Just an observation:
Mining from ore nodes, chopping trees, and digging with the shovel all seem to take a substantial amount of time (with no apparent reason). 10 seconds or so to mine ore that only drops after the node is completely gone seems, subjectively, like long time to be doing nothing, especially considering that it’s an action that will be done repeatedly, frequently.
Unless there is some yet-to-be-revealed reason (maybe upgrades down the line that make it quicker or make resources pop out when the node is at 25%, 50%, and 75%), it might be worth considering shortening the gathering times.
Just my opinion, which is worth about what it cost you. Keep up the great work.
6 Likes
Something to ponder.
I think a very reasonable and fun way to pass the gathering time would be to implement spawning monsters, commensurate with the amount of resources and their rarity. What better way is there to get the goods without taking any risk, aye?
Some special events could run with a good dose of epic flair; e.g. dragon eggs by the mining site. You get your lore fixation (quest), a breath of fresh air (adventure), and a reward. These events could even be tied to level challenges starting from level 1. and continue as much as the dev would like to go. Completing a series of them could yield achievement, and rare decos/trophies to deck your property would be neat.
Resource maps: Resource map locations could be anywhere from a small island, or peninsula to an underground cave where normally you won’t be able to travel.
The resource maps could be a world drop, and some ordinary ones may be sold at Miner’s Guild.
Implement different rarity of shovels to mine rarer resources that are available on resource maps.
Coming from UO and the imagination I’ve grown with its unlimited sandbox features I can go on almost forever. It depends on how much you want to expand the idea on but stopping here for now.
From current footage, there are crafting recipes for higher-quality tools (e.g., start with bronze shovel, and then buy/craft a silver shovel), and these likely reduce the gathering time.
That said, the gathering time flagged for me too, and a tool-progression system doesn’t quite feel like a satisfying solution or justification (i.e., it doesn’t feel good to incrementally reduce my time wasted; players prefer Positive Reinforcement over Negative Reinforcement).
Potential Improvements:
- Higher-quality tools = higher amount and/or quality of resources gathered → This indexes more directly on Positive Reinforcement.
- Gamify the gathering process → Players were loud & clear on this regarding a fishing mini-game, but I think this can be extended to all resource gathering. Add a timing component, so if I hit the Light Attack in time with the axe hitting the tree, then that deals extra “damage” (ideally this timing challenge would be variable so every tree I chop down isn’t on the same frame-cadence). Importantly, there should be no penalty for missing the timing (so players don’t feel punished for trying). This both improves skill expression and acts as transferable practice for other timing / button-press challenges in the game (e.g., parrying in combat).
3 Likes
Honestly you could get rid of this system entierly, in an action game resource gathering is just boring.
I like to explore to find loot, friendly NPCs or mobs to kill/ be killed by, I hate to waste time smashing a rock or chopping down a tree.
A minigame to engage with in an optional manner like fishing in Hades is fine…but not more.
Even in skyrim I only mined resources while I was poor and could not afford buying them.
1 Like
The time it takes needs to be reduced, the upgrade system with gathering on the side is good, but 10 seconds for 1 log or a chance of 2 is extreme when you see some upgrades taking 30 logs + other things
That plus the upgrade itself taking hours for some reason? That one makes no sense
1 Like