Hey guys, So lets talk about NGHII. Specifically, what makes it different than NGH. If you remember, the first one was sort of a rogue-ish topdown space version of Oregon Trail. Should you want to play it, here's a link below:
Don't worry I'll wait. . . Have fun?
Well good, because in NGHII, we're aiming to change things quite a bit.
One of these changes is the visual style. This time around we'll be incorporating some elements if 3d, to bring out a 2.5d looks overall to the game. We're still exploring things such as, line style, realism vs cel shading, etc, but we have a pretty good idea of where we want to go and fully embrace a grim world full of color.
Anything, we'll be changing is the aging, and replacing it with an insanity meter. Upon analysis, we found the aging mechanic was a detriment to the gameplay and took away, rather than enhance it. With the insanity mechanic, it allows us to utilize a similar gameplay element but introduce some other aspects we couldn't first time around. Strategy, consideration, forethought are things we encourage the player to do on their mission.
The random nature of progression, also proved to be fundamentally detrimental to the playability of the game. There was no way to choose where to go (this was however a story design decision) and no indication of where you are in the grand scheme of things. That visual feedback is important and we have sought to improve it, by another method. This meant reworking the way player travels through out the game, by allow them to open a map and chose their next destination point. Which brings up another thing. . . Missions.
We've decided this time around to opt for a semi-linear experience with missions a way to track the players progress and for there to be an indicative start, middle, and end. This also allows us to tell a story that's cohesive and consistent. Those are the biggest changes we have in store. Make sure to keep a watch here and or other stomping grounds for more NGH news.
-G
