The following are some concepts I've been playing with as additions to the
game.
Skills. I don't know what future things are tied in to the current
experience system, but an alternative to an overall level would be to
subdivide experience by spending it on skills. Begin with an initial award
for a new character, and gain experience as normal, except that dependent
upon the weapon you are using, the experience is added to the pile for the
given skill, rather than as an overall level. Skills might include medic,
(small award for healing yourself, larger for healing others) pistols,
rifles, shotguns and heavy weapons. When grenades come into play, then
grenadier could also be a skill.
Skill benefits might include more healing per kit for the medic skill and
accuracy boosts for the weapon skills, not so that a miss becomes a hit, but
so that each hit becomes more damaging. What might be a graze only doing
small damage would become a more damaging strike.
To balance this, death should cost experience points equal to a third of
each skill category. Weapons at the zone should have level minima as they
do now, but specific to their skill category. As levels will advance more
slowly with the points being divided up, the minima should be lower than
they are now for some of the heavier weapons.
Finally, when a character begins play for the first time, he/she should be
issued a weapon to match his skill specialization. After death, go back to
the pistol, but give the newbie characters a little boost.
The advantages I see to this wad of modifications are that they would
support character differentiation with mechanical rewards/limitations. In
turn, this could encourage some very different playing styles and
specializations, which would come into play when group missions are
available. It would then become a good idea to have a sniper, a couple
soldier types and a medic on your expedition. Each could fulfill particular
roles, to the benefit of the mission. Alternately, it creates an
interesting choice say for the pistol specialist who is confronting a
situation where a rifle might be more useful. Does he stick with his weapon
of greatest skill, trading range for accuracy, or does he pick up the rifle
and go at it?
To support these ideas, we'd need at least a couple more pistols and
submachine guns, of which there are currently only one of each. Add in, say
an Uzi, tougher to break than the MP5 (they are legendary for being able to
fire under extremely bad conditions) and maybe a Gloch or something with a
bigger magazine, and a Desert Eagle with six shots but more stopping power.
This would add some ammo types to the game as well, 9MM and .44 I believe.
Inventory. Players should have ready weapons and carried weapons. Given
the nature of looting, it would be over complicated to limit the absolute
number of weapons carried, but each character should choose two ready
weapons which can be readily swapped. If they want to go to one of the
carried but unready weapons, impose a delay in switching, and the formerly
ready weapon becomes unready.
Example: Mad Dog Riley is armed to the teeth. Given his specialties, he
choose the Benelli and the MP5 as his ready weapons. After a firefight in
the church, he emerges, low on health to find himself confronted by a dozen
or more of the undead blocking his path to safety. Well crap, thinks he,
I'm almost out of .45 rounds, and the Benelli is nice for stopping power,
but I'm going to get overrun. Does he stick with what he has ready, or does
he take the extra time to unlimber the M60 for crowd control purposes.
I'm also suggesting that the safe zone storage be finite and change based on
donations/withdrawals. So if no one has been donating .45 ammo, you're out
of luck if you need it for your MP5. To balance this, we should be able to
pick up more than one of a given weapon type, or else there would never be
weapons available for purchase from the Zone.
The best games are about forcing players to make choices, each of which is
high stakes. These points become the places around which the story of the
game revolves. This is the idea that is behind every suggestion I make for
advances in the game. As it stands right now, I have to royally screw up to
die, even fresh from having done so and being out of ammunition. I have
praised Jeremy for creating a game that rewards caution and patience. I'm
looking forward to the missions to provide incentives to throw caution to
the wind and dare the odds. I'd like to see every decision made have impact
on the character's future.
Chris Bartlett
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