After receiving session 2 of Rush Hour just this morning, I immediately asked to sit in on the next one. It happened to be this very afternoon. I got the chance to ask some questions, expertly mediated by Rockjaw, on behalf of GamingHeadlines. So without further ado, here is the third session of Rush Hour. Some of these questions are our own, and some were asked by other journalists- but they all have one thing in common; revealing those niggling and interesting little things we're dying to know about Auto Assault.
A big thanks goes out to Rockjaw for being our voice, and to Scott Brown and Ryan for spending their valuable development time answering our questions.
Psssst. If you're not the reading type, then you can go ahead and skip to the Quick Facts... I won't tell anyone, honest.
Rush Hour #3: Loot, in-game items, and crafting
Rockjaw: Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our third Auto Assault Rush Hour! This afternoon's Rush Hour is focused on the some of the more economic aspects of Auto Assault – specifically, loot, in-game items and crafting. Okay, so we're going to get started here with our first question. How will the loot/item economy function in Auto Assault? Will it be NPC or player driven?
Scott Brown: Loot is created dynamically from enemy kills and hand crafted as mission rewards in Auto Assault. Loot can also be built by crafters as well. When you experiment with an item while crafting you will get random enhancements based on the materials you experiment with.
Rockjaw: If NPCs are used as primary traders, will there be any motivation for players to buy from other players?
Scott Brown: To make good money from items in Auto Assault you will have to trade with other players. The prices stores pay will be too low.
Rockjaw: Will you incorporate anything like a "market place" into the game, allowing players to set items for sale almost eBay-style and get on with the meat of the gameplay?
Scott Brown: Not at launch, we are evaluating what systems are needed now in beta and prioritizing what gets added from there. If this becomes the top issue, who knows...
Rockjaw: Sounds fair to me! How will item drops be shared among players in a party? Will it use drop assignment, the classic free-for-all, or a crafty something else?
Scott Brown: Players can choose between loot modes when in a convoy. First, they can choose to be free for all where the player who gets the kill owns the loot. Second, the can choose distributed, where each player gets one item at a time. We mix up the player list though so you don't always know who is going to get an item next. We did not want a system where you would have to slow down your game play to deal with loot sharing so no dialogs or anything while in combat.
Rockjaw: Thank you Scott. Now, I think we're switching over to Ryan for our next question... always quick on the keyboard...
Given that we're going to be playing battling vehicles, will we be able to equip any upgrade items directly onto them? Engine upgrades, chrome rims, tinted windows, a spoiler or perhaps decals?
Ryan: In order to keep the gameplay focused on action (versus simulation), we decided to combine a number of things into the chassis... So things like engines and performance variables are all internal to a given chassis that you may find, receive as a reward, purchase, or craft. However, as far as looks go, we have an entire separate system called "Tricks & Trims" that allows you to fully customize your visual identity. This includes things like choosing paint jobs and colours, to all kinds of profile changing enhancements, such as spoilers, flares, and numerous other 3D bits on your vehicle.
Rockjaw: Will dropped loot from enemies include unique items? (not accessible from buy/craft)
Scott Brown: Since the loot engine is dynamic almost everything in the game is unique, at least statistically. Each base item also has a rarity to drop as well. We expect that a high percentage of the loot you have in game will come from drops.
Ryan: Also, one of the cool things about the crafting system includes the chance to potentially be able to craft a very rare find... so for example you could find the Uber Gun of Doom, but through the R&D skills of Reverse Engineering and Memorization, you could break the item and fix it and then have a chance of permanently memorising it, possibly being the only crafter on any server to be able to do so.
Rockjaw: Will the type/quality of loot change with the enemy/boss (harder kills give better loot)?
Ryan: Most definitely. There are several "boss" style enemies that will drop much bigger goodie bags than normal enemies... both in quantity and quality. Usually, you will find these as the culmination of story arcs that end in private instances but sometimes, "things" can occur and you may see one roaming a highway from time to time as well.
Scott Brown: To add to this, there are loot tables by type of enemy and tables specific to some enemies. So cars can give specific loot and so that boss car X can even have unique loot to him. We also feed the loot generator with the difficulty of the enemy and boost this number even more when you are fighting a boss so you will get extra cool things from the entire loot table as well.
Rockjaw: Will players be able to buy what another player sells to a NPC vendor?
Ryan: Generally speaking no. We'd rather you interact directly with other players to trade for their goods... so when you sell items to vendors, they immediately junk it for parts or perhaps sell it to another vendor somewhere in the wide wide universe of Auto Assault.
Rockjaw: When looting items, looking at World of Warcraft, Auto Assault will let players to automatically roll for best items and normal ones or all the loot will be subject to the same system (round robin, free for all and so)?
Scott Brown: We did not want to put up a dialog for rolls as it really changes the pacing of combat. Also, since we have no bind on pickup type mechanic its not critical like it is in WoW. So for right now (beta can always change things) there is just free for all and distributed.
Rockjaw: Will items sell for better prices in their origin specific stores, like we see on CoH?
Ryan: No. Long ago we messed around with this and determined that it really slowed down the pacing too much even for towns because the net result is that you end up walking around to every vendor and seeing what prices they give and then you start keeping notes on the side as to where to take things. So vendors always pay a universal price for a given item, but players of course will pay as supply and demand dictate. Given our experience with our first title which had an NPC-demand model, we felt this was the correct direction for the kind of game Auto Assault is.
Rockjaw: Alright, we're going to move onto crafting questions now, which is a huge topic in Auto Assault... Do you buy items for crafting or acquire them by loot?
Ryan: … yes. You can get them both ways in some sense. You may find "Broken Items" which are the central concept in our crafting system, as dropped loot, but there are also junkyard NPCs who will sell an assortment of low end broken items to help you get started in various disciplines. To repair a broken item requires commodities, which you will only find in the world as loot, mostly from smashing up the environments and of course from other players. You may also have the ability to create broken items from functional items, via use of the Reverse Engineering R&D skill but I digress.
Rockjaw: Digression is good for the soul. Will crafting require any specific skills, or will it be conducted at an NPC?
Scott Brown: There is an entire discipline tree that you progress through as a player when learning crafting skills. There are three different tiers of abilities and you are limited by tier to how many choices you can make. So you will have to choose between creating chassis, power plants, weapons, tires, and consumables for example.
Rockjaw: Are there items that can only be made through crafting?
Scott Brown: Yes there are some items that can only be made through crafting and some items that can only be found through looting.
Rockjaw: Is there ever any chance that crafting completely fails?
Ryan: Yes, if you are Experimenting on a broken item or memorized blueprint. So for example, a broken gun calls for salvaged steel in its recipe you instead put in salvaged copper. Based on your Experimentation R&D skill, there is now a chance for failure since you deviated from the specced recipe. However, there is also a chance to get an improved or somehow different item than the original. But if you want to have 100% success, you just follow the recipe as specced with the exact materials, and you will get the item 100% of the time. In this way, we allow for either reliable production crafting, or experimental crafting with a chance for failure, depending on what you need.
Scott Brown: The more you experiment the more likely you are to fail, but also the more likely you are to get an even better item.
Rockjaw: Will there be an experience system dedicated to crafting?
Scott Brown: Not really. Crafting is a use based system so each discipline has a rating based on how often you have crafted. The more you craft the higher the rating which opens up other disciplines to you as a crafter. It is completely independent of your combat statistics so that you are never making a choice to trade off between crafting and combat.
Rockjaw: Alrighty then, our last question for today is going to Ryan. Will crafting be useful during all the levels, even during the endgame?
Ryan: Absolutely. The kinds of consumables and gear you can create as your character advances will scale nicely with the kinds of things you are doing across the entire level curve and game experience.
Rockjaw: Thank you to Ryan and to Scott for joining us here today. They have a game to code and coffee to drink, so we're going to let them get going.
Quick Facts
Don’t twink and drive
Items in Auto Assault often have minimum requirements both for level and attributes, so characters will not be able to use an item until those are met.
Batteries not included
The chassis in Auto Assault are not powered by gasoline; they are powered by an advanced energy source , the power plant, that gives you all the juice you need to blast your way to fame and fortune (without having to refuel!)
Loot lovers, REPRESENT!
All loot is dynamically generated to be statistically unique. No matter what you have under the hood, there’s always something better to be had… and you’re just the sort of resourceful masterblaster who will find it.
Martha Stewart, eat your heart out
The crafting system, available to all character classes, gives players the ability to fix broken items they find. Players can also create and improve their own wares through reverse engineering, tinkering, experimentation and memorized blueprints. It's possible to be the only player on a server with a specific, unique crafting recipe. That’s a very good thing.
Say hello to my little friend
Artillery comes in a deliciously destructive variety of sizes, styles and flavors. With unlimited ammo gushing from your front, turret, rear mounted and melee weapons, you’re a force to be reckoned with, mowing down anything in your path in a blaze of gory glory.
My other car is a X1 Laser Tank
A key is used in a single inventory slot to represent each car owned by a character, giving players the capability of owning as many makes and models of class-specific vehicles they desire. Be it a sporty little motorbike or a hefty half-ton, you can quickly select the perfect chassis for whatever suits your mood and serves your purpose.
Fashion on the move
Tricks and Trims – special accessories and customized paint jobs – can be applied to your chassis to transform them and make them uniquely your own. Rusted cattle guards, fins, spoilers, and hood ornaments (some skull-shaped) can be found as dropped items on enemies. Collect an entire set or mix-and-match to create a special look that says, “Get some!”
Fundrazers do it for profit
Gathering resources for crafting is a blast in Auto Assault, literally. When you raze buildings or annihilate objects, you’ll find nifty little surprises inside like duct tape and salvaged wiring. Take these to a refinery to process them into commodities you need or sell them to other crafters.
Is that a hood ornament or are you just happy to see me?
Players can find or craft special objects known as ornaments, which can be mounted on their vehicle. Ornaments provide special benefits such as attribute or combat bonuses as well as adding a cool looking decoration to their car. Many ornaments also have special effects, such as glowing or trailing particles.
10. Wheels are spinning
Vehicles can be outfitted with a wide variety of wheel sets. Each one has a different look and tread pattern so you can create the unique style that reflects each player's special brand of destruction. Additionally, each wheel may have a different set of friction values for a variety of types, such as pavement, sand, mud, grass, etc.
Philip Howard
