Post by Azherae on 2021-06-10 20:00:29
Aside from the myriad of things Ashes has already completely confirmed to have planned, the following greatly help with my immersion and feeling of realism (somewhat in order of difficulty):
1. The correct footstep sounds, especially if scuffing sounds on dirt change to mud squelch in the rain.
2. The aforementioned rain, wind, snow, and other weather patterns, particularly if they can appear to at least some extent in settlements and aren't automatically excluded there (day/night cycles and related mob spawn behaviours are already planned)
3. Relatively higher respawn times on enemies, and group behaviours for certain enemy types.
4. Higher amounts of 'prey' or 'food' animals that can still fight back decently, with the related drops for defeating them.
5. More specific fish per area, and capacity to find fishing spots, even if these don't randomize much.
6. Multiple foods, some 'regional', made using these fish and prey animal parts, that are distinct and have somewhat notable effects.
7. Good NPC and quest writing (this is vague but eh - can I interest you in a Giant Pile of Gushing Praise ?)
8. Branching or secondary objectives during quest lines.
9. Special monsters in the open world with conditional spawns such as only spawning approximately once per day, being triggered by aggregate player actions, or lured by other items. Also things like hierarchies in Sapient enemies.
10. Lore and signs of interaction occurring between other players and NPCs.
11. Slightly shifting prices or numbers of items available through some monitoring of supply and demand.
12. Bulletin boards or other methods of communication in towns that let players see things like Bounties or requests.
13. A tendency for enemies, particularly humanoid ones, to be designed as if they follow the same rules as players, even if not in HP values.
14. A diffuse lightning model with more change to color balance than brightness.
15. Lots of effort put into things like the specifics of crafting systems to stick to some specific real-world or at least 'consistent' analog. e.g. if players get something like 'Pot Ash' when burning wood for smelting or cooking and then are able to use this in all the ways one uses this irl.
That's... probably enough, I'll leave environmental design commentary to my team's artist.
1. The correct footstep sounds, especially if scuffing sounds on dirt change to mud squelch in the rain.
2. The aforementioned rain, wind, snow, and other weather patterns, particularly if they can appear to at least some extent in settlements and aren't automatically excluded there (day/night cycles and related mob spawn behaviours are already planned)
3. Relatively higher respawn times on enemies, and group behaviours for certain enemy types.
4. Higher amounts of 'prey' or 'food' animals that can still fight back decently, with the related drops for defeating them.
5. More specific fish per area, and capacity to find fishing spots, even if these don't randomize much.
6. Multiple foods, some 'regional', made using these fish and prey animal parts, that are distinct and have somewhat notable effects.
7. Good NPC and quest writing (this is vague but eh - can I interest you in a Giant Pile of Gushing Praise ?)
8. Branching or secondary objectives during quest lines.
9. Special monsters in the open world with conditional spawns such as only spawning approximately once per day, being triggered by aggregate player actions, or lured by other items. Also things like hierarchies in Sapient enemies.
10. Lore and signs of interaction occurring between other players and NPCs.
11. Slightly shifting prices or numbers of items available through some monitoring of supply and demand.
12. Bulletin boards or other methods of communication in towns that let players see things like Bounties or requests.
13. A tendency for enemies, particularly humanoid ones, to be designed as if they follow the same rules as players, even if not in HP values.
14. A diffuse lightning model with more change to color balance than brightness.
15. Lots of effort put into things like the specifics of crafting systems to stick to some specific real-world or at least 'consistent' analog. e.g. if players get something like 'Pot Ash' when burning wood for smelting or cooking and then are able to use this in all the ways one uses this irl.
That's... probably enough, I'll leave environmental design commentary to my team's artist.