Low HP Visual or Audio signal, Healing Spell for others and townupgrading quests?

[ark626]

Since i often just don't realize if im on low HP or even forget about it how about a alert signal (which maybee is deactivatable in the menu) which comes up if a player is below 25% health?

Maybe an audiosignal like in Zelda or a lightweigh screen transition into red or sth like that?
It could get less transparent the less health a player has.

My secont idea is a healing spell for those of us which want to play a supportive char.
The healing could be realized as a heal shot which only heals other players and not one self.
It could also heal enemys so you have to aim properly.

The last idea im not quite sure about.
Does anyone remember my favorite game Terranigma?
There where some quests which increase the growing factor of a village, so it could improve and more people move there. We have this kind of quests already in the Arcade. It also could be a great addition if we could visit this city in the Storymode for some sidequests so the arcade mode is also more chained to the story mode.

The player could depending on how far he got in arcademode visit the city/village arcadia and get some extra stuff there and some extra missions and gimmicks.

 

[Own]

A healing spell would wreck all the balance in the game I think, because HP is finite and MP is infinite. Sometimes you have to run away, heal up and re-equip to advance.

I also dislike it when games make the visuals of the screen change when HP is lessened as a visual cue. If anything, I guess it could put a red ring around your character's feet when you're under 25% HP...?

 

[ark626]

Thats also a possibility @Own mentiones there.
A red ring could be a nice Visual hint.
Just something close to the character because most time of my eyemovements are aimed at my character.

For the Heal there could be different preventions from unbalancing trough high EP costs and small healing amounts.
Maybe another idea for making support chars more attraktive would be an EP regeneration field around the supporter.

 

[MrChocodemon]

Maybe another idea for making support chars more attraktive would be an EP regeneration field around the supporter.

There will be a passive skills skilltree and there could be a healing aura skill. Or like a rare shield that's less durable but has a slow healing for the wielder (herb-shield, fairy-dust-shield, or something like that)

 

[ark626]

Sounds pretty nice, i dont play supporter chars often myself but i have some specific friends which love to play a supporter, and therefore i tought if even those two of my friends i know and which are in the beta love to play supportive there are more people which feel the same way.

But i also said and know that there are more skills planned also some passives and every skill has to go trough extreme balancing until it is working as fine as the existing ones

I am just like always throwing with some ideas

 

[Teddy]

We may add some sort of low health indicator if people feel it's needed! I agree with Own that it would probably look best as a small aura-ish effect below your character.

As for healing, Own pretty much nailed it.

A healing spell would wreck all the balance in the game I think, because HP is finite and MP is infinite

It makes a lot of sense in systems where sustained damage is more or less inevitable, like in WoW, where the tankyness of the tank and the healyness of the healer combine to create survivability. Our game has several mechanics that separates it from the MMO-approach, such as invincibility after getting hit and, as Own mentioned, an infinite amount of energy. Making the energy requirement very high would only make the healer play an even less active role.

I should probably mention that we actually had active healing in the game way back! We had both potions and a healing spell. They didn't mesh well with the rest of the game at all, and no-one of our testers back then complained when we simply remove them completely!

We'll keep our eyes out for more ways to bind together Story Mode and Arcade Mode! It sounds pretty cool to do quests in Story Mode which affects Arcade Mode. The potential problem is if some players like the Arcade Mode way better than Story Mode and feel "forced" to play something they don't enjoy... or maybe that's only good, giving incentives to keep doing Story content?

 

[Aurophobia]

I feel like most people that pay for a game will want to get the most out of what they pay for, and end up trying Story Mode to an extent. But I feel like you're right, there could be some kind of incentive achieved through playing Arcade Mode, as long as it doesn't make the Story Mode easier (like +exp% or extra skill points)...

What about slight perks like how the Arcade mode works? (Using the slot system, limiting how many can be equipped, and SLIGHT bonuses...maybe even unique ones like plus +1 movement speed with after-image aesthetic)

 

[ark626]

Maybee something. It hasnt to be a gigantic quest but some small things.
I mean it hasnt to force players into arcade or storymode but some small things to encourage players to try or even play the other mode would be nice.
Just some small things maybe two three little side quests on which you gain Visual items or a pet or sth.
That wouldnt force somebody to play it because there is no real purpose its only for fun aspects.

 

[Own]

I'd personally prefer Story and Arcade mode be kept completely apart, save for earning cosmetic items in one that can be used in another. For all intents and purposes, they're two different styles of game bundled into one.

 

[ark626]

what do you mean with cosmetic mode?