The Outlaws' Run

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Barugon, Aug 27, 2021.

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  1. Elwyn

    Elwyn Avatar

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    The mob density is a bit high in that often I can't skin beasts that I killed (it's possible I could have been in a wave area some of these times), but it's a good zone. Most memorable moment was doing the ghost run for an ankh, then passing by a plethora of mining nodes! I had to kill a few bears to clear the area, but then I spent a few more minutes clearing out the 20 or so nodes there.
     
  2. Sannio

    Sannio Lead Quest and Level Designer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    The scene is a bit big, but it's nowhere near as big as Jotungrund. (Jotungrund is our largest scene by a wide margin! We had to add special tech to accommodate it's large scale) I think the thick trees all over The Outlaws' Run, combined with the wavy trails and rock walls, help make the scene feel bigger than it actually is. :)
     
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  3. Sannio

    Sannio Lead Quest and Level Designer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    I'll review the scene and try making some adjustments so there are better "breathing areas" and less of a sense of continuous enemies.
     
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  4. Anpu

    Anpu Avatar

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    Just going to post my thoughts on going through this scene now after going into it many times now.

    Running around the scene in general, LOVE IT! Mob density *seems* kinda high, but I think that's more of a case that this scene is new. In general, I thought it was just fine.

    THANK YOU FOR ADDING A MAP. Even with a map, this scene is so huge I still get completely lost. :D

    The obstruction of SO many trees in the scene is a bit frustrating. But overall I kind of like that. At times it's almost impossible to spot some creature that is shooting arrows at you and you can't even figure where in the hell they are. But thankfully my Earth Elemental will zip off to them and then I can finally see where they are.

    The resources in here are WAY too low for the very limited amount of resources even in this scene. These should be tier 8 nodes to match the difficulty.

    The seed daily quest is a complete and utter waste of time, for the reward. The amount of xp I got for that, after spending HOURS trying to just find one of the damn leaf piles (now I know what they look like), and THEN trying to find one that even had the seeds was in no way shape or form worth my time at that tiny amount of xp reward. I won't even bother at all doing that again.

    I have not figured out the maze or the area that leads to that yet (I will figure that out on my own, I don't need any help). There should be some small clues possibly scattered around the area (or I missed them). This scene is gigantic.

    The leaf piles should be at least a little more distinguishable. Yes there's the butterflies but they are still so very hard to see.

    Lastly, I wasn't quite sure why such an incredibly high level wave battle was doing in a tier 8 scene? In listening to discussion abouut the wave battle it basically boiled down to this:
    High Level People: Oh! Love this new wave battle! It's awesome!
    Us lower level people: We are.... really happy you love your high level wave battle..... maybe someday we will get a tier 8 scene with tier 8 content... we can dream I guess...

    There's actually nothing wrong with the wave battle, but it seems like something that was supposed to be added to some higher tier scene, but was somehow placed here. And because of that, the scene really needs to be a Tier 8+ scene. That wave battle is not in any way a tier 8 wave battle. This is only my opinion.

    Overall I still really like this scene. I will for now completely avoid that wave battle, and can happily ruin around the rest of the scene. And then try to figure out the maze thing. :D
     
  5. Violet Ronso

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    For me, this quest like many others, are more of an extra little bonus. If I do happen to come across the seed while hunting, I'll turn it in on my way out (or next time in), meanwhile I still get all of the rewards from actually hunting in the scene. It's not like I have to go out of my way to find the seeds, if I find them, I do, and that's it.

    I think that might also be the reason why most quests aren't hyper rewarding because it's just a small extra bonus as you are adventuring.
     
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  6. Anpu

    Anpu Avatar

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    I do have one suggestion on that wave battle however, just maybe put this in your I'll think about it file perhaps:

    Like Ulfhiem, have the default wave battle be a much lower, more tier 8 appropriate wave battle, and has a MUCH lower chance of the Druid even spawning at all in the final wave (I'm ok with that). Still need a least a little something to make it somewhat rewarding.

    If players want the much higher level wave battle (how it currently is now), have them need to do something to the scene to alter the wave battle. Something that is appropriate to the scene (Why is an arch druid sometimes popping out and trying to kill us)? Like breaking several objects or something. Nothing too complicated or takes way too much time to do. I REALLY do like mechanics where if they player wants to alter something, they can have a choice to do so.

    Just throwing that out there. I'm sure setting that kind of system up is probably extremely complicated. So I do get that.
     
  7. Sannio

    Sannio Lead Quest and Level Designer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    Glad you like it! I'm going to do a pass on the enemies to make some SMALL changes. Mostly, to give a little breathing room here and there but perhaps some other small changes. I like where the NPC setup is in general for this scene and don't want to change much.

    Thanks to Ravalox! :D

    The intent was to have the woods feel thick, but maybe it's too thick and I'm going to clear out a few trees here and there.

    There seems to be a bug with the resource node rewards. They're set as tier 8 in the scene, but I think the nodes themselves incorrectly have loot for a lower node.

    I had added the cats near the piles of leaves to help call attention to them, but that probably ended up being too subtle. I'll add more piles of leaves throughout the scene and try to think of other things to make them a bit more eye catching to help searches.

    The maze is transversable with some work, but there's a quest I didn't get in yet that will offer a shortcut through the maze.

    Sometimes we offer extra tough content in a lower-threat scene. In this case, the wave battle is "optional" in that the high-threat enemies aren't available until you draw them out through challenging combat. In a small way, this kind of situation can encourage higher-level players to cross paths with lower-level players, which is nice.

    A scene usually becomes a "+" scene when there is at least one section that is persistently spawned with more than one higher-tier enemy. For example, a bandit camp on the first side of a scene with enemies of a tier than the rest of the scene.

    We sometimes add uncommon enemies of higher threat to a scene but don't list it as a "+" scene if there's only one of them, or if they have to be drawn out in a wave battle. For example, an enemy of a higher tier that always appears on 1 of 3 patrol paths won't add the "+" to a scene. Also, like in this case, higher-tier enemies "hidden" behind a wave battle don't give the scene a "+" label.

    Have fun! :D
     
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  8. Sannio

    Sannio Lead Quest and Level Designer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    So do I. This a big part of why Ulfheim is my favorite scene, because of all the control the player has over later parts of the scene.

    I'll keep your suggestion in mind.
     
  9. Barugon

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    I think the biggest problem is that you loose sight of your avatar. I know this is very disrupting for me. Perhaps you guys could think of a way to make world items transparent when they're between the camera and the avatar?
     
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  10. Anpu

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    Thanks for the info Sannio. I do now see the wave battle is actually optional. And if you want to experience that, go ahead and go play with those nasty mushrooms, and good luck! :D

    For now that’s still a little out of my league for the moment (I’ll get there eventually).

    The rest of the scene has tons of things for me to do to keep me busy.
     
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  11. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    It's so awesome Sannio, you guys absolutely crushed this scene! I love everything you guys have done with it, including the tree density!! :)

    My only request, which admittedly you may already be working on, would be to add a few unique lore type items players could acquire. What I love so much about the Highvale Outskirts, outside of the uniqueness and size, are three (I think, maybe more) unique items you can find in this scene. The Kobold grimoire, the magic club and the flagellant emote. Finding those items was just icing on an already awesome scene. You guys did such an amazing job with this scene, the addition of an item or two would only make it better. Just a very humble suggestion! Thank you for all the hard work!
     
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  12. Cora Cuz'avich

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    But just look at that view!

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. Sannio

    Sannio Lead Quest and Level Designer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    A more beautiful example of worldbuilding has ne'er been seen!
     
  14. Tahru

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    It's pretty wild how different people see the same things differently. I personally love the suspense that comes from what I can't see. The density is a really nice change over most scenes. Perhaps, another approach is to add some vantage points from which things can be seen more easily. I am sure there is a lot already there.
     
  15. Violet Ronso

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    I had the same opinion as I wandered the scene, having difficulty seeing my surroundings gave a feeling of nervousness. In a more gloomy scene, it could actually make the scene scary.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2021
  16. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    Totally agree with you both. I love that outta nowhere I'm getting peppered with arrows or fireballs and I need to track down whose attacking me lol! :)
     
  17. Barugon

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    That's an "oh no you didn't" moment.
     
  18. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    ;)
     
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  19. Barugon

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    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Xee

    Xee Bug Hunter

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    NM Magnus lol we just happen to be both looking the same and taking shots in the same spot lol though it was me :p

    here is a better version of it :) [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
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