( with cow as missiles! ) and mantlets!

[Thedrah]

i didn't read most of the thread but...

can you 'travel along' a path through a gate and still get flagged for being a visitor?
does any gate work? like a roundpole fence gate work aswell?
what are the dimensions for the stone tower? does it have many floors? are there windows on any floor? (even if you can't see out them)

[Dosidicus_gigas]

I think the Vistor idea is brilliant in its simplicity,
and makes raiding less dependent on a villager doing something stupid.

However I don't think that it solves the real issue with raiding, which is logging in one day and EVERYTHING being gone.

I think getting through defenses should be easier, however the damage that can be done when inside needs to be reduced.
An idea is that committing crimes adds 'mental weight' something like a curio to the study box, and when you commit enough crimes you have no more mental space to carry the weight of the crimes and cannot commit any more. The raider will then need to go away and 'reflect' or on the crimes before more can be committed.

This will give the raided group time to mount defenses for the next raid or decide to take what they can and flee the area. It will also mean that the raiders will not commit as much petty vandalism because it consumes mental weight, which could be better spend on the theft of valuables.

The mental weight can be calculated by the type of crime, higher for murder, negligible for trespass.
Then have something like charisma of the claim owner increase the mental weight. As charisma I assume is a reflection of someones standing in the community, so chieftains should be charismatic and this encourages the chieftain of a village to invest in charisma.

The amount of mental weight a criminal can carry could use the same system as the curiosities, so the intelligence not only limits the amount of crimes that can be committed, but crimes also come with the down side of not being able to study as many curios/less LP gain.

I think a system like this would make the back and forth between raiding more interesting and it will have to play out over a wider time frame.

This is great stuff, and makes me wonder what other systems could based on the studying system.