4) Establish non-linearity within encounters, not in the order of encounters. With this approach, we do not attempt to make the flow of the adventure non-linear. Most encounters happen one after the other, but the player is given several options for dealing with each encounter.
For example, you resolve the first encounter either through combat or dialogue, and you resolve the second encounter by giving your support to only one of two factions. So the non-linearity comes from the way you handle each encounter, rather than the order in which you tackle each encounter. A linear adventure is fine as long as you can approach it from multiple angles.
A gladiatorial arena scenario is a great example. Potentially, you could escape by fighting the guards, by bribing them or charming them, by becoming the champion of the arena, by fostering a slave rebellion, by using the magic of a Wizard NPC, by finding a secret underground escape route, or by using the skills of a Rogue.
To cross a chasm, you could use a Warrior’s jumping skill, employ a grappling hook, use levitation magic, use a rope to climb down to the bottom, or have a winged NPC fly you across.
In the cRPG Dark Sun Shattered Lands, the way forward is blocked by a fire in Dagolar's tunnels. The game offers four different solutions. You can jump through the obstacle, at the risk of taking damage. You can summon a water elemental to extinguish the fire. You can toss heavy bones on the pressure plate that may be seen behind the fire. You can have a friendly Zombie NPC cross the fire and trigger the pressure plate.
5) Offer mutually-exclusive quests to the party to break linearity. For example, if you have cleared the bandit moathouse, now the evil Druid has run away to another region with fewer heroes, and the player does not even learn about the location of the Druid’s cave. The roguelike-RPG ADOM uses this solution: in the beginning, you can either save the village Carpenter, or slay the evil Druid.
For best results, the mutual exclusivity should not seem to be ‘forced’. There should be a good reason for it and the player should be able to anticipate the mutual exclusivity and understand that he’s going to be making a choice. This can be accomplished with a few lines of dialogue in a few separate places.
For example, the bandit moathouse is under surveillance by the Druid, and he gets scared when it’s destroyed. The bandits were planning to launch a raid against the Druid, and they move on when they hear that the Druid was slain and his riches were plundered.
6) Allow the player to gravitate naturally to appropriate-level encounters and areas without ‘outside’ interference. For example, in Dark Sun Shattered Lands, the beginning is fairly linear, as well as the ending. But the middle part gives great freedom to the player, as dungeons and quests can be tackled in any order. With this approach, we simply accept that a number of combat encounters will not be very challenging to the player.
We keep the player interested through other means: an interesting storyline, choices that have an impact in the later game, or the promise of rewards such as magic weapons that will be useful in tougher encounters. We could even have certain monster groups run away from the party or immediately yield to it due to the heroic reputation of high-level player characters.
Easy encounters may also allow the player to feel like he or she is the glorious Hero that crushes weak foes. Sometimes, you just have to shoot a Meteor Shower on some Orcs to feel like you're playing an epic-level D&D game.
7) Have the player’s decision in one area affect the next area. Here is an example. The player is given a choice to ally either with the King or with an evil Wizard, before taking on a classic dungeon filled with Orcs. Depending on which faction you allied with, the minions of the opposite choice supplement the Orcs. So if you are allied with the King, the Orcs now have Wizard apprentices bolstering their forces.
If you are allied with the Wizard, the Orcs have made peace with the King and several high-level Knights are helping them. Thus, the fairly generic Orc dungeon is transformed into an interesting area that is both challenging in terms of the gameplay and satisfying in terms of the storyline.
In conclusion, I think it's probably best to mix and match these methods where appropriate. Overusing any one of them is obviously bad. Too many ‘weird’ encounters will lead to frustration, too small adventure sub-divisions will just make the game as linear as if there weren’t any, and too much area-interdependence will lead to a massive increase in the amount of work. Still, I think they're all worthwhile and should work pretty well.
Others news about the KotC 2 Kickstarter
As we get closer to the second Stretch Goal, we’re also getting closer to the 96-hour mark. Let’s try to reach the Time-Based Goal, Valiant Knights! To make this possible, I have reduced the goal to £ 32,000 / $ 39,613 and extended the period by one day.
For sprite lovers, I have just uploaded to the campaign page a GIF animation of the existing sprites. We’ll get new ones after the campaign. I'm reproducing the animation here:
I’ve also updated the Social Goals image with current numbers. Let’s reach some of these goals!
The first Stretch Goal was unlocked very quickly! A good number of new Epic Feats and Normal Feats will be added to the game. There will be a Kickstarter update about the new feats later on.
Special Thanks
I would like to give special thanks to Matt Barton, the creator of the Matt Chat series on Youtube, for the kind support he's provided. You can check out his Youtube channel at
http://youtube.com/blacklily8.
I would also like to give special thanks to Roman Hodek for the awesome artwork and support he’s provided over the years. You can have a look at his portfolio at
https://romanhodek.blogspot.com/.
I would also like to give special thanks to Manuel Marino for the great support he's provided and the awesome music he's composed for KotC 2. You can listen to and purchase Manuel's epic music at
https://www.fiverr.com/manuelmarino/create-an-impressive-hollywood-quality-orchestral-score.
Finally, I would like to give special thanks to Double Hilt Studios for the kind support and splendid music provided for KotC 2. You can check out their website at
http://www.doublehilt.com/.
Next Update on KotC 2 Game Design
The next update on game design will be posted on 31 May. It will focus on the Spell Weaver character class.
Onwards and Upwards, my Dear Knights and Fearsome Sorcerers!! Keep Spreading the Word so that we Keep the Momentum Going! Thank you for your support everyone!!
Certainly more than most of them.
