Researchable Satellites Power connection block

[NeverlostatBS]

It would be a part that requires nearly completing the game to unlock and would allow for satellite drones to provide fuel and or power to the drone core. It would be like the way the game was pre-alpha but would require effort to be able to do.

[Lurkily]

Honestly, it takes a little more time to build the drone, but I don't think it makes mitigates the overpowering effect it has on gameplay.  Not by itself.

[STM]

Maybe that would be an option for the menu to turn on after a warning that this is not the way it's meant to be played.

[Lurkily]

4 hours ago, STM said:

Maybe that would be an option for the menu to turn on after a warning that this is not the way it's meant to be played.

I mean, if you want to include a cheat mode, that would be a good way to do it, make it something you have to research, unlock, and engineer.  Just make it inaccessible until you deactivate any element that might have you competing with a drone with such parts - sumo or any arena challenges or any high score ladders.

[Markus]

Good discussion here. I was discussing with @Micha the same topic. It's about how much we want to force players to play in the way we intend and how easy/powerful we should me the game for beginners/casual/experts.

I think we need a way to make the game enjoyable for beginners, who never touched Nimbatus before. And we need a way to keep experts engaged for a long time, so that they can program Tetris inside Nimbatus, if they want so

Some suggestions, like transferring energy from satellites to the drone-brain, or generally, having energy and fuel a global value (like in the demo), allows for more easily create bigger and more complex structures, but eventually a game should also provide you with a challenge and limitations - and working with and around those is where the fun comes from.

So for beginners I think we really need the standard mode that energy only works with connected parts. Maybe we can add a mode where everything is global, so that you can go crazy with your drones and creations - but not mainly for playing/finishing the game - because that would break the balancing - more for using the game as a tool to express yourself the way you want to.

On the other hand - limitations are exactly what makes it fun. I mean, if I only want to create a Tetris game, I could use whatever game engine or programming language I want, and just straightforward do it. BECAUSE it is so tricky to create a Tetris in Minecraft, Factorio, Zach-likes or Nimbatus, it is rewarding and fun to do  

Just adding some thoughts to your discussion, I hope you don't mind it  No things are written in stone yet and a lot of considerations are still needed  

[Lurkily]

Brandon Sanderson - the author of a number of fantastic books - spoke once on magic in fiction.  He said that it's not what magic can do, that's interesting -- the limitations are what make magic interesting.

I think we have to keep that in mind here.  Nimbatus is to a large degree fun because of the engineering and logistics required.  This isn't a supervillain game where you just sweep in, scorch entire planetary surfaces, and move out; it's the engineering limitations and overcoming them that's fun, and their performance in the game is the reward system.

[Markus]

I fully agree @Lurkily  We're still novice Game Developers with just a few years of experience, so we still have a lot of learning ahead of us  And thank you for the book tipp, sounds interesting and relevant to me. I'll check it out  

[edit] Found the relevant article: https://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/

[Lurkily]

That's the one.  It's about literature, but I think that particular article refers to the design of a setting, so I think it has application to game design, as well.