Kivi's Underworld Open Beta

[krozman]

Look at it this way. When you play a game for the FIRST time, you'll take about 45 min, unless you're looking for a pesky secret. The second / third time you play that level (either as a different character or to get a better score), the game will go much faster for you. saves wont be more necessary. They'll be less necessary.

[Kruztee]

If the levels in the open beta are a good indication of the length of the levels in the game once it's out, I doubt whether saves are really necessary.

I'm in the no saves camp FWIW.

[torikamal]

I would like to see some speech added. (big surprise, I know, guess who's volunteering?) Maybe a little more interaction with some NPC's in between missions.

Maybe just voice added to the mission narrations?

Anyway, if any of you see value in that, let me know, I'd love to lay some more vocals down.

Shadow, if this conflicts with your vision of the game, I could also just do a speech mod like in DoP.

Cheers!

[Delve]

I think mission voiceovers would be great. Possibly a voiceover of the quest descriptions but that may be overkill.

I wouldn't voiceover the bestiary though, it'd interfere with the creature sounds which I thought was a very nice touch.

[torikamal]

I would also like the ability to search for and disarm traps--if nothing else, it could be a potion, but it would be cool if it were a skill that you could get better at over time if you put points into it.

[torikamal]

I really like the awards and especially the bestiary unlocks. I would love to be able to zoom in or out on the beasts and be able to rotate them with the mouse.

Although this might be taking it too far, I'd also love to be able to set off all of their animations, too. Perhaps some of these could be further unlocks--if you kill x many of a certain type of monster, you get an additional animation and so forth.

Show off your great work!

[Delve]

Along that vein, I'm the sort of person that will play through a Final Fantasy game and keep one of every weapon and armor. Just so I can view the models when I feel like it (even if it is just awkward glimpses during combat). Perhaps you could add a 'vanity mirror' somewhere. I like seeing the weapon and armor change dynamically when I get a pickup or raise a skill, but it's hard to admire in an adventure.

[torikamal]

So when I first played the game, I admit to being a little bit disappointed; Depths of Peril being so engrossing and all. However, the more I play this game, the more fun I seem to be having and I'm not quite sure why.

Sand Dragon, however, is the level that seems to have made this game fully hit it's stride. This level rocks--and again--I'm not quite sure why. This is the first level that I am using the Scout and she speedily flies all over the place, so maybe that could have something to do with it. Anyway, anybody else feeling similarly?

[torikamal]

I would like to apologize for all the posts I make, but I'm a tweaker by nature, so I can't help it.

I think it would be great to have voices for the characters themselves--like when they attack or find a secret door or something. However, I would only think it should happen like every 100th attack or something like that, but I think it would add a little bit more personality to the characters.

I realize not everybody cares about voice, but I'm one of those people that listened to every scrap of dialogue in Mass Effect, because I'm just into that kind of thing--it really draws me into the story. I think it makes me feel like I'm playing a movie.

[torikamal]

I finished the beta last night and I must report that the levels seemed to get funner as they progressed. Probably because they got more and more wild as they went on. However, I am now quite sad as I can't play anymore

I've got a few more ideas, though:

I am always in favor of very little in the way of interface. I actually haven't seen a game do this, but I think it would be cool if you had the option to choose between the default interface or an "advanced" interface that occupied very little space on the screen (ie like the Oblivion immersive interface mods)

It would be cool if every character was able to get some special upgrade to their weapon and special attack that made them quite a bit more powerful and also gave it a different model. Maybe like if they killed x many enemies or something, a special adventure would pop up that only that character could do. I think it should be an insanely difficult adventure, too. But at the end of it, they would that weapon. Then when that one is done, they could get one more adventure for their special attack.

The other idea I had I think could generate some good revenue for you Shadow. First of all, I hope the SDK is really robust so that we can make our own awesome levels and share them around because I think that will be a big advantage over DoP. However, here's my money-making idea for you. Every month after release, come out with one new adventure for Kivi, and charge $.99 for each one. I think it would be a great way to keep Kivi going as well as a great way for us in the community to support an awesome developer (as well as have a bunch of fun).