Right now in Stoneshard, you can only choose between preset characters with preset attributes, traits, appearances, etc.
For a game that promotes itself as an open-world RPG that lets you "develop your character without any restrictions," character creation is a much-wanted and foundational mechanic.
Wasn't Runescape like that? Never played it myself but I know it's got that Elderscrolls style of learning skills by grinding them thing going on, and I don't think it has races or classes, which is where most other games fail. I think adventure mode for dwarf fortress qualifies as well.
There are many learn by doing systems. From the top of my head, Kenshi, Colony Ship, or even Elder Scrolls. As for why it's not used in every game, the reason is that it replaces player agency with grind. Instead of having a limited pool of points to assign however you want (with new points being harder and harder to obtain, or even impossible if there's a level cap), you usually have to engage in some highly repetitive task instead. If you want to become a good blacksmith in a point-based system, you just play the game as normal, have fun, and then make the decision to sacrifice the points you got for blacksmithing instead of better combat skills. In learn by doing system, you are faced with the prospect of putting the rest of the game on hold and spending the next three hours of your time smithing worthless crap you don't want, so that you can finally grind out enough xp to level it up.
Except for action cRPGs like TES, I’m pretty sure these systems can be balanced out. Take guns skill for example: there is only limited amount of enemies you can apply this skill on to level it up which holds a player from exploiting it. XP progression for any offense skill may be equal to damage done, so there’ll be no shitty weapons cheese. Basically you can come up with such formula for the majority of skills. Stealth can be progressed by successful attacks from stealth and pickpocketing. What I am saying is that while this system has been around for quite a while, I am yet to witness it actually being good.
Colony Ship actually does exactly what you suggest, since it's not an open world and there's thus only a limited amount of enemies you can attack and skill checks to overcome (in larger games with hundreds of locations, this system would not work). Unfortunately, even with this refinement, most Codexers (myself included) disliked the system, vastly preferring AoD's points system. Why? While there was no grind, there was still the lack of agency or decisionmaking, especially when it comes to non-combat skills. To illustrate, consider lockpicking. If I encounter a locked chest in a point-buy system and don't have the level to open it, I have two options: leave it be, or sacrifice some of my points (which I need for similar dilemmas in alchemy, speechcraft, etc.) to level it up. In learn by doing, there is no such consideration. You know you just gotta find a lower-level chest a couple times to level the skill up and then come back. There is no decision to make, and nothing preventing you from maxxing lockpicking with every character in every playthrough (something you cannot do in a well-designed point-buy as you won't have enough points).
I see. How about combining the two then: let’s say there’s a raw amount of skill-specific xp you get from a successful lock-picking and there are associated feats that can be picked upon achieving a certain level in this particular skill which either boost the overall performance in this skill or grant an option to override an unsuccessful attempt or whatever helps to promote the player agency really.
I don't really see how that'd help - the player still sacrifices nothing to pump lockpicking to max level in each playthrough. Sure, we could introduce elements from point buy like CS did (you get a small amount of points to tag skills with, thus giving them a flat raise by two levels. Without tagging, you are unlikely to raise the skill to max level), but IMO it just highlights the issues: deciding which skills to tag is fun. But you only tag them once after which it's back to mindless stat-raising via learn by doing. Why not have that fun every level up with point-buy? What benefit does learn by doing bring in terms of gameplay?
It was, but it's worth a playthrough. Starts off really strong but then goes downhill.
The 0.9.1.0 “Rags to Riches” Update is Live!
Hello everyone!
The day has finally come: Rags to Riches is now available for download! This is the largest update in the game's history, adding and overhauling a dozen major systems. We're confident that for most of you, it will offer a completely new perspective on Stoneshard.
Let's jump right into it - the patch notes are below. Keep in mind that these don't cover the full scope of changes and additions, as many of them have been deliberately omitted or only hinted at. Rags to Riches transforms the game in many ways, and we want even seasoned players to discover its surprises firsthand.
MAIN FEATURES
This update is not compatible with old saves and will require you to start a new game. If you want to complete your old playthrough, make sure to follow this guide.
Caravan. A fully functional Caravan System that allows for fast travels over large distances using a special resource - fodder. It also comes with an option to directly purchase items into the Caravan Storage (or sell from it) when the Caravan is parked near settlements.
Caravan Upgrades. 24 upgrades that will fill your Camp with new gameplay possibilities and improve the Caravan's overall efficiency.
Caravan Followers. recruit up to three non-combat companions, each with their own unique specialization, perks, events, and lines.
Overhauled Dungeons. The Dungeon Generator was reworked from scratch - small rooms and narrow corridors have been replaced with massive halls, their visuals and structure properly reflecting each dungeon's type and tier.
Reworked contracts. Larger variety of contract types and objectives. New dialogues allowing to request additional information, ask for an advance, and haggle for larger pay. Consequences for failing contracts and the simulation of their completion by rival mercenaries. A possibility of turning in contracts to different NPCs in exchange for higher monetary reward or additional local or Brynn Reputation.
Dungeon Conditions. Unique effects that introduce new challenges to dungeon exploration and increase the reward for completing the contracts tied to them.
Enhanced Economy. Responsive supply and demand, commodity trading, as well as flexible Denbrie. The fourth and final settlement of the Grand Magistrate, devastated by the war.
Situations. 9 unique Settlement Situations, providing additional opportunities or offering new challenges.
Outskirts. 10 new locations and 60+ new NPC with their own dialogues, roles, and sold goods.
Revised Global Map. Adjusted the map generation algorithms and the placement of locations were adjusted for a smoother progression. Added contracts to the Rotten Willow Tavern.
Cooking System 40 unique recipes, each offering various advantages along with an option for adding spices to further customize their effects.
Crafting System. 15 schematics for creating useful consumables in the field.
Reworked Progression. All equipment, enemies, and dungeons have been rebalanced to challenge even high-level characters.
Reworked the Loot System.
Reworked the Spawn System.
Reworked Reputation Perks.
Reworked the Noise Mechanic.
Reworked the AI States System.
Updated and improved dialogues .
QoL improvements: faster character movement, trade hovers, an option to store small valuables in purses and caskets, and much more.
5 new bags, each with its own distinct purpose.
7 new Undead minibosses.
New items: 35+ new pieces of equipment, 15 valuables, and 10 new ingredients.
Balance changes: a complete rework of all the equipment, abilities, and enemy stats. Survival tree overhaul.
12 new Steam achievements.
Updated Prologue.
Numerous bug fixes.
IMPORTANT: Due to the extensive amount of text work carried out in Rags to Riches, many translators were unable to complete the localization in time due to an extremely tight schedule. We recommend playing in English to avoid outdated text. Unfinished localizations will be completed in upcoming hotfixes and patches.
OTHER CHANGES
Dungeons are now generated upon entry - if your character dies and enters them again, it will produce a new layout (unless the save was made after the dungeon was generated).
Traders' stocks now use a seed system, rather than being generated when a player accesses them for the first time after a reset.
Reworked the system for resetting locations. This will also affect any items dropped in settlements, removing them after some time.
The difficulty of open world encounters no longer fully relies on your characters' level. Instead, the type of enemies you will run into will depend on global map zones. Zones may become more dangerous over time but only up to zone-specific limits.
Changed the system for resetting and repopulating dungeons to a more deterministic one. Regenerated dungeons can no longer drop in tier.
All dungeons now use preset names.
Added a tanner NPC to Mannshire.
Added a new stat: Crit Avoidance, which reduces the probability of enemy crits.
Special Elemental and Magical effects no longer use a chance-based system. For example, Burning will now trigger after dealing sufficient Fire Damage to the target, scaling non-linearly with the target's maximum health.
Enemies can now use Charge skills to chase your character down, not just to initiate combat.
Animals no longer skip their threat phase when spotting the player if they were previously fighting another target
Fixed the issue causing the reduction of Max Health before actually taking damage.
Enchanted and magical items are now sold at slightly higher prices than regular items.
The chance of receiving armor fragments via “Self-Repair” has been significantly increased, now scaling with the enemy's Armor Durability upon their death
Changed the requirements for some Steam achievements.
BALANCE
Skills can now be unlocked at specific levels, reducing reliance on finding random treatises when building “non-optimal” stats. However, level requirements are significantly higher than corresponding attribute thresholds.
Counterattacks now strike twice when using dual weapons.
Experience requirements for leveling have been updated, along with a rebalance of most experience sources.
Existing bosses (Archon, Ancient Troll, ) received a new passive, “Indomitable”, which prevents the cooldowns of their abilities from being affected by outside sources.
Rebalanced every piece of equipment to align with the new tier system.
Rebalanced medical consumables.
Rebalanced ammunition stats.
Rebalanced food stats.
Rebalanced herb stats.
Rebalanced Injuries' effects and their impact on Pain accumulation.
Reduced the base coefficient of damage taken by enemy Armor, increasing the importance of Armor Penetration and Armor Damage stats.
Health regeneration now fully halts during combat instead of pausing for 10 turns after taking damage.
Critical strikes no longer deal at least 1 damage even through full blocks.
Increased the impact of active debuffs on the Rest Mode's efficiency.
Rebalanced the effects of “Drunkenness”
Reduced the impact of Fatigue on Max Energy, but increased its gain from multiple sources.
Removed the hidden Accuracy and Fumble Chance bonus from Attack skills.
Increased the impact on character actions on enemies' Will to Fight
Changed the gravedigging mechanic: digging graves will take less time, but will take a toll on your Morale even before you're finished digging them up.
Tweaked the Crime System.
The Surgeon's Toolkit now uses a non-linear formula for pain accumulation, improving its effectiveness when treating light and moderate injuries.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Let's briefly discuss our plans for the future. In the coming weeks, we plan to release several hotfixes and minor patches based on player feedback. Since the Rags to Riches update is extremely comprehensive, some features may be unstable or not work perfectly - we'll do our best to address it as quickly as possible.
This includes adding some content that was originally planned for the update but temporarily removed or unfinished for various reasons. This primarily involves:
Certain new items
Additional contract types for Bastions
Bastion Conditions
Caves and rare plants
Some Follower events
Some description, dialogues, and localizations
The rest of the announced changes are already present and can be tried out right now.
After wrapping up post-release support for Rags to Riches, we also plan to release a new development roadmap outlining upcoming changes for the game. This will happen early next year, and we're quite certain you’ll like what you see!
See you soon, mercenaries. Good luck on your journey through Aldor!
My idea is to have a very unique play-through where the environment and obstacles, and specifically how the player overcomes them, dictate how a character is being developed rather than a player picks what he’d like to excel at, thus adhering to a particular play-style that tends to lack variety and becomes stale very quickly. This idea is based on the assumption that “learn by doing” allows for more unpredictability and (consequently) suboptimal builds which I find especially fun and less refined compared to a planned out builds. Obviously there are many other prerequisites to be met for this to function well, like procedurally generated loot for example, but I didn’t give this a proper thought really having this as a rather vague concept.
In my experience, a better way to achieve this is through item drops. Nethack is the perfect example of a game where items will lead you off into weird gameplay. Everyone ends up with the same ascension kit in the end via wishing, but before you get there, you've got stuff like polymorphing into monsters because you found a ring of poly control or amulet of unchanging, powerful pet monsters if you happen to find a magical figurine of something rare and useful like a kirin or an angel, the ability to abuse writing 'Elbereth' on the ground if you find boots of levitation, kiting if you found boots of speed, various randomly found spellbooks, random resistances gained from eating corpses making the threat of things like fire or lightning be either dire threats or completely trivialized- the route between start and the castle wand tends to vary a ton. Other good examples of this happening would be Brogue or Cogmind.
Sounds like something necessiating procedural generation (so as to have different obstacles each time) and short mileage (else the player just maxes out everything), in other words a roguelike. I think there's actually quite a few ones out there that basically achieve what you want by providing the player with randomly chosen skill after each level. Hell, have you played Vampire Survivors? That one actually fits the bill – you'll usually center your playthrough around the weapons you get at the beginning, and should even that get stale, you can pick a different character (of many) for your next run – each run being different is kind of the idea, or such was my impression (I didn't sink more than 10 hours into it so I'm no expert).
Version number does not indicate any fraction you massive retard, it indicates (who would've guessed) the number of the version.I can see that reading comprehension on codex is also not common.
It's like elementary school math. Do you need wikipedia or something to know about fractions?
I was talking about Archaelund which went from 0.9 to 0.10
