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I didn't see this as a poll on this anywhere, so I thought I'd make one. Please pick you THREE favorite modules in the poll above.

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I wouls go with archeology. .. being able to encounter weird things...

But if i really had to poll something it would be a way to have long games slowly getting more difficult like df... not the same depth but just harder events thrown at you by the storyteller

i have mixed feelings about what my third choice should be but modding and endgame are my top two choices.

without a endgame there is no win condition, and modding games has been one of my favorite pastimes and really extends the life of a game.

I struggled to pick one - they're all pretty damn interesting. I suppose my lowest vote would be end-game, purely for the fact that I vote gameplay higher than endings. I personally see endings as a bit of the pat on the head, rather than anything particularly enjoyable - pleasures in the journey as they say.
I went for modding next, as a strong modding community is highly beneficial - they keep the game fresh in times where development slows down, and they can come up with some really cool stuff. Also, I've modded in the past and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although, thinking on it now, with the testing closed, it probably won't add that much at the moment. Anything that makes the colonists more rich is the way forward I think.

Quote from: Ontogenesis on October 12, 2013, 08:32:53 AM
I struggled to pick one - they're all pretty damn interesting. I suppose my lowest vote would be end-game, purely for the fact that I vote gameplay higher than endings. I personally see endings as a bit of the pat on the head, rather than anything particularly enjoyable - pleasures in the journey as they say.
I went for modding next, as a strong modding community is highly beneficial - they keep the game fresh in times where development slows down, and they can come up with some really cool stuff. Also, I've modded in the past and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although, thinking on it now, with the testing closed, it probably won't add that much at the moment. Anything that makes the colonists more rich is the way forward I think.

i agree with you about game play, i just think a win condition is worth adding

Modability for sure. Having a game that is highly modable increases the life of the game exponentially.

Anything that makes the individual colonists more interesting: they're what the game is about, after all. Deep Characterization and Relationships were easy choices.

I had a hard time deciding between making my third choice: Beliefs and Religions or Biomes. In the end I went for Biomes, as the different aesthetics would probably add a bit more replay value.

It's interesting how neck-and-neck these are in the voting.

I feel before modding should even be considered we should have an actual game with a solid foundation. The game needs to be built up to it's best/final version before the community decides it needs more/different content.

Quote from: AspenShadow on October 12, 2013, 01:13:19 PM
I feel before modding should even be considered we should have an actual game with a solid foundation. The game needs to be built up to it's best/final version before the community decides it needs more/different content.

Not necessarily - Project Zomboid opened their game up to modding (adding in Lua support in 0.2.0) right from the offset, which has been very successful and created a solid modding community. The more open the game is modding, the more interesting mods you get.

a lot of game companies have taken popular mods that the community made and turned them into official content.
i think this is a very organic way for a game to evolve.

Modability, why be selfish, let everyone have their own vision of their own game?

I mean here off the top are games that thrive off mods:

-Fallouts

-Mount and Blade

-Unreal Tournaments

-X-COM

-Source games

-Minecraft

-Jedi Academy/Jedi Outcast


Here are some games that thrive off mods that directly inspire this one

-Dwarf Fortress

-Jagged Alliance 2 :  http://www.ja-galaxy-forum.com/board/ubbthreads.php/forums/60/1/v1_13_Projects_Released_and_In.html

e.g. http://www.ja-galaxy-forum.com/board/ubbthreads.php/topics/312705/New_feature_Take_prisoners_int.html#Post312705





anyways the facts are mods are waaay more important, but having the structure for unique features, such as atmospheric simulation would open up the doors in modding even more. But ensuring the modding support is very high or high for new invention make for excellent gameplay.

anyway, he said vast majority will be xml based or open sourced, not locked in code. So we'll see. I wanna mod in mech suits or whatever or mechs, or zombies, or whatever augments for crew people. Whatever.

But modding makes things happen.

Quote from: AspenShadow on October 12, 2013, 01:13:19 PM
I feel before modding should even be considered we should have an actual game with a solid foundation. The game needs to be built up to it's best/final version before the community decides it needs more/different content.

No game on earth is like this, and I've played them all.

Sadly.

EDIT: Also, I'd say that regardless of the shortcomings of the original foundation, as long as they made mod support semi-accessible, or left it possible. You can see the game fix itself over the course of time just by the generosity of the mod community following that game.

Like Grand Theft Autos. Which I forgot to mention.

Bear in mind that if I added moddability early, every release thereafter would likely break every mod that anyone had made because the fundamentals of the game are still in flux.

Quote from: Tynan on October 12, 2013, 01:49:21 PM
Bear in mind that if I added moddability early, every release thereafter would likely break every mod that anyone had made because the fundamentals of the game are still in flux.

Thats like most games right now, it wouldnt change anything people would just update their work, or wait between builds. How much would it break by, whole structure or just placement of things? Either way it wont change much. Do you plan on archiving builds or completely replacing the old ones?


EDIT: People would also just archive their OWN builds for private use anyway.

I've modded many games that were still being developed, each new version did break mods but it was easy to fix.
most issues were changed paths/names

on a different note i'm curious what people would want as their own module?  how about a pregame intro mini-game that takes place on the ship that you crash in.  it would give you a basic tutorial and explain how your ship crashed (maybe have it be one of several random reasons)

I would also like to cover "The Commercial Success attributed to the popularity of a specific mod."

Best example?

DayZ: http://dayzmod.com/

Do you know how much Arma 2 sales increased since its release? Like 100 fold. Or more, it sold out physical copies in most stores simply because people ordered them all, steam keys, amazon keys, its even on GOG.COM, Simply because I swear its popularity since DayZ's release. People saw "oh wow this game can do this" and then boom, Arma 2 became another kind of call of duty. More complex -- yes -- more rewarding = definitely. (you can also destroy most buildings and its hilarious).


Now your game will sell just due in part to its uniqueness. But think of what mods do for games when they are THAT well made? They attract people. And when people see its for a game they want, they buy that game. Even in alphas. Its just how much fun they can get out of something, or how unique that something is that draws them. Or even if it just fulfills a kind of gimick. Maybe they want a zombie mod fully tailored for that kind of atmosphere with custom artwork and whatever, youre not going to be making this perhaps but someone else might. This generates sales as now someone else will buy your game JUST for this mod. Seriously.

Didn't see this thread, guess I'll repost here
---
Reading the different possibilities this game could expand is just so cool. The modules I'd most liked to focused on are:
- Endgame escape
- Biomes
- Relationships

Archaeology and Beliefs/Religions would also be great, but I feel that other three would have the biggest impact on the game's depth
----
A module suggestion that I think would be interesting would be the concept of Uplifting. Your colony could essentially adopt and help guide a less developed faction, granting them advanced technology in exchange for certain perks, etc. Or you could petition to a more advanced group to Uplift your colony. Of course there will always be unforeseen consequences...

Despite my love for Endgame Escape and Animal Husbandry, my votes were for:

• Biomes: This means more replayability through different environmental hazards and situations
• Storytelling Tools: Because I want to tell stories with this game on Youtube
• Relationships: I think this will be great for stories and drama, and add a lot of depth to the game

Really there isn't any module on the list that I don't want to see.  Archaeology and deep characterization would be great as well.  It's so hard to pick, I want them all!

It's really hard to decide. Everything creates an interesting addition to the game.
Hmm..
- Archeology: It would be nice to find some old artifact that makes the life of the colonists easier (or harder *evil laugh*)
- Biomes: Definitely my must have. Today I want to play on Dune, but tomorrow..
- Deep Characterisation: The traits should have real influence on the behavior of the colonists. It should be really interesting to lead a bunch of pacifists through the rough new world :)

There are so many good choices, I would however like to see Modability.  My reasoning is that with Mods we can add the biomes, the archaeology et al.

Would love to see staged projects. Big buildings/devices that require lots of materials and need to be completed over a period of time in several stages.
Thinking about stuff like "base ai control", "droid cleaning production facility", "science center", "bio dome" or endgame stuff like a "orbital launch platform" & "space ship"

And with stages I think about stuff like construct datacenter, install/program ai, wire up the system for a ai base control. And have diffrent meanings to the stages and certain requirements. Like material requirements, certain parts (perhaps only obtainable by traders) and character expertise.

And in the end you would need all these things to get off the planet?

And looking at some of the game play, traders don't land. The just dump the stuff in your backyard. Implying that most space ships can't handle atmospheric flight. Now that i'm thinking about it... I start to wonder how the hell you sell stuff to them. Not like the got a convenient space elevator lying around on rimworld.

Quote from: Britich on October 13, 2013, 06:50:42 AM
There are so many good choices, I would however like to see Modability.  My reasoning is that with Mods we can add the biomes, the archaeology et al.

Biomes certainly. That's just different content at the basic level.
If implemented consequently, a hot/dry biome requires different survival methods than an ice desert.

Archeology is unlikely to happen just with modding. That would require mechanics to dig/discover/translate and if these don't exist in the game...

So I voted for these 3. =)

Another module I think would be cool would be Robotics.

There could be different tiers, from the steampunk-esque style of ancient civilizations to the sleek intelligence automatons of the advanced factions. You could program them to do things like guard the perimeter or tend to crops at certain intervals and the more advanced machines may even have AI that allow them act as new colonists. Of course you'd have to deal with weary colonists, ulterior motives, the fact that pirates might be able to hack into your machines and turn them against you, or that solar flares may make them go haywire, etc.

Modding. Take a look at ArmA 3. It was a fairly indie producer that has sort of exploded of late not only from DayZ, but also from the fact that for the past 8 months of public alpha-gold it was almost ONLY mods that people could play.

Mods make communities, and communities make reliable sales, free publicizing, and the possibility of a breakout hit direction for the engine to go in that the devs never considered. They also greatly expand the replayability, and so the perceived value to buyers. There are also a lot of players who almost require it so they can fine tune gameplay to their taste.

This should be #1 by a large margin, oh well. Biomes are also really important, so I won't argue too much with the poll.

While Deep Characterization, Beliefs and Religion, and Relationships are what got my vote, Biomes are only slightly below those. I'd much prefer more depth to our colonists above all other options, but added map diversification is very close behind that.

Quote from: DNK on October 13, 2013, 11:15:06 PM
Modding. Take a look at ArmA 3. It was a fairly indie producer that has sort of exploded of late not only from DayZ, but also from the fact that for the past 8 months of public alpha-gold it was almost ONLY mods that people could play.

Mods make communities, and communities make reliable sales, free publicizing, and the possibility of a breakout hit direction for the engine to go in that the devs never considered. They also greatly expand the replayability, and so the perceived value to buyers. There are also a lot of players who almost require it so they can fine tune gameplay to their taste.

This should be #1 by a large margin, oh well. Biomes are also really important, so I won't argue too much with the poll.

As an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that. This isn't a Arma site so I digress.

I'm surprised there aren't many votes for Health Modeling.

Quote from: Conti027 on October 13, 2013, 11:23:34 PMAs an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that. This isn't a Arma site so I digress.

It deserves to be said. The goal isn't to be like Bethesda and leave it up to your customers to make your game fun: the goal is to make a fun game that (maybe) can then be modded for a different experience if people wish.

Quote from: GC13 on October 13, 2013, 11:53:21 PM

Quote from: Conti027 on October 13, 2013, 11:23:34 PMAs an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that. This isn't a Arma site so I digress.

It deserves to be said. The goal isn't to be like Bethesda and leave it up to your customers to make your game fun: the goal is to make a fun game that (maybe) can then be modded for a different experience if people wish.

Have you seen the average nexus site? If Bethesda didn't offer mod support from the beginning, their game -- no matter how much they improved it -- would have fallen short and been lost to obscurity. To this day people release mods for the oldest games on earth.

Now, it's nice that you have a goal for this game, thankfully the developers are listening to all of us and not just one of us.

Features added by "great" mods, they usually go above and beyond what even the most feature intensive developer feels they've accomplished. They aren't about thinking in the box, they're about thinking outside of the box. They often times create unique game play experiences as well. The developer doesn't have time for that, they never do, they can't. There are too many factors for someone with personal taste. Offering mod support only increases sales and longevity of products.

Modability for SURE. As amazing as any developer is, one cannot ignore the plethora of content having modding enables.

Relationships I think would be amazing to, and while less popular, an advanced health system would be GREAT fun I think.

Endgame (though I didn't vote for this) would be ok, but I personally wouldn't care for it. Honestly though, if this is added it should be 100% optional (in other-words, let the game be endless if the person doesn't want to have the game end)

Quote from: Tynan on October 12, 2013, 01:49:21 PM
Bear in mind that if I added moddability early, every release thereafter would likely break every mod that anyone had made because the fundamentals of the game are still in flux.

I think anyone with any maturity understands, and accepts this. I would happily have mods, even with this fact.

Multiple "level" mining operations would be fun I think as well. A little harder to program maybe, but would be great to have maybe a surface level, an underground level, and then a DEEPER underground level...with physics connecting the areas together (a cave in underground might mean a sinkhole on the surface). And, if this could also mean multiple story buildings, this would be even better.

Quote from: JoeJackT on October 14, 2013, 04:40:53 AM

Quote from: GC13 on October 13, 2013, 11:53:21 PM

Quote from: Conti027 on October 13, 2013, 11:23:34 PMAs an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that.

The goal isn't to be like Bethesda and leave it up to your customers to make your game fun: the goal is to make a fun game that (maybe) can then be modded for a different experience if people wish.

Have you seen the average nexus site? If Bethesda didn't offer mod support from the beginning, their game -- no matter how much they improved it -- would have fallen short and been lost to obscurity. To this day people release mods for the oldest games on earth.

The key difference is that the game should be fun on its own, and support mods.  The game should not be a simple framework where the modders create the fun.  Personally, I've enjoyed Bethesda's games without mods; I later revisit them with some mods, to change it up.  Never played Arma or Day Z so I can't comment on that.

I'm a bit surprised biomes are so high on the list, i think they're good but i thought other things would be higher.

Well, they just have to be popular enough to be in third place for enough people. If you took a poll asking what the top priority should be, I doubt they'd place so high.

I chose Biomes first, because I think if done right they could add huge variety to the game-play. Especially if Tynan adds the temperature modeling he's mentioned. Imagine the challenge of trying to survive the first couple days on an arctic ice sheet, with nothing but sleeping spots, and some source of heat (like a campfire, or some sort of high-tech survival heater).

Quote from: GC13 on October 14, 2013, 06:24:00 PM
Well, they just have to be popular enough to be in third place for enough people. If you took a poll asking what the top priority should be, I doubt they'd place so high.

GC13 brings up a great point here. Another game called Kaiju Combat used the three-vote system to choose which characters got in game, and judging from the forum comments it seems like a number of people's third choices got in instead of their first.

This poll isn't run by Tynan though, so the 'official' poll could be a ranked-system of some sort.  Then again this poll does what is should do.  Who knows?

That's a very good point though

Quote from: SpaceEatingTrex on October 14, 2013, 07:01:30 PMGC13 brings up a great point here. Another game called Kaiju Combat used the three-vote system to choose which characters got in game, and judging from the forum comments it seems like a number of people's third choices got in instead of their first.

Easy fix for that.
Use a multi-vote poll to narrow down a lot of choices quickly, then run a single vote poll on those finalists.

Or like here, if 3 modules can get picked, give users 2 votes. =)

Quote from: Gazz on October 15, 2013, 10:11:15 AM

Quote from: SpaceEatingTrex on October 14, 2013, 07:01:30 PMGC13 brings up a great point here. Another game called Kaiju Combat used the three-vote system to choose which characters got in game, and judging from the forum comments it seems like a number of people's third choices got in instead of their first.

Easy fix for that.
Use a multi-vote poll to narrow down a lot of choices quickly, then run a single vote poll on those finalists.

Or like here, if 3 modules can get picked, give users 2 votes. =)

Sound like a good idea, just for the sake of knowledge, I'll run another poll: 1 vote per person, choosing from the top five winners in this this poll. I'll set it up when this poll gets X number of votes. Now to decide what X should be.

Well, you already have a third of the amount of members that have posted at least once, and more than half of those who have posted at least twice. Don't set X too high. 8)

Quote from: GC13 on October 15, 2013, 12:17:05 PM
Well, you already have a third of the amount of members that have posted at least once, and more than half of those who have posted at least twice. Don't set X too high. 8)

How about a 100, or when the Kickstarter ends, whichever is first.

Quite a reasonable number. Though I must admit I suspect we're in for quite a wait then. :)

Why don't you run this one to the half-way point of kickstarter, and the 2nd poll from then until the end of kickstarter.

That way when kickstarter ends, Tynan has a fairly good indicator on what might be good to work towards as a first module.

A 2 week(ish) broad poll, followed by a 2 week(ish) focused one.

I actually prefer to have several choices in the mix. Polls like this are one factor in deciding which module to tackle next, but there are others, like production cost, maintainability, dependencies between biomes, design synergies, and so on. It's my job to sit down and look at what people are saying, and also think about these other factors and work out the best way to go. These polls are valuable to me to understand the general desires of the community, but they'll never be a binding vote.

Anyway, I'm watching and reading this thread with interest :)

I think the Moddability module is important because it could lead to some other module content being developed. If people make a mod that everyone likes, it gives ideas for how to develop the main branch of the game (I don't know if Tynan would ever consider integrating mod content into the main release, but it's done with rogue-likes and such). This depends on how extensive the modding capabilities are of course.

The Moddability module is rather unique in that it's meta-content - instead of directly adding any content to the game, it creates a new way for more content to be added. I think it would be easier to develop modding tools early on and update them along with the content of the game.

I'm a big fan of the faction relations to be done at some point.

I'd like traders to arrive seasonally like DF. It's so much fun to have that happen :D

Joined the forum just to vote.  :D

Went with deep characterization, relationships, and mod.
I also really like the idea of biomes.

Quote from: Ontogenesis on October 12, 2013, 01:21:45 PM

Quote from: AspenShadow on October 12, 2013, 01:13:19 PM
I feel before modding should even be considered we should have an actual game with a solid foundation. The game needs to be built up to it's best/final version before the community decides it needs more/different content.

Not necessarily - Project Zomboid opened their game up to modding (adding in Lua support in 0.2.0) right from the offset, which has been very successful and created a solid modding community. The more open the game is modding, the more interesting mods you get.

Agreed. Some of the most interesting content can be incorporated / outsourced into the game.

Particularly since the game files are XML-based to allow modding. Might as well take advantage of it.

Only four more votes till 100. If we don't get them by Monday, I lock this and post the new poll anyway.

Ding. 100 votes.

To be honest it was a hard choice for me. I selfishly want everything.