Should the Game Feature Seasons?

[evilkinggumby]

(This is all based on the idea from an interview article with the creators and hints that if this game does well, others will possibly follow. So I am optimistically hoping for possibly a trilogy)

I don't know if it was expected to put in some weather effects into the game, but I was curious what others might think of seasons. I almost think having a single season for each installment (if the game ends up going in chapters or built into a trilogy) might end up being quite nice. You could parallel the seasons with phases of life, growth, maturity and death. You could use the seasons to heighten story beats and plot moments as the tale progresses along. Heck, you could surround each season to it's protagonist and so have several main character across the games, each with their own season, own flavor, and then bring it all together in a final showdown chapter to bring it all together.

Would you like to see 1 season per game, or would you enjoy the seasons to pass as the story flows in each game so there is more variety per game?

[david]

Seasons are a very 'Mouse Guard' concept, and they would REALLY fit the GoaT world too, but I'm not sure that there will be a fit with the timescale of the current story.

Definitely a plus 1 for weather effects like rain, fog, wind, and sun; along with time of day.... these can factor into the stealthy gameplay aspect of the game. Also, wind can be a big thing to a tiny mouse.

It might be a stretch, but I love to see snow in a game... maybe at the high up Tower of Periclave, caused by a ghostly presence?

[Seith]

Seasons would be great indeed. Although to be honest I don't think they will play a big role in the game since there is a unity (no pun intended) of time and action (everything happens on the island) and the island is not quite big enough to warrant differing climates.

But I really like the idea of tailoring games to seasons. Recently "The Last of Us" did a great job of incorporating seasons into their storyline. Of course the amount of work is just huge to implement them correctly in-game. There needs to be a lot of R&D to develop specific techniques; and contrarily to the CryEngine, Unity does not come with embedded time of day. And the existing solutions in the Asset Story are not quite at the level I would like them to be.

But I'll investigate the matter...

[evilkinggumby]

Well It was a thought and if the engine doesn't have a viable method, so be it. Could always also just vary it by region. You stated that the island the game takes place on with have a number of environments, so you could at least emulate the idea of seasons depending on where across the region you go. There is a small amount of this in Skyrim, where in the lower regions (southeast areas) there is more deciduous forests and you get a feeling of "fall" from the golden orange and yellow leaves falling, yet as you head north it opens to grass and evergreens and eventually swamp flats (almost a "summer" feeling due to the steam vats) and then farther north you move into higher elevations and snow/ice. Now I know you are not making the game sandbox like skyrim, but I am talking the visual cues and emulating the feeling of a season by geographic details. I am sure you want to have a nice variety across the story so players fell like they're not just running down the same three paths. So if getting into extreme detail and effects (weather/season transitions/realtime day progressions) is not possible it could still be possible just by where you have the story go and what kind of environment it ends up being.

Weather and seasons work really well to understate a tone or idea in visual medium. There is a reason that many emotional (sad) moments in movies end up happening in the rain. So walking up a path to a gloomy cave buried in the rock wall surrounded by lush greenery and Maple tree's is going to feel very different than that same cave surrounded by snow and cold wind, or mud and vines and a dense fog, or shadowed in massive creaking pine tree's...

Really I think you already have a really good idea about where the story is going to take us and take the main character, so I am likely telling you stuff you're more than well aware of. I am just trying to impress on you that when you get frustrated or stressed and start to think about taking elements out or nixing aspects, this is one you hesitate to remove for the sake of time and headache.

[Amya Kreiger]

I think that the game should feature seasons. Having seasons will add a little more depth to the game and make it more interesting. For example, you could have each season last for a month or two and have different things happening during each season. You could read Aussiessay reviews to have different monsters appear depending on what time of year it is, or maybe even have certain items only available at specific times of the year. The possibilities are endless.

[Londonair]

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