Breakable Crates & Barrels [Poll] [UNOFFICIAL]

I post this out of appreciation for the SOTA Team for positive constructive purposes, the SOTA Team are doing a great job, I bring this up because I believe it will be brought up in the future and the sooner the better considering SOTA is in the pre-alpha stages.

I asked a question during the livestream : "I understand SOTA is still in pre-alpha but will all containers be openable/usable in the future or will these crates & barrels still break diablo-style when clicked on?"

The head programmer Chris Spears took the time to respond, he confirmed they will add more usable containers in the future, some are place holders but some would still remain breakable.

My main concern are the crates & barrels that are planned to remain diablo-style breakable. This I feel is a big step backwards compared to the previous Ultima games. When a crate & barrel is no longer usable/openable as an actual container but simply a breakable prop the feel of the game changes from Ultima-style to Non-Ultima-style.

Vote on the Poll what YOU would like to see in SOTA's future...

 

It may seem like a little thing but it's a big thing to a die hard Ultima fan.

 

Yeah it is kinda silly to have to break open a barrel to see what is in it. Hopefully come release we will be able to open barrels and crates.

 

Both have their place; being able to smash open barrels during a PvP theft/subterfuge mission would be great. Even barrels breaking if struck during combat would be nice. But under normal circumstances, just open it.

 

I must confess I wonder how those apples get into those barrels through such a tiny hole in the top...

 

Its definitely silly to have breakable containers in cities and towns, because then when all players have gone through and broken them, it looks like vandals have been everywhere, but the guards are dumb to it aren't doing anything about it. I mean, at least, if like Browncoat said, its done by a thief, and known by the NPCs, it should warrant a criminal complaint. You don't go around a town breaking things and not be thrown in jail.

Something I particularly liked, by the way, was how in Martian Dreams sometimes you had to even use a crowbar to open a crate, because it was nailed shut. But thats just me

 

I can see where you are coming from @Razimus, especially when comparing Ultima and dungeon crawling (Gauntlet, Diablo, PoE, etc) games.

Searching through chests, barrels, corpses, bookcases, etc is VERY enjoyable, especially to a completionist (an Explorer to use the Bartle term). This should be encouraged and although I'm not a fan of the LABEL "achievements", they are something great for folks to obtain/achieve.

Breaking a chest and having apples, baguettes or other assorted treats appear are great for "on the go adventurers", that ain't got no time for that rummaging around. They just need that next fix of health to push them a little further.

For the max enjoyment value, there should be a third poll option for Both. *grins* This way, each type of player can enjoy their own way of exploring and immersing themselves into the world. If someone doesn't want to take the time to earn a reward, it shouldn't be accessible to them until the effort is put in. Options are the name of the game, and the Devs have brought us that since Day One.

Please keep the ideas flowing!

 

I do agree that it looks awful seeing broken barrels all over town. It wouldn't happen in reality so it doesn't make much sense. I wouldn't mind seeing it in dungeons because it would lend to the atmosphere of raiding a dungeon.

Perhaps only allow breakable containers outside of the inhabited zones.

 

Agreed. Change it !

Also it's depressing Ultima VIII was worse than Ultima VII as evidenced by these screens

 

Well here's a true story... when I was first in game, because everyone else had already smashed all the barrels, I assumed that's what they were meant to be; I didn't even realise there were breakable barrels at first.

I thought it was a rather odd thing to be seeing all over town, especially in people's stockrooms, etc, but I decided it must have been some sort of design decision to look like that. Later I learned "the truth"!

 

It's a digression, but when I was playing R4 with a friend, he asked me why I kept laughing all the time. It was because whenever you smashed open a crate, it really, really sounded like you blowing it up with a rifle. It completely threw me out of the fantasy world.

 

I saw all the animals slaughtered on the streets too. I didn't think that was normal

 

Indeed, that was a bit odd

 

This can't keep being the game for everyone with selections for which style of crate there is...explodable or openable...it will get crazy with the amount of work to support both.

For what it's worth i support the same style ultima 7 had because it made you use your brain a bit to remember what you explored and didn't.

Funny how many times I thought I hadn't explored an area already to find out i already had.

 

I'm also wondering why all these big barrels are sealed tight with two apples or a single loaf of bread inside them. Doesn't seem very cost effective for whoever's doing that.

I'll echo the sentiment that smashing the barrels distracts me from the flow of this fantasy world. It feels more like super-action-adventure-funtime, in the vein as Diablo. The entirely-too-loud bang you hear when you do break one doesn't help, but I'm sure that part will be fixed in a future release, when they bring, you know, other sound effects.

 

I really dislike the barrel smashing. I felt like I was playing zelda, to the point that I could hear Link yelling: "Yeeeeaaaaaaaahg!" with every swing in my mind. I love Zelda, but keep it out of my Ulima.

You got Zelda in my Ultima.

YOU got Ultima in my Zelda.

Mmmmmmm. That's delicious.

Wait.... no..... it's not delicious! Stop it!

 

Even after the outlawing of the trapped crate. A room off the bone-room in UO would occasionally spawn a locked trapped barrel. You could pick this barrel up and use it to train high level lock picking while walking around. When the lock finally came undone, instead of opening it and dieing it was best to just drop it at the Brit bank and let someone else take the first look

Smashing sucks.

 

One idea they should borrow is that chickens should retaliate en-masse when they are attacked in the street I for one would love to see someone running for their lives down the road with a flock of chickens flapping after them.

 

I also dislike the barrel smashing and prefer the "old" style of being able to interact and open them up to see the contents.

 

I agree with the opening rather than smashing, but I would like the ability to break open locked chests (if you don't have the key or a lock picking skill) with the risk of damaging whats inside of course.

Jimirillo