ELDER REALMS: An Endgame Idea by Puffagod

#234

I feel like the swamp onion could be used in the nexus to DC any player with ally projectiles on on crowded servers.

#235

So it could - although that particular sort of server-trolling was not in vogue when the item was invented…

Perhaps the Swamp Onion could be marked as unusable in the nexus, like a few currently existing consumables - although I fear that updating the document to reflect the modern state of realm in such high resolution is a slippery slope, considering how significantly the game’s mechanics have changed since its inception & publication.

#236

Beyond the process it would take for rebalancing, I stand by thinking that this document is strictly for the lore and flavors of ideas. Some of the fight ideas were cool in and of themselves on paper, but putting them into practice (even back in the version of the game when this was created) would likely take some balancing anyway. Trying to edit anything that isn’t obviously broken feels like a less effective use of time.

#237

“That awful King Alexander and his enviable abdomen"

Is SPACE seriously jealous of a slurp’s 6-pack?

#238

That made me laugh back when I read it as well :joy:

#239

Ngl, I feel like the Archetype being able to deal 650 damage with a fast moving projectile is pretty overkill, I kind of feel like having 200 damage per halve second beams like Feral’s, would more appropriately demonstrate the power of this attack. The beam could even have infinite range, and be telegraphed via a thin indicator beam instead of two shoots as with Feral’s.

#240

Yep I totally agree with you there. However I don’t believe there was an in-game precedent for such an attack while I was designing the Archetype. Where possible I tried to use existing in-game analogues for enemy attacks (ie, the splitting shots that appear throughout the Elder Realm are justified by O2’s exploding suns, contact damage is justified by Manor Bats etc). This isn’t always the case (inwards-moving shots like Uruthaguruthag’s terrene accretions are an example) but even then I tried not to rock the boat too significantly - I never imagined they would add a beam attack like Feral’s…

Editing the document to include newer mechanics is a slippery slope (if I change the Archetype, then why not go back and spend modernise everything else?) so I can’t promise to include the change - although I really like it and probably would have gone with it in the first place had I known!

#241

Not gonna lie, those psychic attacks that used the terrain as a weapon might’ve been a little weird for the game back in the state it was as well, but it was very creative.

I’m not pushing for updating, but you weren’t shy for trying out new ideas, conceptually!

#242

oh yes that too is a good example :slight_smile: On the whole though I did try to be more or less conservative with the attacks - heaven knows there would have been a few very different fights if I wasn’t!!

edit: nice profile pic too!!

#243

Honestly, the entire game is currently in this state where we have a sort of grey area between old and new content, and if the game’s code continues to evolve with new bullet types and enemy behaviours, we may end up in a scenario where stuff like the nest, fungal and crystal caverns and ocean trench will start to look outdated. All in all, I don’t really see the problem with modernising specific parts of the elder realms whilst not doing so for the others, especially given the length of this document and the fact that it would only make sense to modernise the parts of document that feel kinda broken, like the aforementioned quantum quiddities .

#244

It actually looks so cool, you could even make a new game out of this whole idea wtf. I liked it a lot and hopefully deca do the same they did with LH to this idea of yours. Very very nice

#245

This is really cool! I’d love to see this in game! Who knows, maybe DECA is watching O.o

#246

I can cite the source if need be, but DECA is definitely aware. I’m just worried about how they would implement it, especially considering existing tensions.

If they use something like this concept, I’ll be happy in a bittersweet sort of way.

#247

Yeah I can understand that for sure. I hope if they plan on implementing it that they at least reach out and work with puffy. I feel like that would be the best course of action so if they need to change anything he can come up with a solution that could fit into your idea. Has he tried getting in contact with DECA about it?

#248

Er, this is exclusively PuffaGod’s works :sweat_smile:

Also, I’ll have him explain his feelings on this idea vs. the game, if he wishes. It’s not as straightforward as you might think.

#249

that’s fair, I dont know why but I assumed based on the tag next to your name “leader” that you we’re apart of the process. If puffy did infact write 600+ pages on his own that’s insane! I’d love to hear what he has to say and if he got a response from a higher up If he wants to of course.

#250

“Leader” just means that I’m a glorified janitor of the forums itself; nothing to do with Puffa’s projects. I am a huge fan of his, though, even before I made myself known here :smile:

#251

Hello! I am the writer of the Elder Realms document :slight_smile: DECA is aware of the idea (as it was very popular on their subreddit for a time), although they don’t seem to care very much about it and have stated multiple times that they have their own vision for an Elder Realm-style content update in the distant future which is entirely unrelated to my idea. They are of course fully within their rights to do this, since the vague concept has been floating around since Wildshadow days, although (to my knowledge) I am the first to have really tried to flesh it out (… in 800 pages). It is unlikely that I will be involved in DECA’s version in any way, since I have been a vocal dissident of the UGC group and do not respect the direction the game is going in right now.

For my own part, Elder Realms was designed less as an earnest content suggestion and more of a mixed-media narrative. I have been attempting the former for many years with absolutely no success, and Elder Realms was a reflection of that. I am quite confident that all of the fun lies in the reading and imagining of these ideas, and would evaporate the minute that Elder Realms (as I have conceived it!) would be playable. I intend to advance all these meta-narrative ideas in an experimental novel (possibly told through a game-design format in a slightly more obvious way than Elder Realms) in the future.

I am glad you enjoyed the document though! C: It was a lot of fun to work on, and despite everything I am proud that I managed to put it all together in the end. There are a few smallish updates I would like to do before I consign it to the status of relic; it is an evolutionary stub in the history of this game’s creative community, and it shall be my last testimony as I move onto greater things elsewhere :slight_smile:

#252

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i think you meant to say that every 3 seconds it stuns you for 6 seconds :cold_sweat:

#253

maybe I did… maybe I didn’t… I genuinely can’t remember :sweat_smile: When I finally come around to updating the document I think I might try and rework this staff with the burst fire mechanic that they subsequently added to the game, but til then thanks for pointing out this horrendous lack of balance!

edit: on reflection, it seems like I did actually intend to give it damage comparable to an EP. Why exactly I thought this would be appropriate is quite beyond me…