I am new to this game and I love it so far!
It's very hard, and I still have to "gitgud" at combat/movement, but I love the fact that I have to consider carefully what my toon does, and not just run blindly into the fray.
I love games that focus on story and also versatility when interacting with environments.
If some of these ideas have been mentioned, apologies, I have yet to complete this massive thread.
I would like to preface this list by explaining my mindset is that
I don't want anything to be "easy mode". Anything that would hint at any sort of a bonus, would be a very small boost in a chance to perform any given action. I LOVE THAT THIS GAME TAKES SKILL TO PLAY! I would hate to see it "dumbed down" and veer away from the dev's vision.
Some of the things I would love to see as features in Sui Generis/Exanima:
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Open Ended Conversations with NPCs --- One thing I loved about
Ultima VI was that I had to actually type out my responses to an NPC, which parsed what I typed for keywords.
Typing my character's dialogue gave the illusion that I could say anything to any NPC and avoided the immersion-break of clicking a predetermined statement or question that an evil/good/sarcastic/etc character would say, complete with "thee's" and "thou's" hehe.
To implement this, maybe create a global database that contains "information everyone knows", a database that "a resident or former resident of this village knows", a database of "information that a warrior would know" etc. Each NPC would use an appropriate tag for the databases that apply and have a separate database of "things that only that particular NPC knows", which would update as he/she/it learned more information from the player character's responses and actions.
Movement/World Interaction/NPCs
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Climbing --- I have yet to see a game that featured any type of built in climbing mechanism other than earlier versions of Gothic (with the exception of features like climbing ladders/ropes). Rogue types should be able to scale walls a little easier than others. maybe each climbable area could have a "porous" rating that compares to an ability like Dexterity or something, or simply have grabbable handholds/footholds on any given surface.
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Jumping --- Perhaps based on encumbrance, strength, height etc.
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Stealth options for gameplay --- The Thief series comes to mind, maybe a Sui Gen-ized (adjective meaning better) implementation of being stealthy, with skills/items that modify the odds of things like hiding and sneaking.
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Breakable Items --- Things like barrels, tables, etc. For example, I pounded on a crate with a sledgehammer for 10 minutes trying to break it, to no avail. I also couldn't find any way to move it like the smaller items/debris.
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Swimming --- Including the ability to dive. Could make for some cool secret locations.
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Boating --- Controllable boats from single person rowboats to multi-crewmember ships.
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Flying/Levitate --- Short duration, otherwise self explanatory.
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Dragons/Giants/Bosses/Monsters that aren't bipedal --- I always loved encountering a tough to beat boss mob and other fantastic critters. I say encounter, because they don't always have to be hostile, and could be used to help advance a story ("information that Dragons know" *grin*).
Combat
Note: I love the controls as they are and trust BME's implementation of "the vision".
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Kick (low/no damage, not instant refresh, just pushes your opponent). Prety sure I saw the Ogre kick a player in one of the videos <smile>.
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Sneak Attack modifiers if your character(s) are truly undetected by a target, perhaps can only be used at the start of a fight/skirmish.
Thaumaturgy/Magic
I love that magic is extremely rare and powerful in SG and that most of the world doesn't understand it, to the point of fearing the arcane. My own PnP games take place in a "low magic" kind of universe. Magic items are unique, "named" (a Sword named "Herr Morder" named after a tyrant who slaughtered any of the land barons that would not ally with him), have a history, and are EXTREMELY rare. Witch Hunters are brutal, paranoid, and have zero tolerance for mage types
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Bards! --- Some implementation of bards and associated bardic "magic".
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Buffs --- Buff type spells, abilities, food/potions, or rituals that grant benefits, banes, or abilities
- A targetable light spell (lol)
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Magic Items/Artifacts which are hard to obtain, unique, have a back story, have/had a reason to exist.
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Rings/Necklaces/Earrings/Masks/Brooch/Cloaks --- Mundane, magic, etc.
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Activatable abilities --- As far as I can tell, skills are currently passive in nature.
That's all off the top of my head. Again, love the game so far and can't wait to see the finished product!
Jenn BRD