Game News Colony Ship RPG Update #1: Setting, Character System

[Infinitron]

Tags: Colony Ship RPG; Iron Tower Studios; Vault Dweller

Vault Dweller has posted the first official update for Iron Tower's as-yet-unnamed Colony Ship RPG project. It's a great big design document, an excerpt of which we saw in November's Age of Decadence post-release update. There's information about the setting, the character system, weapons and more. Here's an excerpt:

The Overall Design

As mentioned previously, we want the CSG to feel and play differently from AoD. The core design (turn-based, choices & consequences, non-linear, text-heavy) would remain the same, of course.

So the new design elements are:

• Party-based. It’s a fundamental change that affects every design aspect, most notably content “gating”. If you have 3-4 party members, most likely you’ll have all skills covered.
• Feats. Feats require character levels (another departure from the AoD design) and will replace (and greatly expand) skills’ passive abilities. Our aim is to offer greater customization of your character’s abilities and builds’ support. So far we have the following categories: General (feats like True Grit or Critical Thinker), Specialist (Pistolero, Fast Draw, Paint It Red, etc), On Kill (Bloodlust, Second Wind), Target (anything related to the target: type, number, awareness, etc - Crowd Control, Duelist, Bounty Hunter, etc), Party-related (Warband, Magnificent Five), Combat (Adrenaline Rush, Headhunter), etc. No filler +1 to skill or +5 damage feats but meaningful feats that fit and strengthen your particular gameplay style.
• Focus on ranged combat. While melee builds will be viable, most enemies will use guns. We’ll discuss it in great details later.
• Focus on exploration rather than working your way up in a faction. While factions will get a lot of attention (see above) and play a large role, you won’t join a faction but will remain an outsider, free to work for and deal with all factions, which fits the setting better as these factions aren’t guilds but different hubs. However, many quests would have conflicting interests and reputation would play a stronger and more immediate role than it did in AoD, so you won’t be able to please everyone for long.
• Multiple-piece armor. AoD had a very basic “body armor + helmet” setup. With the CSG, we want to go a bit further: helmet, chest, right arm, left arm, legs. We’re thinking of cumulative DR against general attacks and individual piece’s DR against aimed attacks. We’ll test this system in the dungeon crawler to build up some experience in this area and see how it works.

The Character System

Expect the same 6 stats (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Per, Cha). So far the main changes are Cha determining the number and type of party members and Int determining the number of tagged skills (faster progression) instead of a SP bonus, which is a more elegant solution. A smarter person can excel at and master more skills than a person of average intelligence.

So far we're planning to go with 18 skills, grouped in sets of three:

Melee: Fist, Bladed, Blunt

Firearms: Pistol, Shotgun, SMG

Energy Weapons: Pistol, Rifle, Cannon

Science: Medical, Mechanical, Computer

Speech: Persuastion, Streetwise, Trading

Stealth: Lockpick, Pickpocket, Sneak

In the future updates, we’ll give you a proper overview of the four factions and 16 locations and talk about design.​

See the full update for an image of various submachine guns designs from the game. They're a bit less weird than the pistol designs were.

 

[likaq]

Better late than never jew.

 

[Goral]

Party-based. It’s a fundamental change

Vault Dweller I assume there will be romances then? I have dibs on Miltiades Lady Lorenza's counterpart.

 

[Jack Dandy]

How big can a colony ship be? I never read any books featuring these. Guess I should!

 

[Infinitron]

Better late than never jew.

I was very busy yesterday and didn't have time to read everything on the Codex. If you really want to ensure something gets noticed, use Contact Us, which is what Elhoim did an hour ago.

 

[oldmanpaco]

So is the projected release date for this 2022?

 

[Vault Dweller]

How big can a colony ship be? I never read any books featuring these. Guess I should!

You should.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_ship

A generation ship, or generation starship, is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels at sub-light speed.

Since such a ship might take centuries to thousands of years to reach even nearby stars, the original occupants of a generation ship would grow old and die, leaving their descendants to continue travelling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphans_of_the_Sky

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Stop_(novel)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Long_Sun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_Zero_Three

 

[Vault Dweller]

So is the projected release date for this 2022?

2022? What do you think this is, some kinda slamdunk?

 

[Goral]

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7104.msg144505.html#msg144505
I think the more organic the dialogue system the better. What I mean by organic is that the actual human player is deciding on responses and the choice of response determines success instead of stats. Options can still be gated by stats some of the time, but can also be gated by in-game research. So if the player has taken the time to read some in-game lore, to talk to minor NPCs and find things out, he'll have more options in a conversation. Options can also relate to missions the player has completed and areas he's explored.

The reason combat is inherently more fun than dialogue (at least to me) is that combat provides multiple routes to success and multiple levels of success. Did you win without anyone getting killed? Seriously hurt? Hurt at all? Did you win without using your grenades? Etc. Dialogue is almost always binary. Either you got what you wanted or you didn't. Boring.

As an aside, quests are also often completely binary. If a player fails a quest, he's likely to reload and try again. I'd like quests with three levels of completion, or which give you a different but not totally negative outcome for "failure".

QFT.

The problem I see is the party - with 4 additional people you can cover all skills so maybe the more people you would have the harder it could be to convince someone to give you information for example (more risk that someone would rat you out for example or you would assume that the information is worth 5 times as much).

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

QFT.

The problem I see is the party - with 4 additional people you can cover all skills so maybe the more people you would have the harder it could be to convince someone to give you information for example (more risk that someone would rat you out for example or you would assume that the information is worth 5 times as much).

I think this should definitely consider party dynamics when interacting with NPCs. In a presumably tight-knit community, or group of communities, NPCs can be expected to be on good, neutral, or bad terms with more than one person in a group, would be fantastic and perhaps highly innovating, to really have that be a factor.

 

[Jaesun]

So is the projected release date for this 2022?

And yet, VD will have released TWO (three?) games before Grimoire

 

[Eyestabber]

Firearms: Pistol, Shotgun, SMG

Thank you, VD, for understanding that firearms SHOULD use the same fucking skill. Wasteland 2's system was so full of derp, I can't even begin facepalming...

As for the setting: sounds pretty cool. Just don't go overboard with "muh fantasy atheism". Another "the gods aren't real * tips fedora *" twist ending and I swear I'm gonna give up on rpgs altogether...

 

[Roqua]

Fantastic. This is right up my ally. God bless you. Feats are being added which is awesome. Please also include implants and/or bioware type upgrades. Also, I highly suggest looking at Buck Rogers for a really great armor versus weapon type system. Lastly, it would be neat if you took a page from Underrail and had some armor slots impact functionality versus just adding armor, such as the belt slot in UR.

So far the main changes are Cha determining the number and type of party members

- What the fuck is this? Is this some bullshit like your next game which will not have full party creation? If so, fuck you right in your Middle Eastern ass. Let us create our own party for crying out loud. It is the only civilized way of having a party game.

If not, let us be able to fully reset and build any recruits we pick up exactly how we want. Exactly, with no exceptions. If you are going to force me to pick up characters you designed, at least let me fucking control their stats and skills and feats, etc.

I would also like to petition for a psionic like magic system. Or maybe a nanobot type manipulation magic system like AO.

And also very, very important - FIXED CAMERA. It will make designing the game far easier for you, and less annoying for us. Spinning a camera, and fighting the camera to pixel hunt is fucking stupid. Design with fixed camera so normal people can play normally without the headache and hassle of the spinning pixel hunt nonsense and have an option for the retards that really love spinning the camera to be able to do it, but it won't be necessary to find doors or items on the ground, etc. Like Kyn.

 

[Vault Dweller]

. Just don't go overboard with "muh fantasy atheism". Another "the gods aren't real * tips fedora *" twist ending and I swear I'm gonna give up on rpgs altogether...

It won't be like AoD. It's about different ways of dealing with being stuck on the ship and turning to faith is a very logical and legitimate way of handling it. I'll treat it with utmost respect.

So far the main changes are Cha determining the number and type of party members

- What the fuck is this? Is this some bullshit like your next game which will not have full party creation? If so, fuck you right in your Middle Eastern ass. Let us create our own party for crying out loud. It is the only civilized way of having a party game.

You create a single character, the recruit other people who will have their own agendas and preferences. For example, if you're running with God-fearing men and decide to be a dick to the Christian faction, your crew won't follow you for long and might abandon you during a fight. It's a very simple example, obviously.

If you are going to force me to pick up characters you designed, at least let me fucking control their stats and skills and feats, etc.

Stats - no. Skills and feats after they join you - definitely.

And also very, very important - FIXED CAMERA. It will make designing the game far easier for you, and less annoying for us. Spinning a camera, and fighting the camera to pixel hunt is fucking stupid. Design with fixed camera so normal people can play normally without the headache and hassle of the spinning pixel hunt nonsense and have an option for the retards that really love spinning the camera to be able to do it, but it won't be necessary to find doors or items on the ground, etc. Like Kyn.

Too early to say.

 

[Shadenuat]

For such a dramatic setting shift skills don't seem too different from AoD. Science should have twice as many skills (instead of means to kill people having 9 skills out of 18), Lockpick merged with Mechanics (D&D thieves in spehhs?), Persuasion renamed to Sociology/Sneak into Infiltration (or whatever). Think System Shock 2 where Hacking, Repair, Research, Modify could all be used with objects and items and ability to research things had it's own UI. Not to mention armor should have at least some environmental use?
Mutations, implants, bio additions to rations that were supposed to make humans more used to space but turned them into mutants adapted to close quarters, darkness and cannibalism?
And let's not forget reputation, judging by story tracking character being puritan/radical in beliefs should be important.

If you're only using space as a tool to isolate NPCs and gameworld, sure you may end up with good game, like AoD, but like AoD it would again be game with indistinct setting aka Rome but no slaves but you get aliens.

By the way, judging by description so far only creatures on ship are humans?

tl;dr What does one's Space matter?

 

[Aenra]

I won't try and engage eyestabber into a proper conversation, he is too edgy (young) for my tastes.

Since however others are reading, three things:

- do not confuse fantasy gaming tropes regarding god and godlike rolemodels with those of science fiction (like he just did.. "mah fantasy atheism" to quote him)

- (easy examples on purpose) read Hyperion and Count Zero if you comprehend the above but still find yourself doubting the possibility of religion and hard scifi coexisting organically

- IT have proven they have done their reading. I'd worry about other things. Story they can manage

 

[likaq]

- What the fuck is this? Is this some bullshit like your next game which will not have full party creation? If so, fuck you right in your Middle Eastern ass. Let us create our own party for crying out loud. It is the only civilized way of having a party game. .

Fuck you too, and no it is not only civilized way of having a party game. Only a combatfag can think that and if that's the case with you then fuck off from this game.

If not, let us be able to fully reset and build any recruits we pick up exactly how we want. Exactly, with no exceptions. If you are going to force me to pick up characters you designed, at least let me fucking control their stats and skills and feats, etc.

What's the fucking point of having rucruitable companions if you can fully control their stats and skills? Oh i forgot, combatfaggotry.

And also very, very important - FIXED CAMERA. It will make designing the game far easier for you, and less annoying for us. Spinning a camera, and fighting the camera to pixel hunt is fucking stupid. Design with fixed camera so normal people can play normally without the headache and hassle of the spinning pixel hunt nonsense and have an option for the retards that really love spinning the camera to be able to do it, but it won't be necessary to find doors or items on the ground, etc. Like Kyn.

Rotatable camera is already confirmed, and LOL @ 'normal people' . And fuck you for calling people without obsession about fixed camera a retards.

Why would combatfag care about this game in the first place is fucking beyond me.

 

[Eyestabber]

I wasnt referring to AoD. You seriously didn't get the reference? Oh right, you didn't finish PoE. Please watch some YT videos about it. Trust me, you'll appreciate knowing firsthand the horrors your game should avoid at all costs ;D

 

[Excidium II]

ITS defense force is fast.

 

[MRY]

Vault Dweller Have you read Fallen Dragon? You might want to give it a look. It's far from a perfect book, but it has a reasonable (alternative) take on who would fund interstellar colonization, although I'm not sure if its premises can apply if you're far below light speed.

 

[Excidium II]

What's the fucking point of having rucruitable companions if you can fully control their stats and skills? Oh i forgot, combatfaggotry.

The whole point of recruitable companions is having characters with personalities and backgrounds that react to situations accordingly, I don't think living with whatever shitty stat distribution the dev came up with really matters much for this approach.

 

[Cazzeris]

Thanks for showing just the bits about system design in the newspost, Infinitron. This way, spoilers can be easily avoided.

Since it seems that the game will be somewhat designed with having proper parties covering all the skills in mind, I wonder how the designers will balance the NPCs skillsets. In these games, it is usually not revealed to the player which skills the available companions will have, so creating a character that is good at, let's say, computers only to discover that the first friend you make is as competent as you in that same skill can be infuriating. Vince said some time ago that most companions would have their intentions, so that'll add to the challenge. Imagine creating a high CHA, talky character hoping to find a skilled hacker in the game to help you with your pacifist adventure and then it turns out that the best one is an insane jackass who wants to kill everything that moves. Perhaps most of them could have skills that a charismatic protagonist wouldn't already have, since the usual player that wants to rely in companions will have high CHA and, obviously, good talking skills. That raises another question: how charismatic will the companions be? Will the player be even able to let them exhibit their speech skills in dialogue? Since the answer is likely to be 'no' (as determining the situations where that would be possible while writing extra amounts of dialogue for them sounds insane), then how will that affect their personalities and skills? Will they all be asocial munchkins with 4 CHA and 0 speech skills, or will they have some use for this aspect of the system?

Maybe letting the social skills/stats of the companions play a role in the party's reputation, and adding some kind of bonus for having more than one char specialised in a certain skill (feats?) would be decent solutions. As anything, it would require a lot of work to execute them properly, and in a way that really adds to the game.

Thank you, VD, for understanding that firearms SHOULD use the same fucking skill. Wasteland 2's system was so full of derp, I can't even begin facepalming...

Pistols, shotguns, SMGs..., aren't those three different skills?

 

[Vault Dweller]

For such a dramatic setting shift skills don't seem too different from AoD.

The number and names of stats and skills don't really define gameplay. It's how they are used that matters.

Science should have twice as many skills...

Twice as many skills means twice as much use. We like frequent skillchecks and that won't change. A game with occassional skill checks can easily offer three times as many skills but that's not what we are aiming at. The ship will have medical equipment, things of mechanical nature, and computers/electronics. Sure, we can split computers and electronics into two different skills, thus forcing the player to invest into two different skills but I don't think it's a good idea.

Keep in mind though that it's the first draft only. We can end up adding more skills as at the moment defense and crafting are absent from the list.

And let's not forget reputation, judging by story tracking character being puritan/radical in beliefs should be important.

The reputation will play a stronger role than it did in AoD.

By the way, judging by description so far only creatures on ship are humans?

Humans and mutants of various kinds. There are mutated humans who aren't a threat (no more than a human thug); they keep to themselves and tend to the engines. Then there are mutated plants and animals that were exposed to radiation (there was a breach during the mutiny).

Vault Dweller Have you read Fallen Dragon? You might want to give it a look. It's far from a perfect book, but it has a reasonable (alternative) take on who would fund interstellar colonization, although I'm not sure if its premises can apply if you're far below light speed.

I did. Far from perfect but a great book when you're on vacation and have nothing to do.

 

[Zed]

Rotatable camera is already confirmed, and LOL @ 'normal people' . And fuck you for calling people without obsession about fixed camera a retards.

Too early to say.

Rotatable cameras very rarely work. See WL2 and DO:S, but, uh, also AoD. Constantly rotating and adjusting just to see things and being able to interact with stuff sux.
Say what you will about PoE and Underrail, but they were very comfortable to play.

 

[Goral]

Vault Dweller Have you read Fallen Dragon? You might want to give it a look. It's far from a perfect book, but it has a reasonable (alternative) take on who would fund interstellar colonization, although I'm not sure if its premises can apply if you're far below light speed.

I would also recommend The Expanse series. I haven't read that much of it yet (don't want to spoil tv series but once 1st season ends I'll probably get to it) but there's also a generation ship there and overall it has an interesting take on sci-fi.