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If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 01:21
by Aule
Here is what I would propose.

  1. Cats die. They get no extra lives, which is a mere gimmick that doesn't even make fantasy sense. Cats suffer and die just like everything else. They have one life to live, as all do.
  2. Cats are hyperaware. They are granted an unprecedented power of complete awareness of their surroundings. Every level is magically mapped upon entry, and every monster in range is fully known, like an enhanced antennae that shows not just the presence of a monster, but what monster it is. They simply see everything. Nothing is hidden.
  3. Cats are magical. Increase their spellcasting and specialty school aptitudes accordingly. They should be magically affine second only to deep elves.
  4. Cats don't leap. They pounce, grab their prey in their front claws and teeth (a kind of constriction), and eviscerate their victims with forceful kicks of their sharp hind claws. Let this vicious attack be their special ability.

Edit: Removed:
  • Cats are pious. So they gain piety at 1.5 times the normal rate of other species.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 01:29
by nicolae
Aule wrote:
  1. Cats die. They get no extra lives, which is a mere gimmick that doesn't even make fantasy sense


have you never heard the expression that cats have nine lives

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 01:42
by Aule
Of course I've heard it. It's an expression referring to that which is erroneously thought of as good luck, but it actually a result of their hyperawareness. :) But they don't actually have nine lives. They pretty much stay dead if they're killed, unless you live in Bangor, Maine.

Edit: I've also heard of "cat in the hat" and "puss in boots" so by your logic they should be allowed to wear those items.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 01:52
by fisheye
"Felids lack opposable thumbs and are incapable of any form of advanced item manipulation."

And yet they can open doors, unlike every other handless non telekinetic creature in the dungeon.

Unless... they're actually telekinetic?

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 02:00
by Aule
fisheye wrote:"Felids lack opposable thumbs and are incapable of any form of advanced item manipulation."

And yet they can open doors, unlike every other handless non telekinetic creature in the dungeon.

Unless... they're actually telekinetic?

Though it is technically true they lack opposable thumbs, their paws and claws can fold themselves around small objects to grasp them just fine. When I am holding or carrying one of mine, one palm cradles their front under their paws, and, purring affectionately, they will often "grab" my thumb or finger, fully extending their long talons completely around it, though gently, without injury.

At the very least, I think felids in Crawl should be designed with an appreciation for real cats. ;)

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 02:12
by Sar
@fisheye:
Image

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 02:34
by qwesdf
Aule wrote:At the very least, I think felids in Crawl should be designed with an appreciation for real cats. ;)


I don't think real-life cats are particularly pious. ;)

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 02:42
by duvessa
Sar wrote:@fisheye:
Image
Ugh that shouldn't be a gif. If there's one video that needs the sound it's that one.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 02:54
by Arrhythmia
qwesdf wrote:
Aule wrote:At the very least, I think felids in Crawl should be designed with an appreciation for real cats. ;)


I don't think real-life cats are particularly pious. ;)


Also, magic isn't real.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Saturday, 20th December 2014, 03:29
by nicolae
Aule wrote:At the very least, I think felids in Crawl should be designed with an appreciation for real cats. ;)


if that were the case, felids would respond to keypress commands about ten percent of the time

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 01:00
by nilsbloodaxe
If I were asked to redesign felids, here is what I would propose, remove.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 02:50
by notcluie
if i was asked to redesign felids i wouldn't typo design in my proposal

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 05:15
by twelwe
if i was asked i wouldn`t give any ideas and i wasn`t asked and anyway i`m still not giving any

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 09:18
by cerebovssquire
They pounce, grab their prey in their front claws and teeth (a kind of constriction), and eviscerate their victims with forceful kicks of their sharp hind claws. Let this vicious attack be their special ability.


They scratch you over the wrists, run outside to escape consequences, almost get killed by the neighbours' 20 year old cat because they are a weak piece of shit, flee up a tree, try to catch a bird and fail miserably, try to catch a squirrel (being too stupid to see that's hopeless in the first place) and fail miserably, then come inside and wait for their food like nothing happened

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 13:25
by MrRokkomies
I like this. Make them the ultimate "choose your own encounters" specie. How ever, cats are not pious. If anything, they are divine them selves, so that would make them more like demigods... They would choose, which god would serve THEM and gods do not appreciate that, resulting in slower piety gain.

Cats also exist in more than 3 dimensions. That's why they seem to some times stare at "nothign" or chase invisible things. In reality they are looking or chasing something that exists in a dimension that humans have no concept of. (This should not have any in game effect :) )

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 13:33
by Sar
Felids already have SInv.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 16:10
by Bloax
MrRokkomies wrote:Cats also exist in more than 3 dimensions. That's why they seem to some times stare at "nothign" or chase invisible things. In reality they are looking or chasing something that exists in a dimension that humans have no concept of. (This should not have any in game effect :) )

I'm pretty sure your cat is just tripping balls.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Monday, 22nd December 2014, 19:52
by XuaXua
If I were asked to redisign felids... I'd call them "filids".

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 00:43
by celem
Please... my cat would take one look around D:1 and piss off again, possibly taking a rat to leave in my shoe.

Also, quite seriously. I thought the '9 lives' thing was a reference to the odd membrane thing they have (most felines have?) that wraps the inside of their stomach wall, providing some limited protection against severe internal damages during trauma. Cats can appear to 'shake off' some brutal appearing impacts because they dont bleed internally as easy as most species. Some kind of innate powered-by-pain no doubt.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 01:05
by Sprucery
...I'd give them 9 lives straight up. No xp loss when losing an extra life but also no teleport. Revival would happen on the same square as death and with first action guaranteed.

Comparison to real life cats makes as much sense as comparison of Crawl octopodes to real life octopodes.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 03:47
by Aule
Sprucery wrote:Comparison to real life cats makes as much sense as comparison of Crawl octopodes to real life octopodes.

They were idealized mythologies thought to have coherence. They are not intended to be biblical.

The ideas in sum would balance the weakness with more choices, and eliminate the gimmicky extra lives that run completely counter to everything crawl.

This was intended to be a serious discussion thread, but I supposed I failed to mention it.

Oh, and I failed spelling, to.

I was imagining people actually imagining playing this kind of critter, and enjoying the possibilities as I might imagine enjoying them. That was all.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 06:58
by Arrhythmia
if you want a serious thread about game design don't post it in CYC

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 13:18
by Sprucery
I guess while it's in CYC you just have to accept that you will get also (mostly?) non-serious answers. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which is which, though ;)

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 17:01
by daggaz
Perfect level mapping including all monsters AND they are superpious? You forgot to add that they instantly know all spells and can will things to drop dead so that they dont have to be bothered to actually cast those spells.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 17:35
by damiac
It's considered good manners to keep CYC topics on-topic if the OP asks for it. Because while CYC is the 'crazy stuff' board, it's also the 'Not quite fleshed out enough for GDD' board.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 19:23
by fisheye
Sar wrote:@fisheye:
Image


Don't you start giving the devs ideas about hydras being able to open doors now.

Re: If I were asked to redisign felids...

PostPosted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2014, 19:38
by Aule
daggaz wrote:Perfect level mapping including all monsters AND they are superpious? You forgot to add that they instantly know all spells and can will things to drop dead so that they dont have to be bothered to actually cast those spells.

You're right.

Scratch the piety boost. (No pun intended.)