Community input!

[Captainpatches]

Hello all,

We’d like to get everyone from the community more involved in the development and creation of The Other 99. In line with this we’re going to start asking for your input, ideas and thoughts on the game for a whole host of different aspects of the game. The question for this first post of these is a nice and broad topic:

“what feature/system would you like to be included/improved in the game?”

It can range from the obscure to the mundane, the outlandish to the inlandish! We want to know what you think would make The Other 99 a better experience for you and other players. We will then collate this feedback and start looking at it for future patches and features.

As you can probably figure, we’re working hard on our next patch for the game, but we always listen to everyone on the forums and we read every review. So post your ideas below and we’ll start looking at it for future patches and features!

Happy posting!

Cheers,
Burning Arrow

[Rainer]

Hello Alex,

My request will probably lead into disagreement, but according to your request, to get everyone from the community more involved in the development and creation, let me put my two cents in, please.

Your announcement:
We have also implemented a beta version of the save system which stays true to our permadeath approach to the game – when you die, your save file gets deleted.

My suggestion:
Please give us the freedom of choice to deactivate this option, so that the save file stays untouched and you can continue.
(Sure, it is necessary to reflect this into achievements and elevate the overall impact.)

Thx! & Cheers, Rainer

[Captainpatches]

Originally posted by Rainer:

My suggestion:
Please give us the freedom of choice to deactivate this option, so that the save file stays untouched and you can continue.

Hey Rainer,

Its definitely something we can do, how would you envisage it happening? some sort of tick box in a gameplay menu or something?

Cheers
Alex

[Rainer]

Originally posted by Captainpatches:

Hey Rainer,

Its definitely something we can do, how would you envisage it happening? some sort of tick box in a gameplay menu or something?

Cheers
Alex

Yes, this would be great to have it available as option in the gameplay menu.

[Rainer]

Hello Alex,

It’s me again, with another suggestion: Can you please add a function to disable the HUD/GUI for the purpose of screenshots?

Reason: There is a large screenshot community out there on Steam and I am part of it. ;-)
“The Other 99” could benefit from this community; spreading shots might gain more attention.
(The large open world environment will deliver content for amazing captures, I guess.)

Some groups: ..."feeling responsible to represent indie games"... :-)
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/games_are_art
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/fortscorner
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ScreenArchersGuild

Some examples: (games done it right)
Dinosaur Forest (press B for HUD toggle)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/506730

Veilia (press 0 for HUD toggle)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/516920

Valley (using developer console command "togglegui" will eliminate player GUI)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/378610/

Thank you in advance and regards, Rainer

[Captainpatches]

Yeah I really like that idea Rainer, cheers for the recommendation and I'll add it to the list!

Cheers,
Alex

[Handsome Mr. Death]

Suggestions:
-way more characters. The game suffers a great deal by encountering the same few models. There needs to be a much much larger variety of characters.

-much more dialogue should take place during the encounters with the other 99. Again, i few the game would benefit and provide much more depth if actual dialogue occured with the characters as opposed to the "don't hurt me i don't wanna kill you" or the usual taunting. Not everyone person waking up on an island would immediately resort to violently attacking the first person they see..

-increased environment interactivity if at all possible. I kept on encountering metal beams, junk, etc and would like to be able to pick stuff up an carry it. It will definitely increase the game's immersion level.

In closing....the concept is brilliant and i would definitely like to see this game fluorish but at this point in time it feels far to short of its potential. I fear this concept will get stolen and ported over to the cryengine or the like.

[Captainpatches]

Hey therealmogwai,

Thanks for the feedback its always incredibly helpful to hear what our players think about what should be improved.

We totally agree on getting more character variety into the game and we're looking into improving their visuals, animations, behaviours and reactions and we hope to be bringing that into the game as soon as possible.

We're hoping to get some more environmental interaction into the game when we introduce the crafting systems into the game. Just as a quick question, What sort of things did you want to be able to do with the stuff you can pick up and interact with?

Again thank you for the suggestions, it really does help us to improve the game and with community support we can keep pushing to make The Other 99 something really unique.

Cheers,
Alex

[Handsome Mr. Death]

I feel the need to clairify one of my previous requests. The interaction between the other 99 inhabitants of the island specifically. Previously i had stated that there should be more dialogue....i just wanted to clairify that i didn't mean cut scenes and the like. I just feel all the inhabitants should have personalities as this is a single player game and not a deathmatch multiplayer game.

with regards to interactivity, i feel the character should be able to pick up objects and be able to interact with them..ex, move wood crate, throw a rock, use large scrap metal or wood as sheild etc. Basically how a human would react if they were put into those circumstances. Maybe even be able to fortify themselves from the other 99. but that definitely would require more examining.

In addition to those ideas mentioned please consider also; adding animals (definately would add a whole new dimension of immersion and variety to the encounters), not just males but females, children, families perhaps. It would be neat to encounter a family who are scared out of their minds, etc.

just some thought

[Handsome Mr. Death]

Also PLEASE include remapping of the controls...PLEASE. not everyone plays with the standard layout

[Soundcreepy]

Game is really really cool already, can't wait to see whats in the crafting tab though, being able to make your own bone club or food types is going to be awesome!

[Captainpatches]

Hey Soundcreepy,

Thanks for that! We've got some really cool ideas for what we want to do with the crafting system and how it'll feed into the game as a whole, keep an eye out on our announcement pages for updates and we'll keep you posted on any changes!

Cheers,
Alex

[hotmatrixx]

during ealy beta, perma save might be nice..... but I really think that perma death was part of the attraction and the fear and the hrill for me.

must have int eh next patch;
Rebindable keys (the default combat keys are awful - utterly horiffic to use)
That tutorial for combat needs to be revisited or removed; it gets in the way. it actually gets me in trouble. Either slow combat down during it, or have a disable after first use button somewhere. having all the other stuff... press V etc is fine...

other immediate stuff (2nd run through)
the gamma doesn't remember its setting on load... until you go into settings, then it's fine.
a gamma "barely visible" bar like most games so we can see the intended brightness that you wanted for us to have.
Music. gawd its obnoxious in a stealth game; default that to like 30% please.
food / water seems to run out way too fast. the stamina/health mechanics are genius, but you need to be a bit more generous with them. I have to eat every 5 mins to stand up straght.

[Hazza_Bui]

Hey hotmatrixx,

Sorry for the late reply - we've been hard at work on the next patch, and this post must have slipped past. Thanks for your feedback - it's great to hear what you like and dislike, and it genuinely does make a difference to our development of the game.

Perma-death (with saves getting deleted when you die) is definitely a mechanic we like, but as we work to get things like combat and the survival system balanced, we didn't want to punish people that want to spend their time exploring in our game. Hence, the introduction of an option to disable perma-death, although we will continue to review systems like these, as development progresses.

Rebindable keys are on the roadmap - they may make it in to our next patch, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee that.
We hear you about the combat tutorial, it's an area we are currently looking at various ways of improving, so bear with us on that.

The gamma correction not automatically applying sounds like a bug - I'll add it to our bug tracking, and try to get it resolved asap.

There are some changes coming in to the music/sound mix of the game in this next patch, so look out for those. In the meantime, there is an individual control for the music volume in game, which should allow you to drop it down significantly.

We're glad that you like the stamina/health mechanic, and we are making a few changes to the way you can gather food/water throughout the world, which will hopefully address your concerns around that (although, maybe not in the way you would expect).

I hope this sheds some light on to what we are working on, and lets you know that we are absolutely listening to your feedback. We look forward to any feedback you might have on the next patch!

Thanks again,
Harry

[hotmatrixx]

Originally posted by Hazza_Bui:

Hey hotmatrixx,

Sorry for the late reply - we've been hard at work on the next patch, and this post must have slipped past. Thanks for your feedback - it's great to hear what you like and dislike, and it genuinely does make a difference to our development of the game.

Perma-death (with saves getting deleted when you die) is definitely a mechanic we like, but as we work to get things like combat and the survival system balanced, we didn't want to punish people that want to spend their time exploring in our game. Hence, the introduction of an option to disable perma-death, although we will continue to review systems like these, as development progresses.

Oh I understand; I think having a save file is important for beta; and just remove it on full release of the game

Rebindable keys are on the roadmap - they may make it in to our next patch, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee that.
They Made it, woot woot!

We hear you about the combat tutorial, it's an area we are currently looking at various ways of improving, so bear with us on that.
I'' go play it soon, and see what I think (thats what beta is for, right?)

The gamma correction not automatically applying sounds like a bug - I'll add it to our bug tracking, and try to get it resolved asap.
i think is bug, I might run screen recording on next load and post it for you. Still think it wants a gradient-test thing during setup, like most AAA titles do. I know, it's beta, not a priority.... but add it to your roadmap.

There are some changes coming in to the music/sound mix of the game in this next patch, so look out for those. In the meantime, there is an individual control for the music volume in game, which should allow you to drop it down significantly.
Oh I know i can change it (zero). Just feel the default / first load settings are too high.

We're glad that you like the stamina/health mechanic, and we are making a few changes to the way you can gather food/water throughout the world, which will hopefully address your concerns around that (although, maybe not in the way you would expect). well, about to play, will let you know; but i realized after that post on the next run, that I had been crouching the whole time and my stamina/etc lasted... much longer the next time. still may have wanted tweaking regardless tho. Maybe a 'crouch' indicator? the FOV adjustment may help with letting you know, actually.

I hope this sheds some light on to what we are working on, and lets you know that we are absolutely listening to your feedback. We look forward to any feedback you might have on the next patch!

Thanks again,
Harry

[Hazza_Bui]

Hey hotmatrixx,

Glad you saw the new patch, and that some of your suggestions made it in :)
Especially the rebindable keys - I was working on that at the time I wrote my original response to your post. We weren't planning on including it in the patch, so I didn't want to say we'd definitely add it, but I managed to finish it up that evening and test everything - woo!

We got a few changes to the combat tutorial in to this patch, but we expect to spend more time revisiting it for V0.6, so watch this space.

The gamma correction stuff - you're absolutely right that the gradient test would be useful, and we want to add it, but exactly as you identified, it's not a priority at the moment. We did (I think) fix the bug with gamma not automatically applying though, so that should help!

Again, we didn't get a huge amount of time to play with music volume in our sound mix, but we did bring in a new music piece for when you're in stealth (crouched), which hopefully helps with the stealthy feel of the game. Let us know what you think of it!

We made a few changes to survival based on yours (and a couple of other peoples) feedback, so hopefully that will help. We also added in that FOV change for when you're crouched, again let us know if it works for you!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the patch, and keep the feedback coming for V0.6!

Thanks again,
Harry