Messages

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW2 - Controls

« on: December 26, 2012, 12:20:11 PM »

I respectfully disagree. Players should be able to pick up the game and "just play". From that angle, the controls are the most important part of the game. Think of it like the opening page of a book. Players will judge the game based on how fast they can learn the controls. Intuitive and minimal configuration is key for that first impression.

This probably means that the controls are crap for advanced players--that's OK from a retention angle. Advanced players usually desire the kind of precise control that drives newbies crazy... so it's not such a bad thing to have them run through a menus to customize their experience.

Yeah I'm kind of being harsh  . Controls should be playable at the start of the game and they're pretty counter-intuitive right now.
Maybe a small short video on the side in the very beginning with a picture of a keyboard showing where the buttons are would help.
If anyone is interested I mapped the four abilities to Q, W, A, and S, I made aim up/down to E/D and I made interact R. I find it works well.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW2 - Controls

« on: December 25, 2012, 10:50:53 PM »

The shooting behavior while jumping was an unintended consequence of the way they implemented directional-tap aim modifiers when you are standing still. In other words, it's a bug and Arcen is taking a much deserved Holiday break. I'm sure it'll be addressed super fast when they get back to work.

Cool. Yeah sorry on hindsight I should have disclaimed with figuring that this was a bug, but a bunch of posts were not clear to me one way or another, so I figured I'd mention it.

Overall I just want to throw out the point that it won't kill players to have to get used to a different (hopefully intuitive  ) control scheme. Of course this is wishful thinking but my vote is to focus on the good stuff for now rather than perfecting the controls for a specific group of people. They're customizable after all. Maybe reminding players more forcefully in the beginning would help 

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW2 - Controls

« on: December 23, 2012, 12:52:19 PM »

I disagree strongly with the current defaulting to aiming up when jumping.
There are many cases I've found even in the first 30 minutes of playing where I want to shoot horizontally while jumping. One case is where there was a squid(?) or something on an upward slope shooting blue balls everywhere. The blue balls hurt and covered the entire slope, I could not get into a standing position where I could just aim up to kill the squid thing. The only way I could shoot it without hurting myself was to keep jumping and firing horizontally at it until it died. Having the aim default to up is infuriating because 1. It's not useful a third of the time and 2. It's a lot more work to change the angle from up if you dont like it. If it was defaulted to strait, it would simply be a matter of holding the corresponding aim button if you want it. Now if you want to not shoot up you have to move sideways which is very agonizing especially with rapid fire shots.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW2 Beta 707 Control Update

« on: December 22, 2012, 03:22:19 PM »

I'm digging the control scheme otherwise. While I could probably get used to having to hold left and right while in the air to shoot horizontally, it's counter-intuitive, pretty infuriating, and unnatural to do so. I recommend defaulting to horizontal shots if only for the sake of not scarring away new players with even wackier controls.
But if for some reason you want the gameplay to work like this and make jump shots effectively harder/worse, then that's fair, but already just starting the game on Hero difficulty I'm finding it very difficult to shoot certain enemies with the new caliber mechanics.

Otherwise loving the game keep it up!

FYI I mapped skills 1,2,3, and 4 to Q,W,A, and S. Also made R the interact button. Though the default controls were manageable quickly thanks to just playing Sequence for multiple hours , it still definitely wasn't intuitive.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: An Update On The "A Valley Without Wind" Art Rework Project

« on: August 01, 2012, 11:00:35 PM »

I'm not digging the character model, otherwise sounds good.

Yeah Steam didn't try very hard this year, no prizes or raffles or other gimmicks.

And as usual thanks for being so clear on the business side you guys are dealing with, it's very educational.

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Off Topic / Re: Which Classic Computer Games should I play?

« on: July 14, 2012, 03:04:33 PM »

If anyone is interested to hear I've decided to just get Planescape: Torment for now.
Still in the beginnings, trying to get to Pharod, wish I had more time but I have a life now, which is sometimes unfortunate. 
The Deus Ex mod sounds cool actually, might have to do that.
But right now between work, Valley, Strange Journey, Mirror's Edge again, casual MTG, D&D, trying to make a video game myself, learning differential equations, and everything not nerd related, time is getting tight.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Feeling railroaded into secret missions

« on: July 14, 2012, 02:53:12 PM »

After playing again for a while...

One problem as mentioned earlier is that resources in this game are now of a limited quantity, which can make complications.
Maybe there can be a new scroll one can make to create new chunks (on the same square as another chunk) or overwrite an old chunk? An exploration scroll?
Am I using the term chunk correctly? 

An adjustment I would make to the surface missions is that in order to get a spell, you have to complete a series of missions. Right now, just doing one mission is very quick and trivial. If a series of missions were required, the spells could even be upgraded depending on how long the "quest" is (you could get a rare spell for completing a string of 6 missions or so; do 8 missions and beat a lieutenant-level boss to get a legendary spell [make these quite rare or craftable of course]). This would also solve the above note that the surface spells become worthless over time.

In terms of secret missions feeling "grindy", I don't agree very much. There's the excitement of exploring and battling your way to new areas, and the chance of getting a bonus-granting structure (like a lighthouse or a "?city fungus garden?"). I feel more roadblocks in this game are needed to add more substance to this game, maybe it will make exploration for "the grind" more fun as well.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW Post-Release 1.115 "The Story Of Jinsiek And John" Released!

« on: July 09, 2012, 12:12:04 PM »

Just some feedback:

The update looks good overall. Started a new world as you suggested and things are definitely advancing.
I'm enjoying the upgraded settlement system, it gives the game much more atmosphere, and a new aspect of strategy to the game.
I'm enjoying how main map missions, secret missions, and stashes now have distinct purposes.
I'm enjoying that another mystery is available, can't get to the highlands yet, but it should be better than getting clues saying how bad the world currently is. 

Now for the things I'm not a fan of:
Concerning main-map missions, I approve of the current system of handing out spells for players on their first continent, but I feel that beyond the first continent it is too easy of a system to grind out spells. The only time you need to venture out to make spells is to construct your rare or legendary spells, dubbing down the point of exploring for resources.
For settlement missions, I feel that destroying ice pirates should take three or more successes to get rid of them, it's too insignificant of a threat otherwise.
Seeing the 1.116 release notes, I don't agree with making mysteries a 100% bonus to the secret mission system. It ruins the mystery and feel of finding out what happened to the world and instead tacks it on to grinding out building technology. I'd suggest making a purchasable item from the store that will place a mission on the world map randomly that gives you a clue (I'd make it cost more than just shards. I just found out that linen exists, maybe make that a part of the cost? Don't think it's used anywhere else. Make tapestries to resonate with the spirits of the dead! Or something  )

Anyway to summarize, great job and keep it up.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: [FILLED] Looking for artist(s) to develop new style for A Valley Without Wind.

« on: July 07, 2012, 05:39:36 PM »

I like H's interpretation a lot, but if the objective is to please people who won't buy the games unless the art is fixed to their liking, G is probably the answer.
I mean G is great too, just my hopes and preferences.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: The case for slowing down.

« on: July 04, 2012, 11:56:46 PM »

I would say the big problem for this game right now is that it has no setting. There is no plot, no impact from the setting, no character development from NPCs, no purpose really except for "beat the boss", no outside agents. It makes this game a side scrolling shooter rather than an RPG.
The new settlement mechanics are a great step in the right direction, making your NPCs a part of the world. But more would of course be better.
And yes difficulty absolutely makes a difference. On TCO you need to pace your exploration and choose your battles. If you get in over your head, you are either dead or going to have to retreat to heal. It gives a sense of realism to the game, as opposed to lower difficulties where it's usually mindless grinding.

But slowing down the game... I would say a better fix is raising the difficulty of the game, and more importantly adding roadblocks to the game. A barricade with turrets you need to destroy before you can proceed to the next chunk, a worthless item you need to find to give to someone in order to enter a certain area, a pair of bosses who won't let you through until you settle their dispute somehow (with presents or persuasion or brute force or something), a machine you have to go down a cave system to find so that you can raise the bridge/magic portal/gate to the next chunk, gangs of high level enemies that may end up convincing you to find a different area to explore until you are stronger.
These encounters would break the monotony and hopefully add setting to the game as well. Not happening for a while of course but there's some ideas.
Also some more speech from NPCs as well as enemies would be great.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Open thread on combat balance. (Main focus on bosses)

« on: July 01, 2012, 12:26:50 AM »

I don't use the detectability enchants either as well, they're up there with shields in power level and ruin the game IMO.
Maybe I should get some longer range, but that's still not going to solve things like boss jellyfish throwing 150 damage sliding shots at you from farther than you can shoot.
It's not a problem for me personally, I enjoy it. I just wanted to mention that on TCO you get less situations of bosses being stupid and not moving towards you or attacking you properly.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Open thread on combat balance. (Main focus on bosses)

« on: June 30, 2012, 10:45:15 AM »

Playing on The Chosen One without Shields

I find that in most cases I cannot snipe enemies, as their spell range far exceeds mine. I'm forced to get in dangerously close to even have the chance to hit them.
Usually if I'm hitting them from off screen, I'm taking the big risk of not knowing where their projectiles are coming from, so I can be surprised or worse swamped by shots suddenly, leading to a quick death.
I think a lot of this is because of the higher difficulty though... don't remember exactly.
Yes some of the behavior is annoying and could be polished, but I think the combat is passable, at least at the higher difficulties. Things like Elder Dark Bull, Mechs, and Giant Wasp are usually pretty easy, while things like Gargadons and Elder(?) Jellyfish can be ludicrous.

But sure, if temporary invincibility is easy to implement then why not give the options?

Perhaps a solution to these big boss areas would be to zoom out the camera a bit in these rooms?

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Thoughts on New Crafting/Spells

« on: June 29, 2012, 12:09:02 PM »

Yeah, something needs to be adjusted about the surface missions.
I'd be up for reducing the number of missions, making it a rate of 5 * % of continent cleared of wind (rounded up).
Or you could make the spells rewarded from surface missions have a limited amount of uses (through shots or time).
I would enjoy both of these implemented.

As others have said I support increasing the costs of spells again, it is too easy now to get anything you want quickly.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Spell Loadouts

« on: June 26, 2012, 10:01:10 PM »

Difficulty - The Chosen One  Continent 2 Tier 1

Mouse 1 - Fireball (mana efficient, and knocks back)
Mouse 2 - Tidal Pulse (literally just switched to this noticing someone else uses it... very good stuff, does everything fireball doesn't)
Mouse 3 - Platforms or Crates
Mouse 4 - Miasma Whip (Just for killing background entities really)
Mouse 5 - Luminance Arc (For The Deep, and cause Light is pretty)

Left Shift - Fire Shield (Not using this now, trying to see how hard/unreasonable the game is without it)
Q - Light Orb (gotta find that coral for flash of light)
F - Lesser Teleport (Good stuff, don't need it as bad with a Bronze Age character)

Character - Bronze Age (Double speed all day err day. Gives wonderful mobility and helps me play the game faster  )
(Might switch to Medieval Characters, their meh stats may be justified on TCO for their stamina... and love their art)

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Off Topic / Re: Which Classic Computer Games should I play?

« on: June 26, 2012, 03:43:23 PM »

Yeah, it's looking like Planechase for now, art like this is what I live for. 

Forget to mention Myst and Riven, and of particular interest, should I play Real Myst over Myst?