Here are some things that IMO should be changed in Arcnaum (they won't be but I'm still going to write them). 1. Fast Turn Based mode should be replaced with something like a "movement speed" slider in Fallout. I don't like animations to be cut out and in ordinary Turn Based they take just too much time. 2. NPCs should be able to learn found spells/schematics. Also you should have an option to ask NPC to use a certain spell and if you manage to convince him he'll cast it. 3. NPCs' inventories should be accessible while buying/selling things . 4. There should be descriptions of itmes/schems/spells telling something about their features, what they're good against etc. You should be able to view these descriptions before an item is in your inventory. Especially when it comes to schematics it's unacceptable that you know nothing about them but the name before you buy them. 5. Map travel speed should be higher (techies can't teleport you know). 6. There should be a possibility to put your marks with descriptions on the maps. 7. Streets should be labeled on the map. 8. There should be more separate divisions in the logbook (main quest; gossips sorted by town; quests related notes should be in the quest division; separate division for where you can get training, which training it is, from whom and on what level). In each of this sections you should be able to add your own notes and add your comments to game added notes. 9. There should be an ability to wield two guns, perhaps also two light swords, gun&sword, gun&shiled 10. Technical manuals. You should be able to learn them so that you don't have to drag them along. After learning you would get the amount of experience which the book adds being in your inventory only that you wouldn't have to keep the damn, heavy book in your inventory anymore. Books would be "consumed" upon use of course. Also when you get the expertise of let's say 100 in guns via learning books it might allow you to skip learning the first basic schematics and learn Automatic Rifle at once (you would still have to spend CP to learn it of course). 11. Finally there should be little or no bugs for a change. So what do you think about these?
No 10 would be open to abuse - get enough money, and you can make anything in the game! So not balanced gameplay. The one about followers learning schematics I agree with, and I really really really want akimbo guns and light weapons...and possible combinations.
How about a manual with a table of contents and dare I say it... AN INDEX!!! I've read the whole thing through a few times but I hate having to stop and dig through it just to check out the details on something. An index would be a real timesaver. Need some better weapon/armor balance especially with the stuff you find in magickal chests. I started one game with an elf and the chest at the crash site had a suit of Charmed Platemail. More than once its had a suit of normal and small sized charmed chainmail. Pyro axe also seems way overpowered for its tech requirements etc, etc... Have to agree the tech manual idea would unbalance the game. There has to be some big penalty for no CP tech knowledge. Could live without the dual weapons unless there were some serious penalties involved or a new trait like Ambidextrous(with some major negatives attached). I think it would mess up the balance could you imagine a tech melee guy with two charged swords or high-velocity pistols and boosted dexterity? Or a magickal character with a something like the Sword of Defense and the Filament Sword. Even if it was limited to just daggers the Mechanical Dagger and Arcane or Speed daggers would be pretty vicious especially early-mid game. It would be really nice though to have the option of having the NPC's use their spells/skills on the other NPC's at your request though. "Hey Virgil cure Magnus's poisen." A lot more combat options for the NPC's would be a godsend. Something like in FO2 but that actually works. A get so frustrated at Virgil crying out for help when he's wounded and still attacking rather than healing himself. Iffy on having followers learn schematics but leaning more towards against. Might be another balance problem. Their not be able to learn them forces you to either learn the technology yourself or invest in manuals. Better question might be would it even be useful? For example Magnus only learns Mechanical + Smithy about the only schematic I can think of offhand that uses both is the Mechanical Dagger and it requires a Mech skill of 85. <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Otto Krupp on 2001-12-16 14:44 ]</font>
What about automatons? What about helmet of vision? They both require smithy and mechanical skills...
It might unbalance the game but to me the only difference would be comfort of use. Now you have to store your books somewhere, when you get parts you go to that place put parts & books in your inventory and assemble the item. Would it be done the way I'd like it to be it would save you time you spent travelling and that annoying "put 10 manuals in inventory, make item, put manuals back in the drawer get another 10 manuals for some other item and so on... The only difference would be that you wouldn't have to do all those steps. Come on, does it add to balance that much that you have to travel half the world map when you want to put some parts toghether? When you play a techie you don't get lots of money now do you? Many shopkeepers don't want to buy itmes made with custom schematics and unless you developed Explosives, Mechanical or Electric you won't have items giving you 1000 per piece. There is also a matter of getting parts to put thse things together. Unless you're using inventory hack you won't be seeing them that often to get really rich. And keep in mind that a single manual costs 750. A new idea I add to my list Cooperation. Let's assume that you need 40 Gunsmithy and 35 Mechanical to assmeble something. Your character meets the Gunsmithy requirement but has 0 in Mechanical. However one of your followers meets Mechanical requirement. Hence his expertise should be taken into account and you in turn should be able to assemble an item. You'll probably say this would unbalance the game but to me it's just totally unrealistic to me that let's say Magnus won't help me with his knowledge seeing that I'm unable to assemble some item. PS. Otto I agree with index and better AI ideas.
Re: Magnus and other followers, do they ever max out there tech disciplines? Or at least raise them high enough to use the more advanced found schematics. Been thinking about the tech manuals and I think they need to limited by Intelligence just like the actual disciplines. With enough money even a character with an intelligence of 1 could build the most advanced devices in the game. For example if your characters Int is 13 then the most knowledge you should be able get from manuals would be 35, same as lvl 3 in a discipline. Actually money is not too hard to come by. Just roam the area east of Tarant. Stay west the Forbidden Pit, south of the mountain/hill and north of the forest artwork and you'll encounter mostly the Molochean Hand and orc bandits. Llyod in Shrouded Hills seems to pay the best for the Red Barbarian armor.
Tech NPCs only learn up to 4th schematic in their disciplines. Intelligence should limit how much you can learn from books. I was thinking only about using them by tech characters who have to develop Int anyway so I didn't write it.
If anyone is interested in testing my new levelling schemes in which followers actually max out their tech disciplines, e-mail me and I'll send you the file.
What I'd like to see is the ability to buy schematics for learnable skills, say like you could buy the skill of making a Mechanical Arachnid, the reason bieng is that my Gun slinger has bought the schems for a Medical Arachnid but im foucsing my skills on guns so theres little chance I'll ever see a Mechanical Arachnid! This isnt the only reason. This would also balance the game allot, think about it My Elven Necromancer has almost maxed all the spells from Necromantci Black and White! If you tried doing that with a techie you'd get a retard that blew off his hands while using a fine revolver and have the ablility to make some pure ore.......yeah man that ores really worth it!
ThrasherI think that this might actually unbalance the game, since if you bought the skill to make mech arachnid w/o spending CPs to do it you could also make automatons should you only wish to do so. Also if you plan distributing your CPs correctly you can have a powerful techie with 2 disciplines maxed. I started the game from beginning 3 times before I got it right. My advice: concentrate on charisma first so that you'll have 3 followers to do fighting and more importantly get the blows instead of your character. Then I could peacefully get to Long Range Rifle, which I used for a very long time. This in turn allowed me to become firearms master, max Gun smithy and Electricity, get DX20, become dodge master. Of other things I was expert in Persuasion, Repair and an apprentice in Haggle and Prowling. I agree techies have tough time in the beginning but if you plan it right you'll become quite powerful before BMC caves. Jarinor You reminded me of another point I missed. 13 Better character development schemes. I also modified my tech follower schemes because the original ones are pathetic. After they learn those 4 schematics they just max their ST, DX and then HP. Actually this part is common to most, if not all of schemes. Also I want to add yet two more points. 14 You should be able to ask one of your followers to go into a shop and buy something. Thus you could still buy things from shops which won't serve you but have no problems with your followers (ie a 100% techie could buy things from a magic shop via his follower and vice versa). 15 Another thing to make your followers more useful. Let's assume that in your team you have a great thief and that you have no thief abilities yourself. Hence if you want to get to some place where no intruders are allowed you could take temporary control over your follower. You would be left outside with the rest of your party while you would guide prowling thief inside a building, "equip yourself", get out, and the control would get back to normal. _________________ <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Dragoon on 2001-12-19 01:21 ]</font>
that number 15 of yours is gonna make it like baldurs. quest are dependant on your character not he party. if that was so then you would do the mage thief fighter etc thing. a 100 tech shouldnt be able too travel with a 100 magic. i see the game as a challenge to one character not the party. followers are there to just take some damage. one thing that would be good is if followers would move to light and out of darkness to attack and why dont they run at 20% health or a set number.
OK a few more things I think need tweaked. Learned schematics don't affect the tech/magick balance. Not sure what would happen but it looks like a mage could buy schematics and tech manuals and make items for his followers. Anyone tried this? Found schematics don't have an intelligence requirement. I experimented with the "essence of intellect" last night and you can't make the learned schematics past your Intelligence once it wears off. Shouldn't the found ones work the same way? Comparing magick to technology. Magick has 16 schools each with 5 ranks for a total of 80. You'd never be able to max them all out even if you didn't have raise any stats or learn any other skills. Tech has 8 disciplines with 7 ranks each for a total of 56. BUT any offensive tech items require a skill to be used. All and all not a bad balance.
You can max out all tech disciplines...you just can't do anything else with your character :smile:...
A good tweak would be to take down the Critical faliure % on backstabing, even a level 12 chracter should be able to back stab a wolf without accidently cutting off his own head in the procces!
Yeah, that seems true...some of the critical failures are pretty apt though...today Vollinger managed to kill himself (level 19, with a hunting rifle) in one shot when he critically failed...oh yeah, he had full health too...
