Do not hate me if I go along with sharing a tiny bit of criticism (game looks amazing btw).
Firstly, Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed post with your thoughts on the game. Feedback like this is super important and very useful in directing the game. Every bit of criticism is useful, so thank you!
Let me start by saying that when I first considered a crafting system in Dungeon Dashers I thought about all the negative aspects of crafting systems in other games and came up with many of the same problems that you've listed. I've thought long and hard about how best to reward the player with a natural progression system and on the days where I don't post much in the development blog I'm often writing down ideas on paper or thinking about systems such as these. It is very important to me that the game does not have "artificial" grinding added to it for the sake of making the game longer than it needs to be. I think that the system I have come up with in the end is a very versatile system that rewards many different types of players.
Having said that, I also think there is a group of people who enjoy having something extra to do. For example the Achievements system in games and in Steam is fantastic because it gives players something to do if they really love a game. It's optional. Players who have "finished" a game but want something more to do or want to master a game can aim to get every achievement. Alternatively, players who don't have time to unlock every achievement or simply don't feel the need to (which is where I find myself with most achievements) aren't obligated to do so in order to enjoy the experience.
There are a few core concepts that I've had for Dungeon Dashers since the start of development, related to equipment:
1. There should be no junk items.Every item should be unique and have a unique purpose. In games such as Diablo 3 you get "junk items". That is to say, there are items in the game that are simply
bad and they are replaced by items that are all around better. This wastes the player's time since they have to look at every item they get and all items simply become a numbers game. Weapons are often made better or worse by their damage output per second. This does work for some games of course, but it's not what I wanted to do with my game.
Which leads to...2. No item is necessarily better than anotherIn Dungeon Dashers,
each item will have pros and cons. For example, one of the Assassin's swords does high damage but gives you less action points to move around. Another does low regular damage but higher critical hit damage when you attack an enemy in the back. Another weapon still does very low damage but grants lifesteal. I want all of the items in the game for each character to have pros and cons like this, giving the player a strategic choice for which item to bring into any level and any scenario. Do you want your character to be a glass cannon? Does this level have wide open spaces which require more movement points? Do you need to use armour with high magic resistance?
3. There should be no permanent stat increasesI wanted a large strategic element of the game to revolve around choosing the right equipment for the right level. I did not want a typical RPG Leveling System where you gain experience and put stat points into attributes such as Strength or Agility. I wanted the player to be able to beat the last level, and then return to the first level again and not absolutely destroy it. It may be easier but it should not be impossible to lose.
With these design goals in mind, here are the elements in my current progression system:1. Global QuestsThese are a set of "quests" which can be completed at any time on any level. They are things such as "Kill 10 Orcs", "Open 5 chests", "Beat 3 levels", etc. Completing one of these will give you a reward such as a new blueprint for crafting. You have 3 active Global Quests at any time and once you complete one, a new one takes its place.
2. GoldYou gain gold for lots of things such as killing monsters and opening chests.
3. CraftingOnce you obtain blueprints for items you can craft the items with reagents (resources) which are randomly dropped from enemies. There will be different types of reagents and some will be more rare than others.
4. 5-Star Level RatingEach level has a rating of 5 stars. You get a higher score/rating on each level depending on how well you do. How well you do is measured by a number of factors (which I'm still designing) but to get a 5-star rating you'll have to do a few things such have no party members die, collect all chests, kill X monsters and beat the level in Y turns.
A rating system like this serves a couple of purposes. It means that "casual" players can beat a level, using as much time and dying as many times as required. They can still advance through the game. But people who are more involved with the game (those same people who want all the achievements) can aim to get 5-stars which, when combined with the Global Quests system (e.g. get a 5-star rating on 10 levels), may reward them with a new item or blueprint.
How these elements fit together and work in Dungeon DashersThe player progresses through the game by beating each level. When they beat a level they unlock the next level (or more than one - there may be trees). To beat a level a player must complete level-specific objectives such as "Kill all enemies" or "Get to the exit".
At the same time that the player is beating levels and progressing from one to the next, they are also completing Global Quests. Global Quests will be closely aligned to the level progression such that you won't have to go out of your way to complete them. For example, you will receive a quest "Kill 10 bats" around about the same time that you get up to the level with lots of bats.
As the player completes these quests they will be unlocking new blueprints which they can spend their gold and reagents that they've collected through normal play to craft new items. This is again in parallel to the levels which they might find the items most beneficial (e.g. They unlock armour providing magic resistance around the same time they find a level with lots of witches).
Gold is used to purchase cosmetic items to change character appearance and to purchase consumable items (consumable in this context meaning "one-time use"). Examples of consumable items include potions which grant extra health for one level or allow a character to respawn on death or give you extra damage for one level, etc. The reasoning for this is again to allow for different levels of play. To get a 5-star rating on a level you would have to use no consumable items, but for players who are struggling they can stack up on these temporary buffs before tackling a challenging mission.
(This consumable item system is planned but not implemented yet.)So that's the system.
Here's the reasoning for this system:Now imagine that instead of crafting items, the player can buy any item in the game if they have enough gold. That means that it's possible to grind the first level over and over until the player has enough gold to buy every weapon and item.
Because gold can be grinded, it should not be used to buy items which affect core gameplay.
Which is why you need a separate resource which requires the player to naturally progress through the game, beating levels and playing through all of the available content...
...enter
Crafting.
Now, if a blueprint for an item is only awarded once they beat certain Global Quests, the player will have to progress naturally through the game to achieve them. They can't unlock the item blueprint for "Beat Level 5" until they beat level 5 and they can't unlock the reward for "Kill a Dragon" if they're not up to the Dragon on Level 10.
They can't grind to win.
I can make cosmetic items require some grinding as they're equivalent to achievements in Steam. They're there for people who want them but you don't need them to enjoy the experience. They give extra content for players who want it without harming the experience for those who aren't interested.
The other element is the motivation for online co-operative play.
Replay value and the encouragement of co-operative playThere is another benefit of having a Global Quest system and Reagent drops. Take the following example: An experienced player who has played the game for many hours can now join in with a friend who is on an easier level (e.g. Level 3) and both players now have a reason for playing. They have different quests, but both gain something for playing Level 3. New Player A unlocks Level 4 and Experienced Player B gains reagents he needed and kills another 7 Orcs for his Global Quest.
In a game such as Diablo if you play with someone who is a higher level you'd simply be "carried" by their better loot and character. They'd often have to create a new character to play at the same levels as you or wait for you to reach the maximum level in the game.
Since, as I mentioned before, no item is necessarily better than another, there is no problem in Dungeon Dashers for Player B to join Player A in Level 1. It may be easier for Player B due to his/her understanding and mastery of the game, but he/she will still ultimately have to make strategic choices about which equipment and skills to use.
In addition I hope to add secret areas to some of the early levels that can only be unlocked with items you find later in the game. For example, secret tunnels in Level 1 only visible with an "Amulet of True Sight" leading to treasure or hidden messages.
Now let's look at the alternative systems proposed:- NPC-merchants system: The shop sells more powerful and rare items as the player advances into the game; Maybe the shop owner will be able to sell specific (and expensive) items, but only if the player can complete a challenging quest. The player still needs to spend a resource (gold) to buy equipment.
Without "complete challenging quest" the player is able to grind for gold, which I addressed above. Gold can't be used as a primary resource if it can be grinded for.
With "complete challenging quest" it becomes more like my own Global Quests system, however the difference is in the use of gold. In this NPC-Merchant system Gold is either worthless (the player always has more than they need) or it requires grinding (once you complete the required quest you still need to grind for gold).
Customizeable Items: Special (and rarer) versions of regular gear occasionally drop, players can customize these by attaching a (limited) amount of enchantments to them. Enchants are themselves rare drops from chests/monsters/quests. (think item's sockets in Diablo). Notice you still need to use resources (enchant-able item + enchantments), you cut on the hoarding, and customizing an item feels more exciting then selecting something from a dropdown list.
This is a good idea. The principles behind this idea are incorporated into both my Global Quests system as well as the 5-star level rating system.
However, the main problem with this system is the complexity of enchantments as well as junk items. If there are enchantments that are in all ways better than one another then you have junk items. If there are too many items then the complexity of balancing the game for me as a developer becomes more difficult and for players it's hard to work out the best character build. This is one of the reasons I reduced the number of item slots from five types (head, body, legs, feet, weapon) to three (armour, weapon, miscellaneous) +1 cosmetic ("hat"). Having more items does not necessarily make the game more interesting, it just adds complexity without depth.
On another note, when you have "Enchants are themselves rare drops" how is that any different to "grinding" for other resources like reagents?
Better items as rewards for Feats of Strenght: Players can play more challenging instances of regular scenarios. If they can succeed, they get a shot at more powerful results. You might also link this to a scoring system, the better the players perform -> the better the reward.
This is a good system as well and it is basically what my 5-star level rating will cover. However I don't want "more challenging instances of regular scenarios" to be the sole way to unlock new equipment however, because it means that people who are not as good at the game are unable to unlock new items.
Hopefully this post makes my reasoning for the game's progression mechanics clear. Thank you once again Bandreus for the thoughtful post and forcing me to clearly assert the reasons for my choices. After reading this, I hope you agree that the progression system will be beneficial and complimentary to the game's core design goals.
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