FutureFragments
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Databanks
🕑 Added 2015-10-30 17:25:15 +0000 UTC We need your input and feedback on a poll at the bottom of the post!So one of the other things people have noted about Future Fragments is that the databanks are something that are NEAT, and offer a lot of backstory and lore to the game...
...but a lot of people don’t feel much incentive to read them, for a variety of reasons.
So we’re considering a number of improvements to the databanks to make players feel more incentive or drive to actually go get them and read through them; we might implement all these additions, or none of them, or some of them, so let us know what you think!
Note that you CAN vote for multiple options, too!
Here’s a summary of the options with a bit more info on each (especially since Strawpoll’s font is somewhat hard to read);
- Databanks that have less text per databank in general would make me want to read them more: Basically what it says, the databank would have less content in it, be more concise, simplified, that sort of thing, making it less time/work to read through.
- Databanks that have visual notifiers on what was an "important storyline" databank would make me want to read them more: About 80% of all databanks will be “universe building” databanks that flesh out the culture and world that the game takes place in, and are not directly tied to the immediate “main story” of the game that involves Talia. The other 20%, which deal with the “main story”, would have a “glow” or alternate color on the databank sprite itself to indicate that those are “main lore” databanks; we’d also consider doing a third color/effect for “useful info” databanks in regards to gameplay tips/enemy strategies.
- Databanks that have cutscenes (non-sexual) happening after certain databanks where Talia gives her thoughts on it/summarizes it vocally would make me want to read them more: Some of the databanks (not all), when read, would have Talia do a short, one-time reaction to that databank, where she summarizes her thoughts in a sentence or two about what she’s just read. These could be funny reactions, disgusted reactions, shocked reactions, angry reactions, different reactions for each of the databanks we’d decide to make reactions to.
- Databanks that have a reward for "collecting" all of them that give you a hentai animation at the end of the level would make me want to read them more: This is the only one on the list that we’ve already started to integrate, so this is pretty much guaranteed to be in there, but we’d still like to know that you’d like it or not. Essentially, we’ll have an in-game menu that will alert you how many databanks remain in a level to collect, and once you’ve accessed them all and beaten the level, you’ll get a special hentai animation that can ONLY be accessed by doing that (afterwards, it’ll be in your gallery though). You’ll also be able to re-read databanks you’ve already accessed through that menu, too.
- Databanks that have an effect on the cutscenes that happen in that level or future levels (different text, different choices) would make me want to read them more: This is already in the demo, but we’d like to know how often you’d like to see something like this; in the demo, if you read the databank in map 10, and then interact with the injured grunt on map 30, Talia’s reaction to his line about the Berserkers will be different, compared to if she doesn’t read it. We’d like to have more ties to the databanks within the cutscenes and overall game interaction like this, so let us know if you’d like that also.
- Databanks that have an "ongoing mystery/storyline arc" the player has to solve to get something special would make me want to read them more: This would be something where the player would gather “codes” or information from certain databanks, and much later in the game, if they managed to get the codes/info (which would be different per game, so no cheat codes here) the player would get a secret sequence or even as much as secret boss battle, maybe!
Here’s the poll! Remember you can do multiple choices!
http://strawpoll.me/5874648
EDIT:
To clarify what happens with the “hentai animation reward” where you get an animation after the level for getting all the databanks in that level;
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The animations would be POV of the enemy fucking her, specialized animations.
And, being that this is the one we've already thought through the most, we've made sure it doesn't screw with the lore really that much at all.
Essentially, regardless of the databanks you get, there will always be a transition room between areas, especially given the elemental differences between facilities; these would also serve as a "save point" between areas where you would start off before going into the next area, as well as a "test area" to try out your new powers you just got by beating the boss of that last area (and any other neat stuff we wanted to throw in there).
However, if you get all the databanks, then a security alert is triggered throughout that level's facility, as doing this trips the threshold for how many unauthorized accesses there are allowed for the computers in the facility (aka the databanks) in a given day. As the facility would want to catch the perpetrator of this crime ASAP, a module implanted in one of the enemy types of an area (in this case, the Grunts for the Fire level) triggers a mind-scan of them, scanning their recent memories to see if any of them have seen this criminal accessing the databanks.
However... as this is the first time any of these guys have seen a woman in a LONG time, their minds are on something else. Namely, fantasies of fucking Talia. So, when the security system registers that they've "found" the "criminal", the only viable image they keep pulling from the grunts are sexual fantasies, and so they end up broadcasting this sexual fantasy all over the monitors in the facility so everyone knows who to look out for...
...one of which happens to just be in the transition point, leading Talia to have quite a reaction to seeing herself get fucked in a way that she's never even actually had happen to her in-game.
Comments
Secular Reason
Personally I think the bonus animation will be the biggest thing, but for me... Story and character reactions is key. Talia reacting differently just makes sense if she has more information, so should honestly be automatic. Otherwise she's a magical battle-mage retard who ignores any and all information. Talia making little comments though, thinking out loud, is a nice bit of character to bring her more to life. The security alert is a good idea, especially give that the facility has recently had a huge security incident according tot he databanks we've read so far, and therefore just fits story-wise with the company. Maybe getting all the databanks could give Talia some insight onto the boss of the level? A "weak point" to strike it in, allowing her to do slightly more damage to it? Gameplay wise we'd just attack as normal, but she'd hit harder? Or maybe even just a super hard hidden ultra boss, Legend of Dragoon (stardust) style. There was the databank about the being from another dimension using telekinesis. Should she not be interested in it? Maybe having all the databanks in the game can lead you to it? Less text? Hell no. Not unless it already felt clunky. More info is always better in my opinion.
The Future Fragments Team
Ah, ok, gotcha :P
In Bloodborne, specifically, the underlying theme is inspired by chtulian horror and ties into the "Hunter's Dream" that every Hunter experiences. The Hunter dreams about everything that happens in the game, and as he gains insight (literally sight within one's mind), he sees things normal people can't see (in this case, its explained in item descriptions, otherwise no one would ever know that). The currency mechanic, blood echoes, is the blood of the beast virus that plagues the land of the people in the dream and for each foe you defeat, your body absorbs the blood which can be reinforced and you gain levels and stats in return (this one is explained by the npcs which you use to level up). The story within the dream is explained by various notes which can be found throughout the game world and some notes can give you details on why certain events happened and even hints on how to beat certain monsters/bosses.
Taleir of Deynai
Oh, I wasn't suggesting you DO audio logs; that's just what the equivalent concept is called in System Shock. Audio Logs are to System Shock as Databanks are to Future Fragments.
The Future Fragments Team
We unfortunately can't do any sort of stat boost for reading them, as with the way we've designed the game currently, it would throw any sort of balance to the gameplay into chaos and we'd have to redesign the game from the ground up; for the sequel, we could possibly do this, however, as it'll be more of a metroidvania.
The Future Fragments Team
Yeah, all of those sound like good ideas; once the game's in C++, i think the lesser weight on some people's computers will allow them to do the quick reaction sequences easier too :)
The Future Fragments Team
Definitely !
The Future Fragments Team
Can you give more of an example when you say DS/BB notes/NPCS? I played through Dark Souls and never really dealt with any of the NPCS for the most part, nor did I get into much of the lore, so I'm unsure as to how it differs from our game, etc. And yeah, we're going to try and really make the mystery elements stand out more so players will actually read stuff from level to level as the storyline reveals itself more and more etc. We unfortunately can't do any sort of stat or ability boost for reading them though, as with the way we've designed the game currently, it would throw any sort of balance to the gameplay into chaos; for the sequel, we could possibly do this, however, as it'll be more of a metroidvania.
NoNameGiven
Talia reacting to the data banks would add a lot to her character.
In my opinion, I'd prefer if the databanks acted like Dark Souls/Bloodborne notes and NPCs, where we can interpret events and how things got that way in our own way. There's an underlying theme in Future Fragments, but I don't feel inclined to dive into that story. I feel that there can be a strong story element and I think the H-elements are a plus to the game. However, I think that because there's only one level full of databanks, there isn't much to judge about the story as a whole yet. I do think that a reward for collecting them all grants a bonus like animations, abilities, or even a small health boost per level is a good direction to guiding players to read them.
Hellomellowyellow
I like collecting/reading the databanks even at the version now without any rewards. It might be just my inner gaming completionist. Databanks doesn't fully hook me in deeply in the story but and gives me some few insight on whats happening. Now that there's going to be bonus POV animation, I'm all in!
Rodolfo Barajas
I did like reading some of the earlier game databanks, because, they were there. But after the wind addition and the level design change (which was a good thing!) I Thought the difficulty outweighed the reward. I did try! But couldn't get some of them. (The room with the injured grunt at the end. OH LAWD) I would like to see the "Mystery" aspect, as well as Talias thoughts :D
Ian W
Have you considered granting a minor boon to the player whenever they read a databank? It could be as simple as giving the player a little extra health or something like that. I would say it should only be minor but should be a clear mechanical improvement. Just an idea.
The Future Fragments Team
We wanted to do this initially, but there's a major, major problem with that; The price required to hire VAs to record over 200 pages of dialogue would be enormous, and the weight on the engine would be enormous as well. :P Otherwise, we'd love to do audio logs, etc. As far as providing the player with important strategies, hints, and etc. to guide them through the world, at least 30% of the current databanks in the demo do this :P (this is what we're talking about with coloring certain databanks differently, to make this more obvious etc.) However, System Shock doesn't compare too well to this in the regard that there are a LOT of things to take into account in that game, compared to our game where, being a platformer, the mechanics are a lot more simpler, etc. We're definitely not going the "tell, don't show" route though, we're going the "tell, show, interact, etc." route; cutscenes, interaction directly with the story, branching paths with cutscenes themselves, reading databanks, hearing reactions to databanks, the whole works. The other difference with the databanks is that the storyline itself intrinsically alienates Talia from most of what goes on in the databanks; she is an anomaly in a foreign time and place, and so none of the databanks will make reference to her or her situation DIRECTLY. They'll reference things that she can interact with and give her advice indirectly as such, but yeah. If you do read the databanks though, many of them do instruct the player if they read between the lines, which is where the "making things more simpler in the databank text" thing comes in, so that people can more bluntly see the true message within each databank that instructs them and informs them of the world around them. That said, we'll likely do the other options first (cutscenes, databank coloration, talia commenting on databanks, having them affect other things, the ongoing mystery) before actually dumbing down the databank text and simplifying it as a whole; we'll only do that as a last resort if nothing else works.
Derrmann
I ended up liking all of them, but I agree with Talier.
Taleir of Deynai
None of these suggestions really address the real problem of why a disconnect between player and databank exists in the first place. The databanks are entirely just a story delivery mechanism. Players don't read them because they gain little from doing so, and I'm not talking about H-animation rewards. :P If you haven't already, you should have a look at System Shock 2 and how they not only use the audio logs to tell the story of individual crewman on-board the Von Braun (as well as most of the game's story), but also provide the player with important strategies, hints, and goals that guide the player through that hostile world. They organically deliver information like the location of ammo and weapon caches, how to survive the ship's hostile environments, hints of up-coming obstacles, locations of necessary game items, and pass-codes needed to progress. If you're gonna go the "tell, don't show" route, your story delivery must engage the player and fold them into the narrative. Your databanks should get the player thinking, "since I see that X happened, that means I can do Y."
Vent
You had me at "POV". I don't like the idea of "less text", but I'm all for there being rewards for getting all of the databanks. Yes, please.
Renmaru
I would say that everything here would make great incentive to read them, didn't know about that one in the demo, gonna have to try that out, but if map 10 is the one I think it is I don't think I'll ever get to that database... Though I must say I voted for less text but it's not like I want them all to be super short either, I would just say that ones that go over 5 text boxes or so could maybe be a little more concise, basically it's nice to read some good plot but when the plot takes so much of the game time away that I decidedly get bored and mash the "next" button I think maybe it needs to be a bit shorter, not a lot, just a bit.
