Hey all,
Long time Doom RL player and forum lost soul, I’d like to throw some ideas out there.
This is actually more of collaborative idea list that me and a few other guys threw together. I wanted to shy away from the “kitchen sink” approach because everyone here has already suggested 1000 good ideas for uniques or challenge modes. This is more focused on fundamentals of why this game is great and how we can turn it up a notch (hopefully!)
The best feature of DoomRL (other than the fact that…it’s DOOM and its RogueLike ;) ) is the “persistence”. Meaning the more you play, the more your efforts carry over in to the next game, and the more you get out of it…the game is not a one shot deal. I’m sure everyone here has been through the “just one more game…one more rank…” at 3AM syndrome. The unlockables that came out a year ago were a great way to go. The best features will reinforce the idea: The more you play, the more you should want to play.
So lets get down to it…
Gamers love performance metrics/measurements. Pick just about any game in any genre and it’s the performance metrics that people love to improve and show off. In DoomRL we love our frags, we love our ranks, we love the challenge modes we unlock, and we love the Post-Mortems (like all RL games). Gamers are statisticians in their own world!
Let’s add a few dimensions of stats to DoomRL and from there we can add a host of new features (if practical). The goal here should tie the statistics back to the idea of a “persistent” game profile. We should want to improve them!
Some ideas include:
*Uniques/Artifacts discovered – Each game already tracks the artifacts discovered in that game. Make this a profile variable for use in a future possible feature discussed below.
*Consecutive Kills – A counter for each game that tracks the number of kills you have made without taking damage. Basically a ‘badass’ metric that will complement a BFG user ;). When you take damage, the counter resets, but the highest number it ever reaches is saved and there should be a profile maximum.
*Weapon usage – Track the weapons fired/used to determine “favorite weapon” at the end of every game. Make profile variables to determine how many times each weapon is tagged as a favorite across the careers of all our Doom marines.
*Level Upgrades – Track which upgrades the player chooses at each level. For instance, my profile know how many times I’ve chosen Eagle Eye. An example of a feature based on these stats is below.
*Levels Completed – Simple variable to track how many levels the player has finished. Some gameplay enhancements can be based off of the number of levels the player has survived in total. This would probably not be directly reported to the player in any stats screen, but it would be reserved for longevity rewards.
Once we have all these metrics, we can translate them in to meaningful game enhancements beyond simply throwing the stats back to the player. Here are a few of the simple ideas:
*Add a new page to the profile of the character that lists the Uniques/Artifacts that they have discovered over their many lifetimes of marines. If they haven’t discovered any, then have a big list of ----Not Discovered---- spaces on that page. I know if I saw a big list of stuff I haven’t done yet, I would definitely keep playing until that list is filled out! Perhaps you could bring up the stats of each item IF you have discovered them as well
*To take the above idea further…If the game tracks that a player has discovered a particular unique many times (say 5) , then this artifact can be guaranteed to spawn in Hell’s Armory – This would give the armory a more comprehensive purpose as well. Any player that has discovered the minigun 5 times is probably on his 600th game anyway and is reaching for the highest ranks/skill levels. This can help close the gap for advanced players who feel that the game gets ridiculously impossible to advance at a point.
*Medal system. If we have performance statistics, then medals are a good way to reward people who push the limits. Seriously, if someone score 30 consecutive kills as mentioned above, they should get a medal. A medal case can be another interesting screen in the player profile and would definitely be something we could share with others on the forum. Longevity medals can tie in with the levels completed statistic mentioned above. I know you guys can probably think of MANY different circumstances that deserve a medal (beating cybie in consecutive games, getting 100% kills, etc). Obviously Save-scumming will be an issue here.
*Favorites. We’re now tracking favorite weapons and favorite level upgrades, so lets put this to use. Lets say a person has been tagged as having shotguns favorited 50 times over his career. At this point it would make sense that this marine should start with a benefit to using shotguns (say a faster reload or fire rate). This person is probably already an advanced rank and is trying to get to the top. Likewise anyone who has picked TaN as a level upgrade say 500 times (over 150 full games), should probably start the game with TaN level 1 from now on. There should be minimum standards to prevent someone from just leveling once and dying to pump up these stats.
Some of these ideas may put the game balance in question, especially when we’re talking permanent upgrades to ‘new games’. It seems like a good idea to reward players who continue to play over and over again. A lot of my friends out here confirm that the game “bogs down” or progression gets so slow that they stop playing until the new version comes out…and even then they cant access new features because they cant seem to unlock them without resorting to save-scumming.
The whole idea here guys is to strengthen the ties between each individual game played to the game as a whole, much like when the rank/skill system was introduced. The more you play, the more you should be rewarded.
These are only a small list of the ideas but this post is getting waaay to long so please share your thoughts!
Cheers!
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Topic: Turning it up... (Read 7563 times)