I have received a lot of requests from people wanting to see Coinpurse Kobold developed into a full game, and I agree that it would be nice to see, I did not expect the reception to the game to be so warm!
I have some other ongoing projects I need to attend to (and actually cannot even attend to bugfixing until the judging period of the Gain Jam has concluded) but do plan on returning to this project at some point.
A very popular suggestion I’ve seen already is adding a way to distract people at a distance, whether by yipping, or spitting out a coin. Both were actually planned and partially implemented, but I couldn’t get them working satisfactorily in time, so I opted to scrap them for the Jam version of the game.
Aside from bugfixes, more levels, and a proper story, what kind of things would people be interested in seeing added to the game?
This is a small suggestion, but maybe some more kobolds around the dragons cave you can interact with, and maybe over time as the story progresses, they get bigger with the dragon. And maybe Coinpurse also gets bigger, which makes it harder to squeeze through smaller spaces, there by giving more of an incentive to save up and purchase the small size upgrade.
Vore?
Fun mechanic would be if you could get rid of that annoying villager getting alerted meters away.
Make it late game expensive upgrade, or a secret?
More mini games.
Best way to make gameplay less repeated is to add some mini games that aren’t strictly tied to stealth, but rather speed, platforming.
Eating contest? could be used to unlock certain skills (like vore, secret unlock), or simply gain temporary weight to carry more(?) coins at the cost of speed and stealthiness.
Dragon.
Maybe more interactions with the dragon, like, buy a one time use action he does, for example, raid the village so there’s less folk focused on some bugger eating gold; blessings maybe?
Vertical platforming.
If the camera would be fleshed out a tad more for comfortable x-ray + sharper movement could bring more vertical gameplay; map with alleyways of 2-story buildings and bridges through windows sounds cool.
TL;DR: vore mechanic, mini games, wg, interactions with dragon, platforming+
One interesting thing, that was also already partially in the Gain Jam game, is to have different kinds of specializations. The minibold upgrade trading capacity for smaller size is a step in that direction. Other things like speed and detection range could also be changed in a similar manner.
Another thing would be active abilities. A long jump forward to clear some obstacles and get away from pursuers, a belly bump to daze someone for a moment, a cowardly cower to maybe hide in plain sight in a pinch, things like that.
Some way to have more routes open up as you get heavier and the crawlspaces become too small to pass through would be nice, like breaking a box or some kind of lever or weight based portcullis.
The ability to temporarily stun unaware enemies by dropping on them over a certain weight might be fun too, switching you to a more aggressive/risky playstyle once you get big enough.
Maybe some sort of subtle visual indication of how far the noises you’re making are going, a la mark of the ninja.
I can confidently second chubberdy’s suggestions, and most of Batons. Vore would depend on how it works mechanically and how it’s framed, for me.
I think you should consider more character customization, especially if this potential future version of the game is longer.
More kobolds in the dragon’s cave would be nice too. There’s that whole other area with the spitroast across the bridge. Am I right in guessing that area was meant to be populated, but you couldn’t get it done in time for the jam?
it would be great to see additional endings added to the game, like maybe becoming as big as the dragon, getting so much gold you can’t move, etc. It could also be neat if the dragon got too big for the cave so there was an additional side mission to purchase a bigger abode so the dragon could get bigger. Seeing how the dragon and coin purse get bigger with gold it would be neat to see the shop kobolds get bigger as you purchase additional items from them.
It would also be neat if you could bring along a sidekick of sorts at a certain point and have the ability to get him to store some additional gold, ie he follows you and you leave him in a key spot. The balancing factor could be that he has a hard limit on how much he can carry, maybe he becomes immobilized at a certain point because he starts out fat to begin with.
It would be cool to see additional levels as well as guards that are harder to evade, I found that even at high alert the guards were easily evaded. Additional types of guards might be cool maybe spotlights or flying guards that you can possibly make too fat to fly using an upgrade for example. I have many more suggestions but I really don’t know how big you want to make the game, so ill leave them out unless you want more.
(A warning, this ended up being longer than I expected when I started writing) Because my biggest request for this game is just that I want more of it, can I suggest some themes / architectures for maps?
A map with multiple buildings and long alleys between them. In the alleys there could be a few doorways that guards route through, but limited hiding spaces and/or a challenging parkour escape route up some boxes and onto an awning / balcony. Those long risky alleyways with a single hiding spot were some of my favorite in stealth situations like Splinter Cell & PAYDAY 2. Think Chinatown-esque but medieval.
A map with an interactable, neutral NPC. Maybe some character that can be fattened depending on what you do in the map, and maybe can draw attention away from other well-guarded areas of the map.
And some gameplay elements:
(Speaking of PAYDAY 2) You could add a more relaxed phase to maps / kingdoms (if you like that idea) that haven’t been attempted in a while. That’s a lot like how PAYDAY 2 tried to entice you to play your least played missions. Maybe a special event could occur during that state, as well (like a live concert at Stuffgut Market) to indicate that the citizens have gotten a little too comfortable. On the flip side, maybe you could make rare rotating events that do incentivize the player to attempt a map on high alert (like some sort of midnight market gathering).
For more difficulty late-game: fall “damage” wherein the more you weigh, the lower the threshhold before jumping / falling from increasingly lower positions can cause you to regurgitate some coins. Maybe you could frame it as a power-up where the coins are made out of some allergenic material to kobolds that cause this, but increase the value of the coins?
Since we’re talking about other fetishes, how about you give Coinpurse Kobold some toots? Maybe he can gas up the area and repel enemies for a while? At the cost of heightening senses as some people get suspicious, or you could go the opposite route and make it dull the senses.
Roguelike elements to the map layout. Guard positions sometimes change, but what if sectors of the map changed? Maybe the seating arrangement in the market alters, or (a little crazy but) certain rooms may not spawn or spawn as a different kind of room. That’s a lot of work, of course.
Most importantly to me and something that may take a whole lot of effort and offer lots of replayability: kingdoms (another region to explore, with different aesthetics). As it is now, if you invade a map, that map would go on High Alert. In the case of a kingdom, maybe other maps in the kingdom might go on a Guarded (lower alert level) state or something. It could incentivize you to try the other kingdoms. There’s lots to take inspiration from in terms of medieval & earlier architecture (and enjoy lots of interesting history and regional variation):
You can go for an Asian aesthetic, like the steppes. A big circular high fence with enclosed homesteads. Or, you might choose a labyrinthine fortress.
Ancient Japanese architecture, including the bridges (which could act like chokepoints midgame that need careful planning and nimble feet to get through) and large open dojos.
A desert fortress like those in Tunisia (the Kasbah of Sfax). It’s multi-level, desert-themed, and may even have some underground spots (which you may jive with or not depending on how the game handles that).
Ancient Egyptian pyramids, raiding the tombs, etc.
Pirate themed worlds. One could be on a pirate ship. Another could be spelunking into a dark cave.
A middle ages version of Mecca as the center of trade (featuring the small, boxlike rooms with open doorways that you can duck into).
Parisian catacombs
A map with a bog (and maybe enterable water, which can slow you down but hide you if you duck in it).
A relatively open map dotted with thin pillars to duck behind. I think of a picture I once saw of Kilwa Kisiwani, an ancient Swahili city
Just some ideas; nothing too thought-out. Again, it’s not a game I want to change all that drastically, just a game I want more of!
Here’s the list of additional features that I want for this game:
What if you added Vore? I wanted to stealthily devour people from behind and take their stuff.
And how about, more paths in levels to go through? because the mice guards are everywhere, including the front door of the cantina on the second level!
Speaking of levels, this game needs more of them. in fact, they also needed secret areas, because almost all games needed secret areas.
As for the titular playable character, why don’t you add the side menu for permanent character upgrades, including permanently increasing stomach capacity.
And last but not least, characters spawning in different areas at the start of any level. why? because I saw them on the same areas over and over again no matter what, and it gets repetitive and annoying from all of that!
For future updates, I’d suggest adding more diversity, particularly gender diversity, amongst the kobolds and other NPCs. I understand the use of limited models/sprites for the jam, but now that it’s over it seems odd to only see Foxes and Mice(?) guards in the every town.
I like the other suggestions in @leifwarfer 's post, but please don’t add a farting mechanic into this game. It’s hard enough to find good weight/stuffing/inflation games, particularly with male characters without any gross shit.
@stephenduff7709 Dear God, please don’t capitalize every single word in a sentence if you want someone to read your post. It hurt my eyes just scrolling past it.
Personally I’d love to see another level or two added! I think it could be nice, as well as maybe endings to the game? Another thing too would be maybe fixing balancing of coins and how the body looks when you have a ton of coins. Collecting 2k in a level and being a big blob of coins with small legs is nice and all but I personally think the head should raise up so its also able to be seen. Another thing too would be more sounds for more coins! to me it seems the intended amount of coins per level is around 200-300, but if you guys decide to let people still get up to 2k in some levels, I’d like to see (well, hear) more sounds added!
Another idea completely outta left field is maybe a blueberry mode? You guys added one to smasher and it was amazing! and again I know blueberry isnt for everyone but, if you guys ever did decide to do it I think it’d be great , like a new story + of sorts where you have to collect these different coins, and as you collect more you grow faster, and instead of having to worry about coin noises, you have to worry about sloshing, making it overall harder. I think it would fit in well with some tweaking!
some other stuff would be fixing some of the ai -w- Maybe another idea could be sprites for when you’re wiggling through a crawlspace or door? Would be cute, and as others have asked for, a lil progress bar showing how quick you are to getting out!
All in all I lovvvveee this game, I’d love to see you guys put more work into it and even put it on steam at some point like smasher! Keep up the great work <3
Forgot to add in my previous comment, I would like to see more belly gurgles and groans. You could probably add an option or scale that increases how common they are. If not that, you could make the groans factor into stealth by having a little indicator pop up when one is going to happen soon. That would allow for more upgrades, like making it have a lower sound range. (because lowering the quantity or lowering sound of them is no fun.) I would like to add that if you did add such a thing, an indication of how far the sound travels would be needed.
If you added it as a stealth mechanic, and had the player choose how often they occur at the start of a game, it can be used as a means of increasing difficulty.
I also don’t agree that adding farts into the game aint that great of an idea.
Coinpurse Kobold was really impressive but I feel a problem in the Game Jam version was the risk versus reward was a bit skewed in some areas. In particular the upstairs area of the inn seemed too risky for the gold you could get off it. I feel that’s a real shame since the inn had the greatest path variety and I’d love to see more experimentation with multiple routes.
You might be able to change this by making some upgrades be a reward for exploring the maps fully, and also have the coin distribution change over time with it skewing towards spots in the map that have been rarely visited.
Maybe also have some rewards for a high score in an area to avoid just repeatedly doing the safe option.
I think having areas evolve over time would be great too, maybe there’s certain NPCs you can change the look or behaviour of by doing an additional risky thing like stealing a pie.
I really loved the end game experience of rushing around lumbering villagers so would love to see some more focus on that as a gameplay option too.
one of the things that bugs me is how quickly you lose the ability to use any of the little mouseholes or w/e you can squeeze through. not that i mind losing it outright, it feels like a just exchange for your greed; but rather that there are some existing situations that feel like they don’t work at all without use of the hidey-holes for escape. best example i can think of is the inn’s 2nd floor: there’s a room up there with an npc stationed right next to the door, and i can easily reach 500 gold in that room alone but can’t get any of it out lmao
i think a good exchange might be the ability to fit back through one of those holes, but at a cost: sacrifice a percentage of your current gold, or even just drop everything down to a specific “you must be this unburdened” threshold, and get through that way. that way the little holes don’t feel pointless after reaching a certain point very early. and incurring a mid-level cost like this still feels in line with the theme of greed imo (you want me to have LESS coins in my belly?? outrageous. how dare you.)
nuh uh, wait until judges do their judging, only then people can post outside gainjam.
or i dunno, that’s what i know and can’t be sure. (otherwise there would be a plenty of gainjam games in the projects folder by now)
, like a new story + of sorts where you have to collect these different coins, and as you collect more you grow faster, and instead of having to worry about coin noises, you have to worry about sloshing, making it overall harder. I think it would fit in well with some tweaking!