Anyone notice something missing in the soulstorm teaser?

[Manco]

I shudder to think what they'd look like with the new, more realistic art style.

HD tongue textures with realistic wet saliva shaders…

[Nate]

And the tongue would have octopus-style suckers.

[Manco]

I’m thinking more along the lines of barbs.

[Scrabaniac]

If fleeches return, I'd like to see how they tackle the hitpoints.. Would abe get visible cuts/flesh tears with each hit? That would be cool to see. Especially if his "Chi" or Quarma allows self healing after a period of time

[JayDee]

I think we should work the Fleeches into the crafting system and be able to use them as grappling hooks.

[Nate]

If fleeches return, I'd like to see how they tackle the hitpoints.. Would abe get visible cuts/flesh tears with each hit? That would be cool to see. Especially if his "Chi" or Quarma allows self healing after a period of time

I still see them killing with one hit, like natural, crawling mines. An environmental hazard rather than an enemy.

[STM]

I thought they depleted health over time? I'm sure because Abe's voice used to get higher and higher the more they licked him.

[Nepsotic]

They do. Nate's saying he wants their behavior in Soulstorm to be different.

[Yokai]

Well, I'm gonna have nightmares of fleeches for a while...

[CravenKnight]

If fleeches return, I'd like to see how they tackle the hitpoints.. Would abe get visible cuts/flesh tears with each hit? That would be cool to see. Especially if his "Chi" or Quarma allows self healing after a period of time

years ago i read a magazine article about MO way before it was released and before the whole shitstorm with EA when OWI had to change plans. iirc they originally wanted the muds to be able to get visible scars and shit from the incidents they would get themselves into, along with ageing too (unless i'm getting this mixed up with HoO or something). in the mag it showed these two images alongside eachother as if it was a before-and-after example.



there was no text in the images though so i assumed at the time that the red bumps and stuff were supposed to be the in-game scars after healing or something, plus emaciation due to ageing. obviously everything changed with MO after that though, but still. I CAN DREAM

so yeah maybe we'll get visible hitpoints. would be interesting.

[Nate]

I thought they depleted health over time? I'm sure because Abe's voice used to get higher and higher the more they licked him.

They do. Nate's saying he wants their behavior in Soulstorm to be different.

Yes, and no. And no.

It's not really depleting health so much as it takes a certain number of licks before you get swallowed. I'm fine with that mechanic staying in place. I just don't think that Fleeches should do general damage to you - a Fleech licking you shouldn't affect whether the next bullet kills you, and vice versa.

And, yes, I knew when I posted my last reply that I was glossing over some details. This'll teach me to be lazy and not include all valid disclaimers.

years ago i read a magazine article about MO way before it was released and before the whole shitstorm with EA when OWI had to change plans. iirc they originally wanted the muds to be able to get visible scars and shit from the incidents they would get themselves into, along with ageing too (unless i'm getting this mixed up with HoO or something). in the mag it showed these two images alongside eachother as if it was a before-and-after example.

Alf said that while they liked the idea, it wasn't much fun to actually play as an injured Abe. So while scars might be a nice idea, I doubt that anything more intense than that would happen.

[Nepsotic]

It's not really depleting health so much as it takes a certain number of licks before you get swallowed.

No way, I always figured they were stabbing you with their tongues or something, I guess they're just tasting you. Abe does have a health pool though, right? Otherwise how do the bees work, same as Fleeches?

[STM]

I am inclined to agree with Nep here, I'm sure in Necrum Abe could only sustain a certain number of licks in one path. So like, nine licks from one fleech or nine licks from nine fleeches would kill him, or whatever the golden number is.

[Nate]

You guys miss my point. Hypothetically if Abe got licked three times by a fleech, then got stung by bees, it wouldn't take fewer stings to kill him. It's not a general health bar, it's a 'How many times did I get licked by a fleech?' bar. Death by fleech should be because you got swallowed, not because they injured you and ate the corpse.

[burgrr]

You guys miss my point. Hypothetically if Abe got licked three times by a fleech, then got stung by bees, it wouldn't take fewer stings to kill him. It's not a general health bar, it's a 'How many times did I get licked by a fleech?' bar. Death by fleech should be because you got swallowed, not because they injured you and ate the corpse.

what I'm getting is that Abe has seperate, full 'health bars' for non-instakill damage sources and when any one of them is completely depleted, he dies. Am I on track?

[CravenKnight]

what I'm getting is that Abe has seperate, full 'health bars' for non-instakill damage sources and when any one of them is completely depleted, he dies. Am I on track?

sort of. you can think of it like having a fleech healthbar and a bee sting healthbar if you want but don't forget it resets when you leave the area and enter a new one. let's say for the sake of argument that it takes 5 fleech licks or 5 bee stings before you're killed (abe being killed on the fifth lick/sting), if you were licked 3 times before leaving the area that doesn't mean you go through the next area with only 2 hit points left on your 'fleech healthbar' or whatever, it just resets.

so you could get licked 4 times, leave the area and enter a new one and get licked another 4 times without dying. same goes for bee stings. if you can get off the screen into a new area without dying then your 'healthbars' reset.

on the other hand mudokons might have a permanent healthbar when they start slapping each other or go suicidal, and that doesn't reset as far as i know. then again i've never tried leaving the area and coming back to them so maybe that would reset their healthbar. don't quote me on this tho cuz i have no fucking idea.

[STM]

You guys miss my point. Hypothetically if Abe got licked three times by a fleech, then got stung by bees, it wouldn't take fewer stings to kill him. It's not a general health bar, it's a 'How many times did I get licked by a fleech?' bar. Death by fleech should be because you got swallowed, not because they injured you and ate the corpse.

got u fam. Also I agree.

[kjjcarpenter]

I think this is relevant to the conversation:

When characters are damaged in Munch’s Oddysee, will they show signs of injury? For instance, say Abe wandered where he shouldn’t again and was shot. Even if he’s only holding onto life by a thread, will he still be able to run and jump at his maximum potential, or will he be forced to hobble around at a horrendously reduced speed? Just wondering.

That’s one of the things that didn’t make the cut for this game. Look for some kind of visible damage in Munch 2. We have really cool concept art on one or our conference room walls. Right now, the thinking in the designers’ dungeon is that slowing down abe or munch when they hurt isn’t much fun, but they’ve changed their minds before…

Ergo, don't be surprised if physical damage indication weaves its way into Soulstorm or future instalments.

[Varrok]

Since Unity has lacking to non-existing decal support, there would be no dynamic bruises etc. on creatures.

[OWI_Alex]

Since Unity has lacking to non-existing decal support, there would be no dynamic bruises etc. on creatures.

No comment on Soulstorm, but we used decals throughout New 'n' Tasty.

[Wircea]

No comment on Soulstorm, but we used decals throughout New 'n' Tasty.

Decals placed by the map editor are nothing compared to those that dynamically appear during gameplay (e.g blood splatter on walls if blowing an enemy near it).

The latter add a lot to the visuals and feels in a game. Should consider that.

[SlashClaw]

No comment on Soulstorm, but we used decals throughout New 'n' Tasty.

cool now how about some more details about that Slig civil war

[FrustratedAssassin]

Since Unity has lacking to non-existing decal support, there would be no dynamic bruises etc. on creatures.

They also said they spent a lot of money to customize Unity, it's not like they're just going with the stock engine.

[Vlam]

It comes down to this question about Fat Kraken: is this game development studio (composed of former JAW employees) talented enough?

[OWI_Alex]

It comes down to this question about Fat Kraken: is this game development studio (composed of former JAW employees) talented enough?

Fat Kraken aren't doing the dev. That's Sabotage, mostly, and Frima of course. And me. And some others.

Fat Kraken are mostly on art, LD, documentation, and so on. And I personally think they're fab.

[OWI_Alex]

Decals placed by the map editor are nothing compared to those that dynamically appear during gameplay (e.g blood splatter on walls if blowing an enemy near it).

The latter add a lot to the visuals and feels in a game. Should consider that.

Alright.

[Auriel]

Wasn't there supposed to be an entire Slig subplot in this game? I can't imagine that working out without any sligs.

[Meowium99]

Wasn't there supposed to be an entire Slig subplot in this game? I can't imagine that working out without any sligs.

Heh. No sligs probably wouldn't work, especially with the whole "Abe throwing over the monarchy" as Lorne 'effectively' said in the presentation at EGX.
If you missed the presentation, it's up on YouTube. It's worth a watch if you're a big fan.