Some suggestions for the hardcore mod

[mandos]

So judging by the information that i have gathered from other discussions and topics i think that what i would value most is an hardcore a la New Vegas. Honestly i was extremely dissapointed that Beths did not included one with the Skyrim after New Vegas. I think its even more important for Enderal, because going through all the mods that are out there for Skyrim, checking whether they are compatible, altering them if necessary is a torture which can be avoided i think...by having as dialogue in the beginning whether you d like to activate "Survival mode".
Here are some features which in my opinion could be an addition without major changes to the game, some of these ideas might not be mine, no stealing credits intended
1.) Hunger/Thirst/Sleep
2.) Potions effect over time and not stacking, and more powerfull
3.) real-time inventory access, no world pause
4.)Enviromental hazards
5.)VERY IMPORTANT- give us option to reduce compass markers to our liking, and possibly disable it altogether. I want to find a dungeon, not to be led to it.
6.) Running cost fatigue, and more emphasis on stamina in the fight, like it would differ depending on the time of the day, no unlimited green bars as we have in Skyrim.

I added this features because i think that they are not awfully difficult to implement (i might be wrong) and are taking a lot of know how to implement them yourself as a consumer. Not everybody might like them, so if the decision is given right at the start (like New Vegas), simple yes or no button would be an improvement over anything that is currently present in elder scrolls.

[Nicolas Samuel]

Hi there,

Thanks for your suggestion.

I cannot yet tell you more than that we are planning similar changes. We also believe that daily needs such as water, sleep and food adds to the immersion, although we do not want to exaggerate.

[NamelessHero]

I agree but it should be available only on higher difficulties.

[mandos]

I agree but it should be available only on higher difficulties.

Why? When you can opt out of it it doesnt matter what difficulty you are playing on, easy or extreme.

[badgesareus]

daily needs such as water, sleep and food adds to the immersion, although we do not want to exaggerate.

1. Immersion is a tricky word, as different people might define it differently. What one player considers immersion might be repetitive boring actions by another. Perhaps you could tell us how the developers define immersion, and how you decide the point at which it becomes exaggerated?

2. If sleep will be required periodically, perhaps I can carry a blanket to spread on the ground and click on it to sleep (in the wilderness). Can I have a flint to start my own campfire to roast some meat? Why must I always depend on someone else to make a fire?

3. Who lights all the candles, torches and braziers in the caves & dungeons? I can enter a dungeon that hasn't been explored in a thousand years, but there are candles and torches burning in it. Perhaps it would be more immersive if some of these places were completely dark, except for whatever light I can create with a torch or magically (or with night vision)?

[Nicolas Samuel]

1. Immersion is a tricky word, as different people might define it differently. What one player considers immersion might be repetitive boring actions by another. Perhaps you could tell us how the developers define immersion, and how you decide the point at which it becomes exaggerated?

You're right, Immersion is a tricky word indeed. I'll try my best!
I personally define Immersion as the feeling you experience whenever you "lose yourself" in the game world. We all know it - You become one with your avatar, you feel as if their actions are your actions. Every game has different means to evoke this feeling, though. A Hack n' Slay - Game such as Diablo 2 doesn't aim to immerse through its complex, emotional dialogues. I personally experience immersion whenever every part of the game just "fits into the picture". Whenever everything just "feels right" and adds to the the game as a whole.

So, what does that mean for Enderal? Enderal isn't a Hardcore-Survival game that tries to evoke Immersion via its realistic simulation of real world. The compelling features of Enderal will neither be extreme realism nor survival challenges. I think it would be exaggerated to implement a complex "daily needs"-system which is too complex, simply because survival is not a main feature of our game. So, to make the long story short: We think that, for example, giving the player significant boni when having a full stomach, is a nice feature and adds to the immersion, but requiring the player to watch his daily intake of calcium is exaggerated.

Am I making any sense? You posed a difficult question there.

2. If sleep will be required periodically, perhaps I can carry a blanket to spread on the ground and click on it to sleep (in the wilderness). Can I have a flint to start my own campfire to roast some meat? Why must I always depend on someone else to make a fire?

We don't know if we'll implement the need for sleep, but your idea sounds great. Finding a good spot for a camp, lighting a campfire and maybe chatting with your companions before going to rest sounds awesome. We'll see how much time will pass until the core of the game is finished. It'd definitely be a great "Nice-to-have"-Feature.

3. Who lights all the candles, torches and braziers in the caves & dungeons? I can enter a dungeon that hasn't been explored in a thousand years, but there are candles and torches burning in it. Perhaps it would be more immersive if some of these places were completely dark, except for whatever light I can create with a torch or magically (or with night vision)?

You hit the bull's-eye here. That's exactly what we're planning.

Greetings,

Latiro

[badgesareus]

I personally define Immersion as the feeling you experience whenever you "lose yourself" in the game world. We all know it - You become one with your avatar, you feel as if their actions are your actions.

Yes, I feel it when using the bow is realistic, as in Nehrim, where I must aim high for a far away target, and guess how much to lead a moving target. Sometimes I make an almost impossible shot and feel great about it! Also there are times when I suddenly am at a very high place and it is so realistic I feel the butterflies in my stomach as if afraid I might fall.

The problem is that there is a dichotomy between the player and the avatar. For example, in most RPG games, there is a world map and it is blank at the beginning of the game, slowly being revealed as the world is explored; or, as in Skyrim & Nehrim, all locations are undiscovered until they have been traveled to in the game. However, in most games the avatar has been living in some area for much or all of his life, perhaps 15-20 years or more, so how can it be that he has never discovered any other locations, even another village down the road, or a local farm? It is the player, not the avatar, who is encountering the locations for the first time. So really, the world map is the player's map, not the avatar's, but then some NPC will mark a location on it! A dichotomy.

A strange example (perhaps only to me) is language. In Skyrim, my avatar understands his own language (let's call it Nordish), so as the game (in my version) is in my native English, I (the player) understand everything just as my avatar would understand everything in Nordish. However, I think perhaps I feel even more immersion in Nehrim because there is no English spoken. Obviously my avatar is fluent in Nehrimese. However, I, the player, do not understand a word of it, so when the NPCs speak in Nehrimese (which sounds very much like German), my subconscious mind is telling me I am indeed in a foreign land and I am feeling more immersed, even though my avatar is not in a foreign land. Fortunately, I (the player) have a spell or a ring or something that translates Nehrimese into English, and the words just pop up in front of my eyes as if by magic. I wonder, am I the only one who finds the game more immersive with only English subtitles and no English vocals?

This must sound bizarre, it must have been some of those odd ingredients I ate in Skyrim!

[Nicolas Samuel]

I have to say, I've never heard that before. We are planning an English synchronization for Enderal, however. The reason for that is that we want to deliver a lot of complex dialogue and, since the cutscene possibilities in Skyrim are very limited, therefore need to rely on good voice acting. We might think about speaking German or Spanish for the people of Qyra (another continent) in Enderal.

By the way, we quite fell in love with your idea about the camping. I just told Hoxyd about it and we felt as if it would need very little effort to implement it. There would be certain locations in the wilderness (such as a cavern, or simply a glade in a forest) where the player can activate his camping kit. The screen would fade to black and after it fades back in there would be a campfire and a set-up tent. The player has the option to rest there and with a small chance monsters might appear while he's asleep.
With this we wouldn't need to place Inns everywhere in the country (Since we will probably disable the option to rest or wait normally)...

How does that sound to you?

Kind regards,

Latiro

[NamelessHero]

I think you should still place inns because they add a lot of character to the game, alas this hasn't been the case in Skyrim, where they pretty much looked all the same and nothing interesting ever happened in them and I DO HOPE you will make the inns look more unique(or at least some of them) and interesting:

For instace, each day there is a chance for a random event to happen: Maybe a bard comes and tells an interesting story which leads to an indirect quest?Maybe there is a drinking contest or some peculiar person finds his way there?You could also add this to towns and villages!

Something like this would be cool http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/21553

[Nicolas Samuel]

Of course we'll still place the Inns! Essential quests and dialogues will take place there. And other interesting things will happen there... I totally agree that they add a lot of character to the game.