Hello there !
I see a lot of comments telling the Skeleton Forts are really fun and really cool etc... I agree, it's cool, but if it could be better, would you refuse it ?
Here is my point of view to improve the Skeleton Forts experience :
UPDATE 06/06/18 : Here 2 possibilities to create the door
Here a more detailed explanation :
- Completely change the wave system to create a more dynamic fight on the island and not have to search for any skeletons to allow the next wave to spawn.
- 150 to 200 skeletons spawning all the time (1 skeleton dies, another skeleton spawns)
- The Fort is seperate in different phase (depending on the Fort design)
- 30 Skeletons need to be killed to access the Phase II, then 30 skeletons need to be killed to access the Phase III
- In case there's just 2 Phases (some Skeleton Fort can't have 3 phases), then 50 skeletons need to be killed to access the Castle
- Some Skeletons are weaker and placed in the towers with an Eye of Reach to fight against camper and force teamplay
- 3 keys are needed to open the door of the chests room, and they are already in the Castle
- The Captain is already on the island
- The Captain protects the 3 keys until the door is open. After that, he tracks the players to protect the treasure
- The Captain should be different than other skeletons. He should for example be 2-headed and fight with a sword and a gun at the same time.
- The Captain is protected by 2 to 4 skeletons stronger than basic skeletons. They are his/her bodyguards.
- A foggy ambience is added to make the feel even better on the island (I'll explain that in details)
- Kill the Captain prevent other skeletons to spawn
- Kill the Captain is not necessary to open the door of the chest room
- Kill the Captain make him let down a Cursed Skull you can bring back to the Order of Souls
- The Cursed Skull create a huge foggy ambient around the skull (100 meters radius) even when the Captain is still alive
- Turn on the lanterns on your ship allow you to see further through the fog but make you more visible
- Leave the island with every objects doesn't mean you finished the Fort, it's just a way to allow Solo Players to win something and have fun on a Fort too
- The curse disappear only when the Captain has been killed
UPDATE 06/06/18 :
- Kill the Captain makes him leave a red key to open the door of the Chest Room without any other key. It would prevent griefers to troll by stealing a key on a Skeleton Fort and drop it in the sea.
- When the door of the Chest room is opened, all the unused keys vanish to prevent players to use it in another Skeleton Fort later.
- If the door of the Chest room is open with the 3 Green keys, kill the Captain will not make spawn a Red key to prevent players to use it in another Skeleton Fort later.
UPDATE 07/01/18 :
- Exploding sharks : They are enemies spawning when a ship enter the Skeleton Fort's area. They focus the ship entering inside the area to hit it and explode to make huge damages.
With all these features, you can create a great ambience, a better gameplay with an evolutive environment, something Solo Players can appreciate too, something more dynamic, more difficult to complete because of the Captain's strengh, but also easier because you can steal treasure without being forced to kill all the skeletons on the island (but still difficult to steal because of all the skeletons still on the island too).
TO CREATE A BETTER AMBIENCE IN THE FORT : @Rare-Employee should find inspiration in the game Middle Earth : Shadow of War.
- As mentionned, the Captain must be different in design than other skeletons and EVEN other Captains we fight for the Order of Souls.
We can find here a lot of GREAT design for Captain Skeletons like a Black Beard one, a two-headed skeleton who could fight with a sword and a gun at the same time, one with a wheel merged to his body, another one with a cannon attached to himself etc...
We could also add a Special Guest in game to be a really cool and b****s Captain for Skeleton Fort :
Maybe in his latest design (of course rework to match with the artistic direction of Sea of Thieves), really awesome and threatening, with the capacity of throw flying green ghost skulls
- Each Captain should have different pattern to give different experience in PvE on the Skeleton Fort, and not just be basic skeletons with a name and more health.
- When you kill all the Skeletons you had to kill to access the Final Phase, you can hear the Captain talking to you with a huge voice, laughing and threatening you to not approach his treasure. This would be a cool way to give more personality to each Captain and to warn you the Castle is opened.
- Each Captain should appear on a Fort and make appear in the environment, different decorative elements to allow players to know which Captain is in the Castle and give them more personality
Examples : - The wheel Captain could make appear on the Fort different part of shipwreck, maybe sails, broken masts, wheel etc... and even in gameplay, should mainly have woodplanks in the barrels
- The shaman Captain could have different magical elements on the ground, some coloured sheets, green flamed torches etc.
Everything is inspired by Shadow of War which change the Fortresses depending which type of Chieftain is inside (Necromancer, Hunter etc...). It would create a more unique ton to each Captain you'll fight by just adding decorative elements without changing the current shape of the Forts, everything would just completely aesthetic.
UPDATE 11/09/18 :
I thought about a new way to make cooperation even better with the Skeleton Fort (something that could be applied in a dungeon system for example in caves). Imagine the capstan from our ships but beside the door. Players could try to open the doors with this kind of mechanism, for example 2 players constantly push the skeletons back while 2 others try to open the door to skip the Phase I faster.
In a dungeon system, we could have the same thing where a big treasure could be hidden and you'd have to open doors with this capstan or put down a bridge, move a platform (like the one above Thieves Haven) etc.
If you have suggestion or question, don't hesitate, I'll edit the post if some suggestions look interesting for this Skeleton Fort Experience.
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