We Need a Name | Patreon Weekly #66

Hey Patrons!

Content Poll #9 ended last Friday, here are the results:
Champion Enemies: 100% Support
Stronger Bosses:         64% Support
More Secrets:                64% Support
Heavy Upgrades:         45% Support
Champion enemies has won with a commanding 100%, even among silver supporters! Stronger bosses and more secrets both got good support, and heavy upgrades was a bit mixed. I still think heavy upgrades is a neat concept, but I can understand people being a bit wary of messing with the strength system. Based on these results I will certainly be adding a challenge focused around champion enemies and may also add either a challenge around bosses or secrets, depending on how the designs for those two shape up.

Some Tweaks to the Badges Screen

Since Shattered started getting more attention on Google Play, I’ve been getting a lot of feedback from newer players who are less familiar with the game, and one thing they’ve mentioned repeatedly is that it sucks to not know which badges you’re missing. I spent some time this week addressing smaller issues, and that included some tweaks to the badges screen to address this. The new scene even shows the next available upgrade for badges that can be upgraded, whereas the previous scene just hid those. You can see a comparison between old and new here:

I do think there’s something to be said for hidden badges, but almost none of Shattered’s badges really fit the criteria for that, and the one or two that might already have vague names like ‘Happy end’. If hidden badges or specific unlock hints are needed in the future, I can easily add them.

What do We Name the Skill System?

Implementation work on the new gameplay system is coming along well! All of the internal structure is done, and I’m working on fleshing out the UI before moving on to the specific mechanics. You can see a WIP for the new tab in the hero info window below. There's still some details to hammer out, but I think the overall layout is coming along well: 

Tapping on one of those icons shows a window with info about the skill:

So, it’s about time we figure out what we’re actually calling this system then, isn’t it? I’ve gone over a bunch of possible names and currently I think these are the three frontrunners:

Skills: The obvious default and most common name for this sort of gameplay system. Easy to interpret, but also a bit boring. This name is also already being used by ‘Skillful Pixel Dungeon’.

Talents: Another common name for this sort of system, but a bit more creative than skills. I think this one strikes a middle ground between understandable and fancy.

Feats: A name borrowed from tabletop games like D&D. It’s cool and more unique, but also pretty uncommon when it comes to games. It might be a bit confusing for players who’ve never heard it before.

At the moment I’m a bit torn between talents and feats, so I’d love to hear your input! I’ve made this post into a little informal poll if you want to just give input by hitting a button (vote for as many as you like, as usual), but please make a comment here or on the discord if you’ve got more to say!