Post by Damian on Dec 29, 2016 11:22:59 GMT 10
If you remember from a previous post about the Abominable Void Champion we talked about the different classes of Abomination.
We talked about how you could keep up to 3 x abominations in the Necropolis assuming that you'd keep 3 different types of abomination. However, the thought of choosing which one to upgrade and which one to summon during combat seems a little too laborious.
From the beginning I really wanted the minion commands and management to be light and not get in the way of engaging combat.
A colleague just may have given me the solution. I was explaining how Flesh Crafting works by taking enemy parts from your enemies and equipping them on your minions. He asked me if he took the arm from an enemy carrying an axe and put it on his minion would his minion now be have an axe.
At the time I explained that it was impossible for minions to adopt weapons used by enemies as each minion was designed to deal with certain types of obstacles in the environment and types of enemies. i.e. Melee, Ranged, If I allowed minions to adopt weapons of fallen enemies you could move through an area heavily populated with archers and then be unable to break down a door to the next area. The game mechanics could break.
I liked the idea, but I couldn't find a way to make it work with the current game design and level design.
We talked for a while longer and then it occurred to me that the abomination has no such class restrictions. We've already established that you can summon an abomination of any type and it simplifies the problem of having multiple abominations to manage.
It's possible to have body parts that come with equipped weapons that modify the abominations appearance and combat style and skills. In fact you could mix and match body parts and only have to manage 1 x abomination without having to return to the Necropolis.
Here is what we came up with together.
Abomination Body Parts
You can collect Abomination Body Parts as well as regular body parts. These body parts differ from regular body parts in that they can only be equipped on your abomination and they come as a package with clothing and equipment.
Abomination Body Parts can come in a few different flavours that correlate to the damage types i.e. melee, ranged, magic.
Equipment
Equipment can be swords, shields, axes, staves, knuckle dusters, crossbows, bows, etc. Equipment can be 1-handed or 2-handed and has a direct affect on the skills the abomination can use, combat tactics and animations.
Equipment can have the following configurations:
Clothing Appearance
Naturally these different classes will look differnt
Do you want a robed duel wielding abomination with axe and sword? Fine. Do you want a staff wielding mage with a plate mail torso? You got it! How about a platemail clad archer. Why not!?
It's up to you how your abomination looks and the combat statistics it embodies.
I'm not going to lie, there are some technical challenges to overcome, but the game design works on so many levels we just have to give it a try.
I'd like to stress here just how important it is that we keep an open dialogue with the community. It's your ideas and questions that make us think of better ways to solve problems and create a more entertaining game. That's what this forum is all about.
If you've got an idea or a question we'd love to here it.
Can't be bothered creating a forum account? Fine, leave an anonymous comment on Indie DB or email me at Damian@SandboxD7.com
Let us know what you think. Do you prefer the original idea of having 4 distinctly different classes of abomination that have a specifi appearance and skillset? Or do you like the idea of building your abomination with body parts that determine appearance and skills?
- Brute - Melee
- Death Knight - Melee
- Bowman - Ranged
- Lich - Magic
We talked about how you could keep up to 3 x abominations in the Necropolis assuming that you'd keep 3 different types of abomination. However, the thought of choosing which one to upgrade and which one to summon during combat seems a little too laborious.
From the beginning I really wanted the minion commands and management to be light and not get in the way of engaging combat.
A colleague just may have given me the solution. I was explaining how Flesh Crafting works by taking enemy parts from your enemies and equipping them on your minions. He asked me if he took the arm from an enemy carrying an axe and put it on his minion would his minion now be have an axe.
At the time I explained that it was impossible for minions to adopt weapons used by enemies as each minion was designed to deal with certain types of obstacles in the environment and types of enemies. i.e. Melee, Ranged, If I allowed minions to adopt weapons of fallen enemies you could move through an area heavily populated with archers and then be unable to break down a door to the next area. The game mechanics could break.
I liked the idea, but I couldn't find a way to make it work with the current game design and level design.
We talked for a while longer and then it occurred to me that the abomination has no such class restrictions. We've already established that you can summon an abomination of any type and it simplifies the problem of having multiple abominations to manage.
It's possible to have body parts that come with equipped weapons that modify the abominations appearance and combat style and skills. In fact you could mix and match body parts and only have to manage 1 x abomination without having to return to the Necropolis.
Here is what we came up with together.
Abomination Body Parts
You can collect Abomination Body Parts as well as regular body parts. These body parts differ from regular body parts in that they can only be equipped on your abomination and they come as a package with clothing and equipment.
Abomination Body Parts can come in a few different flavours that correlate to the damage types i.e. melee, ranged, magic.
- Brute - Melee Damage/Melee Resistance (hand-to-hand)
- Death Knight - Melee Damage/Melee Resistance
- Bowman - Ranged Damage/Ranged Resistance
- Lich - Magic Damage/Magic Resistance
Equipment
Equipment can be swords, shields, axes, staves, knuckle dusters, crossbows, bows, etc. Equipment can be 1-handed or 2-handed and has a direct affect on the skills the abomination can use, combat tactics and animations.
Equipment can have the following configurations:
- Duel Wield 1-handed weapons e.g. sword, daggers, bearded axes, etc.
- 2-handed weapon e.g. Staff, Axe, Bastard Sword, Bow Cross Bow
- 1 x 1-handed weapon + 1 x shield
Clothing Appearance
Naturally these different classes will look differnt
- Brute - Leather armour and bare chest.
- Death Knight - Plate mail armour.
- Bowman - Leather and chain mail armour.
- Lich - Leather and fabric robes.
Do you want a robed duel wielding abomination with axe and sword? Fine. Do you want a staff wielding mage with a plate mail torso? You got it! How about a platemail clad archer. Why not!?
It's up to you how your abomination looks and the combat statistics it embodies.
I'm not going to lie, there are some technical challenges to overcome, but the game design works on so many levels we just have to give it a try.
I'd like to stress here just how important it is that we keep an open dialogue with the community. It's your ideas and questions that make us think of better ways to solve problems and create a more entertaining game. That's what this forum is all about.
If you've got an idea or a question we'd love to here it.
Can't be bothered creating a forum account? Fine, leave an anonymous comment on Indie DB or email me at Damian@SandboxD7.com
Let us know what you think. Do you prefer the original idea of having 4 distinctly different classes of abomination that have a specifi appearance and skillset? Or do you like the idea of building your abomination with body parts that determine appearance and skills?
