Map01 Extension/Flashback Intro (Patreon)

Okay, let's finally address the elephant in the room - the extension I plan to add with the future update that will add a new area to map01 which will be the new starting area.

There are many things this extension is meant to improve, but generally, it's supposed to address general player confusion, ranging from gameplay and all the way to story and lore.

1. Controls. Like a true boomercore game, Hedon uses the entire keyboard, and this addition plans to better structure the way the player is introduced to the controls.

This new starting area will have no direct tips, and instead will offer linear bits of level design that will force the player into figuring out the core mechanics without getting lost. Aside from them, it will raise a series of questions that are later answered through the direct tips of the caves and mining outpost areas that follow. 

Having played a bit of the game and gathered some of these questions, the player will be a lot more prone to read the tips that come as a direct answer, and either clarify or solidify what they already know about the game's mechanics.

2. Attention grab. One thing I wanted to originally avoid when making Hedon was a stereotypical "explosive start" followed by a drop in pacing that many commercial games employ. I wanted it to start slow and end fast with a steady build up, but it once again turned out that there is a reason why games are like "that", and I felt the need to present some combat and action right off the bat to assure the player that there is going to be more of that later and that not *all* the game is about exploration and figuring out what to do next.

The best part of using this map extension? I don't have to compromise on the already existing slow map segment that many people have enjoyed, but rather include it into a more varied pacing.

3. Story. A lot of commonly encountered lore confusions will be addressed by this new area, especially the faction you are part of, the fact that there's Orcs and Goblins and that they have different sizes, a more consistent feeling of ambiguity regarding your abrupt start in the caves etc. etc.

These are the main three points of it. They should add around 15 minutes of a more captivating gameplay that will also ease the player into the mechanics and provide a slight story background in the process.