Hi People,
I just like to share my experience with the changed portal storm mechanic.
First of all I like PS in general, I never go loot the portal, always try to shelter down and get off unscated. After being a bit confused about the Portal storms when I started to play, I realized (after reading the lore in game) that this isnt really a zombie apocalypse game, but rather a full scale “call of cthulhu rpg” in the modern era, with zombies as a logical by-product.
If you assume it to be lovecraftian in nature, it just feels right.
However, I find that the current implementation lacks the thrilling feeling of being in actual danger, since you literally can drive out of the storm, and watch it waddle around on the Map from safe distance.
But I also understand that some players may find it disruptive. Maybe make it configurable per map options? Switch between local/wandering and global Portal storms?
Also, since the dangers in a PS seem to be line of sight based, it gives that nice “hiding under the blanket” feeling, good work.
I’m not sure, but I have had some thoughts on this topic that might be applicable. Specifically, that it could be fun to have some portal storm entities that probe the defenses of the player, to give them some incentive to stay on their toes during a portal storm and take the time to ensure they’ve picked a spot that’s safe to ride things out.
I would propose adding three or four entities that each have a different destructive behavior - door kicker, glass smasher, fire starter, and candle snuffer were some I thought might be interesting to add but I would love to hear what other people might have in mind. The names are mostly self explanatory (and also inspired by the Yule Lads) - door kicker would pound on doors, glass smasher would break windows, fire starter would ignite extremely flammable things left out in the open like hay bales and puddles of gasoline, and candle snuffer would make light sources flicker/extinguish candles. There could also be more annoying entities that just do inconvenient things like spoil food that’s been left out in the open, spill items from containers, leave trails of blood, slime, and other unpleasant substances, etc.These entities wouldn’t be constantly assaulting the player base, of course, but they would be common enough to keep people on their toes and make reinforcing their windows and doors or setting up a secure panic room with supplies even without the threat of a wandering horde. The idea is that these things are not active threats in and of themselves, but could make the player more vulnerable to more intimidating entities during portal storms without disrupting the comfy vibe too much.