Game News Underrail Dev Log #48: Veteran Levels

[Infinitron]

Tags: Stygian Software; Underrail; Underrail: Expedition

Styg has published the first development update for the upcoming Underrail expansion, Underrail: Expedition. When the expansion was announced earlier this month, many people wondered how game balance would be affected by the additional content. This update seeks to address those concerns:

Hey guys, it's time to start revealing some concrete info on the expansion. Some new game mechanics stuff, to be precise.



First, let's talk about leveling. Once your character levels past level 25, they become a "veteran" character. To gain veteran levels, a character will require significantly more experience (both oddity and classical) than for regular levels.

Veteran characters no longer receive base ability or skill points during leveling and their derived stats such as health, detection and so on do not scale with levels anymore. However, they do get to pick a feat every level and, in addition to regular feats, they can also pick from the veteran feat pool.

Veteran feats, at least in this expansion, tend to be more general in nature, but they can also give you some important bonuses that you cannot otherwise obtain. Here are some examples (in addition to the one on the screenshot):

• Fight Response - When starting a turn below 25% of your maximum health, your action points are increased by 10.
• Improved Dodging - Increases the chance you'll dodge a melee attack by 5% (additive).
• Tempered: Acid/Cold/Electricity/Heat - Reduces all X (depending on feat) damage taken by 30%.
• Major Supplier - Increases the amount of money the merchants are willing to use when trading with you by 2% per mercantile skill.

Keep in mind that these feats might be altered, pending testing.

The reason I decided to prevent certain aspects of character from scaling beyond level 25 is to avoid having the character outscale the content at his current main storyline progression just by raw character power. Because we'll be expanding the game horizontally in this expansion (and probably in the future) we need to take special care to still provide adequate challenge to the player while also allowing them to improve some aspects of their character.​

Is this balance or "banalce"? Discuss!

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I like the idea that when the player reaches a certain level, the way leveling is handled changes. Would veteran status affect a game narrative? Would there be other veterans to fight against?

 

[cherry blossom]

Styg how about a level/campaign editor? I'm itching to play the new content but I am not very hopeful on the challenge front. User content is the only way to up the ante on challenge.

 

[Marten Broadcloak]

High-level balance was always clumsy at best in the traditionnal CRPGs. Glad to see Styg is working to improve that.

 

[Zdzisiu]

Advanced Psi Empathy? Yes yes, make my crazy lady even stronger!

I bet there will even be some new psi abilities for me to abuse! And new drugs to pump myself full off! What a glorious future it will be.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

What about new weapons? Also I would love the ability to customize the main character armor color to make him more distinctive from the enemies, I suppose its easy to implement.

 

[Bubbles]

Also I would love the ability to customize the main character armor color to make him more distinctive from the enemies, I suppose its easy to implement.

I think Styg should do a $100k Kickstarter to unlock a set of customizable in-game insignia.

 

[ROARRR]

I hate restrictions. I like to be OP if I put enough effort to reach it. Still Underrail is a good game...though the melee

 

[Excidium II]

Those are some bsb feats. Wouldn't get any of them.

The last one is extra funny considering how plentiful money is in the game. Even with the huge money sink of player housing and super steel you still don't really have to worry about it past junkyard.

 

[Bubbles]

Make some "faster walking speed" feats svp

 

[Excidium II]

Would b cool if we could craft one of those bikes.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

I think it would be awesome if Styg tried to make a fantasy themed game with the same mechanics, even underrail as it is, its perfect blueprint for a Ultima Underworld type fps rpg game.

 

[Excidium II]

He should make a Yugoslav War CRPG.

 

[oneself]

Those perks are p disappointing.

I was expecting something like BG HLAs level things.

 

[Aenra]

- CDs i won't get into again, to each their own
- RNG and merchant casino-ing i won't get into again, too many (supposedly) elitist monocled etc etc forum members getting apoplectic
- trash mobs i won't get into again, see above. Extra irony notwithstanding, as said mechanic is shit/fails/sucks in "other" games, but is somehow O.K. in Underrail
- respawns i won't get into again, ship sailed when children who grew up with D2 are now fellow posters. Thinking me crazy, lol

(since i presume these won't be changed in the xpac) What i would like to discuss is how unimaginative this is.. more feats? Again, MMO style. Like.. no , nevermind, i said i won't get into it.
But you need not add new feats just because you're adding new levels; looks like feature bloating to me. And just like any kind of feature bloating, this too may end up imbalancing the game. Is there a difficulty increase planned so as to compensate? Even if there is, any purpose to it? Aside the mere adding of moar buttonz to push?

To even imagine i once fooled myself into thinking this would have been a new Fallout...
edit: Regardless, i hope it sells well Styg. The work is there. It's the direction i am bitter about

 

[cherry blossom]

To be honest, I would be perfectly content with an intricate and reactive storyline instead of mechanical bells and whistles.

 

[Aenra]

To be honest, I would be perfectly content with an intricate and reactive storyline instead of mechanical bells and whistles.

Would be nice, but this game is addressing a different need. The one utterly satisfied by simply having more levels to 'clear', more mobs to kill. It's what made it sell, it's what's expected. The connotations of 'expected', i leave to you

Personally, i'd have wished for an editor and a mapping system for travel; yes, a-la Fallout.

 

[MrBuzzKill]

Those perks are p disappointing.
I was expecting something like BG HLAs level things.

I hate to agree. I wish these really high level perks were more fun and interesting than simply "get +5% damage resist, cumulative"
Maybe there will be others that are fun

 

[thesheeep]

Those perks are p disappointing.
I was expecting something like BG HLAs level things.

Pretty much what I was thinking.
Or, simply no change at all, just a few more feats and otherwise normal leveling.

I get that they don't really want to change the rest of the game due to the increased player power, but would that really be that much more work than coming up with this "scheme"?

 

[Marten Broadcloak]

- trash mobs i won't get into again, see above. Extra irony notwithstanding, as said mechanic is shit/fails/sucks in "other" games, but is somehow O.K. in Underrail

You know, that's funny. I love Underrail and I didn't resent the presence of trash mobs at all. Maybe it's the combat system that feels so good - one could argue that in PoE the trash mobs were terrible because RTWP is terrible. Maybe it's because they kind of fit the lore, with no dungeon so-to-speak because the world itself is a goddamn dungeon. Either way it's trash mobs done right™ and I'd love to understand why.

 

[Jestai]

Here is a general feat :

• Endurance-runner - Ability to run outside of combat. Only works in safe and already explored locations.

 

[Lurker King]

Some premium feats that are still missing:

• Cartographer: you can reveal a map of each location you explore.

• Genocide: the enemies you kill don’t respawn anymore.

• Teleport: use your psionic abilities to teleport yourself to a known location.

• Zero tolerance for MMO mechanics: remove all the cool-downs.

• No more trinkets, please: cointainers only have weapons and armors or are impossible to unlock.

You are welcome, Styg.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Here is a general feat :

• Endurance-runner - Ability to run outside of combat. Only works in safe and already explored locations.

Some premium feats that are still missing:

• Cartographer: you can reveal a map of each location you explore.

• Genocide: the enemies you kill don’t respawn anymore.

• Teleport: use your psionic abilities to teleport yourself to a known location.

• Zero tolerance for MMO mechanics: remove all the cool-downs.

• No more trinkets, please: cointainers only have weapons and armors or are impossible to unlock.

You are welcome, Styg.

:trigglypuff:

 

[marux]

so basically we'll end up in DC with some few extra feats (which shouldn't make much of a difference in difficulty) and we get to play:

• A brand new story line that becomes available during the mid-game
• Over a 100 new areas to explore of various types – shores and islands of the Black Sea, mysterious underground facilities, pirate strongholds, and more

and

• New items and crafting recipes <- shotguns???

after playing through this masterpiece two times, i am really hyped for new stuff to explore.

also

a mapping system for travel

Again, MMO style.

:D

 

[Lurker King]

after playing through this masterpiece two times, i am really hyped for new stuff to explore.

I would be too if I didn’t have to kill another one hundred thousand Rathounds and examining one million garbage cans like a homeless.

a mapping system for travel

Again, MMO style.

:D

By the logic, we will have to say that swords are MMO elements, since most MMOs have them. Maps have been in CRPGs since ancient times and there is a good reason for that: they make the exploration of the game world more enjoyable and, if the game is sufficiently complex, more manageable.