Knights of Honor

some ideas that worked well in terms of world immersion

from Stardock Forums

hi there. it´s the first time i actually write in a game forum. Just to give my two cents on some game designs that worked well. "Knights of Honor" had some interesting features in world immersion aspects. The caravans and the traders roaming the countryside were, in my opinion, excellent for this purpose and gave a sensation of a living breathing world. I wonder if "Elemental" will be close to some of these aspects concerning the matter. I would love to see a similar attention from Stardock, a vibrant and dynamic design is sure to give a superior feeling in the enjoyment of the game, in contrast to so many that end up being sterile and uninteresting despite good mechanics. Thanks and keep up the splendid work.

elemental
6,552 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Welcome to the boards, Nuno!

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Knights of Honor eh?    is that a strategy game.   What about it did you think worked so well exactly?   (I mean, can you give specific examples as to what the caravans and traders did to make it feel like a living world?)   

Stardock seems pretty intent on making the world seem alive, so I'm not too worried.   I remember seeing in one of the screenshots a bird flying, and it made me think "is this game going to have wild creatures walking about that have no real effect on gameplay?   if so then this is going to be a believeable world"   so...    yeah.   living world, I hope we have it.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting landisaurus, reply 2
Knights of Honor eh?    is that a strategy game.   What about it did you think worked so well exactly?   (I mean, can you give specific examples as to what the caravans and traders did to make it feel like a living world?)   
End of landisaurus's quote

I would also like to know... I played the game a few times, but don't remember anything about the caravans and traders.

Quoting landisaurus, reply 2

Stardock seems pretty intent on making the world seem alive, so I'm not too worried.  
End of landisaurus's quote

I hope you're right... the weather suggestion from another forum member and unique creative terrains would definitely allow the world to feel more alive.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Ah... I don't really want eye candies (like birds flying) that have no effect on the gameplay, as long as the game does not look ugly.  Having weather effect/living terrain is more interesting/important IMHO.  There should always priorities above eye candies.

More detail about Caravan/trader is needed..

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Hello guys. As i remember, trade and caravans were managed in a more or less abstract way. there were important resource nodes outside the city and then you can see a limited interaction going on. if the resources were inside your borders i think that was managed automaticaly.  As i  understand, that was just a graphical attention to the various resource input you own. Otherwise i´ve read that stardock is striving to go a step ahead and make the caravans really meaningfull in the context of the game and passible of being raided and intercepted, not just a graphical afterthought for some abstract mechanisms.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Climber, reply 4
Ah... I don't really want eye candies (like birds flying) that have no effect on the gameplay, as long as the game does not look ugly.
End of Climber's quote

well there is more to 'eye' candy than just that.  For example, in Metroid 3: Super metroid, the live was very much more alive than it is in any of the other games.   You had things like insects clearing out the rooms when you first arrive on the planet, showing just how dead and bare it is.  You have in one of the rooms another bounty hunter dead in a corner being eaten by parasites.   I mean, they have no real purpose, but its one of the things that holds it higher than the rest of its series (I use that example just because I feel the contrast is much more evident than is other examples that come to mind).    There is more to eye candy than just the sweetness of graphical depth.   

In elemental, such 'eye candy' is what might make the contrast between a dead world (pre-channeler influence) and the end game world so apparent.  It may not really have a gameplay function, but having that kind of thing is important to making a game memorable.

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Knights? Bear Knights? :D

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

the thing i liked most about Knights of Honor was the diplomacy. Often times leaders from other countries would just react to your actions and either warn you or give you something even just congratulate you on a job well done. i never really had that immersive feel in another game. i wish it would be implemented as well in the Total War games. However, KoH was very flawed in other respects. personally i hate the limit on leaders/army size. they should do a new one and iron out the shortcomings to make it feel truly epic.