Post by Damian on Oct 22, 2015 13:20:00 GMT 10
One thing has been bothering me about the minor usefulness of corpses in Lord of Decay.
Right now corpses are used as a means of reanimating an undead minion. That's all they are good for.
However, once you reanimate enough minions to fill your Maximum Horde quota, corpses stop being useful and just become a part of the scenery.
Corpses will appear in the game quite often as you stumble across grave yards, ruins, unmarked graves and as enemies fall at your feet in a gruesome pile of mangled flesh and bone.
It doesn't make sense that something so common is used so seldom and for one very limited use. Especially in a game where death is such a strong theme.
So I've been experimenting with ideas to make a corpse more useful to the player as a resource.
These ideas have to work well with the theme of death and decay and also provide real value to the player.
One simple rule applies: a corpse is expended when it is used.
Two obvious ideas occur.
First and most obvious is that the undead have an insatiable hunger for flesh. So...Let them eatcake corpse.
I've added a skill called "Devour" that commands a minion to chow down on a nearby corpse that will regenerate some of their health.
One corpse can feed exactly one minion.
Another obvious idea is that necromancer's need blood to cast spells. So I have added a skill called "Worm Feast" that spawns a pile of worms on the corpse that extracts blood adds it to the player's Blood Meter.
Combat applications for corpses presents some fun ideas that may be hard to balance. These are some skills I am toying with in my familiar point form list:
I'm still experimenting, but I'd love to hear your ideas.
How do you see corpses playing a bigger part in Lord of Decay?
Right now corpses are used as a means of reanimating an undead minion. That's all they are good for.
However, once you reanimate enough minions to fill your Maximum Horde quota, corpses stop being useful and just become a part of the scenery.
Corpses will appear in the game quite often as you stumble across grave yards, ruins, unmarked graves and as enemies fall at your feet in a gruesome pile of mangled flesh and bone.
It doesn't make sense that something so common is used so seldom and for one very limited use. Especially in a game where death is such a strong theme.
So I've been experimenting with ideas to make a corpse more useful to the player as a resource.
These ideas have to work well with the theme of death and decay and also provide real value to the player.
One simple rule applies: a corpse is expended when it is used.
Two obvious ideas occur.
First and most obvious is that the undead have an insatiable hunger for flesh. So...Let them eat
I've added a skill called "Devour" that commands a minion to chow down on a nearby corpse that will regenerate some of their health.
One corpse can feed exactly one minion.
Another obvious idea is that necromancer's need blood to cast spells. So I have added a skill called "Worm Feast" that spawns a pile of worms on the corpse that extracts blood adds it to the player's Blood Meter.
Combat applications for corpses presents some fun ideas that may be hard to balance. These are some skills I am toying with in my familiar point form list:
- "Bone Mine" - turns the the corpse into a proximity-triggered bone shrapnel mine.
- "Poison Geyser" - causes the corpse to spew a poisonous gas cloud.
- "Ghoul Bait" - lures a beserked ghoul for a short time that randomly attack friend or foe.
- "Spectre's Song" - A ghostly figures appears above the corpse and distracts enemies with a lilting melody.
I'm still experimenting, but I'd love to hear your ideas.
How do you see corpses playing a bigger part in Lord of Decay?