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Author Topic: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Development probably abandoned.  (Read 58982 times)

sparkbolt

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #435 on: October 25, 2013, 05:30:09 pm »

No worries, boyo! Explosives is still there! :D
So on the forum post you'll see where I mention "perks". So the core school/skill is used for this big game mechanic stuff (conflicts, etc), and perks modify the action within that mechanic.


For example: You can have the explosives perk on Combat/Assault, or even Combat/Tactics, and that makes your guy use explosives in conflicts, recommend explosive-themed plots,bonus on explosive tests, etc.
Currently, I'm considering either a fixed 1-perk per, or "slotting" Perks in skill ranks, so for example you'd need at least 3 Assault to use explosives (required 3 slots). if you had 4 Assault, you might have Explosives(3) and shortarms(1). so those are costs to slot, not ranks for tests as we currently have.


So, that means when you're looking at who can do what, you have this streamlined list of ops to pick from: "I need someone for protection... ok these guy have good combat skills, these two are good at defense." And then if you are so inclined to work with such details: "Well this guy has explosives and I'm trying not to cause too much attention, so I'll go with this guy who has some Covert schools, and thus covert skills and tags, as well. He'll be more likely to recommend stealthy takedowns instead of loud ambushes, and he'll try to keep it quiet if it gets rough."


Development has been very slow this october, lots of outside factors and other LZG business detracting, plus working shorter hours to recover from some RSI. Should be picking up speed again before November.
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Net Gain: Corporate Espionage.
Cyberpunk Espionage Strategy by Level Zero Games!

nenjin

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #436 on: October 25, 2013, 07:03:18 pm »

I've said my piece of the forums. You'll get it sorted, but don't forget that, as you abstract things away you begin to lose some of the specific imagery and details that make these characters breathe. The less specific things get, the more gamey it gets. And one of the things that initially drew me to NG was that it wasn't super gamey, and did feel like it had a PnP vibe going more than other offerings.
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sparkbolt

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #437 on: October 25, 2013, 07:20:33 pm »

True, and that's sort of one of the biggest wars in the Net Gain design schema. that balance between detail vs. everything else that too much detail can mess up (e.g. intuitive controls, accessible data, "pin in haystack" kinda stuff... plus the strain on processing and memory and savegame size and loading, etc).


One of the guidelines that helps control that limit is: the net gain rules are to remain compatible with the tabletop rules, so it must maintain at least that level of detail. But, keep in mind, this is a game of brokers, so just as you only have so many stats for your weapons in DnD, you only have so many stats for your operatives in NG. Operatives are the game's main interaction point, so they'll always be very complex, but they must maintain a scope where one player at the table will be able to keep that operative in mind without forgetting everything else.


The US military has this "rule of 7" where you're supposed to have up to 7 direct subordinates, and any more than that is a detriment to your attention and ability. There's flexibility within this attention budget by having some operatives that you just sorta set up once then stick on a task until you're bothered to look again, who don't take up too much attention, and your main ops running that mission you're really invested in, and those semi-important side ones can just have the leader op who you only need to worry about when he calls you to check in, report emergency, etc.


Of course this is all mechanics related. once these are laid down, then if I can keep this thing running, I can go back and fill in the "aesthetic details" such as resumes, more amusing interactions between ops, or the broker.  more trait tie-ins to various simulation "cogs", like giving the operatives vacation time, having traits decide what they do on that vacation, if things happen while they're out, etc etc. things that aren't so much impacting gameplay if they're worked into an existing system (say, a broad "recovery time" mechanic for operatives, and a vacation is how they recover Integrity and Personality, maybe some Acuity burn damage, etc.). so then it's just part of this "heal this operative" command, but the detail that command pulls forth is rich.


That kinda stuff will require some time, right now I'm focusing on some of the broader strokes.


« Last Edit: October 25, 2013, 08:21:58 pm by sparkbolt »
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Net Gain: Corporate Espionage.
Cyberpunk Espionage Strategy by Level Zero Games!

lordcooper

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #438 on: October 26, 2013, 01:48:56 pm »

Is there any way for new people to buy into this at present?
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ScriptWolf

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #439 on: October 26, 2013, 01:58:28 pm »

So if I have this right.

As well as physical stats - Health, strength, intelligence

There are now skill stats -

Drive
-Pursuit
-Escape
-Mechanic

Which then feed into perks, continuing on with the driving skill set one perk a character could acquire would be Boat or car driving ect...

Although I don't really like calling that a perk. specialism or something along those lines would be better.
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ScriptWolf

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #440 on: October 26, 2013, 01:59:58 pm »

So if I have this right.

As well as physical stats - Health, strength, intelligence

There are now skill stats -

Drive
-Pursuit
-Escape
-Mechanic

Which then feed into perks, continuing on with the driving skill set one perk a character could acquire would be Boat or car driving ect...

Although I don't really like calling that a perk. specialism or something along those lines would be better.
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PTTG??

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #441 on: October 26, 2013, 02:05:17 pm »

Is it possible to make texture packs for this game? Because the cityscape design is really really noisy. It looks really uncomfortable to look at for long periods...
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sparkbolt

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #442 on: October 26, 2013, 04:16:22 pm »

No texture packs or anything like that, no.


So there are Stats: Body, Agility, Acuity, Integrity, Personality. These define base values for your op, and base values for various tests.
Schools: Combat, Social, Net. Each school represents a collection of mechanics (physical conflicts, social conflicts/negotiations, hacking/tech stuff, etc).
Skills: Assault, Defense, Tactics. These are the values used within that mechanic, what options are available in that mechanic, etc.
Specialities (Perks): Shortarms, Longarms, Explosives. The method/flavor/style in which tasks are attempted. Not to say they can't do others if specifically tasked, but they prefer whatever they have specialities with.
It'll really depend on how those specific mechanics evolve and what sort of things I need from specialties at that time.
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Net Gain: Corporate Espionage.
Cyberpunk Espionage Strategy by Level Zero Games!

sparkbolt

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #443 on: October 26, 2013, 07:29:54 pm »

Is there any way for new people to buy into this at present?


not yet, but soon!  watch our FB page or sign up for the newsletter to find out when we make it available.
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ScriptWolf

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #444 on: November 02, 2013, 06:45:44 pm »

Spark how's it going? Eta on next build ? And do you have a set time scale of build releases e.g. 1 ever month
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ScriptWolf

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #445 on: November 26, 2013, 06:38:09 pm »

Shameless bump.

Spark mind if I ask who and what the contract was :P


Seems like spark has been busy acquiring more funding hence the silence full details in the spoiler. Well I hope everything is back on track now spark :)
« Last Edit: November 26, 2013, 06:46:57 pm by ScriptWolf »
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nenjin

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #446 on: November 26, 2013, 07:01:28 pm »

Well that's decent news. I'm not too hung up on Net Gain's timeline, as long as it's "done" sometime in 2014.
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Cautivo del Milagro seamos, Penitente.
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When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
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Quote from: Eric Blank
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Quote from: MrRoboto75
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sparkbolt

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #447 on: November 27, 2013, 02:47:52 pm »

I'm still aiming at having 1.0 in 2014, though the "feature complete" will probably be pushed later in the year to summer or such. Definitely want the game "fun" asap, which is the current development target. I wanted to get more of the rewards stuff ready (character generators, etc), but fun has got to be the priority, and it's not there yet.


My menu code is pretty much entirely built around a series of workarounds that dealt with problems NGUI and Unity have now changed their structure to fix, so I'm going to have to gut a lot of it. Considering just starting from scratch at this point, pulling in copied old code where needed... might actually use this "menu starter kit" the ngui guy has as a foundation to save myself some time and get back to the meat faster.


This contract definitely screwed up my schedule, thought I could pull it off without conflicts but that wasn't the case... I'm not sure if I should name specifics, but I have this off-and-on thing where I make online programming related tutorials for an "online camp", the lessons they use in their summer tech camps. I had a bunch of minecraft modding tutorials last year that was a gfreat excuse to make some minecraft mods I wanted ;). The thing I don't like about it is the lessons are all private and I can't repost them. I wanted to float the idea of offering some courses for free like MIT or such, but I'm just a contractor with no pull. This is why I like having my own company...


Focus is back on Net Gain, but I am still hitting a design wall with the mechanics/menus that I want to fully resolve before I start rebuilding all this stuff. I knew this rebuild was coming, but I want to be sure I'm not setting myself up for another rebuild anytime soon.
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Cyberpunk Espionage Strategy by Level Zero Games!

Mictlantecuhtli

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #448 on: November 27, 2013, 02:50:03 pm »

Focus is back on Net Gain, but I am still hitting a design wall with the mechanics/menus that I want to fully resolve before I start rebuilding all this stuff. I knew this rebuild was coming, but I want to be sure I'm not setting myself up for another rebuild anytime soon.

Sometimes that's what it takes. I know I'm patient in waiting for this.  :)
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sparkbolt

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Re: Net Gain: Corporate Espionage in 2043. Prototype v0.5.2 is live!
« Reply #449 on: December 11, 2013, 11:17:57 am »

Blegh! Major refactoring is being held up by holiday stuff... driving back and forth across the country all month! I'm using the time to lock down some more design stuff but I'm itching to get back into the code... but I know it'll be better if I dont get interrupted for a week+ when I'm just starting.
I did order a new laptop on black friday that I can actually code on (my ancient eeePC can barely start up), but the jerks delayed the shipping to after the holidays (seriously!? The hell kind of ship are you running, Lenovo), but I'm going to see if I can cancel that one and find a local machine so I can start some code during my christmas trip back home.

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Cyberpunk Espionage Strategy by Level Zero Games!
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