Short article presumptuously detailing how I would modify elements of Hello Game's "No Man's Sky" .
Visual Display of Resource Extraction The current design does not display the amount of resources remaining in a Flora or Mineral Deposit unless you highlight the object with the cursor. It then shows the resource remaining as a small circular progress indicator (percentage progress to depletion). There is no visible change to the object until fully depleted, at which point it is destroyed and disappears. 1 - Visibly transform the object to indicate the depletion state The object should visibly change to reflect it's resource value. This would be the most intuitive way to show the player how 'healthy' an object is in terms of resources remaining. This could be achieved through a mix of modifying the object textures and transforming the object mesh. The idea is to impart that the object is being 'drained' of it's resource. Understandibly this may not be easy to do given the way the objects are procedurally generated. Difficulty aside, suggested methods: Saturation - drain the object of some of it's colour, shifting it toward an ashen, lifeless version. Texture - apply a texture that suggests damage. For minerals, a cracked or pitted surface can suggest the remaining health of the object. Flora may be trickier, as it may not be possible to devise a common 'damaged' or 'drained' texture that looks appropriate on all possible flora types, given the wide range of visuals. Mesh - for flora, some subtle adjustment of the mesh could help re-inforce it's health. Making the object 'thinner' than a typical healthy version (perhaps up to 25%) would suggest wilting and the extraction of it's mass. 2 - Don't destroy flora Don't immediately remove flora, or perhaps even mineral deposits. when they are depleted - leave the withered husk of the original object as an indicator of the players impact. This serves additional purposes - it can indicate to the player an 'explored' area by highlighting the effects of their passing, and also gives visible context to why the Drones are so protective of the environment. If a player wants to completely remove an object, further 'damage' should be required to totally destroy it, with perhaps only a tiny additional amount of resource gained. Hiding the effects of your 'industriousness' then has a small overhead in terms of enery spent to completely remove the depleted object.
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AuthorWayne Imlach is an occasional games designer. Gameography highlights include Theme Hospital, Wipeout 3 & Startopia. He's worked for Bullfrog, Psygnosis, Muckyfoot, Rockstar, Climax, Popcap, Lionhead, Odobo & Casumo. Archives
September 2019
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