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[Alain]

Thanks for sharing again - this gives us great insight into how players actually approach the game and we can tune it accordingly.

I'm glad it provided some insight for you! We'll have another go at some point and add a few points in the tinkering ability, because we enjoyed the idea of going through the vents and manipulate the environment this way.

[JobLeonard]

That is indeed a very cool playthrough write-up, nice one Alain

just for the record - you can work around any hostile enemy in the game, even if you fail all your skill checks.

If you are looking for combat, it is going to be a bit tough, because all the guns you can find are usually in bad condition and thus low damage output. You can repair them with other guns as you explore the station but I think I should adjust the level design so you can get a better quality gun before confronting those bots. Melee / unarmed characters have better outset because they don't rely that much on item condition.

You can also go the other way and embrace the "combat is a risk" aspect, and more explicitly tell the player that it is a bad idea. I haven't played the game but on an abstract level I think the idea of combat being something you want to avoid if possible fits a theme of post-apocalyptic desperation.

[Kamazs]

..explicitly tell the player that it is a bad idea

Yes, that is the idea, especially considering that the game has been built around it - there are many non-combat solutions, both build-dependant and not. Speech, sneak, exploration, gadgets, hacking.

However, I think I want to provide players with a real choice, so combat also has to be a viable option, granted you have the right skill set and tactical prowess.

But yes, I think I need to deliver this message to players somehow. Thanks for pointing this out!

[JobLeonard]

I think it would be  cool if it was an option, but that it came at a heavy price (even if you're good at the game and get lucky). Game narratives rarely deal with the downsides of combat in a proper way

[Kamazs]

Critical hits for certain damage types can have special animations now.

Also, basic electric shots now also have some fx to clearly indicate a successful hit. Note: the character in the GIF has abnormally high FOCUS and ranged, that's why every hit is probably critical.

[JobLeonard]

Debug character, please ignore?

[Alain]

This looks very satisfying to pull off

[Kamazs]

"Overcharged Laser Drill - a scary makeshift rifle fashioned from a laser drill tip with safeties removed and power circuits overcharged."

Here's another final laser critical hit special animation.

[JobLeonard]

That sounds like you risk that it blows up in your face

[Kamazs]

In the stations and spaceships of the Space Wreck universe, magnetic soles are usually used to simulate gravity. This makes running too awkward and tricky, so, if you want to move quickly, you just fly -

[JobLeonard]

Nice

[Kamazs]

Weapons are more than DMG dispensers in Space Wreck. Take for example knives - if you attack someone with a blade, it shows new bonus options, like PUNCTURE and RIP. This is because knives are good for dealing with armor - PUNCTURE lets you bypass armor completely (though, with a difficulty penalty) but RIP, at cost of severely reduce damage, directly affects armor integrity - a couple of slashes and enemy is no longer protected by its shell. It is even more effective if combat happens to take place in space.

Sometimes it makes sense to bring a knife to a gunfight.

[Schrompf]

These are nice options especially in combination with Space Suits, which need to be airtight to provide their services. But I wonder how you're going to balance this. I can imagine that this ends up in a "exactly one viable fight option" system and reduces the fights to "oh please let me have the first hit".

[Kamazs]

But I wonder how you're going to balance this. I can imagine that this ends up in an "exactly one viable fight option" system and reduces the fights to "oh please let me have the first hit".

Very good point!

I need to gather more data from players but there are a couple of balancing drawbacks to this particular move (RIP):
1) you need to be using a knife. This is a melee weapon, so you need to get close which can be dangerous if you don't have good armor or have limited hit points.
2) using RIP option does very small damage to the enemy (~25%). When trading hits, you risk deficit - the enemy can knock you out before you trash her/his armor.
3) it takes more action points (AP). That is, you have decide if this move is worth the extra point you could be investing in, maybe additional basic SLASH or, COUNTER that gives you chance to evade next hit.

PUNCTURE option that bypasses armor takes more AP than basic SLASH and has increased difficulty - the higher chance that you will fail it. If you don't have high melee skills, it can be risky.

[Alain]

This is pure gold. I bet the person in the yellow suit did not see that coming If you can balance it, which seems possible as your last post implies, this is exactly the freedom and ingenuity old school RPG fans will enjoy a lot about Space Wreck.

[JobLeonard]

The only thing that is a bit jarring graphically is that a destroyed space-suit leads to a naked NPC Wouldn't it make more sense to have a "broken space-suit" that doesn't protect players in a vacuum and change the look to that instead?

[Kamazs]

How you create your character will determine how you will play the game. That is why Space Academy will now evaluate your character for the position of captain beforehand!
(SPOILERS: you get the job)

Turns out the character build is really important and you have to make this decision - that will define the rest of your game - before even seeing how it works. This caused some pushback from early access players and we have adjusted the initial flow. First, there is this character evaluator, that highlights your strong suits and, also, flags the potential issues (e.g. that you cannot talk to NPCs). Secondly, you get fewer skill points in the beginning but you also get a few early quests that trigger basic interactions thus you can adjust your build slightly having experienced the game a bit.

There is some tuning to be expected but you can see this flow in action already.

The only thing that is a bit jarring graphically is that a destroyed space-suit leads to a naked NPC Wouldn't it make more sense to have a "broken space-suit" that doesn't protect players in a vacuum and change the look to that instead?

True but unfortunately this would be too expensive to do at this time.

[JobLeonard]

Very nice in-universe way of educating the player!

True but unfortunately this would be too expensive to do at this time.

... without further context that makes me worried a bit.

Like, adding this would require:

- adding a new item (a broken space-suit)
- adding a trigger to change one equipped item into another, and update the player or NPC's stats accordingly

I can think of the following possible explanations why this is expensive:

- it is a lot of work to add another item asset-wise (graphics, etc)
- it is a lot of work to add another item code-wise
- it is a lot of work to add triggers to the game where one item changes into another
- it is a lot of work to add triggers that change/update equipped items on players and NPCs

I'm not saying that it's no work to do this, but these all sound like the kind of thing that can trigger all the time in RPG scenarios. If the current engine makes it hard to do this then that sounds like adding content to the game in general might run into some serious scaling issues in the long run, no?

(so to be clear: I'm not insisting that this change is added to the game, I'm worried about whether or not the given explanation that it's currently "expensive" to do so might indicate that you'll run into technical debt issues later on)

[Kamazs]

Like, adding this would require:

- adding a new item (a broken space-suit)
[..]

I can think of the following possible explanations why this is expensive:

- it is a lot of work to add another item asset-wise (graphics, etc)
[..]

This would require essentially to almost double the number of character animation frames in the game - since every clothing item can have a broken state, you would need 2 sets of character animations (walk, interact, combat animations etc.) for every item.

[JobLeonard]

Ah, I didn't think of the fact that it would extend to every piece of clothing. Yeah I can see how that would be a ton of work!