Post by zunath on Mar 31, 2009 20:18:22 GMT -5
March 31, 2009
Welcome to part two of the class system overview. Last week I talked a little bit about what classes you can expect to find in game. This week the focus will be more on actual gameplay mechanics.
Class Switching
Yep, you heard right. The ESS (which, by the way needs a better name. I hate referring to the server by the name of the space system
) will feature class switching. So what does this mean? Well, whenever you enter a safe location such as a town or a space station you will find the "Class Switching" option in your main menu.
In short, this will allow you to literally change between classes as much as you want with no penalties whatsoever. Tired of playing a melee focused character like the Soldier? Well, then return to town and switch over to Doctor and try your hand at healing! If at any time you decide to resume playing the Soldier class, you can change back to where you left off. You won't lose any experience points, levels, etc..
Note that you can't just do this anywhere. To keep players from abusing the system, this may only be done in safe locations.
Leveling
As stated last week, leveling in the ESS is handled very different from traditional NWN. When your character earns enough experience they automatically reach the next level without any immediate input required on your part. This does not mean you won't be able to customize your character! There will be plenty of opportunities to do that. We are just taking this approach because it allows us to A.) Provide theoretically unlimited levels as opposed to the regular cap of 40 and B.) Constant leveling halts the action. By using this method, you customize your character on your own time.
For launch, there will be a cap of 20 levels. As with most of the other features, we are starting small and will work to expand once the groundwork is laid out. The plan is to eventually have a total of 75 levels.
You might be wondering why we're sticking to a lower level cap than what is available in regular NWN. Obviously the project has to be released sometime within this century so having a game with a thousands of levels and millions of areas would keep us in the developing stage for forever.
Customizing Your Character
I can't go into the details just yet because they're still being ironed out. However, character customization will definitely be available. The plan right now is for players to earn points when they level which can then be used to upgrade specific skills, spells, abilities, and so on. This is similar to how levels in space work but the results will be different.
I'll have more on the customization section in a future dev log.
Stay tuned for part three next week. The focus next time will be on combat, cybernetics, abilities and all sorts of fun stuff.
Welcome to part two of the class system overview. Last week I talked a little bit about what classes you can expect to find in game. This week the focus will be more on actual gameplay mechanics.
Class Switching
Yep, you heard right. The ESS (which, by the way needs a better name. I hate referring to the server by the name of the space system
) will feature class switching. So what does this mean? Well, whenever you enter a safe location such as a town or a space station you will find the "Class Switching" option in your main menu.In short, this will allow you to literally change between classes as much as you want with no penalties whatsoever. Tired of playing a melee focused character like the Soldier? Well, then return to town and switch over to Doctor and try your hand at healing! If at any time you decide to resume playing the Soldier class, you can change back to where you left off. You won't lose any experience points, levels, etc..
Note that you can't just do this anywhere. To keep players from abusing the system, this may only be done in safe locations.
Leveling
As stated last week, leveling in the ESS is handled very different from traditional NWN. When your character earns enough experience they automatically reach the next level without any immediate input required on your part. This does not mean you won't be able to customize your character! There will be plenty of opportunities to do that. We are just taking this approach because it allows us to A.) Provide theoretically unlimited levels as opposed to the regular cap of 40 and B.) Constant leveling halts the action. By using this method, you customize your character on your own time.
For launch, there will be a cap of 20 levels. As with most of the other features, we are starting small and will work to expand once the groundwork is laid out. The plan is to eventually have a total of 75 levels.
You might be wondering why we're sticking to a lower level cap than what is available in regular NWN. Obviously the project has to be released sometime within this century so having a game with a thousands of levels and millions of areas would keep us in the developing stage for forever.
Customizing Your Character
I can't go into the details just yet because they're still being ironed out. However, character customization will definitely be available. The plan right now is for players to earn points when they level which can then be used to upgrade specific skills, spells, abilities, and so on. This is similar to how levels in space work but the results will be different.
I'll have more on the customization section in a future dev log.
Stay tuned for part three next week. The focus next time will be on combat, cybernetics, abilities and all sorts of fun stuff.
