Saddle up!

A place where new features are announced and discussed. (Feature suggestions go in the suggestions topic.)
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Rias
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Saddle up!

Post by Rias »

Okay, I keep ending up adding more and more to the system, and I thought it was about time to just get what I have released already. So, go get yourself a mount at the Shadgard stables or the Stormholdt stables (for warhorses)!

You can type HELP MOUNTS or check the article on the wiki for more information.

P.S. I originally planned mount permadeath, but the more I thought about it from a player perspective, the more I realized I didn't think that was the right choice. So they just have a very long recovery time back at the stables if they die.
<Rias> PUT ON PANTS
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Rias
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Re: Saddle up!

Post by Rias »

P.P.S. This will be considered testing for the first little while, so refunds and whatnot will be available if people find the mounts just aren't performing how they expected.

P.P.P.S. This is a very involved system and I'd love it to be much moreso, but I need feedback on what is currently implemented. I'm sure there are lots of things I didn't consider, and some things may well be buggy. So give me that feedback!
<Rias> PUT ON PANTS
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Agelity
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Re: Saddle up!

Post by Agelity »

First of all, super excited that mounts are finally released! My characters are reliving the frugal life again, but it's worth it. I'm still testing the mounts out for combat and movement so my observations are just preliminary, but I was curious to hear the thoughts of others.

Movement
  • When traveling along a road, queued movements no longer seem possible. Ex. "travel s;travel s" may work for me to queue up movements commands on foot, but when riding a mount they won't queue up the second command, they'll just try to use it. Seems to sometimes work (despite messaging), sometimes causes the horse to stop moving entirely, sometimes just displays but continues onward (until it stops at a crossroads). I suspect that may be causing some travel scripts to break (okay, maybe just a few of us lazy folk)
  • Haven't been able to determine a good way to dismount the horse via 'flip'. This one might be a personal preference (heh), but different ways to mount/dismount may be helpful, especially mid-combat (will touch on that next)
  • Despite the above two points, the difference in energy/food spent for travel is night and day and honestly I just kinda want to ride my mount 24/7
  • Regarding the above point, should probably not be able to enter certain buildings with mounts. Sorry, Khan
Combat
  • As mentioned above, there's no great way to mount or dismount a mount mid-combat that I can determine (short of the MOUNT and DISMOUNT commands, or being bucked off due to spooky things). I love the idea of flipping from the horse as if I were I were on the ground and using it as leverage (certainly a fun way to surprise an enemy!). Getting back on the horse might require a little more effort, however
  • Can't circle or feint while mounted, which makes certain abilities unable to be used (so attacking from a mount is kept strictly to more "basic" attacks). Noticed this when I was attempting to use Armor Chink while mounted since that requires a higher balance; had to dismount, circle, and mount the warhorse again to use it while mounted (balance did not change when mounting/dismounting)
  • Thoughts on having ways to direct mounts to use their different moves while you're not mounted (so I can use my other moves)? Currently for warhorses it's 'mount trample' or 'mount kick', but those share a command with actually getting on the horse in the first place, and 'charge' which is delightful, but still requires being on said horse prior to using (honestly would be okay keeping this the same, unless there are other mounted abilities planned that may open this option up)
  • Honestly, just having an extra body in a fight to do some extra damage, gain advantage from, and be able to flip off of (yay!) has been amazing, even if some of the above observations have made some aspects about mounted combat a little awkward right now. Still, 100% worth being poor again
Overall I'm super happy having mounts now, just found that mounted combat definitely necessitates some extra combat aliases and planning in order to make it a little easier to "actively" use them, versus having a passive trample-friend. Regarding travel, short of the odd notices of queued command being weird and having them occasionally just stop (I guess they wanna eat grass?) it's been a blessing. All the riln we save on food (which is good, cause I don't have much right now).
Agelity
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Re: Saddle up!

Post by Agelity »

As a side note, any chance Riding could be a trainable skill in Stormholdt (either in the stable or just outside of it)?
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Rias
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Re: Saddle up!

Post by Rias »

Updates:

- Stormholdt stables now offers riding training
- Mounts should no longer occasionally stop auto-traveling for no apparent reason
- Mount Speed stat now fully works the way it's supposed to on roads, meaning travel on roads can sometimes be .5 seconds instead 1.

I hate myself for testing that last one on a speed-7 mount, because I'm never going to get used to traveling below maximum speed now.

Looking into the other stuff, thanks for all the feedback.
<Rias> PUT ON PANTS
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Rias
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Re: Saddle up!

Post by Rias »

Updates:

- Mounts can no longer be led via group mechanics into areas that they cannot be ridden into (which was an unintended bypass). A rare few exceptions exist, such as the Gaswater Tunnel that leads from Shadgard to the nearby farming valley. Presumably the tunnel is short enough that the outside can be seen by the mount from either side and so they're willing to make the brief technically-cave-environment trip.

- Mounts will now despawn when their owner logs out, regardless of riding status or distance between mount and owner. The mount will respawn in the same location it despawed at when the owner logs back in. I figured this convenience would be appreciated particularly in situations where a player has to log out quickly (or gets disconnected) and didn't have time to run back to wherever their mount was. Or just forgot - it happens. Roll with it if you ever happen to be by someone's mount when it suddenly wanders off as its owner logged off in some remote location. Maybe the mount's just stretching its legs, or something.
<Rias> PUT ON PANTS
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