Mythos Guru

Double Header Thursday #2

The Mythos forums have been updated with another teaser by Candlejack.

It’s Double Header Thursday again, and I would hate to disappoint you; so I won’t waste your time with useless text until tomorrow. So what do you think is going on in these shots?

Enjoy

Posted in Flagship Seattle, General, Media, Previews |

How it Works: Skill Points

The official Mythos forums have been updated with a new post by Candlejack, this time previewing Skills and how they work:

You may have noticed in the recent teasers that the skills system is very different. There are quite a few reasons for the changes. With our next Beta release we’re unveiling a retooled Skill system, largely in response to your observations about the current one (and our own). The problems we’ve noted with the current Skill system are a frustrating need to invest in skills you don’t want, and a severe dearth of ‘active’ skills in which you actually DO things. The current trees lean far too heavily toward the passive.

The other primary issue with the current trees is severe front-loadedness, and a lack of later-game ‘fun’ skill investment. Simply increasing the damage a skill does for 30 levels just plain isn’t fun.

The trees also involved large, vertical scrolling progress bars that were difficult to look at and track, and just generally un-user-friendly. Apart from all of these issues, we simply weren’t satisfied with the fun factor of a lot of the skills (and this ties largely in to the lack of actives).

The trees now include more active skills - as an example, the Red Hand tree for Bloodletters was heretofore comprised almost ENTIRELY of passive skills, and the active skills were generally a step removed from ‘action’ in many cases. The current Red Hand tree is now almost entirely active.

The trees now have more investment nodes - Instead of just pumping points into the same skill, skills have been broken down into component parts that improve different effects of the skill, providing new incentives to invest later in the tree. Later investment might increase the number of projectiles, or significantly alter the effect of the skill, as well as providing bonuses to earlier nodes on the skill chain. In this way, 3 different players might invest in the same skill - but the look and play of that skill might be substantially different, depending on which nodes they invested in. This allows for some more interesting combinations, and for more satisfying late-game investment, we hope.
You receive 2 skill points per level, not 1. On the flip side, you must use skill points to unlock tiers (as opposed to investing in skills themselves, which caused a lot of pain in the current system, and led to a great deal of wasted investment). Unlocking a tier unlocks it for ALL THREE trees - so while you’re spending a point that doesn’t go directly to a skill, you can open up a great deal of skill opportunities for your investment.

Leveling is a great deal faster, so you’ll receive those 2 skill points more often, allowing you to diversify early - or invest heavily in unlocking to race for deeper skills in the tree. It’s up to you to balance near-term versus long-term skill needs.

We’ve tried to give you more direct control in the usage of skills as well - the Gadgeteer being a good example. Instead of dropping traps exactly where you’re standing, you can click anywhere on screen and toss them there like grenades - handy!

Posted in Flagship Seattle, Media, Previews |

CVG.com Interviews Max Schaefer

Previewed a few days ago, ComputerAndVideoGames.com has posted the full interview with Flagship Studios’ Max Schaefer, Executive Producer of Mythos. The questions start off with the origin and mission statement of Mythos but then move into Schaefer’s views of the gaming industry and the realm of MMORPGs.

CVG.com: Do you think World of Warcraft is stifling the MMORPG genre and due to its popularity it’s not giving new MMORPG titles the chance to prove themselves?

Schaefer: Not at all. Quite the contrary, WoW has brought millions of new customers into the MMO space, and has validated the subscription business model. They’ve made it easier for the rest of us. However, making a top-notch MMORPG is really hard, takes a lot of money, and a lot of time. That’s why they are few and far between.

CVG.com: And do you think the MMORPG genre is expanding too rapidly at the moment?

Schaefer: I don’t think so. The more competition there is, the more good games there will be, and that means more customers. This industry rises or falls based solely on how compelling a product we bring to market. As it should.

Posted in Flagship Seattle, Flagship Studios, Interviews |