Suggestions - from small tweaks to large features

18

First of all, great job on your game, I'm usually quite fond of hack and slash ARPGs and this one has proved to be both unique (thanks to unusual and solid mechanics like suppression and cover) and atmospheric (with a faithful realization of the WH40K setting).

I believe this game has a lot of unrealized potential and could benefit greatly from tweaks that are comparatively cheap from a development standpoint, as well as from some more elaborate features of an "expansion" level of complexity.

I'd really appreciate if someone from Neocore could read the following list of such tweaks and features I've compiled over time. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking because the series may be in "maintenance" mode, but I'd enjoy having it reach the developers nonetheless.

On with the list (sorry for the length):


Adjustments and Tweaks:

Relatively low development required. Some are new options or features left here because of their relative "low" impact; you can count them in the next category if you wish.

Miscellaneous:

  • Currently, no special Execution animations (as displayed in the related Crusader tutorial) are shown even with "Elaborate executions" enabled, with the exception of those performed on "boss" type vehicles. This looked to me like a bug (I posted it as one), until I've read a somewhat hidden developer post stating that it was removed on v2.0 to maintain combat flow. To be honest, this makes the Crusader more bland (as this is his unique feature) and makes it difficult to tell if executions are performed (as well as being a waste of good animations). My recommendation is to use one of the following behaviors to keep everyone happy:
    • "Elaborate executions" enabled shows full execution animations for all enemies where the animation exists.
    • The same as above but with a new option ("Execution Camera") for enabling/disabling slowdown and camera zooms on those animations.
    • (My preferred option) Using different hotkeys for short/long executions, so that players can dynamically control what they want to see at a given time. Optionally, for "long" executions the combat state could have a longer base duration.
  • Missing tutorials: I missed an entry explaining the conditions and effects of the different combat bonuses (Unbreakable, Kill Streak, Tactical Strike, etc.), a more detailed entry for Combat States (listing their effects), an entry for Debuffs (icons and effects) and others.
  • Planetary Influence rewards should be adjusted. In particular, systems that reward high influence with crafting materials should change the mid influence rewards to "Machine God's Sparks" and top influence to "Sparks of Glory".  Currently they're set to "Ancient Mechanisms" which are meaningless in later stages of the game.
  • Turrets and other mechanical enemies are currently vulnerable to bleed and other DoTs. Worse, they show the normal graphical effects (e.g. blood). They should be immune or resistant and they shouldn't show the graphic effects. If the damage is to be maintained for balance reasons, at the very least the effects should be adjusted (e.g. black "oil" instead of red blood for bleed DoT).
  • Voice acting should be added for "Genetor Agrippa" on "Merciful Agony MCXII". The rests of the locations have it, so it feels strange that the most important one from a character development perspective does not.
  • When holding "F" on data retrieval terminals (e.g. on "Data Hunt" missions) the "typing" animation shown on story missions should display and your character should remain at an appropriate distance for said animation. That way you have to pick your time to either defend or activate the terminal.
  • Make the "Character Pointlight" disabled by default. The game has great use of darkness and shadows, but this mode obscures it and makes everything look a little washed-out. It's not a good "first impression" (though it can remain for those players that don't like dark environments). The flashlight is much better.
  • The Character Light should be treated as an in-game element - a flashlight activated with a hotkey and a "click" sound effect.
  • Some animations sped-up for the v2.0 patch look dowright silly. In particular shooting from cover is over-the-top fast. Those animations should be slower (which also has a positive effect as you need to better time your shooting to retain cover). See the related section on "Tactical Mode" below.
  • A "lock from sale" toggle should be added to all items so that particular items can be ignored for the purpose of bulk sales (avoiding accidental item sales).
  • A small detail, but it would be nice to be able to rename the Inquisitorial Vessel (or just know its original name).
  • Further incentive to salvage (and thus raise your Crafting Ability) is needed. Currently missions cover your crafting material needs (with the exception of special materials, e.g. "Machine God's Spark"). Some measures that would help to fix this: being more stingy with mission common material rewards, having Crafting Ability give you a chance to get extra special materials (and even a small chance to get special materials of a higher tier than the salvaged item), having more uses for common materials (e.g. Inoculator component type change).
  • "Relic Chests" could use varied demon types.
  • A quick toggle for an "AWSD" keyboard mapping on the Control tab of the game Options would be very welcome.
  • Shard Crafting progression seems off. As it is, higher level shards are typically obtained directly as loot and only very, very rarely upgrading lower level ones. I would have appreciated a system where lower level shards were more common and high level ones rarer, and with a lower number of shards per upgrade. That way, your high level shards would typically be the result of laborious accumulation, and only rarely very welcome direct drops.
  • Armor/Weapon model variety: maybe this is just bad luck, but I have found that the variety in armor/weapon looks goes down as the item level increases. I believe this is because relic items (and beyond) have a limited pool of models, unlike "normal" items. If that's the case, the game would benefit by having all models apply for high item "tiers" (that is, higher tiers unlock more "sophisticated" looks, but don't exclude simpler looks). Ultimately, most of your character's career will have you using those items, so the full model diversity should be at display on them.

 Priority Assignments:

The current implementation of Story Priority Assignments is very underwhelming, bot in rewards and content. Some relatively easy suggestions:

  • Story/DLC Priority Assignments should allow difficulty selection (Impossible, Eye of Terror, etc.) as Random ones do. Currently they feel off in challenge and reward levels.
  • Clues (Data Slates and other text-only assets) should be "hidden" (placed in side rooms, enemies, chests or "secret" teleporter rooms) in Priority Assignment missions where appropriate from a story standpoint. They should improve your Success Rate or lower you Collateral Damage. Ideally, they could also lead to extra missions. Again, they are text only, so are a way to make Priority Missions unique at "low cost".
  • A way to retry Priority Assignments (via Fate points, for instance) should be evaluated.
  • I understand Priority Assignments are pitched as a great way to obtain Glory. In my experience, however, even when finished with high Success Levels and low Collateral Damage, they can't compete with Tarot Boosted missions (particularly Intel Missions). I feel that Glory reward balance should get a look to make assignments more compelling.
  • Most (all?) Priority Assignments are set against Drukhari, Chaos or Tainted Rebels - it would be welcome if some were added featuring the Eldar and Tyranids (the Eldar don't have that much motivation for random mayhem so they're best served by Story Assignments, but Tyranids are a nice fit for Random ones). This is more of a feature than a tweak - while this is "simple" for Story Assignments, I understand it's quite some work for Random ones, as you need to write enough scenarios so that the repetition is not that noticeable.
  • The "CYOA" nature of Priority Assignments is their differentiating feature, but it's not always sufficiently exploited - more choices between missions would be welcome, from obvious ones resulting in different paths/missions (e.g. "would you like to lay siege to their strong positions or assassinate their leaders?"), to subtler ones tweaking your mission setup (e.g. accept the help of an Eldar Ranger and get radical points and a minion for the rest of the assignment,  "donate supplies" and get no supply boxes on the next missions for reduced Collateral Damage, etc.), or even ones that tweak your rewards (e.g. try to find a relic risking higher Collateral Damage).

Starmap:

  • Special locations (e.g. "Merciful Agony MCXII") should be shown in the planet list on the "System Summary" screens. Preferably in a different font color from conventional planetary locations.
  • Mission icons should be shown in the location list on the "System Summary" screens.
  • New Gameplay Option "Always Show Starmap Travel" to display the travel animation from your current location to the location of the mission selected in the browser or fast travel button on the UI. Just an optional detail to reinforce the illusion of travel.
  • The Ordo Inquisitor fortresses on the Starmap could give you an option to open their stores, receive missions and review your progress, as from the bridge.
  • [Spoilers] Some story events should be reflected on the Starmap, e.g. the closure of the Dark Nexus at the end of the Prophecy main quest, the warp-collapse of the Stormwatcher/Voidripper Fort in the Awakenings investigation.

Bridge Interface:

  • The Tarot Card Table on the Ship's Bridge should be used to Review (i.e. full screen artwork view) and Upgrade your Uther's Tarot cards (somewhat as in the original release version). The current system is very confusing (originally I didn't even realize I had the cards until I read an online forum).
  • In addition, you could be allowed to use the table to Synch to a particular card and give a small boost to the probability of obtaining it from the random loot system.
  • Void Crusades should be launched from a different panel (e.g. the one for pets/emotes/cosmetics, now redundant with the addition of the "Commendations" display), or from a new Tab in the Tarot Card Table panel.
  • The quest stage (video clue) where you find the Martyr via Uther's Tarot should trigger when clicking the table after getting said deck.
  • For consistency's sake, the sign on Caius Thorn should read "PVP Multiplayer - Caius Thorn" instead of "PVP Multiplayer" only.

Uther's Tarot:

  • Fixed level change cards (e.g. "Sets mission level to 70") should be replaced with cards that set mission level relative to your character, as in difficulty mode selection (e.g. "Sets mission difficulty to Hard - Your level +1", "Sets mission difficulty to Extreme - Your level +3", etc.).
  • New "joker" style cards with wacky or uncommon effects, both in negatives and positives, would be a great addition. This may be more a feature than a tweak if the effects are truly imaginative. A great feature to join a less-than-serious Ork expansion. Some examples (not the cleverest, but to get the ball rolling): The Gambler: enemies killed in quick succession drop credits / large credit cost to launch mission. The Angel: you are accompanied by a full Space Marine Squad / Each elite enemy is joined by a Chaos Sorcerer and/or Engine. The Bullet: battles may play out in slow-motion / in slow-motion battles you make +50% damage and enemies make +100% damage. The Exterminatus: horde enemies may appear randomly when attacking / you get 10 artillery strikes.

Tech Adept:

Kudos on the design of what I believe is the most interesting ARPG summoning class. That said, some extra adjustments could help improve the Tech Adept's versatility and polish his aesthetics:

  • The hotkey to direct construct movement and attack (Shift) should be changed (e.g. Ctrl) to be different to the "shoot-from-location" one and avoid confusing situations (e.g. you want to blow up an explodable item and end up directing your constructs to the explosion).
  • The construct summon skills (hotkeys 2-5) don't seem to activate while your character is walking, which is a bit awkward. I'd recommend to either remove the requirement to stop (i.e. summon on-the-go), or simply make it so that activating the keys stops you and triggers the corresponding skills.
  • The "placeholder" icon for Construct Skills should be different than the book used for Psykers. Replace it with a simplified representation of the construct boxes in the Bridge (or thematic abstractions such as a cog, a Mechanicum logo, etc.).
  • Alpha and Beta weapons need different icons to distinguish them at a glance on the inventory. Just an outline for Alpha weapons would do, but using different models would be ideal (but more of a feature than a tweak).
  • The Necromechanic Turret feels as an afterthought, as it uses the summon animation and sounds from the Tarantula Turret. Unique sounds and animation would help. Even better, the Tech Adept's turrets could have their own summoning animation similar to the one for constructs (to differentiate them from the Crusader's "field teleportation").
  • A little extra incentive is needed not to maximize summon slots on all builds. Currently, I believe the utility gained by having extra construct is rarely offset by belt, armor or weapon skills. Perks are a good way to aid this style. In particular, "Skiitari Neurosync" I think was intended for this purpose, but it could get a boost (e.g from +7.5 -1.5 per construct to +12.5 -2.5 per construct slot). Also, a little upgrade in quality for the alternatives (particularly armor skills) would help.
  • Some constructs need some help to be competitive. Currently Kastelans and Vivisectors feel like the prime choice as they are well supported by skills and perks, and it's ideal to go all-in in either of them. Meanwhile Combustors and specially Kataphrons seem to have a lot of downtime and surprisingly low survivability for their relatively high summon cost. Combustors could get an offensive boost, and maybe be affected by the "Mechasapient" perk to have 3 of them instead of 2. Kataphrons could benefit from having less reserve and summon cost, or larger HP/Damage Resist, but specially from new perks.
  • The "Synod of the Machine God" (+25% damage bonus when you have one summon of each type) needs to be higher (+50% maybe?) to offset the inefficiencies of deploying all summon types (spread-out skill points).
  • Ancient Relic construct equipment with unique construct-specific enchants (e.g. "Can also heal Humanoids" on Alpha Turret, "Can crush regular enemies" on Kataphron Axe) would be very nice. Maybe there's something like this already but I haven't found it. Also, I encourage to add more clever generic construct related enchants such as "HP gained per second if there is a Psiloi, Turret, Kataphron and Kastelan construct active simultaneously" and "Damage Bonus to Constructs summoned from the Armor slot".
  • Maybe I missed it, but it would be nice to have the Damage type (e.g. Physical, Heat, etc.) of the construct attacks display in the either the skill icons in the "Construct Setup" panel or on the weapons themselves.

Skills and perks:

  • The "Master Grenadier" skill should be an optional (side) choice on the skill tree and offer a bigger benefit (e.g. +50% instead of +20%).
  • A similar perk should be provided for Mines, e.g. "Expert Trapper": +10% mine damage per second between mine placement and explosion, up to +100%.
  • The "Grinder" perk should be adjusted to "Critical Hits do no extra damage", so that critical hits can still trigger other effects (skill "procs").
  • Skills activated while standing still should have a longer delay (say, 0.5-1 seconds) so that they don't work with melee movement / stutter steps.
  • Radical/Puritan balance should get a look again. Most Radical skills are cool in concept, but their actual values are so low for them to be entirely useless (and often, random effects that are worse than the permanent effects puritans get). This can't be emphasized enough: they are truly terrible. For example: 1% extra damage for each 10%HP lost to reach a whopping max of 10% for those moments you're running away (Radical Istvaanism). A 3% (really?) chance to reflect warp attacks that aren't that common anyway (Oblationist Penance), 1% extra damage per useless radical passive for a sad maximum of 7% (Forbidden Knowledge), and so on for the rest. As for the Radical Perk, it sounds like it can be useful, but the actual extra resource regeneration is not as advertised (presumably a bug; I reported it as such). All this can be fixed changing values, since functionally the skills/perks are interesting.
  • New "hidden" Heroic Deeds. Some examples for flavor:
    • Meticulous: don't destroy any Library environment prop on "N" missions with Imperial Library map type. Reward: lower spread perk.
    • Purifier: destroy "X" number of sacrificial altars and pyres (props erected on Drukhari and Chaos). Reward: perk granting suppression aura against demons and Drukhari. 
    • Trench Master: direct troops to defensive positions "X" times. Reward: perk that adds to max suppression when in cover.
    • Field Commander: recruit "X" soldiers on missions. Reward: perk that boosts minion/companion (see below) performance.



Features:

New features are those that require new assets or more in-depth development work, but bring a lot into the table.

Combat Mechanics ("Tactical Mode"):

This section is my personal priority. It lists a variety of adjustments that in theory would enable a more tactical, meticulous and deliberate play style (bringing it closer to a sort of real-time tactics mode).

Ideally, the more controversial changes among these could be included as options and bundled in a new menu in the Game Options called "Tactical Mode" / "Old-school Mode" or similar, in conjunction with options that enhance the in-universe atmosphere (or "immersion", as much as I detest the word in this context). Those options could be picked and chosen individually, but having all of them active would constitute playing in "Old-school mode" (or however you want to call it), and could grant a related Heroic Deed (on "N" missions completed with the mode) unlocking a perk that applies to the mode only (e.g. extra flanking damage).

  • Flanking. Attacks from behind receive a +50% damage bonus (order of magnitude example), both those given and received. Your own position indicator flashes red when receiving flanking damage. That way, your orientation is more important, but also that of your opponents (great for co-op play). The penalty is greatly reduced when holding a melee weapon.
  • Some mobility skills (e.g. dodges) should get a new flanking ameliorating attribute (e.g. "Reduces flanking bonus to received damage by X% for the duration"), to reinforce their escape-button role with the new flanking system.
  • Enemy damage should be a bit higher across the board, particularly for "cannon fodder" enemies. Suppression specialists (e.g. machine gunners) should be more effective in their role by having more suppression damage. Snipers (and enemies with charged skills in general) should have a significant damage increase, making cover of utmost importance against them.
  • On the flip side, groups of enemies should be a bit smaller (say, no groups of 10 machine gunners), excepting hordes (which should be bigger).
  • Suppression should be penalized a bit more heavily when not in cover. To this end, a few features could be added: when under fire, in addition to the current suppression damage (subject to reductions) you would suffer a fixed loss of a very small % of your max suppression. In addition, in-combat suppression regeneration should be reduced.
  • More enemy types (e.g. Rebel Troopers) could have (very small) armor pools. Horde and "squishy" (e.g. demons) would not have them.
  • Slightly increased cooldowns and slower animations - including those for positioning (important as seen before), shooting from cover and reloading. This is somewhat in line with the pre v2.0 state. I know this is controversial as supposed player feedback included complaints about the game's speed. That said, the game mechanics and this tactical mode in particular benefit from high opportunity cost, deliberate actions. Also, the slower animations fit the style and impact of the characters. So this could and should be included as an entirely optional toggle.
  • Some damage sources should be significantly increased, in particular avoidable ones. With this I mean: timed grenades and environmental elements such as traps, mines, poisoned rooms, Vox Station bombardments and exploding objects. Currently players can ignore them after a certain point.
  • Some skills and interactions could cause friendly fire / self damage (although ameliorated). This includes area effects (e.g. grenades and plasma explosions) and environment prop destruction (e.g. crumbling columns).
  • Some kind of ranged bonus for "High Ground" (defined as "N" height difference between attacker and target) could be added - preferably range increase or accuracy / spread reduction. This should affect enemies too.
  • New interactions with terrain elements such as making ground lava a damage source. If possible, this should be dynamic - e.g. Nurgle enemies that exude a mucus that slows you down.
  • Explosions (e.g. grenades) near your character should induce a bomb "deafness" effect for a short while.
  • Enemies could have (higher) Resistances/Immunities to specific damage types and debuffs that are logical in-world (demons resist warp, mechanic elements bleed, etc.). This shouldn't be over the top (you should be able to soldier on and overwhelm resistant enemies), but noticeable enough that you're encouraged to keep different sources of damage on your equipment slots. A tutorial entry should explain the typical resistances per enemy type. Note that maybe such highly contrasting resistances exist now and I'm unaware - in that case, a tutorial would be helpful.
  • Travel via Starmap only as explained on the "tweaks section" could be considered an Old-school option.

Companions:

This was a universally praised feature of Van Helsing and should be replicated in WH40K, as the Inquisitor retinues scream configurable eccentric sidekicks. This is of course a major feature worthy of an expansion. My suggestions in this regard are:

  • Companions should be interactive, i. e. able to be directed to take cover, engage a specific enemy, man turrets and use character-specific skills via quick actions (e.g. hold hotkey + select cover/enemy/turret moving mouse + release hotkey). See the old "Rebel Commando" Star Wars game for inspiration (use this feature in marketing!). In this regard, ranged companions would be more interesting as they'd make full use of cover.
  • Use the same equipment pool as the player, with limitations appropriate to the chosen archetype (e.g. only ammo ranged weapons, only psyker armor, etc.). Even better, make weapon slots use the general system and armor be unique for the companion.
  • Have a parallel simplified customization system (bespoke system or via unique perks/passives).
  • The more eccentric and bizarre the better. Archetype Ideas: Catachan Warrior (Rambo lookalike spewing one-liners), Penitent/Arco-flagellant (one particularly pious Chaos victim your Inquisitor takes "pity" in), Exorcist/Banisher (maybe an uncharacteristically "tolerant" one for contrast with your character), Sister of Battle (although those last two could be reserved for full-on character classes).
  • As stated above, each should have at least one unique skill that can be triggered by the player.

New Uther's Tarot functionality:

Uther's Tarot currently feels underutilized. It should be exploited for character development too, so that you're specially excited when unlocking new cards. A food-for-thought proposal - tarot cards could deliver a build defining "Trait", similar to a perk but with a more severe penalty attached. The system I envision works as follows (only an outline, subject to revision and balancing): 

  • Each card should receive one positive and one negative thematic effect (e.g. less spread and more critical chance in cover / in-combat suppression decay when out of cover; a portion of physical damage is reflected / warp and heat damages create stacking vulnerabilities on each second receiving those damage sources, demons killed explode damaging nearby enemies / chance for spontaneous warp anomalies for all classes).
  • Major Arcana should have more unique, dramatic (build defining) effects (particularly the negatives), while Minor Arcana should have lighter conventional (perk level) effects on both ends (particularly the negatives).
  • After unlocking Uther's Tarot, each character would optionally go to the table and select cards to "psychically link" with, as follows:
    • One Minor Arcana and get only the pro from that (conservative choice).
    • One Major Arcana and get both the pro a con from it (major playstyles).
    • One major and two minor and get the con from the first and the pros from the later.
    • One major and two minor and get the pro from the first and the cons from the two later ones
  • You start with one card slot and unlock the other two at levels 45 and 70.
  • Tarot card leveling should not have an effect on the traits themselves, but if it did, it would increase both pros and cons.

Morality System:

The morality system is a great idea in principle as it provides a framework where your character can make impactful choices (atypical on an ARPG). That said, it has a huge flaw in that it mechanically discourages player choice - once you are set on a path, any decision that strays from it makes your character unambiguously worse-off, so choices become automatic instead of character-defining.

To avoid this, some way to accommodate the middle road must be provided. This is quite difficult on the current framework, but I'll give some outlines of the different approaches you may try:

  • One contrasting choice makes you "doubtful", two choices unlock axis movement. That way, you get additional flexibility to make character- appropriate choices without losing your progress.
  • Make progress in a given morality close-off some options for your character. So, middle road characters are more versatile, and extremists specialized. I'm unsure about what the penalties could be, however.
  • Make a mixed progress where you can advance in both bars. You get the benefits from any morality that's at least 50 points above the other (or from the latest active morality if the condition is not achieved). Then, create a Heroic Deed for those who "switch sides" X times. This can unlock a unique tree for the specific character and/or a unique powerful perk (e.g. "Unpredictable - lose access to all morality perks and trees, gain X berzerk tokens per N seconds on focused state").
  • Normal morality progress system, but reaching "X" total morality decision points and still being "middle of the road" (+/-100) unlocks unique perk/tree as stated above.
  • Parallel progress in morality bars where "mixed-morality" characters (less than 75 points in morality difference) have some limitations (e.g. no access to the perk nor items), but they can unlock the passive trees fully. Doesn't make much sense from a story perspective, however.
  • Tie-in with companion system: some companions reject ultra-puritans, others ultra-radicals, so balanced characters get more choices.
  • Make choices have story-relevant impact. This doesn't fix the underlying problem but makes each choice more than mechanistic. For example: if you spared Klosterheim, you can recruit him later as a companion, if you trust the Haemunculus you get betrayed and get reprimanded by the Conclave (maybe lose Planetary Influence), etc.

In addition, the following should be considered:

  • Radical / Puritan balance should be addressed, as stated in an earlier section.
  • New equipment: Xeno Equipment makes more sense for Radicals as pictured in the game than Daemonforged items do, and I believe it should be introduced. Unique weapon types (e.g. modified versions of Eldar Shuriken Pistol, Tau Ion Rifle, etc.) and belt equipment granting new skills are specially fitting. For their part, Puritans should get a proportional benefit, such as Holy Relics - a new item slot with specialized items granting aura/retaliation effects.

Miscellaneous:

  • Firing range / weapon test: a room reached from the bridge (from the Skull gate, for instance) where you can test your weapons and skills against target dummies (ranged), as well as combat bots (melee). Ideally, you would get statistics and logs of your tests (damage done, received, and reflected, deflections, etc.). You could also add a "Training Gear" character equipment interface so that you can fictionally equip "crappy" (below common) versions of each type of weapon/armor and get a feel for the skills they grant (without actually owning them or having them on inventory).
  • Open World maps feel somewhat dead and monotonous. I believe they would benefit from hidden elements (secret rooms from teleporters and behind destructible props, random clues, even "books" with small tidbits of the WH40K setting).
  • Related to the above, another thing you should add to Open World missions are semi-random Clues. These should be related to the map/enemy type they're found in, and should ideally tie up in an investigation (similar to the "Echoes of the Dark Nexus" in the main campaign). Gathering all clues for the quest would trigger the  next stage in a new story investigation (in the best scenario), or at least a Priority Assignment related to the uncovered plot.
  • Also, you can spice the open world adding new mission types. For example "Trench Warfare", where the map has two long opposing trench lines and you need to redirect troops, repair turrets and man stationary guns to defend your position from enemy waves coming from the opposing trench, while gauging the best moment to attack the enemy trench as it weakens its defenses on attack waves (you go early facing overwhelming defenses, go late risking your own line breaking, or try anytime in-between).
  • As an alternative or complement to the above, some of the mission types on Void Crusades could be incorporated to the Starmap. Maybe with a twist (e.g. Sabotage missions could have the equipment hidden from radar, as stated in the dialog intro).
  • New "sidequests" (i.e. those required for the "Stalwart Servant" achievement) would be another great way to spice-up the Open World. Examples: "Revive the Space Marine" (spend three inoculator charges to revive a fallen marine, while defending him from spawned attack waves), "Eldar Encounter", you find an Eldar warrior under siege, if you rescue him you get a Radical/Puritan choice to accept his help in the rest of the mission, or deny his help/execute him on the spot).
  • "Distress Calls": these are special missions you get randomly when traveling through the Starmap (you can get two per week from the quick access interface, in case you don't like that feature, but using Starmap theoretically you can stumble on more than two). Ideally, these missions would be made on behalf of the Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Administratum or Caligari Royal Houses and provide points for a parallel influence track with them (see below).
  • Political Faction Influence (Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Administratum or Caligari Royal Houses): a similar system than the existing Ordos one. Favor is gained by performing quests on faction-related planets and specially dealing with "Distress Calls". The reward would be unlocking unique faction-appropriate rewards. For example: the Ecclesiarchy grants your cherubim pets a "sacred incense" aura that induces Terror state on suppressed daemon and chaos type enemies.
  • Some mechanics feel under-represented on the skill trees. For example: cover, mines, digital weapons. I though of adding a new passive tree "Combat Tactics - Departmento Munitorum Logistic Doctrines" including related skills, both new and existing (cover damage resistance, grenade damage and amount ,etc. could be relocated there). That said, it would be simpler and more elegant to sprinkle a few related skills on the existing trees. If flanking becomes a regular mechanic however, this new skill tree should exist to hold related modifiers.
  • In the same vein, the minions you get on missions or with Custodian Rebus (i.e. Imperial Guard detachments, Space Marines, etc.) could be made more interesting by adding related passive skills (on a tree optional/side path) and/or secondary enchantments. For example, "+X% minion damage" or "Minion attacks heal you for X%HP". This is a good fit for the hypothesized "Logistic Doctrines" tree.
  • Camera: new modes could be offered, for example "Fixed Isometric" (my personal choice), "Fixed Over-the-shoulder" (Third Person) and "Follow Character" (facing rotates to match characters' heading when you walk a bit). For "Fixed Isometric", hotkeys could be provided for fixed rotation intervals (90 degrees clockwise/counterclockwise).
  • Inoculator component type customization: a way to modify the Inoculator component types would be extremely useful. I believe this should be added as extremely rare items (e.g. "Change Slot to Salve"), but also at stores randomly and for a hefty price (in terms of credits, Fate, materials, etc.). Think of it as a nice "sink" for underused currencies and materials (e.g. Common Materials).
  • A silly detail, but it would be nice to destroy (i.e. take out of their misery) the props for the victims of Drukhari torture machines. Or at least have the Inquisitor acknowledge them (e.g. "we'll teleport those people out after neutralizing the enemy"). I get the Inquisitor is callous, but not THAT callous.
  • I know it's not realistic, but I feel some of the voice acting could use a "second pass". There is a lot of inconsistent/wrong pronunciation (both for pseudo-latin and just plain english), and more importantly lines read without understanding - and thus with wrong pauses and intonation (as well as some old-fashioned bad acting). This is a shame because the script is quite good and subtly funny. In most cases, re-recording the offending lines with better direction would be enough.
    Note that most actors do solid work (e.g. those for the Crusader, Metrodora, Maldor, Goslar, Klosterheim, etc.), but others are guilty of one or more of the above problems (e.g. Van Wynter, Omicron, Tech Adept - which mostly don't "get" their lines).


That's all for the time being. I hope to update this if new ideas come. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing it.

This post was edited 4 years 67 days ago by Chacumbele
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Suggestions - from small tweaks to large features
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4 years 69 days ago
Chacumbele
LOL, didn't even know it could work like that, I just abandoned using cover after trying it early on and not liking it. Must have missed that option...
4 years 69 days ago
+1

(Edited: added a few suggestions such as item model variation and construct damage type display).

4 years 69 days ago
Giamantis
Thanks for your feedback. I also like the current game pace. Note that I listed the changes that may be considered as slowing it down as an optional game mode emphasizing tactical elements, not necessarily as a core feature, so as to not alienate those who feel as you do. I believe many would find this mode satisfying, however.


As for cover, I play with the "Single Keypress Cover Mode" toggle disabled, so I just hold Space when I need to use cover and release it when I don't (you don't need an actual keypress to leave cover). It feels rather fluid, can't say I have found it clunky. Granted, with "Single Keypress" activated, it works as you say and it's rather awkward.

4 years 70 days ago
Some good points, but with regards to the combat mechanics in particular, I'm against anything that makes cover "essential" and the whole concept of slowing it down it general. The pace is fine as it is for me, and the cover mechanic is awkward and clunky in it's current form of locking you in postion until you press the cover button againt to release. If it were changed so that any movement took you out of cover without having to press the cover button again, it might feel smoother. Or just simply being behind an object created cover, without having to press anything.
4 years 70 days ago

(Edited: added many  small suggestions, including "AWSD" controls and construct-specific enchantments).

4 years 76 days ago
+1
Marcopolocs

It was my pleasure to write (and hopefully, to help in a small way to improve this great game).

Thank you for taking your time to read this (that had to take a while!) and for sharing it. It is much appreciated.

Hopefully I'll keep updating this as I make my way through the game with different classes and setups.

4 years 76 days ago

(Edit: added new suggestions, e.g. Tech Adept hotkeys, Inoculator customization, etc.).

4 years 76 days ago
+1
This is not just huge wall of text but valuable as well. I will get through every point and those which can be achieved will be discussed among us. Thank you for your contribution!
4 years 77 days ago
+1
Chacumbele

also some archeotec shards that add additional damage type to your weapon would be really cool. Fire Shard or Cleansing Shard I-V that adds heat damage %1-%25 etc. Warp Shard, Physical Shard etc.

4 years 79 days ago

I agree with most of the staff but the companion change would make the game more of a rpg kind I think and co op would become even more of a moot point. why would you waste time with anyone when an npc can do whatever you say. and you probably wont have the time to command them to go to cover or something in the middle of the action. one think that would be close to your suggestion would be adding more word skills and give them something like a %10  drop chance from supply or medical boxes. that would spice things up a little. but we need more word skills they're really not enough type of them. more turrets can be made available to player like flamer turret, rocket turret, plasma turret, both for words and sentinel armor. summon space marine could also use some more spicing up. summon assault marine plays like an assault armor wearing crusader. summon librarian plays like a psyker. summon tactical marine uses different ranged weaponary everytime. summon apothecary heals nearby biological units. I would like to also add I would love a free camera mode option where I can pan and move the camera as I like with the mouse and click on anywhere on the map to look there or back to your character. great post with wonderful ideas. especially the tarot cards that sets mission levels to +1 +3 etc.

4 years 80 days ago
(Edit: added dedicated section for Tech Adept).
4 years 81 days ago
Chacumbele
Since you say they do have the experience, of this game mechanic with ARPG games, I guess you are referring to this Deathtrap Dungeon, and this may just work fine. For that one, yes. Have not played it.

And the Tower Defence mechanic works all ok in general, but it is not something I see would work within this specific game. But that doesn´t mean, that it can NOT be done. But for this mechanic to work in this game, they should boost the whole mechanic both one and 2 steps forward. And that is not very easy.


And when we are on to this Tower Defence mechanic, you could say that this mechanic is to some extent within the Defence Missions. And those work fine as they are already, I just don´t want this to become more Tower Defence mechanic thing.

Because if you happen to overdo such a mechanic, you risk ending up with something that resembles a bit like StarCraft. And that is not something any 40k fan wishes for.

4 years 81 days ago
Brother Kundari

Thank you for your comments.


As for "Trench Warfare", no need to be sorry for your honest feedback.


I realize this mode is not for everyone, but I think the game solidly supports exploring different "not for everyone" game styles anyway thanks to the Open World. A different mission type can just be ignored by players that don't like it (granted, as long as it's not tied to a Heroic Deed).


That said, in my view this mission type was not supposed to be much alike a "tower defense" mode, but more like those defensive segments already in the game, but more elaborate and allowing you to "break sequence" and try to overpower offensively early.


Now that you mention it, Neocore does have experience combining Tower Defense and ARPG mechanics, so an actual full-on TD mode might be pretty cool, though maybe not to your liking either (I'm not much of a fan of TD, but mixed with other mechanics it can be fun).

4 years 82 days ago
Some nice suggestions here as far as I can see and have read. I have not read it all yet, since it is such a very long post, but I can catch up on it laters.


But I need to be honest with you in the suggestion for what you call Trench Warfare. I have to be honest and say that such a gamemode would take the entire game down a notch or two. I need to say just no, no, and NNOOO. It is just Aarrgghhhh, NO. Altogether, please just remove it completely or rather just rewrite the whole segment and make it BETTER. Because this as you are describing it, is just way too much Tower Defence game mechanic thing. And that is really not something that we do not need, for a game like this.

Sorry, but I NEED to be honest here and express my true feelings for such a suggestion.

4 years 83 days ago
Great ideas I would like to add that on console the base ps4 the performance is still quite bad.I would not mind if they downgrade the graphics just to get a more consistent frame rate also proper  local co op would be amazing.I really enjoy the game and bought Prophecy and it's great.
4 years 84 days ago
treecargarage

Thank you. As I said, it's been pretty fun to write, and I'll keep updating it as long as ideas keep coming, but I'm not too hopeful it will have an effect on development (if any remains at all). Glad you enjoyed it.

4 years 84 days ago
+1
I think your thread was overlooked. It deserves attention.
4 years 84 days ago

(Edited: added a lot of suggestions, including new "Morality System" section).