SKUME Questionnaire

edited July 2021 in Solomon's Games
Dear solomon fans who are still here waiting,

Well since there aren't much to talk about skume, I think it would be best to ask you guys your opinions on what you guys expect for skume. Hopefully when he comes back, he may see what we have said here and take notes on it.

1. What do you think is the most problematic skills in solomon's keep in terms of balance?

2. What is the thing that you absolutely want skume to keep from original keep? (pun intended)

3. What is the spell you like most in keep?

4. What kind of gameplay changes does skume needs?

5. What games do you think are good reference in making skume better?

6. List skills do you think need buff or rework. What would you do to fix them?

7. What kind of visual and musical changes do you expect from skume?

8.  What kind of lore bits do you wish to find out in skume?

9. Any other suggestions? (other than when does it come out which we should all know if we are a hardcore solomon fan someday)

Comments

  • edited July 2021
    —instead of “someday” there should be “Soon(tm)”—
  • I would love responses to this... We can work in some rebalance and stuff into the SK mod

  • 1. Definitely Magic Shield, as it’s almost entirely necessary for not getting one-shot, though keep is better about that than boneyard.

    2. The way the difficulties work is really nice, so even though it doesn’t make much lore sense, I would keep either that or some similar newgame+ mode.

    3. Honestly, hard to choose. I might have to go for flame lash, since it just feels so powerful when it’s levelled up well, but all the primaries feel very nice on their own (as long as your fireball has explosion)

    4. The only thing I can think of would be some better way to get that last room you missed on the other side of the floor before proceeding. Not sure how best to do that, since as he’s said, fast travel points all over the place can ruin immersion.

    5. There’s a little known but great game which I think SKUME should take a lot of inspiration from. It’s called Solomon’s Keep, and is made by Raptisoft.

    6. Steam jet, health up, mana up, (is the poison resist one in SK, or just in SB?), ring of fire, poison cloud, and I feel like there might’ve been another damaging secondary.

    7. Honestly, I’d be fine with anything from looking almost exactly like SK to looking like Path of Exile, as long as the general feel of the visuals still fits the tone of the game well. As for the sound, I’d love higher quality versions of the same music, but the nostalgia alone would be plenty even if all the sounds are just copy-pasted.

    8. Whatever he feels like telling us! It’s his world, he gets to decide what we know about it.

    9. Just keep the spirit of Solomon alive (the figurative spirit, hopefully his ghost dies shortly after he does), and I feel confident SKUME will be great when it does eventually come out!
  • 1: I agree that magic shield is extremely op, but I think it's not so much of a problem with the skill itself as an issue with the damage ratio. However, I have no clue how else this could be amended. My best idea would be to have magic shield be a ''default" skill of sorts, or there could even be an analyst task for not using magic shield. (Mott even gonna mention magic key...)

    2: I really liked the outside sections, where you walk across tower balconies. I know it's already confirmed in SKUME, (screenshots, after all) but I would love to see some linear outside fight sequences explored in-depth.

    3: It's not in Keep, but I *loved* the earth spells. I know a lot of people say they're useless (and I agree without some balancing), but I loved the mechanic. It encouraged some strategic thinking instead of 'shoot at closest enemy.'

    4: In the later stages of the game, it takes a while to kill enemies and you get essentially one shot when they get you. I think the late game needs some balancing. Also would love to see a balcony section where a ton of enemies flood behind you and it's a race to the exit.

    5: I don't play rpgs, so I don't have any references.

    6: Magic shield needs some help. (No clue how to fix that.) Um, (I'm too used to Dark lol). Ooh. Acid rain. That needs some serious help. As of right now, it's kid's stuff. Give it critical damage or something.

    7: I've seen what you're done already and can't imagine anything better. Looks incredible. I would love to have the game music in its standard tracker format, though. :)

    8: I would like to know the rest of the story of Dark. Iirc, Dark has a different archchancelor from Keep, and I'd love to know why. I'd also like to find out what happens to Sirius after he wins. And I'd especially like to hear the story of how the character in Dark meets his end at Solomon's hands. I'm assuming that the Dark characher's death triggers King Charles to fight Solomon, and I'd love to hear about that battle. (Besides the implied: he lost) is Charles dead, and if so, why does he look more like a human than a skeleton? Finally, please confirm that Solomon's endless supply of enemies comes from him reanimating them. XD

    9: No other suggestions! I'm really looking forward to it!
  • 1. I believe we all agree Magic Shield is essential but I agree with RodentRacer when he says it could be an issue with the damage ratio. As far as any other skills I would like to see abysall plain walker a little more revamped. 

    2. I like the whole design of the Soloman's Keep. I would like to see the College from Solomon Dark make a comeback into SKUME. Maybe a place where you get all you items and skills upgrades like it is in Dark.

    3. I think every spell in Dark should be in SKUME, but my favorite is Air.

    4. I agree with RodentRacer. Late game can be bothersome. I believe this is intentional though so you do not play on the same run forever. I would like to see late game Spell cost be reworked. 

    5. Solomon Dark, first and foremost XD, and Solomon's Keep.

    6. Plane walker.

    7. From what John has already shown us, the art style is beautiful. Could not ask for anything better. 

    8. I would definitely like to hear more about Solomon Dark. Maybe some more lore on the origin of magic in this universe. Lore on the origin of certain towns and if possible what purposes they have in the story.

    9. I would like to use this one to emphasis my deep love for the the wizard college in Dark. I would really love to see that in SKUME. I would also like to see other places mentioned in the lore as somewhere you can go or places shown on the map found in Dark 
  • 1. I'll sound like a broken record saying this, but yes, the Magic Shield is the problem child of the spell list. It was the spell that took priority on level up in every one of my games and I tend to call it a run if I go to far without getting it.

    2. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of roguelikes and I was really happy Keep had the "bribe destiny" mechanic. Would love to see it make a return weather it be as a feature that's all ways available, to switch on or off in the setting, or part of some paid DLC.

    3. I love the sheer destruction and chaos of the Lighting Tornado!

    4. We've seen glimpses of a Diablo-esk inventory system through screen shots. I think this is a fantastic alternative to the sliding bar of items we've had in Keep and Boneyard.
    Other then that, the magic items we see in Dark would make for a good addition too. Maybe some crafting elements to get more reliable and powerful buffs and synergies.

    5. The Binding of Isaac maybe a good game to ~~steal~~ barrow pointers from. the level verity comes immediately to mind.

    6. If Bolder is going to be carried over from Dark it'll need some major over halls to be viable in a close quarter dungeon like Keeps rooms. Maybe a wall bouncing mechanic or an AOE explosion on wall hit?
    And in keeping with bringing over from Dark, Golem felt a bit week in later levels.
    Come to think of it, combine that with the necessity for Magic Shield and the supposed introduction of melee characters, I think the biggest rework needed is damage. Maybe slow down the hits per second and/or give a wined up.

    7. The visuals we've seen in the trailers are grate. Dark and ominous but still cartoony. I'd like to see the music follow a similar path. Keep the same style of music the pervious games have had but during the regular walk around the castle let the music take a back seat and let sound effects build a scene of dread. Only distant rainfall and rats scurrying as you walk into a room of skeletons and zombies, energetic music as you hurl fireballs at a skeletal dragon or a walk around town.

    8. Primarily lore about the new cast of characters we're getting but I'd love to actually see either the history of Solomon through dialog or notes or some world building on a more global scale.
    Like how much does Solomon effect common people at large?
    How big of a role do wizards play in the world?
    What *does* happiness when a wizard removes his hat?
    These are all questions.

    9. This would be where it gets long winded for me because the potential for not only new ideas to be introduced, but to expand already existing mechanics are extremely high.
    a. As I said earlier, I loved the magic items introduced in Dark but once I found one or two must have effects the rest went to waste. If you could either pull a weakened effect off of items to put on you favorite items or turn magic items into a resource that let you merge/craft magic items it would be a big improvement ~~over rejuvenate~~.
    b. I'm not sure how far the backstory's for the other classes are developed but it would be interesting to see a sort of factional overlap. What I mean is if you start as a Wizard, you would be able to pick up quests form Paladins, jobs from a Rouge tavern, or burials from like minded lessor Necromancers. It could work the other way around too like Paladins, Rogues, and Necromancers go to Wizards for boasts. Each faction gets there own type of missions with there own types of rewards.
    c. I'm not the first to think of this but a co-op option would really bring this game to a whole new level. It would be a grate way to build the community up.
    d. As an addendum to the last point, a competitive pvp option could be a good spice to the game. Acting as a sort of dark summon by Solomon himself, players could opt in the mode menu to be someone else's mini boss and the two player would duel with characters on similar levels similar to Dark Souls.
    e. Mod support :slight_smile:
    Mind you, all this is brain storming. I'm sure Raptisoft has his hands full developing ~~Hamsterball 2~~ already and he doesn't need more game mechanics to add to an already extensive list of features planed.
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