I Added Character Creation to My Roguelike Indie Game

[@robrau8795]

It's good to see you continue work on this game. I really like the design philosophy that you've described in these videos. Although I do question your specific premise that players must be forced into a different play style, or they will continue to build the same types of characters. I would argue that there are other ways to encourage different game play. And I would suggest that a good counter to your suggestion would be a game like Underrail, which is an isometric turn based game, that is similar to the original Fallout games (Fallout 1 and 2). Underrail encourages players to try different without forcing that on them. . . In Underrail, there are many different types of characters. And, at least for many people, trying different tactics, with different types of characters is a big part of the game. You can obviously switch from playing a sniper, to a melee character, and then to a psionic, to experience the game in new ways. But even looking at a sledgehammer based character, one could get different play styles . For example, one might experiment with starting with a tank-like character(Hammer + High Constitution + Heavy Armor), and then moving to a slightly different build, with Hammer + High Agility + Stealth + Dodge. This would result in a more mobile hammer-wielder. Even these 2 hammer based characters will play out very differently in the game. One of the main things that makes this stuff work is that the game is fairly balanced, with many trade offs. Psionics are powerful, but it is still hard to match the raw damage a good sniper rifle can inflict on specific targets in the game. Crossbows definitely have a lower rate of fire than many firearms, but their slower bolts tend to be better at getting through personal energy shields than the higher velocity bullets (shields are velocity based, and it is often the slower attack that penetrates the shield). Crossbows are more effective against bullet proof vests. Also crossbows make less noise, and don't have the strength requirement that the heavy rifles do. Which is to say that, if a character creation system is balanced and interesting, then this will invite players to experiment (at least that has been my experience in my study of games like Underrail). Of course YMMV and all that. . .

[@code4broke]

I'm still on the fence about it, I've never played Underrail, I'm considering giving limited choice to the player like choosing between three random sets. I like the idea of forcing a restriction though , I know I personally would rarely switch up my play style in a game if I found something that works, I'm hoping the traits can cause radically different gameplay in ways the player wouldn't have even considered.

[@robrau8795]

@@code4broke : that limited choice strategy should be interesting to see as your game progresses. It is definitely one way to make the players change their style. Although I'd still be interested to hear how you react to Underrail, if you ever decide to give it a try. I'm sure some people stick to a single character type in that game. However it almost seems like it would take a major lack of imagination not to wonder about all the other cool options you would be missing out on by only progressing along a narrow line.

[@ronnydarko9046]

I'd love to see much more of this game!

[@code4broke]

I appreciate that man, comments like this motivate me. I've got some really cool stuff on the way.

[@ronnydarko9046]

@@code4broke I can't wait to see what you have in store!

[@SirSquilliam3rd]

Have you played Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord? That is what this game is reminding me of. I think you should play it if you haven’t for some really good inspiration (also it’s real fun)

[@LendriganGames]

Will the player also be able to also input his quest and favorite color?

[@code4broke]

In testing we found most players answered incorrectly and were tossed off the bridge

[@LegoDinoMan]

What’s the difference between Poison/Disease? Do you have any examples of what would cause those damage types?

[@code4broke]

The idea is that poison is more of a damage type, it can be added to food or put on your weapon, it causes temporary damage over time. Diseases last longer and can spread with out intention between people, they cause semi-permanant debuffs or behavior changes. Vamparism is a disease, being a zombie is a disease, a cold or fever are less extreme examples. Certain rare weapons may have chance to cause diseases, but generally they're contracted from humans, wild animals or the environment.

[@LegoDinoMan]

@@code4broke Interesting concepts, thank you for explaining them! I’m excited to see the future of this project.

[@ebobab9564]

@@LegoDinoMan Darkest Dungeon also has this system! First there are bleed/poison which are just damage per turn which can be healed on the spot Diseases affect them for as long as it takes to cure them (very costly and timely procedure) which rather debuff (or even buff!!) them like giving them less hp, less accuracy etc etc depending on the disease