Jimjim3dx
patreon
[Closed] Randomized Loot Opinion Poll
🕑 Added 2021-05-10 12:46:29 +0000 UTCHey. Still slogging along. Hopefully something more exciting to show off later in the week.
This was just a thought I had about a minor feature I wanted to get some player feedback and opinions on before implementing. That feature being, how people feel about there being an element of randomness to the items you can find inside of generic loot containers like chests, cupboards, briefcases, drawers, boxes, toolboxes, etc.
As of v0.09, all of the loot you could acquire was hand placed by me. So that every player would find the same items in the same place on every play-through. The only random element was the loot that infected enemies would drop when defeated (which was mostly just cloth scraps any way). While this did allow me better curate the player experience, in hindsight, this seems a little too boring to me. I think it would be more interesting for the loot to be generated from an appropriate list at random, that way every play-through will be a little different. It also means that there could be a small chance of valuable loot, like crowbars, shotgun shells, adrenaline shots, or larger sums of cash to spawn in any container, which means it will always be worth while trying to open all of containers you can find. This will also let me take advantage of the "Luck" stat and make it so that it will increase your odds of finding rarer items in containers.
Of course, quest items will still appear where they should (unless it makes sense to randomize them for some reason), specific items dropped by named characters (Robert's knife, Noah's Rifle, etc), some containers will still give out specific items (Like finding valuable supplies in Ali's safe, Robert's shed, boarded up areas, etc) and of course necessary gameplay items in certain areas (like an excess of batteries in dark areas like the Casino)
The way I see it, the negatives of a randomized system like this is that it technically creates an opportunity to get unlucky and find a lot of less useful items. Or perhaps get really lucky and never need to interact with the game's shops. So in that case, some players might prefer loot that has been specifically hand-placed and balanced so that you can always guarantee that you will be able to find ammo/cash in certain containers, while also not worrying about the game being too easy since I've made sure not to put the good stuff everywhere. But honestly, I don't think this is the kind of game where people would mind too much and that would be an issue. So long as I do my job right implementing such a system. Getting lucky/unlucky with the loot you find in containers just adds to the atmosphere and replay value in my opinion.
But I thought I'd get your feedback on it before I implement randomized loot in most generic loot containers for v0.10. I am also probably going to add a perk that will give the chance of one extra random item appearing in each loot container since I think that will be a fun one to add.
Thanks for your feedback, patience and support!
~ Jim
Comments
Abaddon
Yes! Thank you.
Jimjim
Well, zombies are incapable of reproducing by themselves, and altogether in ACT 1. But there are plans for some kind of brood mother zombie at some point.
Abaddon
This is doable even with the goal of at some point clearing the city. Just have it were they respawn after like 3 or 4 days claiming the "reproduce" or some something. Oh, you could make a brood mother zombie that keeps making more until you take her out. Her fight could be she doesn't attack you but instead summon/birth her children to attack. Obviously you would have to make her something of a tank so it wouldn't be hit her 3 time, ignoring her kids, and be done. Just a thought, one I hope to see at some point, but is ultimately up to you.
Jimjim
Well, my vision for the game is to have a set number of infected inside of the town. So that you can eventually kill them all and clear the town out. But I might be able to randomize their positions in the town. But I will look into doing that some time later I think.
Jimjim
Hmmm, yes, but I would balance it so that the containers didn't contain items that they shouldn't for the most part. (You won't be finding $300 and 8 shotgun shells in a waste paper basket). Then there is also the case that since not every container is flashing with sparkling lights, some people won't find every container in the game anyway, so if only the best loot is more hidden I just have to balance on the assumption that players will be able to find it. But like I was saying, I don't think this is the type of game where it really matters if you don't have exactly enough shotgun shells or adrenaline shots because: A) You typically don't need to kill or survive combat to progress; & B) You can always sell the stuff you do find, and use the sale money to purchase the items you do need from the stores. It's not like a hardcore game where you will end up soft-locked if you don't randomly find enough ammo or first aid kits. And in the few situations where you do need to fight, I will always make sure to hide some useful supplies nearby.
Robert M Kern
How about zombie respawn in outside areas?
Abaddon
I'm having mixed feelings on this. Yes because you never know what you might get. No because people don't just put what ever in their containers. If the items are hand picked then you know at least you have enough to survive, even if just barely. If they are random then you just pray.
Gryphon
After all, life's a die roll and then you bitch.
