Messages

76

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Q: How many times do I die while doing research for a bug?

« on: May 04, 2012, 01:18:41 PM »

A: Lots of times.   

Phooey.

77

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Do you use bear traps, and why not?

« on: May 04, 2012, 12:28:21 PM »

Also, I just realized the REAL reason why bear traps aren't effective: Environ doesn't have any bears! No wonder!

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Long-term idea

« on: May 04, 2012, 12:20:23 PM »

As an aside, I would like if the mana regen rate was quantified in an easier to understand manner. So, a rate of 0 is the default rate of 50/s or whatever. Different characters could have different base regen rates, just to spice things up.

Skelebots, say, could have a great base mana of around 300, but they might have a regen of -8 (which is 42 per second).
Age of Magic characters could have a great base mana of around 300 also, but they might have a regen of +10 (which is 60 per second).

Then, each mana upgrade would be a flat +1 per second regen boost, in addition to the mana cap upgrade.

Not saying that it's difficult to understand now, but compared to the attack percentage value having a baseline (100%), it seems a bit odd to me.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Long-term idea

« on: May 04, 2012, 11:50:28 AM »

I wish mana regenerated slower. As it stands right now, I upgrade mana for the regen, not for the upgraded cap. If mana regenerated slower (and spells costs were adjusted to compensate) you could get a worthwhile bonus to raising the cap. Right now, the difference between 0 upgrades @ 100 mana and 2 upgrades @ 200 mana isn't double the casting time before hitting empty. It's the difference between casting unhindered for 2 seconds and then at a reduced rate of fire (we'll say 80% speed), as opposed to casting unhindered forever.

It feels weird to be able to almost never run out of mana. I think that players should almost ALWAYS run out of mana if they are constantly casting anything but the weakest spell. I get that it's not fun to run out of mana, but I don't mean to say it should happen quickly. A default 200 mana pool & no enchants should last for somewhere around 10 seconds of casting a medium attack spell. It would then take another 10 seconds or so to get back to full. This would encourage jumping out of "cover" to attack an enemy, before jumping back in when your mana wanes. Of course, this assumes that the player is able to find a "safe" spot to regen mana, so it might not be entirely realistic in all environments.

Anyway, this kinda goes along with what you are saying about removing mana, because right now it isn't a good limiter on actions with the availability of conserving mind enchants & such.

80

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Overlords...... HOW?!?

« on: May 04, 2012, 09:16:37 AM »

The last 8 overlord rooms I have visited have been [pretty much that exact same] tiny room. :/

I mean, the overlords are gigantic, and those rooms are small. Why are they in those rooms? It's like hiding in a cardboard box or a.... oh gosh, are we, the valiant glyphbearers, attacking the overlord while he's in the bathroom??

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: AVWW Post-Release 1.008 "Windy Boomstick" Released!

« on: May 03, 2012, 11:47:54 PM »

Or any point & click, like monkey island.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Do you use bear traps, and why not?

« on: May 03, 2012, 09:20:09 PM »

Oh. I didn't think to consider that, as when I dropped it on the overlord, it didn't do much of anything.

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AVWW Multiplayer Discussion / Re: Server: Wandering Nomads

« on: May 03, 2012, 09:14:32 PM »

All the skelebots are named "EXTERMINATE ALL HUMANS" and I saw another human with the name "I HAVE A VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY LONG NAME". Got a nice laugh. 

That was me, from a few days ago testing rename NPC functions.

84

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Disappointed in AVWW

« on: May 03, 2012, 01:46:59 PM »

I am one of those people who feel that the exploration aspect of the game really falls short. A big part of the problem, for me, is that the exploration isn't really related, at all, to the map. I understand that it's sort of the  idea of the game, what with the splintered reality. But it turns out I seriously dislike the fact, that the contents of the square right next to my settlement on the world map is determined by the progress I've made in the game, and not by any intrinsic properties of the location in the world.

Let me try to explain a bit further. The world is vast and the different overworld dungeon types are very similar. The things that differentiate most locations from one another is the monsters and the some of the loot (resources). Because both the monsters and the resources are unlocked, and based on your progress, the world became, to me, this really intangible, samey place. I had no attachment or interest in any of the locations I visited after encountering the type once. I suppose I wish I had more of a sense of position, and some feelings towards any of the particular locations. Exploration, to me, is not only becoming familiar with the world but sort of making the world my own with memories and stories. I haven't felt any of that with AVWW. The exploration feels not a function of location but of progress.

Also, random rambling: I really feel the missions being tied to the continent level is a bad idea. You want to do missions, but you don't want to, because it will make the game more difficult. But you need to, in order to get anywhere. So I found that I spent of lot of time hunting for secret missions etc before allowing the continent to progress to the next tier. I get it, I'm playing it wrong. And I tried to stop myself. But apparently I can't. Tell me that by doing this you will make the game more difficult, and I will avoid it for as long as I can. Perhaps because I'm not very good at it in the first place.

And I kind of feel like the grind lottery of enchantments is the only truly meaningful upgrade path. I dislike it when games are not bringing out tougher opponents but they are countering the players achievements by making old monsters tougher. Perhaps the end result is the same, but psychologically I feel I should be able to come back later and overcome those early monsters with ease. And it makes me feel cheated.

You basically summed up my feelings about exploration & difficulty. When there is almost no reason to come back to a location in the world, you never "learn" that location. You never feel like you're somewhere 'new' if you never see anything 'old'! It's weird, but the biggest sense of familiarity comes from the boss rooms / overlord boss rooms, because I've pretty much learned those... but those are "new" locations! It's a mismatch of what is versus what should be.

As far as difficulty is concerned, you're spot on. What is the point of progress of everything else around you progresses at the same rate you do? As it stands right now, the player's power progression and the enemy progression are inextricably tied due to tier orbs (and to a large part resources granted by missions would help a lot of keeping up), so you always feel just about the same against them. Right after you tier-up, you feel weaker, and right before you're ready to tier-up again, you feel stronger. What gives? The devs have said that it's not about any specific character, that it's about continental progression, which is fine... if it weren't for the fact that the window through which the player interacts with his or her world is a human (or robot). There is no macrogame control. You feel tied to your character, not in his name or portrait, but in the limited interactions you have with the world. I am my character, not a continent. I am more concerned with getting enchants to boost myself up (because I'm I'm not powerful enough, how can I survive?) or some Earth Essence rather than looking for a Center for Technozoologicism, or what have you. Because of this, it always feels like the character, MY character, is not gaining in strength as the world gets stronger, and if the Overlord wasn't set to tier 5 from the start, I wouldn't even bother leveling up the continent to kill him.

85

A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Do you use bear traps, and why not?

« on: May 03, 2012, 01:33:11 PM »

like separating out a clumped group of critters on an anachronism mission. 

Ooh, I never thought of that before! That would be a very useful reason to have them deal no damage, or at least minimal damage like fire flare.

- traps "tossed" toward cursor, instead of dropped at player location

Hey, that's a great idea too. As it stands right now, I only used bear traps in active combat once, as I was jumping back and forth over the overlord, dropping bear traps directly on his head for extra damage. :3

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AVWW Multiplayer Discussion / Re: Server: Wandering Nomads

« on: May 03, 2012, 01:25:43 PM »

The following players have been given Ban rights:
Chomper (#10)
Khadgar (#128)

Oh, maybe I should log on your server more often!... And stop placing mossy barrels in the settlement.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Do you use bear traps, and why not?

« on: May 03, 2012, 03:13:25 AM »

Would people really spam them? 3 continents worth of exploration only netted me around 300 bear traps (335 to be precise). Those would run out preeeeeety quickly if I actually used them. Like, I could use ellusion scrolls a lot, but I don't, because they are rare situational in when they will save my life / upgrade stones. Same with decoy fireworks, and to a lesser extent, bat scrolls. I don't use any of them lightly.

I think I would use them in battlegrounds the most. In fact, I already do, they just suck and don't do anything other than make the magma rhinos angry.

Side question: how many bear traps would it take to kill the overlord?

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: Do you use bear traps, and why not?

« on: May 03, 2012, 02:42:24 AM »

I don't think they necessarily need more damage, because the player already has a huge number of ways  to deal damage to a foe. I would like to see them root an enemy who steps on them in place for a few seconds, or at least slow them. Maybe bear traps should hit for 33 damage, root them in place, and keep dealing 33 damage a second for 2-6 seconds. Why not? It would be a nice way to deal with being cornered ahead of time. Drop a bear trap right in front of your escape door. If you ever fall back to the door, you may be able to kill the enemy with a well placed trap instead of retreating.

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Do you use bear traps, and why not?

« on: May 03, 2012, 02:26:58 AM »

If you use bear traps, please share how you use them, and if it is effective.
If you don't use them, share why you don't use them, and what would have to be done to make you want to use them.

Currently, they do somewhere around 33 damage. (tested on Master Hero on a skelebot dwarf).

Deploy Medium Trap : Bear Trap

The first enemy to step onto a bear trap will activate it, incurring damage and destroying the trap.

Cooldown: 3.0: Logistical

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A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 / Re: If AVWW were to be developed based on community consensus:

« on: May 03, 2012, 01:30:32 AM »

Yeah, I think my style of humor is a bit out there. I changed the title to hopefully clarify that it is a joke. I just took note of the stream of suggestions flowing in, and how they are often completely contradictory in their requests.

On an MP server: "Journey to perfection are too hard!"
In the bug tracker: "Journey to perfection are too easy!"
On the forums: "Journey to perfection missions are really boring!"

It reminded me of an old Family Circus panel that had Dolly (a young girl) looking proud of herself as she walked out of the kitchen, where her mom was preparing dinner. The caption was "Mom said it would take 20 minutes with my help and 10 minutes without my help!"