Messages

1

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Sky pirates: what are they and how do I make them get off the continent?

« on: May 15, 2012, 08:53:25 AM »

I actually think these guys should be alot nastier.

Heck, they show up on the freaking world map;   they should be DANGEROUS.

Right now they can be a little bit of a threat on higher difficulty levels when you might be often a little low on health as it is, but I think they need some numbers increased bigtime. 

Once the mission to remove them is in then I am fully behind making them considerably more of a threat. For the time being leaving them as naff is probably ok though.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Enemy AI and Behaviours

« on: May 14, 2012, 06:35:54 AM »

Cross post...

I was going to write a post explaining why I don't think many of the platformer boss types would work very well here (the basic point was that many boss attacks in platformers are dependent on limiting the terrain where you experience them), but it didn't seem productive.

I was going to suggest that they should do some more shmup-esque attack patterns. But the same problem applies there, they are all dependent on open space....

My gut feeling at this point is that they need to make the game LESS random. Separate both Boss rooms and Bosses into two categories, Shmup style and platformer style, and actually work within those confines, shmup style rooms would have lots of open space for you to fight flying bosses with complicated attack patterns in them (so basic projectiles used in an interesting way), where as platformer rooms would be more confined designed for close range combat with enemies with complicated individual attacks (massive beams, sweeping melee attacks etc), not that the attacks would be mutually exclusive.

How this could apply to normal enemies is uncertain....maybe platform style enemies in buildings, shmup style in caves and a mix in surface regions. Thats largely based on the fact that anything other than direct attacks are likely to fail miserably in buildings.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: what about making the comabt more 'magical' before throwing in many more spells?

« on: May 14, 2012, 06:35:37 AM »

I was going to write a post explaining why I don't think many of the platformer boss types would work very well here (the basic point was that many boss attacks in platformers are dependent on limiting the terrain where you experience them), but it didn't seem productive.

I was going to suggest that they should do some more shmup-esque attack patterns. But the same problem applies there, they are all dependent on open space....

My gut feeling at this point is that they need to make the game LESS random. Separate both Boss rooms and Bosses into two categories, Shmup style and platformer style, and actually work within those confines, shmup style rooms would have lots of open space for you to fight flying bosses with complicated attack patterns in them (so basic projectiles used in an interesting way), where as platformer rooms would be more confined designed for close range combat with enemies with complicated individual attacks (massive beams, sweeping melee attacks etc), not that the attacks would be mutually exclusive.

How this could apply to normal enemies is uncertain....maybe platform style enemies in buildings, shmup style in caves and a mix in surface regions. Thats largely based on the fact that anything other than direct attacks are likely to fail miserably in buildings.

4

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Shield Question and Suggestion

« on: May 13, 2012, 11:22:22 AM »

Because it hasn't been specifically mentioned Shield Strength is affected by both character magic power and enchants, so if you use a +50% water power enchant that will increase your water shield strength by 50%.

Just something to keep in mind when picking a shield.

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Off Topic / Re: Revelations 2012

« on: May 11, 2012, 03:17:21 PM »

Hexen is flat out better, and came out in 1995.  I think even the graphics in Hexen are better.

Hexen is better than most things, or atleast I would pick playing Hexen and Hexen 2 over the majority of modern games

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Musings: Alternate progression mechanics.

« on: May 11, 2012, 02:04:26 PM »

My immediate question is what would be the distinction between world map missions and secret missions? rather wouldn't this just turn secret missions in to rubbish missions that give you half the reward and no tier orbs,  as the main benefit of it not increasing your CP would be removed.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW Post-Release 1.013 "Nightmare Octopi" Released!

« on: May 09, 2012, 08:14:38 PM »

I think my main initial complaint is the the enchant changes have made a lot of the information displayed by my enchants meaningless, rather what is the point of it displaying the information to me that it is a -59% cooldown enchant when it cant ever actually be that?

As a second point, when mousing over enchants you don't have equipped it probably shouldn't display the active percent info, it sort of implies that that is what it would be if you equipped that enchant, whereas in reality it is simply showing you your current figures.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: If the game drags at any point, where would those points be?

« on: May 09, 2012, 05:03:20 PM »

I'll admit to not having read the reviews, but I'd guess the main focus for thing beings repetitive is the tier system, remaking the same spell 4-5 times and then doing it for however many spells you use is going to be repetitive by anyone's standards, largely because of the perceived lack of progress over any actual repetition in what you're doing. I have to say that that is probably my interpretation because recently I have been considering suggesting removing the tier system entirely, back when we had infinite tiers there was an argument for it but as we just repeat the same 5 tiers now it seems sort of like a hangover.

TLDR: Where is there a point in the game where you want to do something fun, but instead the game is making you do an activity you find un-fun before you can get back to the fun bits?

This is going to seem a really strange answer, and indeed not specifically the kind of answer you are after, but the least as it stands the least fun I have in the game is when it comes time to kill the Overlord. I enjoy everything up to and including killing the lieutenants (which I generally do when I have a couple of Tier 4 spells), but when it comes to the Overlord it is all sort of overridden by the knowledge that killing the Overlord makes what you just spent your time doing completely pointless.

As to the real question of where I find there to be grind or drag, it's mostly down to spell choice, I arbitrarily pick new spells to use when I start a new continent, if missions don't offer what I want then that is where the drag comes into it, you can spend a lot of time getting nowhere whilst trying to get what you want rather than using what the game offers you.

I suppose the real problem there is once you are part way down a path switching to a different one is somewhere between difficult and tedious. I mean if all the initial missions give me say Sea Essence and I start upgrading my Water Spells, then suddenly the RNG screws me and no Sea Essence spawns, my options are either...

1) Persevere with Water Spells and grind secret missions or advance time a lot in hope that some turns up.
2) See what resources are spawning and start again from scratch with those spells whilst hoping that the RNG doesn't Screw me twice.

Neither of these are particularly fun options. and the second whilst the most rational choice goes against the grain, it's like I am giving in to the system not going along with it.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: New spell ideas? Let us hear them.

« on: May 09, 2012, 04:51:09 PM »

I already have a bunch of spell ideas on mantis, I sort of assume that there is no need to repeat them here?

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AVWW Strategy And Stories / Re: One-Hit-Point Wonder

« on: May 07, 2012, 10:44:41 AM »

How does the Shield work for other elements?

I thought a Fire Shield would only block Fire damage?  Maybe I'm confused on shield mechanics.

Shields get a ?25%? bonus for their element type.

So a Fire Shield can block 100 points of water damage before failing, but can block 125 points of fire damage.

That said I'm not sure how they do that, i think they probably cut incoming fire damage by 25%

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Official "Lets talk about the store" thread

« on: May 05, 2012, 03:24:36 PM »

I'm going to chop your post up a bit for simplicity....

The Crates/Platforms are cheap, yes, but IMO, they should be free or a spell anyway as they're so commonly used.

Frankly that's what I was going to suggest as well, if we are going to devalue them to the point they are now, then there is no point not making them a spell.

-Gotten several random Enchants from grinding Maze Rooms inside a Pyramid
-Gotten well over a hundred upgrade stones by grinding Minibosses in Caves (You know they drop 25 stones each now, right?)
-Gotten all sorts of random crap in Stashes.

And I would argue against enemies dropping that many upgrades as well. Currently upgrade stones are fully in the "totally devalued" camp, as it stands they might as well drop them completely and just let you pick your 10 upgrades for free.

The other point here of course is, that I would be getting these things PLUS the stuff from the store. It's not as if monsters would suddenly stop dropping shards if I went out with a goal rather than aimlessly.

It's only "More Efficient" because you can get Platforms/Boxes without the grind and you can non-randomly get an Enchant.  That's it.  Beyond that, it's more time-efficient to actually go get the stuff on your own.  It's for convenience and to help newer players, really. 

The Random Enchants could be tweaked a bit.  I like the "Right/Left/Torso/Legs" being 1,000 because you don't know what you're going to get.  But some of the others, like the Jumping Enchant, could be a bit more expensive, because they're a lot more specific.

You downplay the enchant selection a fair bit, if for example I want to get a better torso enchant then it is far, far more to my benefit to grind and buy torso enchants than it is to grind and gather them through containers, and it will only be more so as they add new enchant types, I could play for hours and not get a torso enchant from containers, as opposed to one every 15 minutes from the store.

Just for some clarity here, I'm not against the store, I'm solely against the store devaluing the things it sells. If, for example, the enchants from the store were just as random as from containers I would have no problems with them being sold there.

Nor am I against the idea of other things being buffed to make up for the store, if we decide that the solution to easily available enchants at the store is to make the ones from containers just as easily available then fine, but as it stands the scales are far in favour of the store.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Official "Lets talk about the store" thread

« on: May 05, 2012, 11:43:10 AM »

It took me 15 minutes to acquire 1000 shards. That is.....

2,500 crates or
5,000 platforms or
100 upgrade stones or
1 Enchant of the specific slot I want.

If you are using 2,500 crates or 5,000 platforms every 15 minutes there is something up, if you are using 100 upgrade stones every 15 minutes there is something up, the enchant one is just horribly unbalanced.

you could lower the amounts of platforms\crates per purchase to a 10th of what they are and it still wouldn't even approach acquiring grinding. you would still be earning them quicker than you could use them.

Same with upgrade stones, if you are losing a fully upgraded character every half hour then you need to seriously rethink your strategy.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Official "Lets talk about the store" thread

« on: May 05, 2012, 10:33:41 AM »

Enchants are far too granular and too cheap, Upgrade stones and platform/crates are far too cheap, as it stands acquiring any of them through exploration is wasting your time.

The guardian powers and scrolls are ok though.

14

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: 1.009 Bugs!

« on: May 05, 2012, 09:38:51 AM »

B) shields only absorb so much damage.

Shields take no (or very little) amount of damage in JtP for some reason.

It's because they get the same power boost as the attack spells, meaning they absorb about 5,000 damage per tier

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW Post-Release 1.009 "The Opal Guardian's Store" Released!

« on: May 05, 2012, 05:57:16 AM »

How do the enchants bought from the store actually work?

Are they truly random or do they use your current enchant quality?
most importantly do they increase your enchant quality?

because, superficially, buying them from the store is now by far the best way to get enchants, ~30 enemies to get an enchant of the slot you want compared with finding enchant containers to get a random one (even with seekers)