Rebalancing Tech for Multiple Strategies

[DokimiCU]

Okay... this is a big one!

Most of this has been implemented in a branch https://github.com/DokimiCU/Exile/tree/rebalance-tech. I'm going to do a bit more testing, then this will be a pull request.

Design Principle & Issue:

Allow multiple strategies.

Currently respawning is grindy and repetitive. It requires going through the same actions regardless of circumstances because the early tech railroads the player into a single optimal pathway. This pathway also confuses new players because it makes pottery critical at a very early stage.

Tech should be about appropriate technology choices, rather than grinding up a single optimal tech tree pathway. The best choice should depend on the circumstances and idiosyncrasies of the player and their character.

Aim: Make (early) tech more focused on choices than linear progression.

How:

• remove unnecessary crafting dependencies (e.g. does crude weaving really need sticks? No. Does crushing rocks really need wood chopping first? No)
• add some alternatives to critical items (e.g. to clay pots).

Backstory: I done some stress testing of the game a while ago, playing through various extreme play styles e.g. never leave the water, never go in caves, never make tools, use only tools that don't need sticks/stone/clay etc. These are a good test, and show up just how restricted some of the choices are. I've been wanting to loosen things up a bit ever since.

The Grand Plan: New style craft stations:

• Original style craft spots: free, place anywhere. (square image)
• Location limited crafting spots: free spot, but can only be placed on a certain substrate. Find a good spot, rather than carry a crafting station. (square with inset corners image)
• Tool based crafting spots: rightclick tool on suitable substrate removes tool from inventory to create the craft spot. Picking up retrieves the tool. i.e. you put the tool down to use it for crafting. Carry the tool, not a crafting station. (node boxes to show the tool)

Remove unnecessary crafting dependencies:

• Crafting spot -> A limited set of crafts, most gets moved elsewhere (could be made redundant. Retaining it keeps the number of entry level stations lower. 6 spots is quite enough).
• [Done in branch] Grinding stone -> grinding spot, location limited to suitable rocks. Crafts consume sand.
• [Done in branch] Hammering block -> hammering spot, location limited to hard surfaces.
• [Done in branch] Weaving frame -> weaving spot, remove need for sticks. Location limited to dry.
• [Done in branch] Misc: Brickmakers bench remove need for logs. Remove sand from mudbrick (an unnecessary complication)
• Chopping block -> woodworking spot (stone knife): stick crafts (e.g. wattle). Location limited to dry. -> woodworking spot (adze): + log crafts e.g. canoe. Location limited to tree/log. -> woodworking spot (axe): same as adze?

Add some alternatives

• [Done in branch] primitive wood water pot,
• wooden bucket/iron bucket (only aesthetic? - unless combine with ropes to use for wells.), iron cooking pot.
• [Done in branch] woven storage basket
• [Done in branch] wicker storage basket (from sticks)
• [Done in branch] wicker backpack (from sticks)
• [Done in branch] primitive wooden storage chest
• kelp water bladder (like the Maori Poha bags).?
• Stone (masonry bench): pots, chest, stone versions of all workbenches.

Observations so far:

• this re-balance successfully decouples tech that doesn't need to be linked. e.g adze and paint.
• this decoupling should give lost noobs more things to do #40 .
• decoupling allows pursuing different strategies from very beginning (e.g. speed run for iron, adapt to the local biome).
• reduces need to carry as many craft stations around.
• visibility of crafting progression is more dependent on location (e.g. tend to only see grinding crafts when in a cave).
• crafting spots do look similar, a bit more visually confusing (a reason for limiting # spots to 6).
• Some trivial compatibility issues from converting old stations into new form (underlying names are retained.) Might confuse experienced players.
• entry level crafts are easier to access, so early progress is quicker.
• Balancing. Giving extra options makes the game much easier. The previous railroading was making it artificially hard (especially by forcing pottery into a critical role). These changes might unbalance the difficulty in the short run, but hopefully fix up bigger issues in the long run. The difficultly may need increasing in other features (e.g. health effects, biomes) to compensate.

Work: Most of this has been implemented in branch. It's a big shift in balance, so it'll likely need follow up even after I've done more testing. However, so far this seems like a step in the right direction.

There's also some features/minor bugs that I haven't figured out, so I'll leave those aside for now.

[jeremyshannon]

The iron barrier keeps griefing to a minimum, so I'd kinda like to keep it difficult to get to iron. Players can currently build homes out of materials that can't be broken without a pickaxe, which takes a lot of time and dedication to acquire. All that makes griefing high effort for pretty low returns.

A better health effects system is likely the next big thing I'll work on.

[DokimiCU]

I haven't touched iron. At worst some people will find it easier to speed run for iron.

Everything here is about loosening up unnecessary restrictions in the early crafting. It's a large, but subtle re-balance. Having tested things it is much more free. More choices. More strategic thinking. A bigger difference between being mobile or settled.

It does make the game easier in easy biomes/lucky locations, but also makes hard biomes more interesting. The game is still plenty hard. It makes sense to take pressure off crafting itself, and put the difficulty into deciding which crafts to use and when. So far this re-balance is having that effect (at least for me).

Any system is going to have some quirks and short comings. This one certainly has some, but it seems an overall improvement.

[jeremyshannon]

Yeah overall I am very strongly in favor.

[DokimiCU]

Pull request is there!

Remaining issues:

• can place location limited spots into plants (and similar) allowing it on banned ground. (not sure how to prevent this, but should be a simple fix).
• location limited spots can't detect if conditions have changed since they were placed (e.g. if the soil got wet), thus violating the limit.
• Haven't touched localisation, might need updating
• need to generalize water pot function (currently in with pottery code)

Tool Based crafting spots. I got stumped by fiddly coding. It might go something like this:

• Tool rightclick -> triggers location limit function (on_place_loclim_spot) -> does location checks -> IDs it as a tool -> saves tool type and wear to the new crafting spot, removes tool from inventory.
• Visual: the crafting spot is node boxes that look like the tool. e.g. you thwacked your axe into a tree stump to make a chopping block.
• On punch craft spot -> retrieve tool type and wear -> drop the tool -> apply saved wear to the tool

Tool based spots would be nice. The new features work fine without it though.

[jeremyshannon]

location limited spots can't detect if conditions have changed since they were placed (e.g. if the soil got wet), thus violating the limit.

This could be handled by checking their conditions when clicked on and breaking the spot if so. Alternately a formspec could pop up to tell you what's wrong so you can break it yourself.

I plan on a new release in the morning; I'll try to start in on reviewing this afterward so I can get it in and get it to testing.