Since they're going for a bit more rpg-feeling and since the game involves exploring the map - What aspects could make the exploration more interesting and rewarding?
In Majesty you had to find whatever the mission told you to find, in your own pace, but there wasn't much more to it.
What if heroes that found a cave, dungeon, a castle or similar vanished from the kingdom-map and a small extra miniwindow popped up where you could follow that hero's progress in the dungeon? In these dungeons there could be more unique monsters and special treasures. This all while you are managing your kingdom.
The point of this is that when you find these extra areas, you know there's something special in them. The monsters might be different from what you've seen before and you know the treasure's better. When the heroes enter these areas, you can't help them as good as before, if at all, making their endeavor more nervewrecking. Plus the whole sense of discovery, which is a good feeling, is prolonged, from that your heroes found the extra area, until it's cleared and the treasure's found.
Another thing that I've realized is that although quality beats quantity, if there's too few things, quality disregarded, to discover - monsters, spells, items, lore, etc - you will feel that the world is limited and that breaks the immersion of the game.
Yet another thing that dampers the excitement of discovery is when you find "magic sword +1" giving your hero 1 point extra damage. Blizzard's, among other companies, is smart enough to name their items "brutal longsword of carnage" which isn't that different because the data is there to be viewed, but it still serves its purpose. I wouldn't mind if some to most of the statistical info of item was hidden from the user. It is the heroes that choose what weapons to use. It's them who need the data to make an accurate decision. The user should only know the name of the sword, which should fit the fantasyworld in which all takes place.
Any other ideas?
In Majesty you had to find whatever the mission told you to find, in your own pace, but there wasn't much more to it.
What if heroes that found a cave, dungeon, a castle or similar vanished from the kingdom-map and a small extra miniwindow popped up where you could follow that hero's progress in the dungeon? In these dungeons there could be more unique monsters and special treasures. This all while you are managing your kingdom.
The point of this is that when you find these extra areas, you know there's something special in them. The monsters might be different from what you've seen before and you know the treasure's better. When the heroes enter these areas, you can't help them as good as before, if at all, making their endeavor more nervewrecking. Plus the whole sense of discovery, which is a good feeling, is prolonged, from that your heroes found the extra area, until it's cleared and the treasure's found.
Another thing that I've realized is that although quality beats quantity, if there's too few things, quality disregarded, to discover - monsters, spells, items, lore, etc - you will feel that the world is limited and that breaks the immersion of the game.
Yet another thing that dampers the excitement of discovery is when you find "magic sword +1" giving your hero 1 point extra damage. Blizzard's, among other companies, is smart enough to name their items "brutal longsword of carnage" which isn't that different because the data is there to be viewed, but it still serves its purpose. I wouldn't mind if some to most of the statistical info of item was hidden from the user. It is the heroes that choose what weapons to use. It's them who need the data to make an accurate decision. The user should only know the name of the sword, which should fit the fantasyworld in which all takes place.
Any other ideas?
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