I will compare the results to my own wishes and plans, of course, always happy about any feedback from interested parties. It helps understand how people are perceiving the project, and what I might do to further my own plans, increase overall "readability", as well as scratch the potential fan base's itch ;)
With that said, here are the results in order:
Dawgs (1st – 4th; more than 30 votes)
38 Mounts and vehicles
37 Camping, survivalism
31 Changing world
31 NPC companions
The contest for gold and silver is tight between Riding and Camping. I think horses and trains are a given feature for a game like LoSt (as well as boats and some oddities, like pogo sticks). Camping/survivalism is a feature I've personally been on the fence about. Seeing that it's a popular wish has of course made me think about possible designs – if so, definitely something in my own, slightly experimental style
… On a shared third place are "Changing world" and "NPC companions", both among my personal favorites. Going ahead, I'm definitely focusing on game world factions and groups, including the possibility for the player to form alliances, gain rumor etc. Being part of a posse should be a feature (and not necessarily as their leader).
29 Rumors and investigation
28 Non-lethal combat
27 Dice games, gambling
26 Ropes and lassos
26 Tinkering, farming
26 Visions, dream quests
This tier of results have some strong contenders. Some feel genre-inherent in the psychedelic wildwestworld of LoSt, like booze (29), gambling (27), and rope use (26). Others relate to planned open world concepts like NPC companions and changing world (investigation mechanics and non-lethal combat). Regarding tinkering, we'll see – to me, it feels like a feature so prominent in many RPGs that doing anything new or interesting with it really demands a lot of work. It probably won't be a main concern in the next few versions, but I might yet find some fun way to add a tinkering system.
24 Calendar, seasons
24 Mines, caverns
22 Aging
22 Construction, base building
22 Dynamite and traps
22 Light and darkness
20 Disease
20 Height map
Some interesting options here; most of these are nifty ideas that can be implemented to enhance simulationist aspects of the game world. Which of these make it to the game, will depend on various factors, like whether they serve as auxiliary features to other content, or if the ratio between amount of work to add a feature, and how much fun it will bring, seems promising. A few are on my definite todo-list despite lukewarm responses in the poll, like a simple system for landscape elevation, at least as a way to create borders and bottlenecks in the landscape with ravines and plateaus.
Backwash (less than 20 votes)
12 Retirement, ghosts
2 Other (Comment)
The "Add better interface" option is actually a jocular throwback to a previous poll about UI, most of which I've haven't gotten around to reacting to, although I've been working on it ::) So the next version will include important features like mouse support and a better graphics engine (another feature high on the todo-list is to add sound effects, and hopefully an original soundtrack). The option to retire player characters and have previous character runs affect later playthroughs did not garner a lot of support, although I can't guarantee that it won't pop up if it feels natural at some point. In the "Other" section, one voter left a comment asking for trading as a feature, and I've got to say it's a good idea, and frankly not overused in open world games, although I'll have to chew on it for a while to see what might come of it. Another voter clicked Other along with every single other poll option, but left no comment, whether that might have been a bot or a very enthusiastic player who simply wants more of everything.
With the poll closed, all that remains is to extend thanks to all who participated. I can now happily get to work on the system for dynamic NPC factions, which should scratch some of these itches. I will keep you posted as work progresses.
In the meantime I think it's not yet too late to wish you all a happy, prosperous year ahead. Stay Lost, and keep fucking that chicken!
As always,
Minotauros
No comments:
Post a Comment