Okay so the ONE of the biggest problems in SH is the game hearths and world feels very blah in storytelling
The idea i have is a reduction of Campaigns and introduction of quest (though it) Right now Campaigns are tagged to certain situations, and when u hit that situation the campaign set off, which to me is forced. Storytelling can be forced, but for me that is more like a linear style to game, When u want the player to create the story, it should not be forced
I guess what I’m trying to get at is getting away from the forced campaigns and more to the random elements.
:OUTLINE pt1: (Campaigns/Quest)
Random quest: Quest could pop up from visiting hearths or from ur own hearths at that. or a random item find (explore this area/cave or retieve an material i need, ect ect)
Random Campaign quest: So when you find a situation or hit a time in ur village form wealth these quest pop up to Start Minor Campaigns. They can be Random. (find a goblin scout out in the world, Stone Golems are building up, THe bunny statue glows) sets off these campaigns
Main Campaigns Quest: These set off the story side of the game, These also pop up in the world, but start the main Campaigns in smaller bits. (instead of the Goblin camp showing up, you find traces of a mass Goblins in the area, that sets off those campaigns) Also this doesnt force u to deal with the story till your ready.
Random Elements in the World: Positive- Growth Spurt to plants, Crafter craft 5% faster kinda like buffs. Negative- Certain Weather, Crack shows up in the world, Heavy Darkeness. Like debuffs, or elements that give random quest or lore to the world
The team needs to see this. I agree with you @micheal_handy76_mh I think it is crucial they change the campaign style to be more spontaneous and more “natural” instead of boom there is a campaign.
I think this is a long term concept that needs to be addressed now.
So…kinda like the small 2 - 3 Goblin scouting camps we see now before the big one? As far as forcing you to deal with it till you’re ready…I’m against that. What if I don’t want to deal with them till I have 5 of each class mastered out? Where’s the difficulty and challenge then? I agree there needs to be a rework of WHEN they come in, but at the same time, I don’t feel letting the player decide is the best option either. Because then it’s set to a difficulty so low that there’s no point to it.
That where the Minor Campaigns and random Elements and Quest come in. those can give you the challenges you need. That part is proposed for the Storyline side of the Campaigns. and no not small camps, more like traces, (footprints or maybe a building left abandon or destroyed by the goblins, deforestation). Part of this is to liven up the world a bit, then just being there
This is also where they can up the Challenge of those Campaigns too to be more tough. By the fact of say taking look at where your standing is and up the challenge of it. Lets say you wait till you have more soldiers and lvls, they also come in with more grunts and higher lvls. This way it’s still a challenge and you can play the story side of things at your leasiure. This also an idea to be more player driven instead of linear too.
This could also add in the fact of Richard playing with the idea of doing some text quest. example: You find a Ruined Building and have you party investigate it. As your party proceeds you get the Text part, explaining what they found and evidence of goblins could be in the area. then it give you another quest to follow, say you find tracks in the area and decide to follow them. leading to a small goblin camp. who confront you if you wish to contact them or, (and this where your not forced into the story suddenly, you could hold off, and call you party back to town). When contacting them begins the Goblin Campaign, and flows from there.
Also guys this is done in parts, I have more suggestions to this. including the AI and making traits actually start affecting hearth to the world. I just wanted to start with Campaigns
Priority System, and slight RTS additive
Adding a priority system on a small scale, nothing too big or too small would suffice. Setting a hearths priority would work well in this game. That Way you can tell your hearths who to be with in their class. A worker could be set to mine, another to build and another to gather. A farm could be set to farm and another to gather food. Cooks could have same setup except adding the cook ability. Soldiers could be told to patrol and or Roam freely. THis could go on and on with each class but i think you get the gist
ie:
Worker priority system
Mine_ Haul_ Build_
Farmer priority system
Farm_ Gather_ Till_
Rts update system:
Have slightly more control of Hearths, especially Soldiers would and could create a better feel for adventuring. I would set up 2 type of groups. 1 would be the party group, It would only consist of 4 to 5 hearths of any type that could go on adventures. When in Town parties will roam the town defending it on it’s own. and socialize with hearths. The other would be the small army group, It would be able to hold a lot of hearths and would have it own commands, like patrol this or guard here. They could not do adventures but could handle the adventures. On the RTS controls, Commands like attack here and or attack this target would still be a must as in now, but not as clunky.
RTS system control setup for both:
Party
Attack (Would attack target or targets in location), Defend (Would defend Location for a bit),
Extra to party
Explore ( sets the party to explore an area), Rest (Party would setup camp and rest for the night, ie sleep with bedrolls ect), Return (returns party to the town).
Army
Attack (Same), Defend (Same), Patrol (Could patrol an area or they auto patrol on roads and designated locations the player setup), Guard (Guard a spot w/in a area), Return(same)