Hi! This is my first time playing in the Street of Rogues universe; I've never even heard (or I might've but forgot) of the first generation of this game before I discovered this demo from the NextFest. I must say I really enjoyed playing the demo, despite some issues which are obviously bound to occur in a pre-release. I see lots of potential in this second generation.
First, some general remarks.
Having played Voxel Turf, I see some parallels between VT and this game. There are clearly some elements from other games such as Grand Theft Auto series, Stardew Valley, and so on. There are even some parallels with an upcoming 2D top-down life sim game called To Pixelia. I think it is a very interesting mix of RPG, life sim, sandbox, and open world that the developer have made here. I also love the colorful pixel art made here. All buildings in this game are really gorgeous.
These feedback, including suggestions and observed bugs, have been accumulated from about three or four days while playing and writing them down as I go, with playing time roughly totaling almost 50 hours so far.
To understand where I come from, I am a long-time veteran of video games, having mainly played simulation and strategy genres, with Grand Theft Auto series being a major exception to these usual genres I played. However, in my early years of video gaming back in the early 90s (born in 1985 here), I also often played games (on consoles such as Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis) in other genres such as Earthbound, Super Mario World, Sonic games, et cetera. There are certainly some parallels between Earthbound and Streets of Rogue 2.
But it was on Super Nintendo that I was first introduced to building in a digital world and which I have came to love: SimCity. Since then, I would play games over the last 30 years with building aspects of varying degrees and of varying natures like SimTower, SimFarm, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Cities: Skylines, Eco, et cetera.
Furthermore, I am also a prolific builder on online 3D multi-user virtual reality building platforms called Active Worlds (active from 1999 to 2011; since then retired from there) and Virtual Paradise (currently active there since 2012). One may be more familiar with the better-known Second Life, which are similar to these platforms. In fact, all of these three platforms are directly or indirectly inspired by Metaverse from a science-fiction novel entitled Snow Crash, published in 1992 by Neal Stephenson. Active Worlds was the first of the three to come into existence in 1995. In these two platforms I have been on, I have built a number of towns and many buildings under my username Legion.
Building for me isn't just limited to physical buildings or cities, however, as I also take on strategy games that involve building of empires such as Europa Universalis, Stellaris, Victoria, Civilization. I also played business simulation games such as Capitalism Lab.
One other major aspect I like to do in games is exploring, of the world at least. In this, Grand Theft Auto series with its ever expanding world is among the games that fulfils it.
I have a strong preference for sandbox mode, with ultimate control and freedom, with very little constraints.
My main real-life passion is history, but I also take interests in architecture, urban planning, geography, economics, et cetera. Essentially, I have interests in the physical world that we live in.
In sum, I have always been interested in worlds both small and large. An expansive and immersive digital world, 2D or 3D, to explore and to interact with, containing both rural and urban areas, is definitely something that would interest me.
It is probable that some of the suggestions are already planned. Some of the suggestions may even be appropriate for addition after the full release, for a DLC, or even for the next generation.
Also, I am not sure how far the developer will be going with the life sim aspect for this game, so some of the suggestions made below may or may not be acceptable depending on the limits. To be fair, though, the lines between RPG and life sim is becoming blurred these days with some of the newer games.
Anything that are bolded below are what I absolutely wanted.
I also recommend that the developer consider publishing a list of features that they would NOT do for our information.
Streets could use more decorations along its perimeters, if not already planned:
Fire hydrantsย
Signs like street name signs (not necessarily readable), stop signs, and various other road signs. ๐
Mailboxes
Power lines
Telephone lines
Utility boxes
Stop lights and crosswalks for the intersections. ๐ฆ
๐Christmas decors! I love their decorations. They pretty.
Newspaper delivery, inspired by games called Paperboy and Paperboy 2 released in the 1990s for consoles including Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. Check out YouTube for the playthrough videos. I'd love to "accidentally" break some windows with throwing newspapers! :Kek: ๐๏ธ
Pizza delivery, maybe? On a scooter, perhaps? Think of pizza delivery sub-missions in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. ๐
Payphone assassination mission? Probably redundant, though, due to computer at employment office and to telephone booth being apparently reserved for teleport. Plus, mobile phone, of course. Still, there's something about taking an assassination mission through payphone from mysterious contacts, isn't there? ๐
Arcade mini-games - Might be already planned as I see there is arcade building in the game, but suggesting this anyway just in case. :P
Illegal motorcycle racing with melee weapons - Inspired by Road Rash 1 & 2, the player and NPCs participates in illegal motorcycle racing but with a twist: they can use melee weapons like nightsticks to knock the other rivals off their bikes; police, either in a car or on a motorcycle, will, however, give a chase. Could come with cut-scenes separately for busted, wrecked, reaching the finish line below 3rd place, and for reaching the finish place 3rd place or higher.
I want to note that I have made an index of place types that the developer *probably* could find as a very useful reference for ideas on what place types to add in the game. You can find it at https://sites.google.com/view/index-of-building-types/home Hope that helps!
Logging camp
Mines
Quarries
More types of factories. Chocolate factory, anyone? :P ๐ซ
Arms/munitions factory
Chemical plant
Lumber mill
Pizza parlor
Basketball court ๐
Tennis court ๐พ
Stadium
Football field ๐
Baseball park โพ
Golf course โณ
Arena
Post office
Power plants
Cemetery and graveyards; can sometimes be attached to a church ๐ชฆ
Film studio ๐ฅ
Open-air municipal swimming pool ๐
Museum
Wrecking yard
Landfill for storing the trash
Drug store
Naval base
Shipyard (for building large ships)
Boatyard (for building recreational boats)
Nightclub
Dam
Laundromat
Gas Station โฝ
NOTE: Fueling could provide temporary status effects for the vehicles, maybe?
If the president's home exists, there could also be additional government buildings in the "national" capital city, such as:
Treasury building with its vault
You could sell to this department any gold bars you crafted, for $35 per a bar (the price inspired by Gold Reserve Act of 1934)
Could be uniquely equipped with minting equipment and/or money printing equipment
Defense department headquarters
Sewer
National park with geysers and other features
Volcano? ๐
Airport, both large for major city and small for small towns; can also include simple landing strips for the rural area. โ๏ธ
Lighthouse
A place similar to Pay 'n Spray places in Grand Theft Auto games
Mansions, possibly with at least one variation containing a hedge maze in its garden area.
Library ๐
College ๐งโ๐
Schools ๐ซ
NOTE: Does not necessarily need to be filled with kids, can be just always empty except for the staff.
BUT, if adding kids as NPCs, I recommend making them invincible (just like what Red Dead Redemption 2 did with teenage NPCs) and always fleeing if shooting or whatever mayhem happens there.
But even with that invincibility, the addition of kids as NPCs might still be a touchy and controversial thing. Strongly recommend caution with this if proceeding there.
Biomes
Desert ๐๏ธ
Snowy area โ๏ธ๐๏ธ
Swamps
Rain forest
Note that it can exist as either cold or hot (not necessarily all jungles; think of temperate rain forests in southeastern Alaska, especially around its state capital city of Juneau)
Buoys in the waters near harbors
Public transportation, can be either functional or just for the show
Railroads, both intercity and intracity ๐ค๏ธ
Bus service ๐๐๐
Subway, maybe reserved for the largest city or two. ๐
Postal service with NPCs; random chance of a postal worker going postal. :Kek: ๐ค๐ฎ๐ซ
Random chance for a food to become the player's favorite food with a slight increase to its bonuses once consumed
Could also have more than one favorite food, capped at a certain number
Motorcycles and bicycles ๐๏ธ
Sheriff for rural policing
Both city police and sheriff have concurrent jurisdictions, meaning they can arrest anyone in any place and can assist the other forces if chasing a suspect outside that force's jurisdiction
However, city police and sheriff will only normally patrol their city and their county outside the cities, respectively.
Sheriff's deputies wears brown uniforms and campaign hat.
Paramedics as a new class to respond to any injured NPCs and, if critically injured, transport them to the hospital.
[STRONGLY WANTED] (Optional; can be a world modifier) Police, firefighters, and paramedics will always respect each other, so they won't attack each other under any circumstances. They will also intervene if any one of them are attacked by other NPCs or hit by the NPC vehicles; however, the latter two will flee if shooting happens. Similar to GTA 5.
Playing a cop, a firefighter, or a paramedic will pay you a small stipend once a week.
World editor
(Optional, probably should be world modifier only) Riots, triggered when police brutality meter maxed out if the police committed too many unjustified uses of force against civilian NPCs. Could get out of control if the police are overwhelmed. When that happens, the military may be called in to restore the order. Think 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Conversations between NPCs
Random chance of them turning into arguments, which in turn could descend into a fight or a shootout.
Traits for NPCs?
[STRONGLY WANTED] "Backpack" upgrades, available at a store, to increase the max number of slots in the general inventory. Recommend at least three tiers, each higher tier costing more. Similar to how it worked in Stardew Valley.
[STRONGLY WANTED] Ways to upgrade max health.
If not already implemented, craftable/buyable storage objects like chests for placing in home to put and store items from the player's inventory.
[STRONGLY WANTED] Aggressive traffic world modifier: NPC traffic (excluding police, fire department, and EMS) will drive at higher speed and will not stop in front of a NPC. Great for pissing off even more peds.
[STRONGLY WANTED] Brutal "Obey and Survive" police world modifier: Police are always equipped with a pistol and have unlimited ammos; will shoot at any civilian NPCs (excluding emergency personnel like firefighters and paramedics) who even slightly injured one of their own or other emergency personnel in any way including even lightly hitting with their vehicle. Will also shoot if witnessed a fight. Similar to how cops behaved in GTA 5.
Parallel parking spaces for the streets, if possible?
Loansharking
Stock market
Savings account(s) with the bank that generates small returns based on a variable interest rate over the time.
Terrain elevations, if possible, for the hills and cliffs?
Rock outcroppings in the waters.
Road tunnel
Helicopters ๐
Rogue-pedia, an in-game wiki, perhaps?
Freeway interchanges? ๐ฃ๏ธ
NPCs, and maybe players as well, should be allowed to swap out of their work uniform for civilian attire when not on the job.
Street cleaners? ๐งน
Builder class to repair the buildings?
Security alarm to go off if a player or NPC break into a closed store at night.
Celebrities
Signs to show opening schedules for shops/places
Ability to repair tools
Wild food sources like strawberries could have a higher chance of attracting animals nearby
Toggles to show/hide the roofs. Should be hidden by default, as it is now
Shops could have limited funds with which to buy any items you sell. Anything sold by them will obviously add to the funds. Similar to how it is implemented for the shops in My Time in Portia.
Shopkeepers could personally yield more money when killed.
Seasons? Only feasible if the year and month are implemented as part of the time progression, however.
Swimming pool for the home. I want them!
Maybe offer non-lethal outcomes for taking down the mayor? Killing the mayor is honestly a bit bizarre, but, hey, this is a game, I guess. ๐คท
Please add a world modifier for a player to enable on game world creation to prevent missions being offered that involves killing of wildlife. I absolutely HATE killing animals. ๐
Cutting trees down could have a chance of yielding tree seeds.
An ability to run by default, constrained by stamina. Sugar, currently configured to provide faster movement, could instead extend the stamina if latter is implemented?
Specialized towns like resort towns, university towns, et cetera. To give some towns a more unique feel and look.
Dynamic changes/expansion of towns?
There should be suburbs surrounding the major cities, with winding streets and cul-de-sacs (the circular ends of streets)
Cities near the sea should have its own ports.
Probably already planned, but vendor stalls should have an actual NPC behind it to sell things.
Almost certainly already planned, but emergency vehicles should have working emergency lights that can be toggled on/off.
Not sure if this is already possible or planned, but allow the players to plant trees on their property. I like palm trees. ;) ๐ด
This is probably also already planned or implemented, but if hunger and sleep are to be stats, please add a world modifier option to disable these stats.
Rural dirt road; unlike the dirt paths which would only have peds walking on it, the dirt road would have, albeit light, vehicular traffic with vehicles like tractors traversing it.
Some variations of the farm lots are not fenced.... kind of problematic considering the presence of animals nearby that may eat their crops...
Police stations should always have at least one weapon locker and at least two lockers.
Some variations of a fire station building lot have no fire truck parked on its ground or inside it?
Some factories should have conveyor belts and robotics
Add a key to temporarily zoom out the main screen
Need an automatic mechanism to dispose of the dead NPCs and abandoned NPC vehicles (especially if its NPC owner is dead)
NOTE: Optionally, could use cultists to dispose of the bodies, as the religion are often involved with rituals of disposing of the corpses.
All stores should really have storage rooms in the back or to the side, to be honest.
Cities, especially major ones, should be generated in a way that there is a sense of districts like segregated residential areas of classes (upper, middle, and lower), commercial, industrial, and commercial.
City hall should always be in the central area of the city, rather than spawned on the edge of the built city area
All factories out in the rural area should at least have a dirt road connecting them to the rest of the road network; otherwise kind of hard to explain how they are regularly supplied unless by helicopter.
Playing cops:
[STRONGLY WANTED] Player playing a cop should always have access at police station to free police weapons like pistol (or police pistol), shotgun, and baton; after all it's government funded :P
[STRONGLY WANTED] Player playing a cop starts equipped with a radio with which they are able to call for back-up
If not already implemented, emergency/essential services like police, fire department, emergency medical services should always operate in 3 shifts covering 24 hours a day. For the police department, each shift would have its own watch commander, to whom the mission could automatically rotate to, so that a player, playing a cop, do not have to wait until morning to see the commander.
World map preview on world seed generation during the game set-up.
[STRONGLY WANTED] Weapons should be in its own inventory, separate from the general inventory, due to the precious number of slots that it takes up along with other items. Weapons inventory may have a lower number of slots compared to the general inventory.
Buildings in larger cities should have multiple floors, if possible. Not just the city hall.
The old-style streetlamps currently seen throughout the city on home island should be reserved strictly for "old town" district and for upscale residential areas. Other areas like industrial and lower class residential areas should have overhanging modern streetlights.
Probably already planned, but I think the stores don't have enough traffic. Recommend setting NPC behavior to browse at least one store (or one store of each type) at least once a week.
Sometimes, home island generated without a farm supply store, even though there are farms on it. (???) An island should always have a farm supply store if it has farms.
Sometimes, NPCs (all without a key) get stuck in a locked room; likely got locked in when the previously opened otherwise-locked door automatically closed by itself.
Not sure if this is WAD but, after loading a game, a red debris thingy appeared on spots where NPCs were killed. A quick searches on this Discord seem to vaguely suggest this is something from ButlerBot?
Sometimes, areas failed to load and are all black; seem to be worse if you go to the mainland, especially in larger cities like the "national" capital. Reloading fixed that.
Lags when going to the second floor of the City Hall; persists even after I made all dead NPCs disappear with punching their corpses, possibly indicating it is not the number of NPCs that is the cause of the lag?
On one occasion, I had a shopkeeper in what is clearly a weapons shop (marked as such on the map) actually selling groceries.
I don't know if this counts as a bug, but a particular variation of a restaurant building lot has NO refrigerator in it (???). Probably an oversight.
The corner of a building intersecting with a fence is sometimes wonky.
Sometimes, there is a double door object in what is clearly a single-block opening. This is seen in a variation of an employment center building lot.
Sometimes, windows disappeared. Happened at least once at my home base.
Sometimes, a shopkeeper, when killed, is never replaced, which could be a real problem, especially if their shop is the only shop of its kind on the home island...
On one occasion, a car I bought from a car shop was spawned in an inconvenient location, which is an area between the fences and building wall. I was able to get the car out, though.
Occasionally, sign objects are invisible but still solid.
Perhaps a bug, nonetheless amusing, in that a slum dweller was once found sleeping on the shop display table in an empty store (no shopkeeper / clerk to be found anywhere at that time).
I think those "hotels" are in fact more accurately called motels. My understanding of the difference between hotel and motel is that motel has its rooms opening to the outside while hotels always have its rooms opening into the hallway. Hotels tend to be more expensive / upscale than motels. I recommend adding actual hotels with interior hallways to complement the motels in larger cities if that is not already planned.
This might be obvious, but sandbox mode should be about ultimate control and freedom without many constraints. Nonetheless, the sandbox mode should be highly customizable/configurable to allow us to select what constraints to have or to not have (e.g. infinite health or higher health, infinite ammo or higher ammo, et cetera).
Unclear what becoming the mayor would entail.... an ability to edit the city?
I saw a mention of mutators in the road map, apparently inherited from the previous generation of the game. What is the difference between "world modifiers" I saw in the game world creation settings and mutators?