LitL:Modus Operandi - Brainstorming

[Talavaj]

Hello stalkers !
I have recently started working on a small recreational project called Modus Operandi.
I have been designing things here and there in the past year or so while working on Memento Mori.
Modus Operandi is basically where I dump my ideas to test them out in practice.
Eventually I decided to make Modus a project of its own, however despite having refined mechanics it is not working well as a complete package.

This is why I would like you to review the current designs and tell me what you think about it.
Keep in mind that everything is currently just ideas and/or WIPs which can be changed/grow according to your feedback.

Q: What is Modus Operandi ?
Modus is a survival, crafting roguelike mod set in a world of dreams and nightmares, a world of fantasy and old tales.
It is inspired by such things as tales of the Grimm brothers, folklore and even contemporary urban legends and creepy pasta.
With religious and surreal undertones as well as gothics and quirky aesthetics.

Q: So what is the story ?
Spoilers - don't read if you don't wish to get your future experience spoiled inadvertently.

reveal

Modus is set in Limbus Infantium, better known as the limbo of infants.
A surreal realm stuck in between the reaches of hell and heaven where the souls of innocents spend their afterlife.
Those who have perished without having to carry the burden of sin but at the same time those for whom the gates of heaven are not yet open.
Without the salvation of heaven nor the punishment of hell the souls of limbo are bound to experience the afterlife in earthly ways.
Experiencing both the horrors and pleasures of their own mind.

The characters of Modus are souls of children and critters stuck in a perpetual state of dreams.
The world they experience is shaped from their minds, memories of their former lives, the scary tales their moms used to tell them.

Spoilers
Q: How does it play ?
Modus is a randomly-generated survival/crafting game with roguelike elements akin to games such as Minecraft or Don't Starve.
The game is split into two phases, the game world and the hub called the Yard of the Lost.
The hub is a stylish alternative to in-game menus from where you select your unlocked Characters, equip your unlocked Rations and generate new worlds using the Fablenomicon.

Fablenomicon -
Is a magical book that is initially empty, each time you finish a run or die you receive Expand-o-grams based on how well you did.
Duplicates of or unvanted Expand-o-grams can be scrapped for Gadgetz to buy Rations one can equip before each run.
Inserting Expand-o-grams into your Fablenomicon modifies the world your game is going to generate.

• Expand-o-grams are special modifiers to be used in the Fablenomicon. They come in different qualities. The Mundane, the Refined and the Exquisite.
  Different rarities of Expand-o-grams can be scrapped for different amounts of Gadgetz, while they also offer modifiers of various significance to the game world.
  For example Mundane Expand-o-grams may only modify the amounts of particular resource spawning in the world,
  while Refined or even better, Exquisite ones may unlock entirely new biomes or mechanics altogether.

• Expand-o-grams can be obtained by completing specific in-game events, or simply by surviving for greater amounts of time.
  Some Expand-o-grams may be so helpful, or alternatively so destructive that they may affect the drop rate of Expand-o-grams in the world they are used in, for better or worse.

• Expand-o-grams are not consumed after use and can be used repeatedly by the player as long as they remain saved in their profile and not scrapped.

Characters -
Characters all come with their own strengths and weaknesses, they can be unlocked via in-game events.
Each character is better suited for battling certain mechanics of the game, so players who are struggling in the particular area may opt for more suitable characters to fit their playstyle.
Certain characters may also have items and mechanics that are unavailable to others.

Rations -
Are loadouts, which can be purchased each time the player plays for Gadgetz that the player obtains by scrapping unwanted Expand-o-grams.
Rations range from quirky to useful, they may help the player with early game or equip him with wacky skins.

Q: The World ?
After all preparations in the hub are finished, the player proceeds with their selected Character and any Rations that they had equipped into the Fablenomicon.
Depending on the Expand-o-grams used, the game will generate a random world.
If no Expand-o-grams were used, the game will generate a default world without modifiers and with a limited amount of content and biomes.

The game is split into the Overland and Underland.
Each having their own content and biomes.
The Overland is the main game world while the Underland can be accessed via certain spots on the map.
Up to three Underland instances can be generated per world. (however they are initially locked)
Underland is generally dependent on the Overland biomes they are connected to.

• Biomes come in various shapes and sizes and contain different tilesets, mobs and areas of interest.
  Most of content can only be found in specific biomes.
  Additional Biomes can be unlocked by the use of Expand-o-grams during world creation.

Q: The Gameplay ?
The point of Modus Operandi is to survive. Scavenge for food and resources, while battling the terrors and elements of the new world.
Craft loads of ingenious inventions to make your life easier.
X-caveate and spelunk for Sunken Hollows and Hidden Dens.
Farm for food, build encampments and corral fantastic creatures.

• Hunger and Wits - Forage for Food and keep your Wits up lest the looming darkness and the terrors within will consume you.

• Craft and Spelunk - Explore the land for areas of interest.
  Use X-caveator to hollow the ground and build your hidden base into.
  Search for Sunken Hollows to uncover special treasure.

• Fight and Survive. Unlock new characters, fight gargantuan bosses and conquer the land.
  Return back home to Yard of the Lost with new Expand-o-grams to use in the next adventure.

The Pre-Alpha
Will contain 4 default biomes, 3 characters. (2 of which will be unlockable)

First phase will focus on testing the world generation and won't be too content-heavy.
It will be open to download in the future project thread.

 

[Talavaj]

Let me know what is your opinion !
I'm especially interested in whether the highlighted terms are fine or too cringey.
The mod is very much in development and any and all ideas are welcome !

I will spit recent progress in this reply here.
You can look at and debate some concept art here:

 

[Zwiebelchen]

So is this is a Heroes of Might and Magic style turn-based strategy game or more minecraft-esque real-time adventuring?

That wasn't quite obvious from the presentation to me. You mentioned minecraft, but only in terms of randomly generated worlds.


To be honest, I'd love to see a turn based game with a randomly generated world in Warcraft III and the tiles would serve that purpose conveniently (1 tile = 1 cell for movement = 1 action point cost). Then again, I don't know if you intend to implement multiplayer for this. Turn based games are only fun in singleplayer.

 

[Talavaj]

The similarity to Minecraft comes mostly from the structure of resource gathering.
Obtaining basic items in order to spelunk for the rarer ones and craft structures that expand the game with more complex mechanics.

Interestingly.
The first draft I had for this mod is that you would start off with a single character then expand your roster by recruiting other lost characters that wander the wastes.
By placing signs and what not around the map that would lead the characters to your location.

In both the old draft and the new one you have a single central location where you build stuff at, which is a small cave underground that is used as a hideout.
It is an instanced portion of the map.

In the old draft you would recruit mostly generic characters and turn them into specific units by equipping them with loadouts which you craft instead of units.
So for example a character equipped with a miner loadout would get a pick, miner hat, backpack and so on and be allowed to mine in shafts.

I suppose the old draft could be translated into turn-based fairly well.
The only issue is whether making it turn based would be beneficial to its gameplay.
There isn't that many active threats in the mod, as in things that would occupy the overworld and move along the player.

The old draft implemented the idea that your characters would be quasi slaves of some mysterious commune in a dystopian setting (but a quirky, not too serious one) who managed to escape their captors.
The commune would scout the wastes and seek out to capture the characters and such present a constant threat to your exploring.

They would also be attracted to your survivors shall their "wits" drop dangerously low which would be a stat you would have to keep up by forcing your survivors to do engaging tasks.
Something like a morale system, which if it would drop too low would cause trouble in the form of your characters becoming disinterested, suicidal and attracting the commune.

The current draft has a similar mechanic, but it is toned down with emphasis put more on exploration and adventuring.

 

[Naze]

Hey Talavaj! Amazing project you got there. I'm eagerly expecting news from its development. Now a quick question - it is singleplayer, right?

Also, I liked your theme and references, which made me curious about the story. Too bad I avoided reading it due to spoilers. I guess life is full of tough decisions.

 

[Talavaj]

Yes it is singleplayer. Though in theory it probably would work in multiplayer but I will probably go overboard with assets and it won't fit the 8mb limits.

The mod would not have a traditional story, as in a progression of events.
The spoilerific information is more regarding the general idea of the setting and the characters.

 

[cleavinghammer]

Expand-o-grams and Gadgetz seem, I dunno, off (maybe not cringeworthy, but strange).

 

[Tickles]

I felt the same way, although Fablenomicon sounds cool. Any word play on lexicon or Necronomicon seems to work

I'm glad you're going the single player route for a map like this. It would be a shame if you were bound by a lot of limiting factors when the purpose seems to focus on exploration and expansion of the world you've created. It's looking like a good concept so far, especially since you already have a unique style going on with it. And although it does sound like it's going to be a lot of work tying systems together, where's the fun without having a bit of a challenge?

 

[Talavaj]

Yeah lol.
Honestly, those two things I didn't even have a name for before writing this thread.

The idea is that the Fablenomicon is a hefty book sat upon a mechanical pedestal thingy connected to a portal of revolving cogs.
And the "expandograms" would be pages or multiples of them (based on rarity) that have a contact strip on one end that inserts into a bus thing in the middle of the book.

I want them to be recyclable since I want there to be a degree of RNG when collecting them, but also don't want to make people feel they are wasting their time when they get duplicates after plays.
But I don't really know what would pages deconstruct into.

I guess something bookey would be more appropriate ?

 

[cleavinghammer]

Pages, Chapters, Diagrams, Patterns, Schematics...

 

[DeadZero]

Hello Talavaj, I like some of the ideas you've brought together and I'm curious to see how it turns out.
I'm reminded a little of Path of Exile's map items by the Expand-o-grams being used to generate your world, but I like your system more because yours allows for (I'm assuming) the use of multiple Expand-o-grams (I'm going to start calling them EOGs) at once, thus really creating a world of your own.
I have questions.

Some Expand-o-grams may be so helpful, or alternatively so destructive that they may affect the drop rate of Expand-o-grams in the world they are used in, for better or worse.

Does this mean that a given EOG isn't usually detrimental in one way and beneficial in another other than in the effect it has on the EOG drop rate? In my opinion, almost every EOG should have both a positive and negative effect on the actual gameplay or mechanics, and not just in rewards, which I would reserve for actual player accomplishments.


What can you craft?
Are all aspects of the game necessary to survive? (Will I eventually be forced into every possible situation?)
How are the characters' strengths and weaknesses expressed (specifically what mechanics and kind of items)?
Are the characters very different from each other, or are they all minor variances on a base play style?
Do rations expire after use?
Do you lose your character permanently after dying, like in most roguelikes? If so, are any aspects retained?

 

[Talavaj]

Hello, great questions there !

Does this mean that a given EOG isn't usually detrimental in one way and beneficial in another other than in the effect it has on the EOG drop rate?

The effects vary by the type of the EOG.
There aren't strictly "bad" and "good" effects but they usually carry multiple ones.
For example those that expand the world with new biomes and locations can force the main objective (which you have to complete if you want to keep looted EOGs) to be in that biome.
For example unlocking Underland may cause the objective to be in Underland, forcing you to actually explore the more dangerous area.
Similarly, unlocking safe biomes may force more dangerous biomes to generate as well.

Some EOGs affect spawn rate of locations with better loot, these are the ones that lower the drop rate of EOGs you get after the run.
Others lower the rate of certain hostile creatures, but they may also raise the rate of other hostile creatures or lower the rate of certain resources.

because yours allows for (I'm assuming) the use of multiple Expand-o-grams

Correct, you can use up to 10 EOGs at once. (and you can store 20)
The more you use however, the more penalties you will get on top of the effects added by EOGs.
These penalties are unique and affect the night terrors, the main antagonists of the setting.

What can you craft?

Most items, crafting is integral part of the game.
The items found and harvested in the world are mostly ingredients but some can be used right away.

You can craft tools and weapons, which can be used to harvest more advanced ingredients.
You have things that deal with food, food preservation, trapping and very limited farming. (although these are also more quirky rather than realistic)
Then you have inventions, which provide various gameplay elements.
For example X-caveator can be used to drill bases into the ground or create entrances into the Underland on specific spots.
There are some inventions to help with defense, or treasure hunting and so on.
Most of these are small, stationary structures that have their own abilities and inventory rather than equipable items.
There are also some cosmetic and "leisure" items which do not do much of anything but can be crafted for RP purposes.

Are all aspects of the game necessary to survive? (Will I eventually be forced into every possible situation?)

Somewhat, yes.
To finish a run you will have to complete an objective depending on the world you have generated.
The objective may force you to explore most of the map, even if it is located at a single spot itself.
The items you need to collect to craft the items you need come from many sources so you will have to do a lot of exploring.
You have some flexibility in what way you want to get sustenance from, the rest is quite unavoidable.

I'm trying to design everything in such a way that anything that is obviously not just a part of the static level can be interacted with.
The night terrors will also pursue the player, and the longer you survive the harder it will get to avoid/fight them.

How are the characters' strengths and weaknesses expressed (specifically what mechanics and kind of items)?
...
Are the characters very different from each other, or are they all minor variances on a base play style?

One of the unlockable characters has a light bulb that is charged by dynamo (walking around) which can serve as a source of free light (the night is pitch black and you need a light source to see anything) but it is afraid of monsters and loses wits much quicker than others all the while attracting night terrors more easily.
The other character has a lot of plush that counters cold and snow but gets soggy in the rain which makes it slow and slippery. (you can fall over or drop items)
The characters can also unlock unique rations, for example the plush character has a ball of yarn and needles with which it can heal by sewing itself.
There is both passive and active perks.
The differences aren't too crucial since I want every character to be capable of doing everything in the world but they are designed in a way so that every character is better suited for something while less suited for something else, with intention that you will want to play a specific character for a specifically designed world.

The starting character does not have much in terms of pros and cons and I'm still deciding whether it won't be removed as soon as you unlock the first unlockable character so that people are forced into a specific playstyle.

Do rations expire after use?

You always have to pay gadgetz to take any particular ration with you, but as long as one is unlocked and as long as you can afford it you can use any ration indefinitely.
The exception is special rations that are unlocked after collecting rare items in the game which are one use only and have to be "re-unlocked" by finding the rare item in the world to be used again, you still have to purchase these with gadgetz though.
In practice, there are very cheap rations that are easy to unlock but don't do much of anything but can be purchased virtually always.
Then there are rations which have more important items and even unique items unobtainable any other way.
For those you would generally have to farm some gadgetz for a while and use them in difficult generated worlds.
Obviously though, difficult worlds can have more EOGs and as such more gadgetz.
It is a risk-reward thing.

Do you lose your character permanently after dying, like in most roguelikes? If so, are any aspects retained?

Yes you do, dying returns you back to the hub with no option to play that session any further. (and you get a save password autogenerated)
You can of course use the same character again, but they don't get to keep their old inventory.

What is saved is EOGs, unlocked characters and unlocked rations (as well as current gadgetz amount)
Rations are in a way a progression system of the mod.
Since many rations are unlocked by specific characters completing specific objectives that uncover the character's backstory.
Once "unlocked" the characters are being brought back to the hub, so you get to share the resources with some rations being available to all characters even though they had to be unlocked by specific character. (but there are always rations limited to a specific character)

 

[DeadZero]

The effects vary by the type of the EOG.
There aren't strictly "bad" and "good" effects but they usually carry multiple ones... Some EOGs affect spawn rate of locations with better loot, these are the ones that lower the drop rate of EOGs you get after the run.
Others lower the rate of certain hostile creatures, but they may also raise the rate of other hostile creatures or lower the rate of certain resources.

[Y]ou can use up to 10 EOGs at once. (and you can store 20)
The more you use however, the more penalties you will get on top of the effects added by EOGs.
These penalties are unique and affect the night terrors, the main antagonists of the setting.

This sounds perfect. I'd love to read some more examples of EOGs, specifically ones that effect the environment. Are there any EOGs that only modify some or all existing biomes instead of creating a new one? Are there any that change the way that an existing mechanic works completely?

One of the unlockable characters has a light bulb that is charged by dynamo... The other character has a lot of plush that counters cold and snow but gets soggy in the rain which makes it slow and slippery.
The starting character does not have much in terms of pros and cons and I'm still deciding whether it won't be removed as soon as you unlock the first unlockable character so that people are forced into a specific playstyle.

So currently there are two characters (not including the unchanged one).. Do you have any ideas for/plan to add any more? How many would you like to have in the finished version?

The night terrors will also pursue the player, and the longer you survive the harder it will get to avoid/fight them.

Have you ever played The Forest? It's a first person open world survival horror that you may enjoy.

...dying returns you back to the hub with no option to play that session any further. (and you get a save password autogenerated)
You can of course use the same character again, but they don't get to keep their old inventory.

What is saved is EOGs, unlocked characters and unlocked rations (as well as current gadgetz amount)

So you record your generated save password text to keep the EOGs, unlocked characters and unlocked rations through multiple play sessions and the only difference between two pre-game hubs is the unlocked content? The only real issue I have with this is that the code of a player who has unlocked everything would practically be a cheat code.

Perhaps to avoid this you could implement something like an irreversibly unlocking tree with multiple paths, all of which couldn't be fully unlocked, that is saved as well. Even with minor effects, something like this would really personalize every save code, driving people to unlock things for themselves rather than piggyback on their friend's success, and even to restart the game entirely.

Is there a limit to the number of rations one can use at a time if they have unlimited gadgetz? If so, are they limited by categories like cosmetic, health, enemy, and so forth?

 

[Talavaj]

This sounds perfect. I'd love to read some more examples of EOGs, specifically ones that effect the environment. Are there any EOGs that only modify some or all existing biomes instead of creating a new one? Are there any that change the way that an existing mechanic works completely?

The EOGs basically affect the entire wold generation.
There are some that affect the size of biomes and clustering, so for example you can modify the map to be a big chunk of land or modify it to be a lot of small scattered islands that are a pain to navigate.
The more common EOGs will affect the spawn rate and potency of the spawned mobs and resources for a price.
So for example you can get wimpy trees which are easier to chop down but give less wood, twigs and leaves.
Better trees will be bigger and more common but also more demanding to chop down and may... cause some pesky mobs to fall off them.
Weaker versions of mobs will make them less common and less strong at the price of their important drop rates being much lower.
While stronger mobs will come in special variants and in much higher quantities but also with better drop rates.
More plentiful plants and resources may also cause creatures that are interested in them to appear more often and so on.
The rare EOGs will add completely new mobs/locations/biomes and mechanics and may interact with other EOGs.
For example the Underlands and Sunken Hollows can only be unlocked via EOGs.
They are essentially "dungeons", sunken hollows being the smaller ones that will collapse after you exit them and Underland being various underground biomes.
They interact with the rest of the world creation, so for example unlocking hollows and underlands without additional biomes will only allow a few to spawn in the default biomes, with the expanded biomes having unique underlands and hollows of their own but only accessible if coupled with the underland/hollow EOGs.
There are also global "weather" modifiers which affect the entire map but only thought of one so far, the winter.

So currently there are two characters (not including the unchanged one).. Do you have any ideas for/plan to add any more? How many would you like to have in the finished version?

The two characters are the only well thought ones so far, including their design, stats, backstory and rations as well as the way they are unlocked.
I don't want to rush and make too many characters with too little impact on the gameplay and attributes that are not compelling.
I'm sure though that as the mod will be taking shape and seeing the different ways it will be able to be played it will be easier to come up with more new characters.
I would like there to be about 10 characters, and I have at least two other ones on mind already but they are not finalized.

So you record your generated save password text to keep the EOGs, unlocked characters and unlocked rations through multiple play sessions and the only difference between two pre-game hubs is the unlocked content?

The total number of EOGs will be far greater than the amount of EOGs you will be able to save though, and possibly even rations depending on how many I end up making.
Though I like your idea of permanent choices, I think there could be EOGs, rations or even characters that you could only unlock once with the other alternatives never available to unlock again.
I think that goes well with the roguelike nature and replayability.

I also dabbled into making the hub more of a gameplay mechanic too, in that you would be able to expand it with more structures that would have various effects.
This would also go well with the your idea of irreversible decisions.
For example you could only expand the hub with a limited amount of things you would have to choose from.
But so far I don't have a great idea of what the various expansions would do and I don't want to dilute it with crappy content so that will have to wait and we will see.

Is there a limit to the number of rations one can use at a time if they have unlimited gadgetz? If so, are they limited by categories like cosmetic, health, enemy, and so forth?

You can actually activate only one at a time.
They are complete loadouts as opposed to items you can pick separately and make an OP loadout out of.
They will contain some vanity items, some cosmetics, some junk and some useful items.
The rates will vary depending on how good the ration is.
The theme will also vary, you won't get much of "well balanced" rations.
You will for example get "spelunker" themed rations with some tools and exploration items, "prepper" rations with extra food, or "the nooblet" ration which only contains junk, rotten food and a propeller beanie hat.

Have you ever played The Forest? It's a first person open world survival horror that you may enjoy.

Not played, but I did watch a bunch.
I'm a fan of open world sandboxy and roguelike games.

Thanks for the valuable input !

 

[Paillan]

Wow, this sure has a lot of potential on it. I look forward on seeing this, if you ever need any help on ideas just ask right away!

 

[Emm-A-]

Are you still developing this?

 

[Talavaj]

Are you still developing this?

Unfortunately I do not have much time for warcraft 3 modding anymore so I never got to continue with the project.

ALTHOUGH I would like to return to it in the future, even if it would have to be of a smaller scale.
I'm still very much active, just making content for unity and my thread at the moment.