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Legendary Items

#1
While I am really a fan of the nodal interface and the nodal research system( which gives procedural, semi-random increments to various tech when researched), I believe items that look and behave uniquely add a lot of personality to a game.

Do you think LT should have such items that could transform the gameplay and be acquired through generally obscure means? Of course, for the sake of game balance these items could provide benefits proportional to the player level.

For example- An engine with unique visual effects that also gives short range teleportation but with random teleport location(useful if you're being chased and hit by a whole faction)-Chaos Vortex Engine anyone? Of course, these items could be way cooler than this example. I would love to hear you guys. :D
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Re: Legendary Items

#2
Is this basically like how in a lot of RPGs, there are different levels of items? Some with, for lack of a better term, magical effects (but instead of magic it would be like just having a special effect)?

Example: The Diablo Series had tons of items, many of which were variations of the simple standard items you could get. So instead of a simple longsword, you could have a longsword that deals fire damage, or a plate armor that deals damage to enemies that hit you?

I'm just trying to make sure I understand what you are asking for.

So instead of say a basic laser, there could be a basic laser that is a different color and idk what else to enemy ships?

Sounds like something Thymine suggested with his item creation topic. He'll probably post in 30 seconds.
Image "Everyone needs to have their avatar's edited to have afros." -Charley Deallus
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Re: Legendary Items

#3
Umm.. No. Such items would most probably already exist due to the nature of the nodal research interface. I was talking about super-hard to get items that might actually change the gameplay. Its like unlocking powers in a game. For example, a shield system that would accumulate beam energy and then release it around itself in a blast, damaging nearby enemies. This would make beam weapons ineffective against the player and change how the player plays the game. Instead of running away from ships I'll run toward them. Of course, the shield could be made unstable for long periods or more susceptible to other kinds of damage for the sake of balance.
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Re: Legendary Items

#5
You won't. They will be very limited, very hard to get items that will be present in every playthrough. Each item will require individual attention for its creation, hence there will be very few of these in the game. Its like a trophy that might give players more fun than just incremental upgrades and be a symbol of their perseverence/luck etc.
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Re: Legendary Items

#8
Actually, take some freedom of thought from this and a little bit about the ideas in the threads that have research in them...

What if when you hyper-specialize in some research field, you have a chance to have a 'breakthrough' and generate something that would be akin to a legendary item?

Say I'm 20-30 nodes deep, and then get a breakthrough that is hyper-specific because I've kept researching the same things. It gives me an edge and rewards me for how much of my life I wasted money I invested in such things?

Since it would require such hyper-specialization, it would probably mean only those NPCs that actually specialize in research or one specific thing will find these and probably won't end up being so common.
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Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.
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Re: Legendary Items

#9
DWMagus wrote:[...]
This could work, however this approach doesn't really support exploratory-play so much as grinding/persistence (I know that if I keep specialising in a field, I'll likely get something awesome related to that field somewhere down the road), so it would probably appeal more to Achievers than Explorers. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily - just an analysis.
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Re: Legendary Items

#10
ThymineC wrote:
DWMagus wrote:[...]
This could work, however this approach doesn't really support exploratory-play so much as grinding/persistence (I know that if I keep specialising in a field, I'll likely get something awesome related to that field somewhere down the road), so it would probably appeal more to Achievers than Explorers. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily - just an analysis.
Then let's have it so that the more you research the higher your chance of making a breakthrough happen. It also means you can do it on your first research, just very very unlikely. Just like when taming minecraft horses. They said it was near impossible, but my very first attempt allowed me to tame the first horse I saw.

However, in regards to rewarding grinding; the idea is to reward research in general or those that specialize. To those people, they will have already put in this grinding anyways. We're just rewarding them without penalizing those that don't.
Image
Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.
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Re: Legendary Items

#11
DWMagus wrote:Then let's have it so that the more you research the higher your chance of making a breakthrough happen. It also means you can do it on your first research, just very very unlikely. Just like when taming minecraft horses. They said it was near impossible, but my very first attempt allowed me to tame the first horse I saw.
Yeah, this would be quite neat.
DWMagus wrote:However, in regards to rewarding grinding; the idea is to reward research in general or those that specialize. To those people, they will have already put in this grinding anyways. We're just rewarding them without penalizing those that don't.
It's a bit of both - some people will put the effort in anyway, and you'd be rewarding them. However, by introducing the mechanic in the original way you proposed, you'd provide an incentive for some people to grind through a research branch in the hopes of discovering a legendary item who otherwise would have stopped at some earlier point.
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Re: Legendary Items

#12
ThymineC wrote:It's a bit of both - some people will put the effort in anyway, and you'd be rewarding them. However, by introducing the mechanic in the original way you proposed, you'd provide an incentive for some people to grind through a research branch in the hopes of discovering a legendary item who otherwise would have stopped at some earlier point.
I hope the point would be to reward those that would be doing it anyways. No one should feel the need to go out of their way to grind something unless they really, really, really want it. Unfortunately, there really is no easy way to shortcut that either. If you put in some sort of metagame or minigame, it becomes gamey and if you try to make it skill-based, you remove the reward for those that would realistically spend that much in there. You could also try to put a lower limit on when a breakthrough may happen, but then you're still right back to where you started.
Image
Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.
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Re: Legendary Items

#13
DWMagus wrote:
ThymineC wrote:It's a bit of both - some people will put the effort in anyway, and you'd be rewarding them. However, by introducing the mechanic in the original way you proposed, you'd provide an incentive for some people to grind through a research branch in the hopes of discovering a legendary item who otherwise would have stopped at some earlier point.
I hope the point would be to reward those that would be doing it anyways. No one should feel the need to go out of their way to grind something unless they really, really, really want it. Unfortunately, there really is no easy way to shortcut that either. If you put in some sort of metagame or minigame, it becomes gamey and if you try to make it skill-based, you remove the reward for those that would realistically spend that much in there. You could also try to put a lower limit on when a breakthrough may happen, but then you're still right back to where you started.
Well it's a moot point because you redesigned the system so it's not an issue any more. I just remarked because I'm pedantic. 3:
Last edited by ThymineC on Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Legendary Items

#14
DWMagus wrote:Actually, take some freedom of thought from this and a little bit about the ideas in the threads that have research in them...

What if when you hyper-specialize in some research field, you have a chance to have a 'breakthrough' and generate something that would be akin to a legendary item?

Say I'm 20-30 nodes deep, and then get a breakthrough that is hyper-specific because I've kept researching the same things. It gives me an edge and rewards me for how much of my life I wasted money I invested in such things?

Since it would require such hyper-specialization, it would probably mean only those NPCs that actually specialize in research or one specific thing will find these and probably won't end up being so common.
Thanks for making the idea compatible with the existing system. :clap: :)
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Re: Legendary Items

#15
An alternative option:

Populate the game with some form of "Neverfindium": the rarest element in the universe. Make it so that it really is almost impossible to find it, and even if you do it's only in very small quantities.

Every now and again when you research a new node, one of the criteria that it generates is a bonus if you can construct it using Neverfindium. The bonus would be substantial, making the item considerably better than if constructed using normal materials.

To round it off, enable the player to name the item.

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