sxdoctor wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 6:48 pm
Gonna be worth the wait i'm sure! so far its been fantastic
Updated is out, have fun
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Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
Hello!
Hi !
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- In terms of difficulty, I was able to "beat" (fully clear the jungle, and reach day ~40 or so before I decided to just lose on purpose) the game with the first 4 points upgrades and nothing else. Whether that it is a good or bad thing, I leave to you :)
That's actually pretty impressive, I've had feedback that the game is too hard even with the Skill Tree maxed out. This makes me reconsider the current ST efficiency. I've been thinking about improving it for a while now, and v0.65 looks like it will be the version where I finally do it.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- Recipes seem really, really rare to drop (I think I only got 3 in my 40 days), whereas materials seem fairly common.
There was a bug causing the recipe rate to be lower than expected, got it fixed version 0.55 which just released to public, it seems to be much better now.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- Starting areas seem imbalanced. Basically Plains >> Forest, because Forest is just a lot more punishing/addiction-building, whereas Plains has several "gimme" fights that add 0 addiction and pose basically 0 threat once you understand the relevant gimmicks.
Noted, I'll keep an eye on it.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- The tavern job, at some point, basically becomes a free money button, because you can make enough gold to offset the gain in addiction, and then some. The only "cost" you pay is lust, but that's generally not a big deal.
Yeah, Tavern doesn't offer much risk if you know what you're doing... And I think that's okay? It's not that much money and reward players who decide to explore other game mechanics.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- I have mixed feelings about the game no longer being timed and instead relying on scaling. On one hand, I *really* like the evolution of some enemies into alternate forms, and to a lesser extent I think it's fine to have enemies get stronger. OTOH, the time limit in HC1 really forced you to push your luck and make tough decisions, whereas in this one it's a lot easier to take your time and play very safe yet efficient. I suspect that this means that it's a lot easier to win consistently in HC2 than HC1.
This is a very controversial topic, many people hated HC1's time limit and considered it an artificial way of increasing the game's difficulty, I think it's a matter of personal preference, really...
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- I like the character creation traits and the general idea of the attributes. Unfortunately, I firmly believe there are overpowered and underpowered traits. For example, I consider Mighty to be far too powerful, and Corrupted to be a "never-pick". I can elaborate more if you like, in here or PM :)
For sure ! The traits rework in version 0.55 gave me a lot more freedom to work with traits and try to balance them. That said, some of them are still very strong, especially now that they can be combined, but over time things should improve. Plus, discovering an OP combo is part of the fun now.
And I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Mighty and Corrupted. You
should post here, would help anyone who is having a hard time.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- As far as the attributes go, I think the game unfortunately suffers from the same challenge that HC1 had: attack power, and to a lesser extent, stamina regen (because it affects your average damage/turn), are just way better than everything else. That means that STR+AGI is really the best build. On top of that, AGI adds to escape chance, which is just the cherry on top because it gives you more flexibility in picking your fights.
At first I was really hopeful that CON would provide enough value to compete with STR/AGI, but the resistance doesn't work the way I thought (in fact, it would be great to have a better explanation of it). At first I thought it would be a % chance to resist gaining addiction/corruption, but it seems like it's actually reducing the amount of lust you gain from your corruption/addiction? I think if the percentages were a lot higher, or if it actually could prevent addiction/corruption like I originally thought, it would be a lot more worthwhile.
Similarly, VIT/INT would have to really scale harder, or confer some other benefits, to compete with STR/AGI. Reassigning the escape chance from AGI to VIT or INT might help a bit too. The one thing I didn't really account for is the "side jobs efficiency" piece, because I don't have much visibility into the math there.
I had received feedback from people who stop improving STR after a certain point, or consider AGI useless. This is quite interesting because everyone seems to have a preferred build, which is exactly what I wanted.
That being said, I agree with you. STR is an OP attribute and, honestly, that's fine.
The player still has to decide between four other attributes, and since most points go to STR, there will be fewer points to distribute, which increases the weight of these choices. The hero still needs acceptable levels of AGI, VIT, INT and CON as well, or else he will fail attribute checks and the new Quick time events.
Don't get me wrong, it's far from a perfect system, but it's expected due to the nature of the game.
Currently I have been trying to introduce equipment that gives greater value to other attributes, such as "Whispering Stone" and "Windy Knuckles". The idea is that the STR build would be the default one, until the player finds a key item that unlocks the potential of a new, stronger build.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- It would be nice to have a "totally wipe my save" button, which would allow you select a new difficulty, replay the tutorial if needed, etc.
Added in v0.60!
Btw, you can replay the tutorial by typing "tutorial" in your hero's name
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- I really like the direction of some of the new enemies, particularly the teacher in the jungle :). More generally, having stat checks is interesting, and guards against excessive minmaxing in stats, although with such checks I do worry a bit about fairness (is it okay to punish players for coming up with a specialized build?)
Excellent question, the last thing I want is for all players to have the same build, and punishing specializations seems like a step backwards.
I see attribute checks as a minimum requirement, you should build your character your way while resisting these checks. That said, Hero Corruption is a game about being defeated, and at some point, the player should get defeated, regardless of their build.
How long he will resist these checks will define how viable the specialized build really is.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- I worry about fairness/optimization with the red/purple potions. Because the effect is a flat stat boost right now, you can technically get more value out of it by holding it until you've levelled that attribute a bunch. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing to incentivize players to do. The alternative would be to have it give a fixed number of points into an attribute.
Red and Purple potions don't increase attribute cost (or at least they shouldn't), so it might be best to take them asap, as long as you can deal with their side-effects...
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- Quick bracelet: 5% seems... very low? I haven't tried refining yet though, so maybe it gets a lot better.
It is quite low, I've increased it to 10% in v0.60.
You should try refining stuff tho, the increase in value is exponential, every 5 levels the bonus increases. E.g: You can now get the Quick Bracelet to a max of 64% proc chance, which has proven very useful, especially in the Tower.
Refined accessories can be treated as the key items I mentioned above, and are capable of unlocking new, cool builds
- Spoiler: show
- Morning Star + Quick Bracelet? Anyone??
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- I liked the idea of the Sigrid encounter (basically that you don't have to beat them to win), but the way it works out is kind of a feel-bad outcome: you gain a whole bunch of addictions, and your reward is way less than you need to offset that gain. Perhaps there could be some stat checks involved, or other ways to avoid the addiction gains? That way you're really "passing" the lesson :)
That's a great idea, I'll see if I can think of something
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- Maybe a bug: Bonnie's second "form" sometimes reverts to the original (attacking one). I assumed she would always be in her second form once she had switched for the first time?
Huh... Bonnie shouldn't revert to her attacking form
during an encounter, but at the beginning of the encounter there is a small chance that she will want to slap you instead.
Bonnie is the only girl in the Plains that can hurt really hard, so I need her to do a VIT check on the player every now and then.
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- You can get to negative gold in the church sometimes. For example, with 9 gold I was able to buy a 10-gold addiction reduction, leaving me at -1 gold.
Found it and fixed it, Thanks !
Errant__ wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2023 10:13 am
- Typo: "You're liking this game, don't you" --> aren't you
(I forgot which fight this was in, but hopefully you can just search for the text :))
Bonnie is the one who says that, fixed that too
Thank you sooo much for the feedback, Errante.
Posts like this keep me in check and make me review some important game concepts