I am aware that before this topic has been discussed but i see not in a while( READ AT OWN RISK AS IS VERY LONG, I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO SPLIT IT UP BUT I CANNOT BE CERTAIN ITS ENOUGH) I suggest that eventually a MANA aspect is added to the game. As is magic.
I just think that the way everything is already mystical and the characters look somewhat magical I just think it would fit very well.
Whilst in game you do not have to persue a magical career I think it would be nice to have the choice. To actually take this off then a few things would need to be added:
From the PSN blog it states: âCreate amazing sandbox contraptions like people cannons and hyper-efficient crafting machines, and then sell copies of the blueprints to other players so they can create them too.â I believe that this can be expanded on in the aspect of spell books or alchemy books
Say you just found a new plant or found a new creature you would want to implement it into a spell or potion. Simply collect the plant or remnants of the animal and then take it to your brewing system, add it to a core portion recipe or spell for a different aspect on the brewage.
I believed that animals would be used for spells and plants for brewing. Plants would give the potion a new aspect of how it reacted depending on what category of plant it was. Animals would give the spell a new flare or ability.
I would say so as to not overpower those who become âMage Mastersâ spells would be limited to the simple elements of: FIRE,WATER, AIR AND EARTH.
These spells can either be found in rare temples (perhaps once after defeating a titan) or you can craft these spells yourself using a MAGE STAND.
To implement crafting of mage spells I would say that the stand itself costs a lot to build-so as to keep the balance of choosing whether or not to fight a titain .
I would say that the stand opens up varieties of different words and symbols and then you just start combining until you get the right combination.
You may think that this then could go on forever with endless possibilities, with a 1/100 chance of finding the right combination. BUT if you only found out the spell in PARTS then it would be easier.
10 words come up on the screen with corresponding symbols(20 things in total on screen) and you then have to match the symbols and words to forge the first half of the spell. Then there would be a cool down time as to when you can make the next half, as to keep the balance, as that is quite an easy game mechanic.
Towards alchemy I feel that a brewing stand should be done away with and rather a big bubbling couldron would fit BOUNDLESSâ style much better. As before a set amount of CORE potions would be added. These would be: HEALTH, POISON, RESISTANCE, ATRIBUTES
Health potions heal you
Poison potions allow you to poison weapons or poison food/creatures
Resistance potions buff your protection against damage
Attribute potions give a random effect to the player
These will not be so hard to find as spells. The recipes of these can be merely found in a selection menu on the cauldron. The recipes will consist of plants, animal parts and materials.
Now as to creating your own spells and potions this is tricky as you do not want to overpower their aspect nor limit the player to what they can do.
This is why there are these CORE spells and potions: to stop endless and OP possibilities.
The CORE spells can be expanded upon by slotting in a new animal part or a rare material and thus adds a new symbol to the menu.
You may add this symbol then to any existing spells you have thus giving a different effect. For example I have a FIRE spell and I have a bit of meat/part of the current animal in the game (raptor goat thing). I add the meat/part to the slot and then add the symbol to the fire spell, and POOF you have a new spell that creates a fire blast rather than a flame.
This is dues to the Raptor goatâs ability to charge and ram objects.
Potions would be expanded on with plants and as there will not be endless supplies of infinite types of plants I think this provides enough limitations.
They are simply expanded on by adding a new plant to the mix. As I donât know of any plant types as of now:
for example if there was a plant only found high up in the mountains and you managed to acquire it to add to your alchemy library. Then you take a resistance potion recipe, craft it whilst adding the new plants and there you have it: a resistance to fall damage potion.
I think in total there should only be 2 or 3 ways to expand a spell or potion ,or else that would again overpower them.
Of course to equip the spell you just place the spell book in your hand, hold it and then you can cast it.
As I mentioned earlier now you can share your recipes or spells to other players by selling to those who canât be bothered to go doing it themselves or just show off your power.
This is would be a fun idea to incorporate alchemist shops and spell shops within the community.
Please suggest any tweaks or issues that may be at hand. I am merely just trying to push the boundaries of this game and this was one of my ideas. This topic is general and not suggestions so this is just to find if there is anyone else that enjoys the idea or those who do not like the idea and their opinions.
Usually, I quite like magic in games and you described it well.
But I have the feeling that Boundless isnât a game that needs magic. All the âmagicâ ingame will be of technical nature. Like a cellphone would be for people from medieval times.
But just to expand on the magic topic. Combined with exponentially rising mana costs and infinite skilling (aka. No skill cap at all.), you could drop the limitation of how many things you can mix together.
Of course that will need even more balance work.
I do accept that thought, but as all I have seen of machinery is concept art I just felt like bringing up the topic in general. Ultimately if Iâm being honest I donât think magic will be added in the final game nor do I believe it will be added any time in future updates. I would believe though some form of enchanting or at least weapon smithing would be added as to combat minecrafts elements. Whilst BOUNDLESS is a game in its own and I have every belief it will finally be the game to conquer minecraft(or at least get near), until i start to see the mechanics of the game Iâm just going to stick to suggesting other areas. Donât get me wrong though I have faith in the developers and so far theyâre doing amazing work and I myself love mechanics and logic(such as LPB and redstone). You can do far more with mechanisms than magic.
I feel the opposite. it seems we will have machinery but i feel like it is steampunk ish driven on magic rather than steam. So we would have machinery and saws and stuff but they are driven on âoort powerâ (or whatever they want to call it), After all our portals and stuff will be powered by âoort shardsâ which is an energy source, whether or not you want to call it âmagicâ is up to you though, i just imagine it.
You can call it magic if you want but that seems just like another example of calling something magic because it canât be explained instead of being something really magical.
But until we get more info on everything all theories are viable^^
You could call everything âscienceâ but it removes the flair for it, but then tell me. what is âreally magical?â because you can keep saying the same " its just science" An insane powersource so strong that it can tear A HOLE IN THE FABRIC OF SPACE i think its pretty fair to call that a magic source, but they are indeed very entertwined, like @ben talking about combat magic, rather than call it âfireâ it would be âsunâ Personally i think it should go from race to race, so some consider it science some consider it magic, because i personally would hate to see it turn into a sort of âlight saber and guns (using gun powder)â weapon style. i think it would be much more interesting if we had to get something like guns i think this would look cool
I guess in the end it comes down to if you call it âscienceâ im afraid it turns into a sort of âsteam powered, gun powder, coal drivenâ world. but if you mean it in the sense of âwe only have the Oort powersource and people use it for sciency stuffâ then im fine with it.
Someone could come here from another planet and call our electricity or combustion engines âmagicâ ⌠or âwitchcraftâ
I guess it depends on which way the devs want to take it with the in-game mechanics and additional lore and such like.
My understanding of the world of B< is that the race we currently play (and any additional races that are added) are just starting out on their evolutionary cycle. Theyâve encountered and adopted tech from an ancient and extinct(?) race (the Oort) which they may well think of as magical. As mentioned in your posts and @KuroKumaâs posts, itâs just unexplained science for them. I like the way this is going though! ^^
The biggest reason for me calling it magic though âEnergy canât be created nor destroyedâ But the Oort shards would most likely just appear in the ground with crazy amounts of energy (ofc this is a game mechanic, but it could easily be incorperated into the law)
Didnât the devs state multiple times that our physics laws might no be applicable in the Oortiverse?
So maybe it is possible to create and destroy energy there^^
But this loophole could also be used to explain everything else which might be impossible for us^^
Since the laws of physics doesnt really apply the same way and since science are based on the laws of physics, that must mean that none of it is science! Using your same circular reasoning. i always envisioned Boundless as a magic fantasy style game but i know there has always been alot of discussion on what type of game it really is, as long as it doesnt turn into a sort of âhyper realistic coal, gunpowderâ style game im fine with it.
Wrong reasoning! The Oortiverse doesnât have OUR laws of physic.
Which doesnât mean they have no laws of physic.
Which means that they also have science but built upon different laws of physic than we have.
So the argument is âbut we could theoretically call anything science since we are able to make bold assumptions on how their laws of physics works, even if we find it impossible on our world it could POTENTIALLY be true on theirsâ that is basically saying âi can call anything scienceâ but fair enough. if that is what you think then you are welcome to, the magic of game laws
Well that´s exactly what I hope for in B<.
The machinery concept art showed pretty futuristic and technical designs and I don´t think that they will make a 180° turn in regards of style when they switch to designing skills/weapons/equipment etc.
Any argument âbut physics saysâ is pretty pointless if you discuss a game. As @KuroKuma said, it´s a fictional universe with fictional rules. If the devs decide that one power core/generator can give infinite energy for an infinite amount of time it will be, no matter how âphysics breakingâ this is.
And I think that most people here talk solely about the optical appearance when they talk about technical/magical not any background explanation.
No you got it completely wrong^^ we can not make any assumptions on how the Oortiverse laws of physics work.
But we can assume that it has laws.
Based on that we can assume everything can be explained with these laws and laws based on them.
In other words we can assume science. Which, if not explainable, is called magic by some.
Nah im pretty sure i got it, i know what you mean but the idea bothers me that you assume everything in a game world needs to have âscientific explanationsâ the cool part of games is that they arent real isnt it XD
The cool part is that the rules which you have to obey change so you have to change your behavior.
That something isnât real doesnât mean it canât follow rules.
And yes for me itâs really fun to try and explain everything in a game. If a game has no explanation for something itâs badly designed.
That this explanation is scientifc is just a bonus. Although, I think everything can be scientifically explained.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke
Afaik they are relicts from Oort technologie ?! Like âEden Fracmentsâ in Assassins Creed.
Agree with that!
B2T: I see this like @KuroKuma ⌠In my opinion the Lore of B< donât need magic. Everything can come from Oort technologie - we donât need to call it âmagicâ.
⌠or âwitchcraftâ 
