View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0004040Valley 1Gameplay IdeaJan 26, 2012 3:15 pm
ReporterIskander Assigned To 
Status resolvedResolutionopen 
Product Version0.501 
Summary0004040: Loot is dull
DescriptionLoot needs to be more varied or made more interesting. Entering each building should inspire compulsion; the prospect of exploring a thirty-room suite and finding a few lousy potions is grim. I almost feel like there's not enough item types to warrant the vast level of exploration that is seemingly possible. Obviously this is something that can be fleshed out during beta and post-release. How about adding schematics as an incredibly rare item (or pages of schematics, to REALLY stretch it)? How about varied power gems, or gem power multipliers? How about weapons that are really powerful but have limited use? Talismans that grant abilities when kept in the inventory. There's a million ideas of this nature to rip off from Diablo 2, various MMORPGS, etc.
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightFeature Suggestion

Activities

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 26, 2011 10:36 pm

administrator   ~0013777

Last edited: Sep 26, 2011 10:36 pm

This one in particular is just a factor of this being EARLY BETA. ;)

We've made no secret of the fact that there's only so much to find and craft so far, but that's just about our number 1 priority going forward. So never fear.

Toll

Sep 26, 2011 10:45 pm

reporter   ~0013782

I hope you'll add scuba soon. I want to go out and explore those oceans!

martyn_van_buren

Sep 29, 2011 1:52 pm

reporter   ~0014697

I don't know if it's possible, but I think anything that could reduce loading times going into buildings would be a big help. If you're looking for potions --- or, god forbid, skill books --- you wind up running across the landscape and sticking your head into a dozen or so buildings per chunk; so those loading times get old pretty fast. Region/chunk/dungeon load times I don't think are nearly such a problem, since you spend longer in those kinds of places than buildings.

Toll

Sep 29, 2011 1:57 pm

reporter   ~0014699

Since 0.504 (I think it was) I only notice minimal load times going into buildings. Even mazes only take a fraction of a second longer than the fadeout/fadein.

martyn_van_buren

Sep 29, 2011 2:11 pm

reporter   ~0014700

Hmm. Mine are still quite substantial, but I am playing on a MacBook Pro, which is not quite a gaming rig. I'll try turning down the graphics, see if that helps.

Toll

Sep 29, 2011 2:12 pm

reporter   ~0014701

Hmm. Probably wouldn't, since it's likely the reason it takes time is because it's generating the room. Always worth a shot though, I suppose.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 29, 2011 2:21 pm

administrator   ~0014702

That's really surprising that you're having loading times that long still. Typical loading times for me for a building in particular are literally in the 200ms time range between the fadeout/fadein. For larger outdoor areas or maze rooms, it can occasionally get into the 2s range but never higher than that, and rarely even that.

This is both on my main windows desktop, as well as my mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro.

What sort of MacBook Pro are you talking about?

martyn_van_buren

Sep 29, 2011 3:34 pm

reporter   ~0014710

Oh, no question. I count about three second of black screen excluding fadeout/fadein. About one full second for room transitions within in a building, and of course a bit longer for new chunks.

My computer identifies itself as a "MacBookPro5,5", which EveryMac.com translates as mid-2009 13". Generally behaves quite well.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 29, 2011 3:37 pm

administrator   ~0014713

Hmm, I can't imagine that it's taking a full second to load a tiny chunk file for a room off your disk. It sounds like your hard disk access is very very slow, if that's what it is. That's really the only thing I can figure, is maybe it's fragmented or something; loading a chunk off disk uses very little CPU, it's mostly just a matter of opening the file and reading the text. That's really odd it could take even remotely a whole second.

martyn_van_buren

Sep 29, 2011 3:44 pm

reporter   ~0014717

Oh gosh, is my computer out of date already? I'm going to start getting pitying looks at Starbucks :(. Maybe some kind people will start leaving me dimes.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 29, 2011 3:48 pm

administrator   ~0014718

I'm not saying your computer is out of date. I'm saying your hard drive is running slow from the sound of it. Possible causes:

1. A hard drive with a slow RPM to begin with. That class of mac has 5400RPM, so that's likely not it.

2. A heavily fragmented hard drive. This is much more likely.

3. A hard drive that is being heavily accessed by something else while the game is running. If something else is competing with AVWW for hard drive time, that would really slow down load times. This is also very likely.

4. A hard drive that is mechanically starting to fail. This happens, even with new laptops, but it's not remotely what I'd jump to first.


My money would be on 2 or 3 above.

oobleckthegreen

Sep 29, 2011 4:01 pm

reporter   ~0014724

Last edited: Sep 29, 2011 4:03 pm

** Fragmentation is not typically a problem on the Mac because of the journaling file system it uses (UNIX BASED).

Normally on a Mac, if hard drive times start to become very very slow, the most likely fix is to run Disk Utility and do a Repair on the hard drive. You'll probably find (in the DU logs) that there were dozens of files whose permissions are no longer set correctly and were fixed by DU.

The second thing to look at is crowding of the desktop. This is sort of anecdotal evidence (it never made sense to me) but when the desktop gets cram packed with files on a Mac it DEFINITELY seems to slow down.

Your computer should be great. I'm running a mid-2007 iMac, and I can run AVWW with Skype, Mail, Firefox w/ 10 tabs open, Coda, and Daylite, all with no recognizable lag on AVWW. Since your computer is two years newer than my own, I might try DU, desktop files, and point number 4 from x4000's notes above.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 29, 2011 4:07 pm

administrator   ~0014725

Awesome, that is great stuff to know -- I've only been a Mac user since 2009 or so myself, so I'm still newer to that OS.

martyn_van_buren

Sep 30, 2011 1:20 am

reporter   ~0014807

Thanks for that! I cleaned up a bit, and it got room loading times down to something negligible. Still noticing it for new buildings, but it's bearable. Amazed how much difference the desktop seems to make.

Chris_McElligottPark

Sep 30, 2011 8:55 am

administrator   ~0014881

Wow, that's crazy! I wonder why the desktop has so much of an impact. I'll have to look at my own Mac to see if I can get its speed up some. Not that it's bad for me in AVWW, but in a few other programs (3D graphics programs, etc) I'd love a little more oomph than I currently have.

Well, great tips oobleckthegreen, and I'll be sure to keep that in mind if anyone else runs into the same thing!

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Sep 26, 2011 10:35 pm Iskander New Issue
Sep 26, 2011 10:36 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0013777
Sep 26, 2011 10:36 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Edited: 0013777
Sep 26, 2011 10:39 pm tigersfan Internal Weight => Feature Suggestion
Sep 26, 2011 10:39 pm tigersfan Status new => strongly considering
Sep 26, 2011 10:45 pm Toll Note Added: 0013782
Sep 29, 2011 1:52 pm martyn_van_buren Note Added: 0014697
Sep 29, 2011 1:57 pm Toll Note Added: 0014699
Sep 29, 2011 2:11 pm martyn_van_buren Note Added: 0014700
Sep 29, 2011 2:12 pm Toll Note Added: 0014701
Sep 29, 2011 2:21 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014702
Sep 29, 2011 3:34 pm martyn_van_buren Note Added: 0014710
Sep 29, 2011 3:37 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014713
Sep 29, 2011 3:44 pm martyn_van_buren Note Added: 0014717
Sep 29, 2011 3:48 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014718
Sep 29, 2011 4:01 pm oobleckthegreen Note Added: 0014724
Sep 29, 2011 4:03 pm oobleckthegreen Note Edited: 0014724
Sep 29, 2011 4:07 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014725
Sep 30, 2011 1:20 am martyn_van_buren Note Added: 0014807
Sep 30, 2011 8:55 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0014881
Jan 26, 2012 3:15 pm tigersfan Status strongly considering => resolved
Apr 14, 2014 9:30 am Chris_McElligottPark Category Suggestion - Gameplay => Gameplay Idea