Vents design discussion with dev (spoilers)

[Misfits Attic]

(Edit: second part of this HERE )

Let's brainstorm shall we :)

So new players die at the hand of what we call "swarm" enemies. They seem to creep up from behind, and it's because (spoiler)

there are vents in the ship they can come out of. Now these vents do not appear as overlays, or on the schematic map at all.

EDIT: I'm realizing in some drone views it's really hard to make them out SEE IMAGE[www.dropbox.com](see red drone view), so in addition to below we need to fix that.

Some players, understandably, are confused by this and find it unfair. We have 2 options in my opinion (though lemme know if you think of something better):

1) We give vents an overlay icon and put them on the schematic. While the new player may not understand their significance, they'll still know *something* is there, and if they die that way can piece it together (some of the fun of discovery).

One of the reasons it was only in Drone View was to add more reason to utilize an differentiate the view. But I'm OK changing this because since then there's a lot of micromanagement in the Drone View (placing mines, positioning the Gatling, getting Twiki unstuck... ;) that makes it a valuable interaction now.


2) We could somehow draw the players attention to the vent the first time or two (possibly overtly) so they understand it's something to look for and has some significance.

Or is there another solution?

If you haven't played the game for very long, please indicate that in your response. Thanks!!

-Tim (Duskers creator guy)

[PeanutGalaxy]

the second i would think would be the best solution. haven't played the game long but the first time i realized i need to worry about vents was when i scanned a room and found an "enemy vent"

[Misfits Attic]

Hahaha, we should probably remove the name enemy from that, maybe something like "vent: possible infiltration point" or some such.

[PeanutGalaxy]

perhaps you can have scanning in the tutorial and pull attention to the fact that there is a vent in the room after we do scan it.

[DemonofRazgriz]

I like option 2 for sure, also mixed with the tutorial idea. I like the idea of discovery; I definitely had a "jumps out of chair" moment when I open one door that the motion sensor couldn't detect anything in and was a swarm. Also another with some "one hit kill" bug thing. Enjoying it for sure!

Maybe a subtle texture difference on the vents where a swarm could appear is all you need?

[PeanutGalaxy]

yea the surprise and discovery is important, but subtly calling attention to vents in the tutorial could be nice. they might not even need to say anything about it. just seeing the words "vent" pop up for those observant few would probably be enough to start putting the pieces together.

[Misfits Attic]

So we actually do make the vents "glow", but some drone views don't highlight it I think (I need to check, we just added those in and I didn't go back over everything, I think some don't show the projectiles from your Gatling as well.

[PeanutGalaxy]

then yea its probably not showing up, i didn't even know the Gatling has projectiles.

[thrAsher]

Vents are dirty, and I like them as is. Perhaps a little heads up in the tutorial where you see one and get some text like, "That vent looks somewhat large, there are claw marks around the edges," or something to that effect.

Yeah, I vote (2). You could even go a step further and add some text in the console when a vent gets used.

[LAJ-47FC9 (Liara)]

While option 2 contributes best to the feel of the game, I feel like option 1 makes the most sense. Although... maybe only let it pop up on the schematic view if you have the ship surveyor or run a shipscan.

[Jab]

I agree with Apscilara, the point of the scanner is to reveal everything in the room, when you start getting bigger derelicts, it's hard to remember where the vents are or even see them on the screen.

[TheDanishCorgi]

I think option one is a good idea. The static in drone view makes vents hard to pick out, and if you are without scanners or interface you tend to just run right into them.

[Professor Hugedix]

I think a way to create more awareness of vents would be for them to be interactable in some way, for example possibly upgrading probes to be able to travel through them, or potentially some kind of poison gas module that would fill a room and any connected rooms (through vents as well as open doors) to neutralize organic threats

if they were usable by the player then having them on the schematic view would feel more natural

[TheDanishCorgi]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Professor Hugedix:

I think a way to create more awareness of vents would be for them to be interactable in some way, for example possibly upgrading probes to be able to travel through them, or potentially some kind of poison gas module that would fill a room and any connected rooms (through vents as well as open doors) to neutralize organic threats

if they were usable by the player then having them on the schematic view would feel more natural

I like this. Maybe you could have a toggle in schematic mode to switch between room and vent view?
Or dont give the vents schematics at all - crawling around vents in the dark would be a tense experience.

Also theres a typo in the description for Ship Surveyor. Didnt know where to post it so I will just leave it here :D

[soul_darklight]

Possibly they should be shown with shipscan as you're using the ship's own sensors and they would be aware of them, I also like the idea that they should be interactable in some way, certainly a probe should be able to use them, maybe the use of pry to remove a grill or something first so that the probe can enter (thus explaining why the probes don't use them yet and also as a way to keep probes from venturing too deep into a ship at first.)

[Therlun]

I would greatly prefer option 1. Making them visible in the overview puts them directly in the players mind as something to look out for.

Keeping them from the schematic only makes it bothersome to track them all and doesn't actually add to the dangerous nature of gameplay in a fun way IMO.