Just finished first playthrough

[Takkik]

Discovered the game by some random youtube let's play and it's a pleasant surprise. My first run was quick and I must have missed many thing. Be able to lockpick feel like the easy way around.

A few observations :

- Could be great to have a summary of the rules/dice roll before character creation, and a note on what is the average/max stat/skill.

- Skill check don't show the difficulty before trying them (outside of a danger sign if too hard?) and if you can repeat the check. The game could show the hard,tricky,challenging etc... on the option ?
It was something Disco Elysium done great, with ability to reroll when spending 'stats' or skill points. Perhaps add the option to reroll locked rolls after leveling, or spending HP (pushing yourself, the cost of HP depending of the difficulty vs your skill), that would make HP interesting outside of combat.

- Strength and weight you can carry : Lot of RPG have this problem, I can understand you want draw back to low STR, but managing your inventory quickly become a nightmare! Noticed in one thread you're working on be able to manage follower inventory (great, a must have).

on top of that you could add items like backpack (increase weight you can carry but make you easier to be hit and can't enter vents) or belts ( a tool belt where you can put only tools that don't count in your maximum weight).

Another option that really miss, with all the hacking/tinkering you can do, you can't hack a camdrone and turn it to a companion ! Hacking could allow to download new programs/upgrading them to improve it's skills. With tinkering you could modify it, transforming it in a mobile turrets or a pack mule. Could be a great thing for tech builds. A stat like focus or hacking could control the maximum number of drones you can have.

- Visibility : I find it's really hard to navigate in small corridors/rooms. Could implement an option on the UI to hide all the walls and only show interactive ones like vents & doors.

Looking for the release of the game.

[Kamaz from Pahris.Entertainment]

Thank you for the feedback!

You can, actually, hack and turn cambots (or other robots) into allied companions using a special "gun" called Interceptor. Though, it requires some tech expertise and components.

[Takkik]

oh great. Just noticed you need a really high speech to unlock some dialogue options like recruitment. Do you need to max a stat/skill to unlock extra options?

Look like at 1 bad things happens (like "blabla" from focus, or break computer when try to operate them with hacking).

I balanced a character stats, with 3 charisma/speech my top, and really got the feeling I was missing lot of stuff, like NPC dialogues going no where. Perhaps it miss some extra options for average characters? or a way to boost stats (like drugs or gear) I missed ? Or the game really encourage you to min/max to get the most fun out of the interactions ?

I mean it really felt like I was hitting dead ends because of my stats, like impossible to explore bottom layer because I can't combat or dialogue going no where. The game should feel complete without taking into account the stats. The stats are the extra layer that color all the experience, like 1 focus (or 1 INT in fallout) that make you rediscover the game.
That doesn't mean you should be able to do everything, just that you should not FEEL like your stuck out of all the fun.

Perhaps color code stats, like red at 1 so you know it's bad (but perhaps at same time you need one to get inside vents?). And 5 is the game maximum, or character creation max ? Can you increase your stats later ?

With my average character (dumped down str and combat), got the feeling of an average playthrough. Perhaps it's the intention. But in games like disco Elysium or Torment, even without min/max you get 'cool' interactions and when you max stats it feel like you discover some secrets.

One last thing, after opening the fuel tank you loose all dialogue options with the scavengers. I really though helping them would make them more open to you but instead it close all the interactions. Felt frustrating.

[Takkik]

look like I missed lot of stuff. Here some bugs/problems I encountered.

- Ingrid quest line is locked behind you examining a specific computer. She should point you toward looking for this computer if you missed it before talking to her and start the quest.

- The point of this quest is to bypass some security stuff, if you have enough hacking you can completely ignore/bypass it (and get no reward?). I haven't tested, but need a special dialogue with ingrid if you hack the computer before talking/starting the quest.

- If you're hacking is too low, well you can destroy the keypad to the VR room and be blocked if you have a too low lockpicking too.

- You should be able to get the infirmary supply quest even with a low CHARM. Or the quest is just an excuse and so remove it from the log after the bed event. I followed the girl to the ship before completing it, and since she stay after that in the ship it's impossible to continue ?

- So anyone should be able to start the quest, and at the end of it, if you have enough charm you can get the special reward.

- I asked the big nerd to stay somewhere after he was following me, but I never got the option to allow him to follow me again.

- Why on earth do you need the hacking skill to scavenge a drone ? Computer programming has nothing to do with mechanic/engineering.

- Miss a medical skill? (not implemented?) With all the drugs, chemicals etc... feel like it miss a skill.

- It's great to have a pacify ability in combat, but it's impossible to start a conversation afterward (example in the scavenger ship). In cases like that, really need a good old reaction roll based on your charm, so other humans are not necessary hostile to you, even if you're in a place you don't belong.

- Low stat/skill : Need to implement some interesting interactions when you have a low stat/skill. Example low STR allow you to use the vents.
Sometimes, destroying a computer could lead to an unexpected result, like you're so bad with computer you can destroy a keypad and open the door! Or special dialogues options/reactions to low stats/skills.

- I never met a STR, FOCUS, WORK check. Only one hacking check in dialogue with the dungeon master.

[Takkik]

just discovered that you have a stat tab in your inventory and that give you the effect of drugs.

Ingrid dialogue talk about a security terminal, but at my first play-through failed to see the hint of some quest. And look like it's impossible to hack the quest computer, even at 5 tech skill it's labeled 'impossible'. My bad.

Look like any stats/skill under 3 is a big disadvantage. Just played my first low charm/speech game and you pretty much can't interact with NPCs (or need drugs). I haven't tested yet, but if you raise a skill/stat (through drugs or leveling) can you try again a previous test ?

One thing I found annoying is the relationship between the tech & tinker skill. If you want to craft anything you need both of them. That make Work stat mandatory (at least in the demo) making you a complete shut-in. And you need STR because carrying ingredients is a big pain.
And you can craft munitions & weapons, something not interesting in a build with no combat skills. The only fancying things, the hacking tool require both skill very high. On top of that, both tinker & tech skills are good by themselves with the number of locked doors and computer you can hack.
Feel like a very taxing profession to follow.

EDIT: got the feeling the crafting go against the design to restrict the number of stats/skills. Because it feel weird to not have an INT stat, or compared to fallout/arcanum & co lot of skills are missing.
I find that tinker as your lockpick/crafting only skill is fine, and the tech skill should be only used in hacking and interacting with drones/artificial NPC (if any in game). Some-sort of speech skill for machines, your ability to communicate with machines. That could open a special hacking combat ability (like the pacify ability) and more interaction with machines.

FOCUS & WORK stats should be used in some checks related to tech & tinker, like speech have Charm & Perception and combat STR & FOCUS.

[Kamaz from Pahris.Entertainment]

Alright, this a lot of stuff. I will cherry-pick something to respond and avoid trickier questions.

1) fuel bunker security control terminal is hackable. It is labeled impossible because the difficulty is 5+. However, if you have high scitec skill, it is more than realistic to hack it (dice goes up to +4).

In that case, there is actually a dialogue: https://i.ibb.co/z2r9NTp/image.png

2) first of all - even if you crash a terminal, there's still a way to gain access to it. You need to find a Computer manual, with this book for newbies you can get it working again. There is at least one guaranteed drop in the game and it is quite often a random drop in certain containers.

But, even then, you don't need the terminal to access the VR room. There is a keycard that you can find. In fact, most doors have corresponding keycards somewhere to be found. But even if you cannot find the keycard, there is an item called a Disposable plasma torch that lets you unlock any door, no matter the difficulty (you can craft it as well). And even then, you can get to the VR room using zero-G leap across the rooftops.

And, just for the record, that room is not mandatory for the main quest.

3) To start the infirmary quest, you don't need CHARM at all, you just have to be the right gender for her to trust you with this sort of matter. High CHARM is needed for that other * thing * but that's given since high CHARM corresponds to high sex appeal.

4) Case with Santa and two options is one of the examples of intentional exclusiveness - you can go down to either one or another path with this character because she does not want to do both things with you - one is for a friend, another - for a plaything, I guess. Either "choice" leads to a different status quo after the quest is done which can have drawbacks and benefits.

5) SCITEC is not the hacking skill, it is "science + technology", sort of "Nerdiness" and computers is just the most common application (as in real life :D). e.g. because you need to be familiar with robot technology to know what and where to look for, there is the scitec skill check. That is why scitec unlocks blueprints - it is your knowledge. In fact, there are blueprints that can be obtained and then crafted without any scitec rank at all. Probably should have added more of that in the demo.

6) stats.

Basic idea - you roll 4 d3 dices and add the sum (-4...+4) to the roll and compare it to the (hidden) difficulty. Difficulty can be anywhere between -4 to 9, but usually 1-5, quite often - 3 (normal).

Results tend to group following sort of normal distribution around 0 which corresponds to your attribute/skill level.

See this chart: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FUDGE_4dF_probability.svg

Your attribute level can be described something like this:

1 - terrible. You will have some real problems with this area in the game, e.g., unable to engage in conversations, could not follow long info dumps, very weak and fragile and so on.
2 - bad. You still can have some of these effects occasionally but to a lesser degree. Also, some lower-skill checks will now be open for basic interactions.
3 - slightly better than average. This is the * normal * rank. As many skill checks have difficulty 3, on average you should be able to pass these cases.
4 - good. You should pretty comfortably deal with most rolls. Additionally, some of the advanced features become available, e.g., with CHARM 4+ you can commandeer your followers directly - essentially taking them over on demand. In combat, it becomes more of Fallout Tactics than Fallout, as you can directly control your party members. Cooler blueprints are unlocked for scitec and I think there are some new combat options.
5 - excellent. As good as you can get, this is the max rank, no drugs, no levels should yield more than 5. Rolls should be piece of cake.

Additionally, there is the concept of CRITICAL FAILURE which is when you roll below 0. This is when your screwdriver breaks, this is when the computer terminal crashes, and an NPC won't talk to you. That is why 1 and 2 are very likely to suffer a crit failure - it's very likely to roll below 0 with such a low base rank.

There is CRITICAL SUCCESS in the combat, AFAIK, based on the FOCUS attribute but it is less commonly used.

Rolls are often permanent - saved in the game state and rarely can be rerolled, even after level-ups or drugs. The game is intended to celebrate the failure - and I must agree itš not doing it too well because you have valid complaints - you are supposed to look for another way around if you fail a skill check. You are more likely to succeed in a skill check if you have higher stats (thus giving an impression that you should min-max which is not entirely true) however you can complete the game even if you fail every skill check in the game. Talking to NPCs is optional. Using computers - optional. Doors have keycards. You don't even have to carry a fuel cell.

There is a so-called "canonical route" - a way to complete the game without skills, where the gameplay is reduced to complete exploration of the location, almost like a quest. If you succeed in a skill check, you can access different routes, skip something but even if you fail everything, you still can find a way to progress.

My point is - yes, random (RNG) can be frustrating but you should concentrate on accomplishing the goal by any means possible. This game is very short as it is not an epic adventure like Skyrim but a short specialized run where you try to get the fuel chip and leave.

...I mean, that was the intention. As you know, players usually have the last word on how this should be played and what it is :D

7) Quickly in the end - I liked your suggestion for special interactions with low stats/failures. That, I think fits with the intended "embrace the failure" idea we had.

I also agree that something should be done with pacified enemies (NPCs). Unfortunately, it's not easy but thanks for raising this.

All in all, good stuff, thanks.

[Takkik]

thank you for your reply. Sorry for the long texts, I prefer to post as i'm playing or I forget (or loose the motivation).

I figured out the game system after multiple playthroughs, but would be great to have a resume at character creation (and tooltips later on). It's problem n°1 with cRPG, they ask you to create a character at the start but fail to let you understand the system. Even Disco have this problem. At least with baldur's gate, you got a mini AD&D2 manual in the box.

But look like I missed the scope of the game. True I played the demo thinking it's a game like Fallout/arcanum & co but you're aiming for a shorter experience ? Example the dialogues felt short my first playthrough with an average character but if you have 1-2 in diplomacy stats you pretty much have no dialogues. And you can skip the whole area if you're 'lucky' or know what to do (and perhaps even the next zone if you get the chip?)

1) I must have been unlucky, I failed miserably with 5 scitech toon!

2) I got a manual, but didn't get an option to reboot the keypad (it's a consumable? would be weird).

There is 2 VR room. One on the bottom you can access with a key and other one (VR suite) on the right with a keypad (key not working). the quest give me the keypad code and point me to this room looking for one guy access card.
With my low scitech & tinker and the keypad busted I'm stuck. And never found a plasma torch. I tried to jump between roof but it wasn't working. Perhaps I should have tried more. The path finding is tricky sometimes.

3) Never though it was the gender. Once I played with the default diplomacy character (a woman) but I though it was because of high charm / speech (bumped them to 5).

4) the problem is after following the girl on the ship, the quest is still open in your journal. That let me thing I missed something or the quest was bugged.

5) figured out scitech is like the old science fallout skill, but let's be honest that doesn't make sense even in fallout. Most scientist don't know how to hack a computer and most hackers don't know anything about robotic or spaceship engines ;)

The main problem in the demo is the investment cost to do crafting. One problem is that perhaps the blueprint available in the demo like you said. With a high Scitech or tinker, never needed to craft anything.
In comparison, getting a good charm/speech (easy) let you get lot of followers early on and offer lot of interactions. I'm getting the feeling crafting is intended as a more 'late' game thing you build overtime.

One big problem is STR. I tried to build the drone hacking tool (5 tech, 3 tinker and failed), but with 2 STR it's a nightmare to hunt for parts. Inventory managing is really not fun when you have low STR and it make any crafting too much pain for what you get (in the demo).
It's where it miss something, like be able to hack a basic cam drone at scitech 3, or repair a dmged one at tinker 3 that could follow you as a pack mule making crafting less dependent of STR. Increasing Scitech (4-5) could allow you to control more drones and hack more advanced ones. Better tinker (4-5) could allow you to modify them with better modules.

7) The biggest problem of pacified NPCs is that it would force you to write more dialogues options. Right now you can't even talk to them (and you can't approach them). Perhaps add an extra ability that let you turn previously pacified NPC to neutral (unlocked at speech 4-5). a Critical failure turn them back aggressive.
When you pacify, a critical success turn them immediately neutral.