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Non-gameplay feature suggestions
http://www.runningwithrifles.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=145		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Jason9mm [ Mon Aug 15, 2011 2:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Non-gameplay feature suggestions
There's a lot of suggestions regarding gameplay, but that's not all there is to an enjoyable experience. What kinds of things would you like to see outside the gameplay-realm?

I'll start with these:

- in-game screenshot capturing feature (maybe even with some fancy settings for automatic screenshot when set conditions are set)

- in-game video capturing feature? ... would probably be overdoing it, there are other tools for that and the effort is probably better spent elsewhere

- a button to toggle a grid on the ground to get a better idea of the terrain shape (this would be a sort of debug feature for early versions, eventually the graphics should have enough contrast to see what's going on, or perhaps the maps should be done with limited terrain shapes?)
Author:  Waldo [ Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
Jason9mm wrote:
- a button to toggle a grid on the ground to get a better idea of the terrain shape (this would be a sort of debug feature for early versions, eventually the graphics should have enough contrast to see what's going on, or perhaps the maps should be done with limited terrain shapes?)


Like a contour map? I can dig that.
Author:  Rendered [ Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
Waldo wrote:
Jason9mm wrote:
- a button to toggle a grid on the ground to get a better idea of the terrain shape (this would be a sort of debug feature for early versions, eventually the graphics should have enough contrast to see what's going on, or perhaps the maps should be done with limited terrain shapes?)


Like a contour map? I can dig that.


I CAN dg that. That would be AWESOME. :)
Author:  Mystery [ Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
As far as screenshot and video goes i recommend fraps. I don't see much need for it to be implemented into the game (especially at this point in development)

From my observations the terrain gets lighter or darker depending on height although i still find it a bit hard to observe inclines and declines in hills. Perhaps the level of lightness and darkness could be tweaked.

I experimented with some textures and a put on a tight grid which actually worked pretty well. Much easier to navigate
Image
http://i.imgur.com/WLELF.jpg Second screen shot

I think i'll actually use this for map debugging
Author:  Jason9mm [ Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
Mystery wrote:
As far as screenshot and video goes i recommend fraps. I don't see much need for it to be implemented into the game (especially at this point in development)


Yep, screenshots and videos are easy to do with external tools... But still more trouble than many players are willing to endure. If there was a super easy internal tool, I reckon more people would take screenshots/video, and post them online. This would attract attention to the game, little by little.

As for your grid mod, that's pretty sweet, great job. Seems like you get most of the benefits with a texture approach like that. It might be even fancier if done in code/renderer (maybe you could adjust the contrast/darkness of the grid and so on).

The grid is, of course, basically butt-ugly and definitely impacts the look of the game dramatically, but I think it's good for debugging. Maybe some "don't do this" kind of lessons for map creation can be identified.
Author:  Mystery [ Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
Even something simple like adding defining features (twigs on the floor, bits of rubbish even puddles) to the textures will help give a little depth although it will make the texture very repetitive.
Author:  Rendered [ Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
Mystery wrote:
Even something simple like adding defining features (twigs on the floor, bits of rubbish even puddles) to the textures will help give a little depth although it will make the texture very repetitive.


There should be 3-4 diferent textures that can be rotated and switched and distorted to look different each time. That would fix it :)


OR

Seperate textures of the twigs and leaves and stuff to place around thebase texture randomly.
Author:  Mystery [ Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
I think the best way to combat the height would be different methods of generation. I think rendering the clouds doesn't work as well as it should for what it needs to do. I might just be looking into it too much but the terrain is my biggest let down for this game sometimes it is outright annoying. Perhaps fractal landscape generation is worth a look into as it could allow more specifically created height mapping. I'll be looking it to it at least.
Author:  Jason9mm [ Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
Difficulty in perceiving the terrain correctly is quite a problem, I agree. But having seen how the grid texture looks, and after the terrain texture detail idea got thrown in, I think that a solution might be surprisingly easy. Or at least testing it should be simple enough, just try a nicely tiling texture with enough detail (twigs, patches of grass, leaves, tiny rocks, even details that can't be really identified as anything).

Too bad I have zero skills in creating tiling textures, so I won't bother fiddling with it personally.

Another idea probably worth trying out is creating a largely flat map. How much gameplay fun is actually lost if the terrain is almost completely flat and cover is created mostly by walls, trees and maybe trenches? Results on this test might actually be a bit surprising, as the game mechanics pretty much dictate "have a clear line of fire = target dead", so maybe it is after all a good thing terrain blocks a lot of shots.
Author:  Jason9mm [ Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Non-gameplay feature suggestions
As the game characters have names and ranks, and there is the dialogue bubbles feature, how about if the AI characters sometimes(?) reacted to the player (or other characters) dying? It could be a simple "Mike!", "Mike's hit!" or "Sarge!" (thought the ranks don't have names, yet?)

Making it a bit more fancy, high ranking characters could express "superior officer" attitude by barking "Get up, private!", "Don't die on me, son!", "I didn't give the order to die!" or something like that (although the last line is probably too long and would obscure important game events.)
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