Omega Syndrome hits 3.29

Well, Per might have more to add, but my personal problems with the UI were:

- I don't like the combat UI a lot. Mostly, the switching between normal, aimed and reloading is clunky, and the aiming interface is a bit non-intuitive (or non-existent, in a way).
- The combat is good, solid TB combat. It's just used too much in pretty long-ish combat sessions like the base or when you have to hunt down those kidnapped people. As much as I like TB combat, I think it, by preference, is meant for short spurts of elite-like combat, sparsely, and often forcing you to think tactically (like in Fallout 1, when you have to save the Brotherhood initiate, or clear the .223 pistol guy's farm). Clearing out an entire base of dozens of rats (or worms, in this case), isn't ideal. I've heard your explanation on this, tho', and it makes sense, I'd just not repeat it myself.
- Also, it might be me, but somehow the start/end combat thing was a bit counter-intuitive. I got it after a while, tho'
- Other than that, it simply takes too long for the search interface screen to pop into view. I click a dead zombie to search his belongings, and it takes quite a few too many seconds before the search interface pops into view. While not a console boy, I think usability here is very important, and it simply takes too long to operate this interface. I'm normally someone who searches every corpse after combat, but I couldn't keep it up this time. Just too slow, gets frustrating.
 
I agree with all of the above. Some things in more detail:

* I don't think the looting interface should have its own screen. Instead of having a briefcase in the background, just grey out the playing area underneath it. Also have the "use" animation go for only a fraction of a second before it pops up (you can let it finish in the background). Or have an option that speeds up animations and fades in general.
* Maybe disable looting for corpses that don't have anything in them (not a must unless you leave looting as slow as it is now).
* Having the options screen on top of the playing area would also help. And what's with the sound going off when you enter preferences, then back on when you return to the main options screen?
* A lot of buttons are too small, so you not only have to look for them, but perform small operations of manual dexterity in order to hit them. I'm thinking of a thing like the arrows by the stats on the char creation screen, which are way too clustered even when there is a lot of space directly on the right. The buttons for changing attack modes are also obvious offenders.
* If something represents an area transition, it should be clearly marked as such. Also, I don't want to see the lift sequence more than once (for each lift anyway), and I definitely don't want to have to click my way through a mini-menu each time - only to then be treated to a loading screen! What was the game busy with while I was looking for where to click next?
* Scrolling using the mouse is choppy and even more so near the corners. Trying to scroll with the keyboard or the mouse while doing something else - like clicking where to move next - tends to jump the view back to your character unbidden. How about an option that soft-locks the view on the character so you don't have to scroll as much?
* Changing the combat speed had no discernable effect.
* When I fought the guard on the first map, he never got to take a turn, or at least never performed any actions. This also happened with some worms, though not often.
* When moving up to an enemy, I'd like to be able to see my melee range, and/or theirs. As it is you have to look at the AP cost to get an indication of exactly where you are moving, since you have no feel for how the hex grid looks (I'm assuming there is one).
* I can see that you've followed SPECIAL extremely closely - to the point that I'd think copyright issues would be a given - but have you considered rebalancing things that didn't quite work in it? Like upping the bonus of Swift Learner to 10-20%, to take just one obvious example.
* I applaud the idea of starting at a higher level than 1. I started off taking Throwing and thinking, "Yeah! I'm a black ops guy who kills people with a knife between the eyes! Kills them DEAD", then tossed my one knife at the guard: "Guard is hit for 6 points. Guard laughs. Your knife is on the ground. You suck." Then proceeded to pick up the knife and stab him endlessly with it, which didn't really live up to my black ops expectations.

I'll probably be able to offer more comments later.
 
Thanks for taking the time Per.

At the moment I'm considering a big change to the interface. The idea is it will only appear when you point at, or click on something and it will disappear when you click on or off it.

It will be in the shape of a wheel, with the buttons arranged around the equipped item. I am hoping this will streamline things, because all of the controls will be right next to what ever the player is focused on.

> I can see that you've followed SPECIAL extremely closely - to the point that I'd think copyright issues would be a given

I agonized over this issue in the very early days, when I was looking for a good rule system, but when I found links similar to the following I was reassured:

http://www.daledietrich.com/gaming/...me-mechanics-not-protectable-by-uk-copyright/

>but have you considered rebalancing things that didn't quite work in it?

To be honest I don't have the statistical expertise that some of the more experienced gamers have, so I'm always interested in well thought out suggestions. So if you have any others including an original rule or two, please send them my way.
 
I think the best source of reforms on SPECIAL, ironically, is J.E. Sawyer. Dude knew his PnP mechanics, and while his reforms of skills wouldn't make sense for OS, the way he treated traits and, as far as we know, perks, makes a lot of sense.

I mean, I knew to take the OS equivalent of Gifted when I started, and never looked back. I always disliked that about Gifted.

Your new idea of UI sounds a bit closer to the Infinite Engine methods, especially PS:T. Is that right or am I misinterpreting?
 
Brother None said:
I mean, I knew to take the OS equivalent of Gifted when I started, and never looked back. I always disliked that about Gifted.
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I play non-Gifted characters more often than gifted ones, because Gifted character not only loses 10% from every skill (That's 180 skillpoints in Fallout!), but also loses 5 skill points per level (5 skill points is 10 additional skill points to a tagged skill per level, which means that on level 5 Gifted character will have 50 points less in tagged skills, and on level 10 will have tagged skills 100 points lower than a non-Gifted character (or 50 points less in non tagged skills, which means that his skills are 230/280 points lower than skills of a non-Gifted characters.).
 
Had this debate with Sander already, and I out-calculated him with ease. The skill advantage of a non-Gifted character is somewhere between level 3-6, depending on what he invests where. So yeah, superficially, there is a short-term advantage, but in the long-term, non-Gifted loses out in terms of skills, too.

And yes, this factors in the per-level decrease.
 
Maximous said:
Sander said:
Maximous said:
3.29 makes Hit Point Limited to original character creation. Supposed to be implemented in FO1, though later removed.
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..
Where'd you get that information? Because that seems pretty contrary to GURPS.
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Check out http://ausgamedev.com/news.html

Quote "Bug Fixes! Yet another...... the 'No Hit Point Gain On Level Up' rule."
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I meant the news that it was supposed to be implemented in Fallout.
 
An information distortion. It started out as "One of the Fallout developers mentioned that Tim Cain wanted no hit point gain on level up, which wasn't implemented because critical hits (probably the ones that penetrate the armor) would be totally devastating" and somehow mutated into "It was intended for Fallout but marketing/something like that removed it" XD
 
Your new idea of UI sounds a bit closer to the Infinite Engine methods, especially PS:T. Is that right or am I misinterpreting?
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Believe or not I haven't played PS:T yet. The idea came from a course I did on computer interfaces when I was at University. The lecturer said the system was the most efficient way to create a context sensitive interface, because all of the options are an equal distance from your mouse pointer. I hadn't thought about it until I read your's and Per's comments about the interface issues.


I meant the news that it was supposed to be implemented in Fallout.
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The rule sounded weird to me at first, but when I started thinking about how the Fallout designers gave their armour Damage Threshold and Damage Resistance, it made perfect sense.


critical hits (probably the ones that penetrate the armor) would be totally devastating"
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With the critical hits issue you could leave in cripples and take out damage multipliers and armour bypasses.
 
Davaris said:
With the critical hits issue you could leave in cripples and take out damage multipliers and armour bypasses.
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I'm not sure if the critical hit issue argument was valid at all. The point of critical hits was that they hit a vital location and do a lot more damage than usual - combat in Fallout is still critical hit dependant. Sometimes it looks like a boxing match with a critical hit ending combat.
Actually, I think critical hits in a combat with a lot of hit points more frustrating than in a combat with less hit points.
Also, in manual they advised the SFL style of playing which meant that an occasional death from a critical hit was meaningless.

As for the bypassing the armor hits - I think that they are useful when the armor actually has some unprotected areas - for example metal armor in Fallout protects only torso, but the whole character gets the protection. Having to score a critical hit to exploit it is weird.
Similarly having critical hits bypas the armor in and armor that provides protection for whole body (Power Armor) is weird too.
 
I'm not sure if the critical hit issue argument was valid at all.
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I think critical hits make sense in terms of hand to hand combat, because sometimes you'll give your enemy a really hard knock and at other times it will be a normal hit, or a glancing blow. However if you're using guns, a hit going to be a hit, unless you graze them (is that a critical miss?). So to me the damage multiplier critical feels like a D&D lots of hit points rule.

You're right on both counts about armour bypasses though.
 
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