Encounter design: Some thoughts ...

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Good evening everybody!

 

I know that most "encounters" in FO4 are pretty "free-form", the player can take their time dealing with the enemies in whatever way they want (stealth, just shoot them, melee, ...).

And while that is a nice thing, variety is the spice of life (or so I am told ...).

 

That's why I want the encounters in my mod to be "different".

 

i am thinking about using the "3T" approach:

• Timer
  • "Impending doom" (like the secret base that the player is in will self-destruct in 10 minutes) or an infinite ammount of enemies will show up soon (a horde of ghouls)
• Threat
  • Waht "initiates" the encounter (like player sets of a trap)
• Treat
  • Things that can help the player (like activating robots to fight enemies, first-aid kits, ...)

Not every encounter will have all of the above.

The more difficult the encounter is supposed to be, the more "controllled" these elements are.

 

An easy encounter would be fighting some ghouls in a parking lot with lots of lootable dead bodys laying around. (No timer, minimal threat, lots of treats).

A hard encounter would be like trying to escape a secret lab that will self-destruct in 10 minutes, the player needs to find the key to the escape tunnel, there are mutated deathclaws everywhere and almost no useful loot. (Very limited time, big threat, almost no treats).

 

So, what do you people think about using this approach for "designing" encounters for FO4?

Do you think this might be a good way to increase the difficulty of encounters in a "organic" way?

[SKKmods]

"Figure out who your audience is and what they want, then give it to them."

 

Your first step is to consider the audience you are trying to appeal to. The Bartle Framework can be usfeul in ths. My killing things oriented mods only appeal to 1% of the Fallout RPG population who actually enjoy killing things, the rest just complain:

 

"SKK combat solutions focus on uncertainty fear and excitement, not predictable RPG immersion. If you don't enjoy combat surprises or killing your individually named and dwessed settlers, this solution is totally not for you. This is for the 1% that are Bartle killer player type, so best to be clear up front."

 

I am sure that your proposal will satisfy some, but not others. Personally the timer based thing sounds too much like that awful Gauntlet trapped gas chamber puzzle, so you probably ain't "selling" to my player type.

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

 

"Figure out who your audience is and what they want, then give it to them."

 

Your first step is to consider the audience you are trying to appeal to. The Bartle Framework can be usfeul in ths. My killing things oriented mods only appeal to 1% of the Fallout RPG population who actually enjoy killing things, the rest just complain:

 

"SKK combat solutions focus on uncertainty fear and excitement, not predictable RPG immersion. If you don't enjoy combat surprises or killing your individually named and dwessed settlers, this solution is totally not for you. This is for the 1% that are Bartle killer player type, so best to be clear up front."

 

I am sure that your proposal will satisfy some, but not others. Personally the timer based thing sounds too much like that awful Gauntlet trapped gas chamber puzzle, so you probably ain't "selling" to my player type.

 

Yeah, I am also not one of the "kill all the things" player. I prefer building settlements, exploration, lore, quests, over just combat all the time.

 

Now that you mention it, I do remember how annoying that gauntlet gas-trap thing was ...

 

I think one of the main reason why people enjoy playing games like this is to get away from "deadlines" and "time constraints".

Putting things like that in would just make the game more "stressful". In a bad way ....

Edited November 24, 2020 by YouDoNotKnowMyName

[Zorkaz]

I'd say start with one concrete encounter idea and see if it works and if there are issues or if it's fun, then implement the next step.