My Feedback

[Shaldon]

(There are some spoilers for the first 5 chapters)

Hello Poetic,

I got up to Chapter 4 or 5, and have a few ideas:

More interactions with Talon
- Talon is supposed to be my constant companion, but the only time I truly interacted with him was once, when he needed to be fed. What is his personality like? Is he old or young? Is he dutiful, or temperamental? Does he get along with other people, or just my character (assuming I do not treat him terribly)? What is your character’s history with him?

2. Tie perception to character’s ability to perceive future consequences, or make the consequences of all decisions clearer
- While playing, my character had maxed perception and was good at getting along with others. However, there were either multiple situations where the consequences of my decisions should have been easy to perceive but not made apparent, made no perceivable sense for the current situation, or just not available as options.
- Through dialogue, it seemed like going to the watchtower would have given me an advantage against the Romans but would have prevented me from rescuing Raven, but the decision list did not indicate whether that assessment was accurate or not.
- During the prelude to the bear attack, what would putting Luan on my shoulders do? What was its purpose? Was it to help Luan feel safe, or was it a combat tactic?
- If a Roman soldier is dying a painful death you have three (not just two) options: walk away, cruelly twist the blade, or perform a mercy kill.
- It should have been readily apparent to my highly perceptive character that charging a well-equipped Roman legion with no backup was a bad idea. However, since there was no indication of any negative consequences for making that decision (other than failing the dice roll, which was easy to get around), I assumed my character knew something about the situation that I didn’t, and thus chose that option. Even with a 100% chance of success, my character still died.

3. Trait Ideas
- Voice of the World
Summary: You have spoken fewer words than anyone who is half your age, but when you speak even the wind stops to listen.
Effects: Increases all leadership abilities
Big 5 Model: Introversion
- Indomitable Focus
Summary: You broke your right arm when you were a child and it took half a day for anyone else to notice. When your brother asked you if it hurt, you said it was easy for you to ignore it.
Effects: Increases all mental resistances. Increases renown multiplier.
- Sacrificial Altar
Effects: When outside of combat you can sacrifice some of your wealth, experience, or renown points in return for goodwill, attribute (not limited by game start maximum), or mindset points. In addition, any character or people insights missed during normal play can be purchased at steep cost.
- Quick Thinker
Effects: Slight increase to all combat bonuses or events that require a split-second decision. During moments where time is a luxury, your first decision/rumination does not cost you any time. Your character can hesitate 4 times (instead of 3) before losing a motivation point.

4. Miscellaneous
- What year is it? Where is this game taking place (I am assuming that it is north of Hadrian’s Wall, but a lot of gamers don’t pay attention in history class)?

[poetic]

Hey there, well met. Thank you for your detailed feedback, and trait ideas, I appreciate it.

1. Yes, agreed, Talon could benefit from more interactions, but I have to watch the pacing of the story.

2. this is great feedback, making informed choices is important for immersion:
a) watchtower vs. ability to save Raven: good point, it should be clear
b) bear and put Raven onto your shoulders: it's a tactic - if the beast is not familiar with humans, it may perceive you as one creature with a more intimidating height, and is less likely to attack
c) dying enemy, the 3 options mean how horrible the pain:
- worst pain: twist blade
- 2nd worst pain: walk away and let him die on his own, which still takes considerable time
- least pain: end it quickly
d) charging a legion: this might be actually a bug, as there should be a clear warning "You need to get back to Etain now, or you'll certainly die." before the choices "Rush the legionnaires" and "Calm yourself and run for safety". Did the line not appear for you?

3. I love the 'Voice of the World' description "even the wind stops to listen", but I make no promises, as there is a delicate balance to the character stat system.

4. Yes, the game is inspired by ancient Caledonia. I was intrigued by the idea what changed and how long (or short) the peace lasted after erecting the monumental Hadrian's Wall. So the year would be roughly 130 A.D. when conflict erupts for the first time.

[Shaldon]

2c) I guess I was not as clear as I should have been. When faced with the decision regarding what I should do with the soldier, I could only see two options: twist blade or walk away, I could not see another option.
4) It is possible that the warning was there and I simply missed it, but I do not recall seeing it during play.

[poetic]

Ah, ok I understand now, thank you for the additional clarification. I'll double check the warning line. Cheers!

[Shaldon]

A few more trait ideas:
Flow of the World or Blessing Presence
Effects: Slight increase in success rate of decisions/actions performed by people you have a positive goodwill towards or have a positive/friendly relationship with. Slight decrease in success rate decisions/actions performed by people you have a negative goodwill towards or have a negative/hostile relationship with.

Healing Salve
Effects: Heals 2-5 hp per use. Can only be used outside of combat. Replenishes every 3 chapters and is limited to a maximum of 2 charges.

[poetic]

Thank you.

[Shaldon]

I am trying out the most recent build, and I have some additional insights.
1. In the game there are some decisions that give you +1 mp, which is rather vague as there are two different mp values, usable mp and maximum mp. In the game, it might be best to call the two values representing mp different names, and provide more clarity when making decisions regarding which mp value is being increased (example: Usable MP/Maximum MP). So, that decision should say: +1 Usable MP, to remove any chance of confusing the player.
You might want to do the same with hp (example: Current HP/Maximum HP) if you have any decisions between chapters that increase those.
2. In the Outfit tab, I have no idea what the Comfort stat does. Also, the only way I know my current outfit stats is by mousing over the symbols representing each clothing item. Might I suggest having the outfit stats as a permanent fixture on the left side of the screen with their own tooltips when you mouse over them. I would also suggest you consider doing the same thing for the Mindset, Renown, and People tabs unless it makes the screen too cluttered with information.
3. I have only played this game with two distinct characters so I could be wrong about this next insight: this game does not seem to reward having high attributes. My first character had a perception base value of 10; though that might not have given me the speed to completely dodge an arrow shot my way (since that archer had sighted me before I sighted him), my high perception should have given me enough situational awareness to avoid tumbling into that thorny bush right afterwards. My second character had a base strength of 12, and it still took him the better part of a day to carry that deer back to camp. Would having an intellect of 10 unlock more hidden mindsets than if my character's intellect had been a 6? Would having an empathy of 14 unlock more character insights than if my empathy had been a 3? Rewarding players for this would substantially increase the game's replay value as it would incentivize players to experiment with their character's attributes. It would also deepen player immersion and give them a better sense of control over the outcome of a given situation.
These are just some possibilities:
Higher Strength = You obtain more wealth while scavenging (since you can carry more).
You are less encumbered by heavy loads, allowing you travel faster when carrying them.
Higher Perception = You have greater situational awareness, allowing you to avoid terrain obstacles more easily. You are able to find more valuable loot more quickly.
Higher Intellect = When your character thinks about themselves during play, there is a chance (possible example: 25% chance with an Intellect of 10) they will unlock a hidden mindset about themselves that was previously missed during play.
Higher Empathy = You obtain more goodwill points. When your character thinks about another character during play, there is a chance (possible example: 40% chance with an Empathy of 10) they will unlock a hidden insight about that character that was previously missed during play.
Higher Agility = You are able to sprint faster.
Higher Endurance = You can sprint or run for a longer period of time.
Higher Favor = People you look upon favorably are more likely to succeed. People you look upon unfavorably are more likely to fail.

I will let you know if I have more ideas.

[poetic]

Hey there, thank you for your elaborate feedback, I appreciate it.

1) Yes, the distinction is there:
- "+1 mp" stands for changes to usable motivation
- "motivation max+" is used for increase in the motivation capacity, and this happens only in the rewards section at the end of Act 1.
The distinction is made also in the tooltips:
- "MP MAX" is used in character screen for motivation capacity
- "MOTIVATION" is used in dialogue screen for usable motivation
The same applies for vitality

2) It's not difficult to test, but yes, the screen getting too cluttered is a concern, as:
- the outfit tab is a little bit different from the other tabs, as I plan to add these arrows left and right side of the screen to go through visual customization options.
- people tab again needs room for tooltips when mousing over the character faces
- mindset and renown might have room for this

3) I understand that there is satisfaction to having a high attribute and seeing how the game rewards you for it.

And Sacred Fire does that, but it's not the base attributes you put points in in character creation on the left, it's the resulting compound performance stats you see on the right in character creation.

So it's just that you'd like a single base attributes to matter, but the ruleset says: a combination of several base attributes influences a situation most of the time:

Take for example your example of dodging the arrow:
- it's not just the sharpness of your senses (perception) that matters
- it's also the coordination of your moves, and flexibility of your joints (agility)
- and the (strength) of your muscles
determining how quickly you react and manage to get the hell out of there
- and thus it's handled by a 'speed' check:
- and the speed formula contains perception, agility, and strength

So it's just a more complex way of thinking about what factors influence success in common situations.

4) And each of these performance stats has tooltips explaining where it's useful and gives you an edge:

RESISTANCES
- fear resistance: speak up
- anger resistance: be patient
- pain resistance: apply reason, recall training
- blocks resistance: keep more of that hard earned goodwill

LEADER SKILLS
gain bonus for the whole battle sequence or duel:
- intimidate/provoke: mess with the resolve of your enemies (battle cries, taunts)
- encourage/calmdown: boost the confidence of your allies (see risk chain sequences)

PHYSICAL SKILLS:
- speed: attacks targeting limbs, dodge, used in all the action sequences
- force: attacks targeting body, block/parry, e.g. this is used in determining whether you pick up the deer without a fatigue penalty (so I don't track how fast you get back to the village, but there is a reward, or a penalty you can avoid for being strong in that situation)
- precision: attacks targeting head, counterstrike, used in archery, non-lethal knock downs, , renown feats in action sequences
- weapon damage and armor: used as you'd expect to determine hp loss

That being said, there are already story checks that reference an attribute directly (e.g. ideals, trust), simply because it's a good fit for the story action, but it's not common.

5) Regarding replay value:
- I consciously avoided using attributes and their values as gate keepers, as I don't want to force players to reply the entire game just to unlock a different branch/ending.
- there is no automatic success in Sacred Fire. The whole design is to have a character that has weak and strong sides, and I'm happy with how you can feel when replaying the game, that one build has a harder time in scenes that previously seemed easy and vice versa.

6) Dynamic rewards:
One of the key rewards is already dynamic - that's what renown multiplier is all about, and several of the base attributes trickle down into it.

7) Overall I think it's a matter of the game tracking and attributing value to different things than you would expect from traditional RPGs, while not cluttering the screen with ALL the rewards, or ALL the factors that might come into play once you start thinking about the complex interaction between body and mind.

Also the design doesn't reward simple attribute min-maxing, but has prepared actual smart choices to be uncovered and that lead to rewards that others will simply miss, or spend more resources to overcome.

[Shaldon]

Alright, this clears up a lot of things for me, thank you.

[yaniv.bezerano]

i do want to do more with talon. and i LOVE the idea of healing salve.

[poetic]

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it.