Specific Prescriptive Suggestions

Sunless Sea
1

[color=#ffffff]Failbetter,[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]After 10 hours play, here are some specific prescriptive suggestions. I think you’ll find them more useful than more common complaints/observations. Even though my phrasing is strong and without equivocations, I want to say that they are only suggestions, that you know your vision better than me, and that I greatly enjoy your game. That said, I think some of these will be useful or intriguing.[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]First of all, combat is not too difficult. It is very hard in that the earliest vessel is extremely easy to destroy. But to me this just underlines that the game is not about combat, and that the player starts the game in a tenuous position with a weak ship. I only died once in my first 10 hours, and that’s because I avoided combat by turning off my lights whenever a beast/ship was near. When I did take an enemy on I was very careful not to let it get too close, and not to let its AI switch from fleeing to pursuing for very long. I also don’t think the ship turns too slowly. Rather I think the enemy vessels turn too quickly.[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]Secondly, the art is absolutely stunning. Bravo![/color]
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[color=#ffffff]Low effort high reward ideas[/color]
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[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Revamp terror so that it doesn’t rocket up in safe areas. These are grizzled zailors, are they not? Even if it’s pitch black, if they are sailing near Hunters Keep should their terror really be going up at the same speed as if it’s pitch black out in the Promised Sea? Terror should depend BOTH on the amount of light AND on location in the sea and the familiarity level with that area. Venderbight is pretty darn familiar, and the trip ought to cause minimal terror. So let’s say there are three categories – safe – london, venderbight, mutton island, Hunter’s Keep, etc – middling – Whither, The Sisterhood, Demeaux, etc – and Frightful – Promised Sea, Iron Republic, and waters further askance.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Add a Zailors’ Club to London which carries some basic information about current supply/demand at some better known islands, and may indicate some initial routes for new Captains.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Add music that plays while players read for a long time in London or in other places. Meanwhile, turn off the engine sound when a random event pops up, and when the player is examining the chart. It’s just annoying. Also add a separate volume slider for the engine as opposed to all other sound effects. It just wears on the player after a while. Meanwhile, make the deck stories window transparent and allow the player to deal with events, crew conversations, etc while the ship is still moving. This reduces drudgery. Obviously this should not apply to more than a little bit of additional real time travel in terror/mutiny related critical events, but for most events this just helps lighten the sea travel time.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Introduce stats for beasties that vary within a range, so that the player doesn’t know the stats of the enemy he’s approaching. That is, there can be stronger corsairs and weaker corsairs, reflecting the very real different experience levels of enemy pirate captains and the different configurations of their ships. Similarly, different crabs are stronger, weaker, have variations, etc. This introduces calculated risk and choice in to the equation when a player is deciding his course of action as he approaches a beastie.[/color][/li][/ul][ul][li][color=#ffffff]Furthermore, remove the hitpoint bar and replace it with newsticker &quotjournal entries&quot at the bottom of the screen that describe signs that the beast is wounded or the ship is damaged. They should give hints as to how damaged the enemy is while still maintaining the mystery that demands risk management from the player.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Add an item that allows the player to escape combat he’s losing, but make him get close again to execute it, and make the item moderately pricey. For example, a particularly strong spiders web net might stall some smaller beasts long enough for you to escape. But for larger ones, the most difficult ones, you might need to jettison half of your fuel in order to confuse it long enough to escape. For a ship, you might need to put up a smoke screen which blocks his light. In fact, the risk of almost every situation should be able to be hedged against if the player is willing to give up maneuverability, or crew space (less crew and more terror), or hold space, or has risked his neck to get the appropriate item. Almost all items that lower risk should be of a perishable, limited number (i.e. a gallon of special fuel to increase speed, or ). This is what OUT THERE did correctly. It feels fair because it’s on the player to prepare given his situation.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Zoom in on the battle when the player and the NPC are close. It increases intensity, tension, etc.[/color][/li][/ul][ul][li][color=#ffffff]Go dark during combat (use the same darkness setting that the player sees when the game is paused). This would require the ability to turn off the front light and use side lights, or rotate the top light, etc (there should be a direction marker for which direction the light is pointed when off). There should be a marker indicating the location in which the enemy was last seen (like in other fog of war tactical games). But the idea is that the player has to remember the positioning of nearby islands and use it to navigate, and he can turn his lights on to see but makes himself vulnerable. The same for the enemy. Weapons do have warm up times but once locked and loaded it simply depends on the crew to move the gun in to position facing the general right direction, and then on the captain to light up the enemy boat (or the enemy to light himself) for a few seconds so the gun can be exactly aimed and fired.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Introduce attributes to enemies along with different attack options. A captain who tells his crew to aim for a corsair’s engine might find that this particular vessel is equipped with oars, as well.[/color][/li][/ul]
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[color=#ffffff]High effort high reward ideas[/color]
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[color=#ffffff] THIS IS PARTLY A ROGUELIKE, SO FOCUS ON AREAS WHERE THE PLAYER SPENDS THE MOST TIME[/color]
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[ul][li][color=#ffffff]In order to eliminate the early grind, greatly increase the density of not-likely-to-repeatedly-see stories on all locations with a higher likelihood of appearing near london. Greatly increase content density near london, far beyond what the completed game will have far away from london. Again, because the proportion of player time spent near london is far higher than his time far away. You can be more brutal here, as a late game player can cope near london and an early game player can more easily handle game over, but you must also be more generous.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]It seems to me that for all this game’s vaunted story, locations change remarkably little after each voyage. I click the same buttons over and over, read the same prose over and over, and experience little to no progressive stories that require only time for their twists and turns rather than relying on my ability to reach some such far away island. Going for a stroll in london might have you encountering the urchin gang you knew as a child. Maybe next time you’re in port one of your old buddies needs to be bailed out from jail. Etc, etc, etc. Little stories. London seems lifeless now. Maybe it’s possible to reuse some of the most appropriate Fallen London storylets in this game to give yourselves a head start in the location most players spend the most time in.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Storylets like &quotExplore Venderbight&quot should have AT LEAST 10 different possible response paragraphs that can randomly follow that, rather than repeating the same one over and over as they do now. Right now it’s like mining for port reports over and over.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Kick up the frequency of random port events by several notches. Perhaps utilize a system where an additional event has a 50/50 chance of accumulating in anticipation of the player’s return every 5 minutes he’s away. A player who is gone for 50 minutes of game time has a good shot at 6 random storylets when he returns to London, or when he gets back to Venderbight, etc. Of course, for places like Mutton Island maybe it’s only 50/50 shot of one for every 20 minutes of absence.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Fill all islands near London with supply and demand. Even Hunters Keep might sell herbs. Shepherd Isles are sure to have a particular taste for some particular type of tobacco or some such. Or how about the company post on Demeaux? You just know those men need wine to pass the time. Utilize a system where supply and demand on the islands in the sea changes (within a range that keeps the basic trade routes intact – i.e. Venderbight is always going to need candles) every time the player goes back to London so long as it has been at least 5 min of play time since he was last there.[/color][/li][/ul]
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[color=#ffffff] FOCUS ON THE STORY – THAT’S WHY PEOPLE BUY THIS GAME[/color]
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[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Absolutely LOAD the sailing portions with random stories. I’m saying that the majority of the game’s stories should happen on the open sea because the majority of it’s playing time is in the open sea. They should happen often – at least 4X as often as they do now. This will necessitate a lot more possible events. Some of these events should only be possible within a certain distance from a certain port, or within a certain time after leaving a certain port (i.e. first mate dies of a fatal fungal infection within a certain time after visiting Demeaux UNLESS the player can administer the antidote within 1 game week). [/color][/li][/ul][ul][li][color=#ffffff]Allow the player to initiate and tell stories with his crew, sing shanties with them, order them an extra ration of rum, deliver a speech, etc.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Players should be able to click on named scenery features and trigger description storylets and sometimes events (i.e. Stalagmite X is known for the stagmites around it which lie just beneath the water and often sink ships whose captains venture too close. There seem to be three or four stranded pirates clinging to the side of the stalagmite just now. Two of them are trying to hail us. Should we stop and give them passage, captain?).[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Add more minor stories (not talking about random port events right now) to every port. They don’t have to be big, though some should be larger and in several parts. I’m talking about little things. I got all the way to the Fathomking and then there was nothing to do there (because I didn’t meet the prereqs) except step a toe on shore and then get quickly back in the boat. That is bad. The place looked GREAT, however.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Add stories that can interrupt combat and provoke choices. A crab with a gimp claw. A corsair dropping mines. Or a crewman betraying our vessel by revealing our position. There should be events that depend on the type and position of the enemy and other general ones that can happen in combat in general. For example 20 possible stories for crabs (they don’t always show up). 20 for corsairs. And many scores of stories for general. And each choice affects the the situation of combat after the story event.[/color][/li][/ul]
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[color=#ffffff] MITIGATE THE PAIN OF STARTING OVER[/color]
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[ul][li][color=#ffffff]Have different ports where the player can make a place of his own, and then allow the player to select any port where he has active warehouses or flats for his heir to begin the next game. This allows late game players to start out in the most advantageous and profitable part of that version of the unterzee as they’ve already explored it and found out the lay of the zee. Active warehouses or flats mean that the player must maintain them by visiting that port and paying rent at least once every quarter (3 months) or he’ll lose his space there and have all his stuff sold out from under him. So he has 3 months to return to London and make sure to pay rent there, too, or he won’t be able to claim the stuff there after his forebear’s death.[/color][/li][/ul]
[ul][li][color=#ffffff]This next point coincides with increasing the density of London-nearby stories, but either greatly vary and randomize the early game (why should the same tattoo guy, the same proposal guy, etc always show up and say exactly the same things and make exactly the same proposals? That’s why dying is so awful. I know it helps early econ, but instead just make a lot of content with much of the London content aiding the player.) or allow an heir to inherit (some of the more basic of) his forebear’s relationships and story progress (i.e. be a Jr or a III) IN ADDITION TO current inheritance rules.[/color][/li][/ul]
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[color=#ffffff]LOCATION IDEAS TO TAKE OR LEAVE[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]CARNELIAN DUNES[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]Massive field of shallow sand dunes filled with amber and valuable minerals. 1800s mining machines and barges spew ash and fumes in to the area as they dig and trawl for resources. The main town in the area is filled with entrepreneurial barge owners and debtors who are going out to try their luck. It consists of a few stilt houses surrounded by great rusting iron barges tied together. There’s also a massive gem cutting factory nearby. Every time you visit the sands seem to have shifted, and the scattered trawlers follow them and group together in different antagonistic clusters.[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]MURMURING CAVERNS[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]Tighter cave chambers where the zee continues in what start to become more like underground rivers and lakes with strong currents from which the foolish zailor may never emerge.[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]CAUGHT BUGS[/color]
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[color=#ffffff]Hearts show up as 1 less in storylets than they are shown as on the crew menu.[/color]
[color=#ffffff]The fathomking’s hold has Londons shops.[/color]
[color=#ffffff]I was randomly transported from the light ship near London to Venderbight after a freeze up and reload.[/color]

[li]

2

lots of thoughts and effort! but do be aware that final release is closing fast and STEEL went overlong, throwing the schedule off by a month. while tweaks and additional content are still coming, the current incarnation of the game is probably more-or-less complete as you see it. biggest change left might be the final balance on Terror and a few to general combat (and all already planned).[li]

3

Psst! I don’t think these suggestions are unnecessary extras. Repeating storylets and long travels represent early drudgery the player has to push through to get to the slowly unraveling stories. That doesn’t jive with the roguelike inclinations. The current game sells itself short by not enveloping players in the setting every time they return to a port. Sometimes a player travels to Corsair’s Forest only to find there is nothing new there. That’s disappointing.

Meanwhile a lot of this is less difficult to implement than it first seems. Combat events can be one or two sentences long with simple stats effects. The functionality for changing the prose used during a stroll through Venderbight is already demonstrated by the two different possible paragraphs when the player reads the newspapers in London. Just having a London pub where there are three or four characters than can always be talked to, and who the player can ask different things of, and who discuss the latest Unterzee news, would make a HUGE difference.

Meanwhile, the sheer beauty of the art, and the willingness to work for a month on Steel in response to feedback, demonstrate that this is FB’s baby. I don’t think they’re nearly done with it, December release date or not.

The Southern Archipelago and other seas near London is the current bottleneck in this game. It forms a much larger share of playtime, and making sure that players don’t read about birds nesting in hair every time they click to have lunch with a certain sister and get her tale of terror is more important to this game’s general impression than this detail is in Frostfound, fascinating though the latter may be.

If Alex can write 20 mini-storylets a day (or 30 london storylets adapted from FL) then he can take each island of the So. Archipelago one a day and greatly smooth out this problem in a week.

Meanwhile hopefully sailing events will continue to be added to on an ongoing basis. You could even crowdsource a lot of those!

4

Mr Champeau is right. I’m seeing a lot of similar feedback across the forums and I know the devs are watching…I think they’ll make the right changes. Even a small change to the combat system using battle events will have a big impact on playability and in bridging the gap between those who want the latest combat system and those who want more story action making each battle more unique.

I second the rest of what you said too…I know I’m willing to throw my 2 cents of ideas for events in. Really the system is all in place, they just need more of it.

5

Don’t get me wrong – I’m playing for the magnificent larger connecting stories. But these suggestions would greatly increase the joy of minute to minute play on the journey toward discovering those larger secrets.

6

It would also keep the combat from getting boring once players reach a level where their ships/armaments are so strong the battles are no longer scary. Once you have that frigate or luxury liner armed with torpedoes or the latest from Canimus yards, these kinds of events might keep the game feeling fresh and give combat that &quotanything can happen&quot kind of feeling without the events always seeming negative (some are good, some are bad, etc).
I would stress, however, that these events might be hard on beginners, so the &quotTime the Healer&quot quality might need to be checked against some of them though.

[li]

7

[li]yeeeesss … but some things are easier to tweak than others, and fiddling with one bit can lead to unintended consequences with others, leading to more rebalancing, more tweaking, more time, more testing… and sometimes, code don’t allow ‘little tweaks’ without big coding messes. and while it’s one thing to lend a kindly ear to the buzzing multitudes about, there’s already work left on the board and time is running fast and qicker to the qick, and folk have bills and rents to pay.

sure, you never know. anything can happen in a world of broken certainty. but hopes and dreams are lighter things than piled debts and deadlines. temper hot xpectations with cool realities and you’ll find the lukewarm bathwaters of probability.

8

Your suggestions are great!

9

Time the Healer… Perhaps there will be this content in a year or so, but for December, I doubt it.

10

The most important suggestion is to focus a few islands worth of work on varying and increasing content near London, so that the player nearly always has new prose to read and new world-building to become a part of whenever he returns to an early-game port.

ANOTHER SUGGESTION
Create more missions that do not involve returning to London.
Some of the admiralty’s contacts may, for example, get the player involved in conflicts between spy networks. They may start sending him on missions independently, they may introduce him to more other folks with their own interests, etc.