Archive for the ‘Metroplexity’ Category
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
From the “things that have been bothering me for quite a while” department, there have been some changes to how avoiding choice encounters works.
The Change: Every five choices you avoid in one day cost an Energy.
Why this was bugging me: A bunch of reasons, actually. For which I shall bust out that time honored tradition: the bulleted list.
- For a game that’s largely about having to deal with the consequences of your own actions, being able to ignore most choices at no cost is pretty lame.
- In many areas, it allowed you to basically choose which encounter you want at no cost. Which is completely not the point, made an entire class of effects less useful than they’re supposed to be, and rewards an irritating, clicky playstyle.
- It didn’t really follow to me from an in-world perspective. Obviously, this isn’t a huge deal, but there’s only so much time you can spend wandering around somewhere, even if nothing you’re interested in happens.
- It made creating new content a much larger amount of work and encourages lazy design on my end. This is why it happened now, actually, because I’ll be launching into the meat of the Survivors’ Quest after GenCon and that includes a ton of content I’d rather spend time making awesome than compensating for skipping.
I’m making cookies pretty much all day today (long story), but will hopefully have some exciting content-related news this weekend.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Choices
Posted in Updates
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Just a couple updates over the last few days, mostly bug fixes.
- The Gang Warfare subscreen shouldn’t get confused between offense and defense anymore (it was displaying control of the area after successful offense). Excellent catch, Mag!
- The Southside Park quest should prevent you from getting Carlos and the bum on your side at the same time now. Thanks for finding this one, Wyrd.
- Fixed a bug with certain stranded sailors counting twice in the Ghost Ship quest. Thanks for the excellent bug report, Juntao.
- Corrected some problems with watching Television healing more than just chillin. Thanks Rykar and The Kitchen Sink!
- Your character pane should now refresh after getting beaten up by Shard, rather than showing you as having hit points. Thanks for the bug report, Mr. Green!
- And, last but not least, corrected some typos from Rykar, Borkman, and Thrillhouse. Thanks!
Also, the Living Sludge enemy, from the shoreline, now… interacts with the containment suit. Good suggestion, Argeth.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Argeth, Borkman, Bug Fixes, Mag, Mr. Green, Rykar, The Kitchen Sink, thrillhouse, Wyrd
Posted in Bug Fixes
Friday, July 31st, 2009
The old healing system is one of the first things that went in and wasn’t particularly elegant. Basically, resting was too good to allow other healing any room to breathe.
So, I’ve gone through and tweaked things. We’ll see how it works out.
Here are the basics:
- Resting heals less. Not a ton less, but less.
- Healing items heal more. Also, items that provide pure healing no longer cost body.
- However, medicine can only do so much. When you use that sort of healing items, they decrease in effectiveness until you rest.
Give it a shot, see what you think. I don’t honestly think it’s a huge change, more of a groundwork for future healing goodies, but I wanted to explain why you were getting less HP back resting.
Cheers!
Kinak
Posted in Updates
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
There’s something kind of nice about tiny content upgrades. Good for the spirit, I think.
- There’s now another source for the Ghoul Bite Technique. Thanks for getting me started on this one, Shademaster00.
- One of the side benefits of leaving donation items up for a while is that I can add new things for them to grind… er, do, without feeling bad.
- Targets won’t continue to suffer damage from venom after they’re dead. Thanks, bonbon!
- And thanks to RazielSonOfKain for some typo eradication.
Oh, and I added a new salvage/chemistry item a while back and forgot to mention it. So, yeah, powdered glass… tell your friends.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: bonbon, razielsonofkain, Shademaster00, Updates
Posted in Updates
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
It’s time for another round of updates reports. Just a load of small stuff, for the most part.
- Everyone’s favorite bum now gives more Techniques when you train with him.
- Changing avatars now works properly in Opera and IE. Thanks for the bug report, fr00d.
- Sending profits to your smuggler now works properly when hitting enter. Good note, Valera!
- If you’re using the “Metros in Header” option under account options, it’ll now be hidden while you’re inside the Slags. Good suggestion, Lord Finisher.
- The classic handgun recipe now displays properly. Good catch, Juntao!
- The inventory screen will say when you have nothing equipped, rather than skipping straight into the list. Good suggestion, ManMobile.
- Corrected an issue where multiple puzzle box moves would do the same thing. Thanks PaidPiedPiperPal!
- The ordering of hideout upgrades on the hideout screen should be consistent across areas, regardless of what order you bought them in. Good call, Olaf.
- Fixed a bug where area of effect attacks can cause too much damage under special situations. Thanks, Valera!
- Also, thanks to Mag, PaidPiedPiperPal, and Wyrd for helping me squash some typos.
Status wise: I’m in crunch mode trying to get the first block of Survivors’ Quest content out before Gen Con rolls around. If it ends up being a trade between time and quality, though, I’ll put it off until after the Con.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: fr00d, Juntao, Lord Finisher, Mag, Man Mobile, Olaf, Survivors' Quest, Valera, Vholes Piper, Wyrd
Posted in Updates
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
There’ve been a couple updates recently, just want to post them so we be all up to date.
- Completely revamped the luxury foods smuggling. You get more foods as your smugglers build up connections with the upper crust. New foods have also been added and existing foods have had their Energy decreased.
- Corrected a major mall bug where old orders weren’t copied over properly when you reclaimed your items with reset. Big thank you to PaidPiedPiperPal for being the guinea pig on this one!
- Skill levels on other people’s skills now show their level, not yours. Thanks Mag and others for harassing me until I implemented this :)
- Joining chat while you’re in a gang now defaults to being in both Open and Gang, rather than just Gang. Thanks Llamaman, RazielSonOfKain, and Mag for brining this one up.
- The quest log entry for helping out Angela should now appear after you help her out. Thanks for the bug report, Zelandoni!
- We also have some typo fixes from Thrillhouse, Arcturas, PaidPiedPiperPal, and Rykar.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Arcturas, Bug Fixes, Llamaman, Mag, razielsonofkain, Rykar, thrillhouse, Vholes Piper, Zelandoni
Posted in Bug Fixes
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Just wanted to post the updates from the last few days.
- There’s a new melee Technique snuck in. Thanks to PaidPiedPiperPal for the suggestion.
- Items with Neural Links (allowing you to play Neural Recordings) are now labeled in their effects. You can still use them from your inventory.
- Names on the Recruitment pane in the Gang Screen now link to people’s profiles. Good suggestion, Mag.
- Broke up a confusing choice between “rushing in to help” and “rushing in to kill people” on the pre-quest Docks. Thanks, Argeth!
- Buffed brass knuckles so starting melee would have a little more beatdown potential. Thanks for starting this conversation, Jick!
- Pressing enter in the gang stash sale fields doesn’t always sell arms. Thanks, Valera!
- Fixed some weirdness with the Prototype Coat use ability. Thanks, Zelandoni.
- Also, thanks to Zelandoni, Insanity Prawn Boy, Mag, and Queztatlapoca for help finding some typos.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Argeth, insanity prawn boy, Jick, Mag, Queztatlapoca, Valera, Vholes Piper, Zelandoni
Posted in Updates
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
We have a new item at Zack’s House of Coins, the Prototype Coat.
It’s the first one coin donation item, being far less complex than the puzzle box. Even so, I couldn’t really help myself, most of the coat’s abilities will probably still need a bit of figuring out.
Like the puzzle box, it’s a bit of a swiss army knife, but the way it achieves that is totally different. Anyway, I think it’s pretty damned cool and effective without as complex and fidgety. I hope you like it.
Also a couple changes real quick:
- The Gang Warfare pane in the Gang tab will give feedback based on whether you’re actually ready for gang warfare (having engaged in enough combat since opting to join).
- Modify checked in messages now gives feedback on what it did. Thanks for the suggestion, Mr. Green.
- The quest log now gives appropriate feedback if you’ve deleted Mikhail’s message. Thanks for the head’s up, Soulmech!
- And some typo fixes from Thrillhouse, The Kitchen Sink, and Rykar. Thanks you three!
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Donation Items, Mr. Green, Rykar, Soulmech, The Kitchen Sink, thrillhouse
Posted in Updates
Monday, July 13th, 2009
- There is now more dialogue in the Slags quest to represent quite reasonable hesitations. Thanks for the suggestion, Wyrd!
- The Squatter’s Son quest will now give more feedback in the completed section of the quest log. Good suggestion, RazielSonOfKain.
- Fixed another interesting wrinkle in Petrol Splash. It should stun consistently against more complex Techniques now. Thanks for the quality bug report, Harrakan.
- Fixed a bug with the pitted thermos being replaced by a nonexistant item in drops. Good find, Llamaman.
- Removed the vestigal credits field from the replying mail form. Thanks, Harrakan.
- Corrected an issue with gang warfare messages not appearing after yesterday’s chat changes. Thanks for the bug report, Dudeathome.
- Also fixed up some typos from Borkman, Mag, and Man Mobile. Thanks!
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Borkman, dudeathome, Harrakan, Llamaman, Mag, Man Mobile, razielsonofkain, Wyrd
Posted in Updates
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Nice lazy Sunday here so I decided to catch up on requests and bug reports.
Mail
First off on a nerfy topic: due to a lot of feedback, I’ve removed the “send credits” options from messages early. There will be a gift system related to OmniMall eventually, but folks were insistent sending credits was an issue now and I tend to agree, so it’s gone.
On more exciting mail note, there’s now a ‘Delete All Unsaved’ button that you can use to clean up your inbox in one fell swoop. Be careful, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Fixes
Chat messages dating from the same second shouldn’t dance around anymore. Thanks to The Kitchen Sink for the bug report.
Fixed a display error when making complicated sell orders in OmniMall. Thank you, Valera, for the quality bug reporting.
Also, we have some typos from The Kitchen Sink and Artie Effham.
Random Note
A few items will probably mysteriously show up as electronics craftable in the next few days. Don’t worry too much if they don’t combine with anything you can get yet.
Cheers!
Kinak
Tags: Artie Effham, Credits, The Kitchen Sink, Valera, Vholes Piper
Posted in Updates
