UnReal World > Suggestions
Suggestion reply marathon | Apr-Dec 2020
Sami:
Suggestion reply marathon - Apr-Dec 2020 | part 6/6
A few ideas after playing quite a lot:
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5510.0
--- Quote ---I have a few suggestions that I think would be nice. Keep in mind, everything herein is my opinion, and I'm welcome to criticism as long as it's constructive. At the end of the day, developers develop at their own discretion.
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It's always far better to pinpoint one crisp suggestion or idea than to provide list of things. Also, having the suggestion title to clearly say what it is about helps us all.
But here we go:
--- Quote ---More modular modding support
I get it, this is so generalized that it's probably been suggested before in various ways, but the skinny of it is this: A lot of mods struggle to accomplish what they are going for because a lot of the game is locked behind C (Or C++) and the build process. Every item and every use and attribute of that item should, more or less, be plaintext. Some examples would be things like more types of trees, more types of animals, tools, etc.
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Modding is very simple and limited yes, but I've said it many times over the years that my intention is to develop a game rather than game creating or modding syntax. There are games that have very detailed modding possibilities, and everything is free to edit, but these have been often started up with the modding in mind. UnReal World was never designed for modding in mind, and the few possibilities we have are only quite recent additions. (Heck, even the concept of everything should made editable by the developer is somewhat recent player approach within the lifetime of the game.)
The syntax will likely grow over time but it's enchanced fore mostly based on the game's need, and the possibilities then follow. Heavily moddable game development is a different game development genre in my opinion, and I have never had strong to lead such project.
--- Quote ---"Vehicles"
I'm not suggesting the addition of a pearl-white Volvo 240 but a nice travois or "Purilaat" would be nice.
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Yep. This sort of traditional means of transport are planned.
--- Quote ---A "[CRUTCH]" tag
You've just lost the use of one of your legs (or both!) and this slows you down or stops you from using your legs completely. Having weapons or tools with a [CRUTCH] tag allows you to walk as long as they are equipped.
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Yep. Crutches, or the kind, have been suggested before and it's something that we could think of adding indeed. Not considered high priority, though, so maybe some day when time allows.
--- Quote ---Smoke
Smoke! I can use my sauna as a smokehouse, which kind of defeats the purpose. You wouldn't want to stand in a smokehouse, and fish wouldn't get preserved in a sauna. My idea is, just a simple 'smoke' tile that fills up and dissipates whenever there is no roof above the tile.
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This would nice, but it would be also something that most players wouldn't fancy if we stay historically accurate. There are no chimneys in the cottages either, so every time you heat up the fireplaces you really want to stay outside. You'd be spending lots of time outdoors during the wintertime. We would kind of like to make it that demanding and accurate, but it wouldn't necessarily be fun addition at all. We'll postpone this, once again, for future consideration.
--- Quote --- Cultural Traits
One thing that currently exists is that certain cultures get a minor boost to a few skills. The biggest boon to picking certain cultures is their starting weapons and skills. I think it'd be interesting if they also had some specific traits, like maybe the Seal-Tribe gets a 10-15% skill bonus to skinning seals, or Reemiläiset take a 30% less penalty when using awkward tools for house building.
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In general all that would be beneficial although the level of detail, where the culture background shows, would need to be considered. There's some cultural knowledge already for example regarding plants, but it could extend basically to all the sectors of the game world. Spells, diet etc. NPCs in the village follow culturally specific things with their game animals, for example, but currently players aren't really mentioned of their background.
--- Quote --- Long term projects
In Dwarf Fortress, people have accomplished 'everything'. As an open ended game, you have to keep yourself entertained by coming up with 'megaprojects'. Things like a huge farm field, or a cabin so large you could house an entire village under its one roof. It would be nice if things like this could exist in the current game. Maybe a shrine made of 10 bear skulls, or a way to create your own 'village' that attracts settlers (and thieves!) and 'retire' once certain conditions are met. As there is no endgame, it wouldn't hurt to give major optional goals and objectives. Things that would take between 2-3 winters.
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Yep. This is something to consider endlessly. Big topic, in all the open world games. End-game comes sooner or later, even after all the possible major goals and objectives are reached.
all random character creation
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5509.0
--- Quote ---Quick & Easy always creates Kaumo tribesman. Is there a way to get other random tribesman by Quick & Easy?
And.. random naming.
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Quick & easy always selects Kaumo, as they are often the easy to get started.
More randomness is sometimes suggested, and random names also, and it's likely we'll tweak the character creation to that direction at some point.
Round shields (once spear & axe shafts repair is added)
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5506.0
--- Quote ---Once tool/weapon repair "goes live", can we also get round shields repairable?
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I don't know, it hasn't crossed my mind. All I know is that we'll start with the basic shaft repairs first, and can think things further only after that has been implemented.
In any case I don't see we'll ever have a system where you can repair just everything.
Additional "trophies"
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5500.0
--- Quote ---It'd be nice if we could get skulls of taken: lynxes, gluttons, wolves.
Get tusks of wild boars. Claws from bears and lynxes, gluttons and badgers.
And maybe even Njerpez's/human skulls.
"Have skulls, build a grimoire"
And it'd be pretty nice touch if we could apply pair of antlers or a predator skull above the door on our cabins. Or ask for optional "trophy" when building door.
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I think more skulls will be added in time, maybe even claws, but these foremostly would have to serve the setting and game world purposes i.e. to having magical and practical value within the game mechanics etc.
Trophies on the walls is maybe part of more modern hunting culture, where you want to show off with your achievements. It kind of contradicts with how we imagine the ancients having respected the game. Magical usage, and hunters status necklaces, and practical applications is a different kind, but we'd like to have strong historical background to this.
But yep, more skulls eventually, after some more browsing of my spell books too.
However, playing with human skulls then again doesn't quite fit the world. The dead, and their parts, were feared rather than collected.
Roads and creeks, brooks. Springs!
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5502.0
--- Quote ---Suggest to downsize road tiles from 100m, full zoomed-in tile 50x50, entire Wilderness map tile, -wide to mere 3-5tiles wide on zoomed-in.
Likely a massive programming task for world map generation.
While that is done, add creeks / brooks. To run between lakes and rivers. And from springs to lakes&rivers.
Width anywhere from 10 tiles (20m) to mere 1tile (2m) width.
Even the narrowest brooks should be traversable with punt. Only larger creeks or after winter (thawing snow) or heavy rainfall they should be traversable with raft.
And they should be shallow enough for ford, with maximum of 2-3 tiles (4m-6m) swim across.
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As much as I'd love to have this kind of additions, there are user interface related questions which are more or less unclear for me.
Let's imagine we would have brooks some 1 - 12 meter wide, criss-crossing the terrain. And you're travelling on the overland map. Would you like to get notified every time you automatically cross a brook? Or get zoomed-in every time? Or just simulate on a higher level, assuming that your character figures a way to cross the brook without asking player decisions? Or allow the player some setting or configuration to be switched based on need? For example, if you are thirsty, you'd probably like to be notified whenever your character spots a small brook?
Or, you are just covering a longer distance, travelling on the overland map, using the high-level simulation of automatically crossing brooks without interrupting your gameplay with constant notifications like "you cross the 23rd brook of the day, again". But then, that one time the simulation, RNG and skill checks would determine that when auto-crossing a brook you slip and fall. Now what? You then get zoomed-in into the situation?
(also, I have to say that adding small paths and brooks would require a lot of additional data to the world-map, to keep track on how these smaller-than-a-world-map-tile features go, something like "this tile is mainly forest of type X, but there is a brook running from north to south, and then there is also a east-west path", and should the data structure allow only one brook and one path per world map tile, or are the occasions we would need two creeks near each other? It would be an interesting coding task to inflate this data so that when you travel in the zoomed-in map these creeks and paths would run uninterrupted but with natural curves.)
I'm not saying these are reasons we won't implement these features. It is just to affirm that, like JP_Finn says, this would be a sizable change, requiring a lot of re-coding the map routines and re-structuring the entire map data structure.
Crayfish
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5501.0
--- Quote ---Please consider adding crayfish in-game (astacus astacus) and "˜rapumerta' a crayfish trap.
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We have considered, and didn't find it too important years and years ago.
We'll re-consider when time allows.
Quivers
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5498.0
--- Quote ---Suggestion to add quivers.
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Before that multi-item containers would need to be done. We'll see in the future. But ...
--- Quote ---Hand held 2 arrows, the fastest for follow up shot (ask which arrows, from single stack, to hold when wielding bow, with marginal reduction on Bow/Xbox accuracy. Selecting none results in slower follow up shots, but highest accuracy) If these 1-2 additional arrows are held in bow hand, they need to be shot first, or dropped if taking arrows from quiver or ruck.
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We have something along these lines already in use, and it can be assumed to resemble the fastest loading style for the archer, wherever they prefer to hold their next arrow.
I think how fast one loads and shoots depends on the style they have practised meaning that holding an arrow in the bow hand doesn't automatically make you faster than loading from the quiver.
--- Code: ---How fast your character reloads and shoots an arrow is now dependent on your
BOW-skill. The effects of this are clearly shown if your BOW mastery level is
lower than 25% or higher than 70%. Otherwise all the characters shoot pretty much
with the same speed. The first shot is still fastest to perform if you have an
an arrow already wielded ie. you are carrying the bow and arrow readied for a quick shot.
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--- Quote ---Belt quiver, 2nd fastest for follow up shots.
Back quiver, 3rd fastest for follow up shots.
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If there were quivers in the game they would need to be back quivers as that was the type used. (Although, with belt quiver I assume you mean hip quiver.)
--- Quote ---*whenever character runs, falls through ice or falls down (regardless if being struck, tired, voluntarily going prone ...) should have a chance of none, some or all arrows falling out the active quiver.
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Hmm. I think all the quivers that have practical value are designed so that the arrows don't fall of very easily. Also, I'm quite sure poeple really wouldn't want to constantly be afraid of arrows falling off when running in the game.
"Raw Meat" recipe change. (was 'pea soup recipe change')
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5497.0
--- Quote ---Traditionally Finnish pea soup is made with leftover ham, but URW recipe for pea soup asks, optionally, for 1 lb of raw meat.
It'd be... thematically appropriate, if we could use "left over meat" ... or in other words, preserved: salted, dried or smoked meat.
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I don't know if the leftovers were the traditional thing back in iron-age, but nevertheless allowing preserved meat & fish to be used in cookery recipes is something that should be taken care of at some point, and to allow it. It's been suggested few times before. With dried meat & fish I'd like to either add soakig options, or to auto-lengthen the cookery times when such ingredients are used.
Shelter(s), rain&snow cover, mobile winter hunting.
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5496.0
--- Quote ---I can't come to accept that people 1,000, 2,000, 3,000... even 6,000 years ago would've not used some hides (tanned hide, fur coat, fur cloak in URW terms) to set up overnight shelter during inclement weather. To be taken down in the morning and heading back on the unknown wilderness.
So the suggestions:
1) 'Loue' shelter
2) fur ... bivouac?
3) More than 1, moddable shelter/world item type... ( this could be a PAIN to code... ick)
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What was used commonly was to rest under big thick spruce trees, or to fell one spruce to lean against other to form so called "asentokuusi". Nothing more complicated was necessarily required, and that's what we'd like to feature.
I'm not sure if textile shelters in loue fashion will fit the era.
Auto select withes when building fences.
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5495.0
--- Quote ---Stakes are automatically selected from nearby&inventory when building fences, but withes need manual selection from inventory.
It’d be easier if the game would auto select the withes nearby. If no 4’ withes nearby, then ask to select cord or rope sections from inventory.
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Yes, it's a bit cumbersome. Upon first adding withes I kind of wanted to have fences to be built with withes alone. That would streamline fence building
as only number of withes could required, and would also be true to the tradition. But as we've allowed using other cordage too, in length based units, this is how it goes.
Easiest solution would be to always withes in fence building, other solutions are more demanding. One way could be to add preferred tying equipment mechanics
which would then select withes automatically if available.
family ties in the village?
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5494.0
--- Quote ---Hmmm ... there are children, old people and girls in the villages. It is obvious that they all have a family connection with each other. I would also like to know the age of the hunter from the neighboring village, whom I help. This could be a separate issue in the dialogue: Tell me about their family / about themselves. Residents could answer: I am a son (name) and (name) to me (age) and I have a wife (name) I am a hunter. They can only answer if they have a good relationship, if they are bad they will probably answer: I am not talking to you about this, traveler
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We'd like to feature this, the family relationships between the villagers. We've always wanted to feature this, but it has gotten buried under the...well...the usual evergrowing workload of other things. The age and other little details would also bring in more depth to NPCs.
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NPCs consuming food
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5473.0
--- Quote ---This would likely be a massive overhaul.
But it’d be F’n amazing if NPCs would consume food.
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I'm under impression all the NPCs do consume food already, and village communal food consumption should happen as well.
Dog size to affect prey they’ll engage
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5483.0
--- Quote ---Suggestion to change how dogs corner or engage targets
Keep “regular” size dogs as is.
Change small dogs to only engage squirrel/marten/weasel size and corner fox/badger/beaver and bigger. No attacking Njerps with small Fido.
Change large dog to engage all but bears, elks except calves, big and regular forest reindeer.
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I don't know if it's good to have the dog hunting behaviour linked to their size alone, but there could indeed be difference in their effectiveness as hunting companions. What I'd like to do would be that you need to train you dog to go after the prey. They wouldn't all be equally courageous and obedient from the start. Well, villagers surely would have their hunting companions trained but certainly wouldn't want to sell their best ones too easily.
NPCs to use exactly same movement rules as player character.
https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=6177.0
--- Quote ---Be it walking or running in snow or swimming, paddling on raft, enable exactly same movement for NPCs as character deals with.
No more skiless robbers running in waist deep snow to catch up to grandmaster skier.
No more character peppering Njerpez from watercraft without chance of the hostile to swim over and climb or capsize the vessel.
No more NPCs waltzing through traps. Have them at least kick the trap 1st to trigger them.
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Skiing NPCs and snow penalty for NPCs has been suggested and talked many times before and it would be justified, good and reasonable, and surely to-do when time allows.
From coder's point of view, the magical "allow" button doesn't exists, and many NPC movement related enchancements need to be approached as separate and often surprisingly complex additions.
NPCs always triggering the traps they can avoid ie. walk past them has been discussed before and the conclusion is and still remains that it's not the best approach but would be sometimes only annoying.
The End
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