2013-05-10, 04:15 AM
Touche, wall traps are interesting. But they seem a little bit predicated on the idea that people are going to be searching for secret cubbyholes that don't belong to them.
Traps like that would still work. They'd just be more difficult to activate. To me secret doors are at their best when it seems logical that judging by adjoining rooms there is a space between them that is unaccounted for. A good secret room can be seen or at least suspected just by looking at a map. Then it becomes the question of how to access it.
As for those niches in the walls. The tile should just have a telltale difference. But in general the only logical reason to look for such niches is if you have a hint from an NPC or something that such a thing exists. Maybe an X on a map. One good place to expect them might be near doors, if the secret contains a copy of the key. Like that key in KF3 near the poison roundabout tunnel where the guy is searching the wall for the secret he knows is there. That would be more interesting if at the very least you must scan the wall with your hands.
One thing that I think will have to be resisted is the temptation to build games that encourage the player to turn over every nook and cranny. If you are ever going to venture over the entire continent of Elegria. Looking under every rock has to be the last thing on your mind. There's just too much ground to cover. I think we have to somehow get away from this Disney World view of game worlds... everything in miniature if there is going to be depth.
If your world is sufficiently sparse, online game guides are going to be impractical. If you are using a guide the game has already failed you on some level. So I don't think that's a good way to judge progress. A game should be judged on the journey itself at every instant along the way.
PS: As for punching the walls. I don't think that would yield useful sound effects. I imagine knocking on the walls. If you are pressed against a wall the attack buttons won't do the same thing. Even if you are near something like a door an attack will open the door. But if you are out of arms reach you might be able to hit it with your weapon for no good reason. There just aren't enough buttons to go around, and the Action button is not ideal for opening things, because it makes you dash and stuff too. Plus Action should be limited to things not associated with your arms. You can have a separate Event button. But I'd much rather have a useful macro assigned to that button.
Traps like that would still work. They'd just be more difficult to activate. To me secret doors are at their best when it seems logical that judging by adjoining rooms there is a space between them that is unaccounted for. A good secret room can be seen or at least suspected just by looking at a map. Then it becomes the question of how to access it.
As for those niches in the walls. The tile should just have a telltale difference. But in general the only logical reason to look for such niches is if you have a hint from an NPC or something that such a thing exists. Maybe an X on a map. One good place to expect them might be near doors, if the secret contains a copy of the key. Like that key in KF3 near the poison roundabout tunnel where the guy is searching the wall for the secret he knows is there. That would be more interesting if at the very least you must scan the wall with your hands.
One thing that I think will have to be resisted is the temptation to build games that encourage the player to turn over every nook and cranny. If you are ever going to venture over the entire continent of Elegria. Looking under every rock has to be the last thing on your mind. There's just too much ground to cover. I think we have to somehow get away from this Disney World view of game worlds... everything in miniature if there is going to be depth.
If your world is sufficiently sparse, online game guides are going to be impractical. If you are using a guide the game has already failed you on some level. So I don't think that's a good way to judge progress. A game should be judged on the journey itself at every instant along the way.
PS: As for punching the walls. I don't think that would yield useful sound effects. I imagine knocking on the walls. If you are pressed against a wall the attack buttons won't do the same thing. Even if you are near something like a door an attack will open the door. But if you are out of arms reach you might be able to hit it with your weapon for no good reason. There just aren't enough buttons to go around, and the Action button is not ideal for opening things, because it makes you dash and stuff too. Plus Action should be limited to things not associated with your arms. You can have a separate Event button. But I'd much rather have a useful macro assigned to that button.