nobody is going to like this camping suggestion...

[Unbeliever]

I'm all in favor of those little yes/no checkboxes at the start of the game. As many as possible.

Let people who like a challenge play it the hard way. (Hunger, weather penalties, required inventory for certain skills...)

And let those of us who like FUN play it the easy way...

[And I'm STILL wishing for a "automapping-should-part-of-the-interface-not-the-game, lemme-have-good-cartography-without-sacrificing-skill-points" checkbox in there too!]

[IJBall]

I'm all in favor of those little yes/no checkboxes at the start of the game. As many as possible.

Let people who like a challenge play it the hard way. (Hunger, weather penalties, required inventory for certain skills...)

And let those of us who like FUN play it the easy way...

[And I'm STILL wishing for a "automapping-should-part-of-the-interface-not-the-game, lemme-have-good-cartography-without-sacrificing-skill-points" checkbox in there too!]

The only extra checkbox "option" I care about is 'Fatigue'.

But I'm nearly certain that none of these extra "options" are going to make it in to Book III. I suspect that BW is going to err on the side of simplicity and continuity when putting together Book III. And, I dunno - maybe, that's the right call anyways...

[BasiliskWrangler]

The only extra checkbox "option" I care about is 'Fatigue'.

If you mean: "Fatigue status (bar), a la Hunger & Thirst (make Optional 'Game Rule') (requested by: me (and others), since Book I)". No, this is not going to make it into Book III. It's just a lot of work for very little gameplay enhancement. We had a early prototype of Fatigue in last year, and it just didn't play very well. Like health, hunger, mana, and thirst, it was just another stat that could be recharged with an elixir or sleep. It added very little to the game, while requiring major code alteration and GUI adjustments to implement. Just didn't make the cut. However, Fatigue will be a factor in our post-Eschalon RPG engine.

@Unbeliever: Book III currently does have a checkbox for "Ignore Cartography skill and give character full automap at game start?". You can take this for a 20% difficulty penalty to end-game score. How does everyone feel about this?

[munster]

Book III currently does have a checkbox for "Ignore Cartography skill and give character full automap at game start?". You can take this for a 20% difficulty penalty to end-game score. How does everyone feel about this?

My own opinion, I think that's great and a very fair way to do it. If you want the high score at the end, leave it unticked; if you don't care about the score (at least on your first run-through), take the penalty and have the map from the start.

I'm happy with that, what about the rest of ye?

[Vroqren]

That sounds great to me BW. At first I thought 20% deduction was a pretty big drop, but I think that's the right number.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

@Unbeliever: Book III currently does have a checkbox for "Ignore Cartography skill and give character full automap at game start?". You can take this for a 20% difficulty penalty to end-game score. How does everyone feel about this?

I think this sounds great, though I do wonder what you mean by "full automap." Does that include the high level "see entities on the map before you see them on the screen" ability, or the level below that where you get all of the map elements displayed but not the monsters and NPCs?

[IJBall]

@Unbeliever: Book III currently does have a checkbox for "Ignore Cartography skill and give character full automap at game start?". You can take this for a 20% difficulty penalty to end-game score. How does everyone feel about this?

Neutral.

I don't have strong feelings about the issue, so it doesn't really matter to me whether you can choose a Cartography option upfront or not. (Personally, I won't be choosing that option...)

I guess I am somewhat interested in how said option would be implemented though...:

1. Will players who choose that option just get Level 1 or Level 2 in Cartography? (I think that would be my preferred choice.)
2. Will players who choose this option get Level 14 in Cartography, and be able to see everything, save NPCs?
3. Or, as Kreedor asks, will they actually get Level 16 in Cartogrpahy, and even be able to see even NPCs and mobs in their Minimaps? (I'd personally be very much opposed to this version of the option...)

So, like I said - no strong feeling about including this as an option. But, if it is included, I really don't think you should get more than Level 1-2 Cartography out of the deal (and that Level 1-2 in Cartography should already be granted to you when you get to the 'Character Creation' screen, so you can add to it during character creation, if you choose...)

[Painted Lady]

I think anything that helps generate more game sales without degrading the experience for hard-core players is a great idea. Some people just want to have a fun, and fairly casual, experience. My goal is for BW to sell so many versions of Book III to those people that he can afford to create future games more quickly.

There definitely needs to be a penalty associated with not having to invest skill points in cartography, and 20% off the final score seems fair. The idea of starting those people out with 2-3 points in maps on the character creation screen is nice. Adding more points later should be an option, but the penalty should be permanent.

An extension of that idea would be to have an option to simply add 3-6 points to your skill total during character creation. You could spend them on maps, tool use or whatever. After all, why limit the bonus idea to just cartography?

[severian]

- A tent, in order to camp.
- A crafting hammer and scrap metal, for the Repair skill.
- Medicinal herbs, for the Medical skill.
- A compass, for Quick Travel.

that sounds good to me

perhaps - to keep to the spirit of parts 1 and 2 those items would not be essential...but maybe they could greatly improve effectivness of some actions ?

a compass for quick travel is reasonable.

herbs - improved HP and MP regeneration - one could MIX or buy some less often used herbs for some kind of "bag of herbs, 7 x camping uses" item.

a hammer and scrap metal - a requirement for repairs for range 50%-100% quality ?

a tent/camping spot - faster HP/MP regeneration, hunger and thirst grow slower ?

I know, that every new feature takes time, but those ideas are very interesting, for me as a hardcore RPG player.

also, I loved Don`t Starve recently

[SpottedShroom]

@Unbeliever: Book III currently does have a checkbox for "Ignore Cartography skill and give character full automap at game start?". You can take this for a 20% difficulty penalty to end-game score. How does everyone feel about this?

Sounds entirely reasonable to me. I hope it's not too much of a pain in terms of making sure the skill book doesn't appear, making the cartography trainer makes sense if there is one, etc.

[Dragonlady]

@Unbeliever: Book III currently does have a checkbox for "Ignore Cartography skill and give character full automap at game start?". You can take this for a 20% difficulty penalty to end-game score. How does everyone feel about this?

I'm okay with this, but it will depend on what level view we get. Level 1 too much penalty. Level 4+ fine.

Just move the trainer closer to the start and not have him/her in the farthest reaches of the game. That's what I didn't like about Book II, having to reach the Port to find the trainer. I'd have liked to find him in or near Everdale.

[Firall]

How does everyone feel about this?

Also neutral, at least somewhat.

I don't like the idea of bypassing one of the games original features, but it seems popular, and I won't be using the option.

[Painted Lady]

I think anything that helps generate more game sales without degrading the experience for hard-core players is a great idea.

How exactly is allowing a player to ignore cartography and giving them full automap going to help generate more sales?

I don't know that it would, but I suspect that making the game easier to play might help. Some people want to have an easier experience than others do. Those people could spread the word to their friends that they enjoyed the game, etc.

[SpottedShroom]

How exactly is allowing a player to ignore cartography and giving them full automap going to help generate more sales?

I don't know that it would, but I suspect that making the game easier to play might help. Some people want to have an easier experience than others do. Those people could spread the word to their friends that they enjoyed the game, etc.

Agreed. I can definitely see offering an optional easier experience leading more people to have a positive first exposure to the game.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I think anything that helps generate more game sales without degrading the experience for hard-core players is a great idea.

How exactly is allowing a player to ignore cartography and giving them full automap going to help generate more sales?

I don't know that it would, but I suspect that making the game easier to play might help. Some people want to have an easier experience than others do. Those people could spread the word to their friends that they enjoyed the game, etc.

All can change when we reach Alpha. Features come; features go. We get a lot of praise and flack for the automap/Cartography thing, so I added this a couple months ago. I haven't decided yet if it will make it to release or not.