First Law: Override - Experience and levels

Greetings friends!

So it's been a short while since I've updated you on First Law: Override and how it's developing.

Well, on Friday I met with a good friend and we talked a lot of it out, some developments were made in regards to mission progressing; but that is for another time.

Today I'm here to tell you about how the initial five levels will play out for character progression.

Unlike my previous game, FL:O will work with a traditional experience system with levels and abilities based on those levels.

So first things first; how do you gain experience in the game?

This is pretty simple. There will be roughly 10-20 levels that characters can progress to. For now let's say there are 15.

As with a traditional experience system you will need a set number of experience points to go from one level to another.

You earn experience by achieving objectives, killing NPCs, avoiding NPCs and disabling NPCs.

This is done via a shared Experience (XP) pool and NPC dumps.

So when you play the game, any NPCs that are killed are put into the Dead Dump, if any are disabled either by special abilities or by being knocked out, then they are put into the KO dump and any that are left over at the end of the game are either divided into Alerted and Non-Alerted.

Depending on the level of the NPC they will then award XP depending on which bin they end up in. Some will award more for being killed, others for being disabled and others for staying in a non-alert state. Alerted but still alive/conscious will not award any XP.

Each mission will have certain objectives, both main and secondary and will award XP depending on if they have been achieved. Once the total amount is allocated this is then shared evenly between the party members rounded down.

One thing that this means is that you can only level up after a game has taken place, something I really enjoyed from older campaign games, as getting new abilities and stats after the game meant you were eager to play the next game to try them out.

So what sort of things should you expect?

When you create a character as well as defining your species and gender (species gives special bonuses, gender does not) you then decide on a class, choosing between Soldier, Hacker and Rogue.

The Soldier specialises in combat, the Hacker in using tech and the Rogue in using the environment.

Let's use the Hacker class as an example.

You start off as level one. All level one Hackers have the same stats and basic equipment load out.

After getting X amount of XP (let's say 10 points) you reach level 2.

At level 2 you are given 1 stat point to be allocated as you see fit. It is important when allocating this point to keep in mind what role you want to perform.

Then after earning 20 more XP you reach level 3.

Level 3 is the Class Ability level where you unlock the single ability shared by all members of your class. In the case of the Hacker it is the Service Bot.

A service bot is a Hacker's best friend and acts as a beacon or node for their hacking abilities. At the moment it is pretty standard; can be used to try and disable electronics, provide very basic buffs and heals and also deal basic to low damage in melee.

In addition to this you also get another single stat point increase.

After earning 40 XP you then reach level 4.

Level 4 is the Specialisation unlock. Once you reach level 4 you get to make use of the Class Specialisation (or Spec) trees.

The Hacker has:
Ghost; a tree that specialises in stealth and disabling via your Service Bot.
Sentinel; a tree that specialises in providing healing and buffs to friendly players.
MAs or Machinimates; a tree that specialises in beefing up your Service Bot into becomin an unstoppable killing machine.

At level 4 you gain 1 Spec point to be allocated to the first tier of a tree of your choice along with 1 Stat Point.

Then after gaining 80 XP you unlock level 5.

Level 5 is sponsorship!
As well as getting 1 Stat Point and 1 Spec Point you also get to pick a Sponsor.

There will be a number of Sponsors, for now let's say a total of six.

Each Sponsor will belong to one of two factions. Different characters can below to different Sponsors, but these Sponsors must all belong to the same faction. This is also when you are awarded your first spaceship.

Examples of Sponsors are:

United Earth Force - The remains of the Human Military, joining the UEF grants you a special ability only available to UEF members, a Human spaceship and access to the UEF campaigns which your party can take part in with you regardless of their own Sponsor.

The Wraiths - The Hydan special forces, elite infiltrators who make use of exclusive Hacker tech to perform covert missions. Joining the Wraiths grants you a Wraith ability, a Hydan Stealth spaceship and access for you and your party to Wraith missions.

The Outer Fringe Mining Corp - A multi race corporation that searches for uncharted worlds to mine, colonise and terraform. Joining the OFMC grants you access to an OFMC ability, an explorer ship and access for you and your party to OFMC missions.

These are all 'Good Guy' Sponsors, likewise there are 'Bad Guy' Sponsors:

The Raiders - A multi race collection of space pirates. Joining the Raiders gives you a Raider ship, a Raider ability and access for you and your party to a Raider missions.

The Red Claw - The Kratel militia. This group of elite warriors believe that might makes right and they are willing to show this whenever they are given the choice. Joining the Red Claw gives you a Red Claw ability, a Kratel Attack Ship and access for you and your party to Red Claw missions.

The Collective - A highly religious Reborn organisation who want to spread their word throughout the Outer Fringe. Joining the Collective grants you a Reborn Collector Ship, a Collective ability and access for you and your party to Collective missions.

As you can see, picking the right Sponsor for you is crucial to the fine tuning of your character, but also in establishing their future identity and also the sort of jobs you will take on in the future.

You can leave your Sponsor, but doing so will require a special mission set, along with another to join your new one, this will not be easy as you need to pay off any debts and investment your current Sponsor may have in you whilst proving your loyalty to your new to-be Sponsor.

And that's where we are. As you progress you will be able to further tune your character with Stat points and Spec points creating a character that is truly unique to you.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to you joining me in the Outer Fringe!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley