Thoughts and suggestions

[mindlord0013]

Hi all.

I came across this game on my steam homepage, and there was just seething that intrigued me. From a glance, I couldn't tell if it was another trash game or an absolute treasure (maybe it was the font of the title which confused me). I did what any person would do, and looked up YouTube videos of it. To say the least, I liked what I saw.

This game reminds me of one of my favourite games from my childhood, Ratchet and Clank. The art style, the setting, and the mechanics all point to one of my favourite plat formers of all time. There is no doubt they are both very different games, yet at the same time share some basic similarities.

The premises are quite different: a story driven science-fantasy hybrid platformer/third person shooter, with a cartoonish art style and lots of jokes where the main character goes to save the universe vs. a sandbox science-fantasy farm sim with platformer/first person shooter elements and a cutesy/cartoonish art style with clever lore. At a glance, it's actually easy to tell why I'm so drawn to Slime Rancher.

Here comes the suggestions. These are all my personal opinions on the direction the game could take, and some critiquesof similar games. These criticisms are very valid, but the devs are perfectly within their rights to say "we hear you, but we don't want to take the game in that direction".

There are a few indie sandbox games of a similar quality, not naming any names. Slime Rancher (and other similar games) offer fantastic premises, mechanics, and art style - but ultimately fall short in sticking power and longevity. Once you have built your base (in this case, ranch) with all the available features there's nothing much to do. You can build a bigger base, or build a new base in an exotic location. The devs could release new content, but it only holds you over for a little while longer. Completing the base is almost synonymous with completing the game, except you feel no sense of achievement or get no meaningful satisfaction from this completion.

I don't want Slime Rancher to be another one of those games. I've seen many of the games that fit that description, even purchased a few. Slime Rancher is the first I've felt passionately enough about to go to the forums and state my case.

I think Slime Rancher should have a story mode.

I don't mean a story mode in addition to sandbox mode, I mean story mode and sandbox mode are one and the same. A not-so-ordinary farm girl who is inexplicably forced to save the Galaxy from some evil, in order to peruse her dream of living a simple life as a slime farmer. The game universe already has some potential for a good (if cliched and somewhat overused) plot: Corporate corruption and greed threatens the heroine's farm, and the fate of the slimes. The same company she sells the slime ports to is secretly abusing slimes, mistreating customers, and causing tarrs and other nasty creatures to invade the Far, Far Range. It would be easy enough to write a plot synopsis (even a script, as that's one of my talents) if people (especially devs) are interested.

In Ratchet and Clank, the main character Ratchet is a fictional alien species known as a Lombax (a humanoid species with cat-like features). He was human enough to be easily relatable, but alien enough to be essentially race-less. Ratchet, as a character, was well designed. He had a race-less, ageless, shapeless quality that made him easy to play as. Beatrix LeBeau could be designed in a similar fashion.

The main benefits of a story include a more defined progression, more content to play through, improved replayability, more sticking power, greater audience appeal, and most importantly a better overall game. The best thing is, the story could be a somewhat optional part for most of the game. You still take time to manage and build your farm, you still unlock upgrades and new content by exploring and completing tasks - you only miss out on a small part of the content (slimes, areas, upgrades, and items) if you don't choose to play the story.

Of course, this sounds like a far fetched idea from what the game currently is. It would require a significant amount of work and a much larger budget. This is just my personal take on how a story mode could work, but I think it is definitely worth it. Let me know your thoughts on my somewhat absurd ramblings.

P.s. I wrote this in an hour or two at the end of a long day, at around 1am. It turned into me rambling a lot, so sorry. I will be happy to clarify and expand on my thoughts with replies. Also, congrats if you managed to read all of that.

[Heather]

Welcome to our community mindlord!
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback and suggestions with us, we appreciate it!

[mindlord0013]

One of the key parts to adding a story to the game would be keeping the original premise, characters, and already established lore. I've kept this in mind when doing this draft.

CHARACTERS
Beatrix LeBeau - the player character, a young and aspiring slime rancher. (In my biased opinion), she should be an anthropomorphic alien with feline, canine, or elven features. She is incredibly capable and has a natural aptitude for every challenge set in front of her. She could be witty and have a good sense of humour without being excessively sarcastic or droll.

Sarah Smiles - Beatrix's mentor, acting as an "older sister" figure, well of knowledge, and teacher. She introduces the player to the basics of managing the farm and slimes. While Sarah is usually a serious individual, she shows her lighter side by generally ignoring Beatrix's antics and sly remarks. Sarah is human.

Hobson Twillgers - a legendary slime rancher and ranger, and Sarah's mentor. His slime wrangling exploits are stuff of legends. His location is currently unknown, but it is assumed he is still somewhere in the Far, Far Range. Sarah Smiles is the only person who knows where or how to find him.

Trouble - a unique Tabby Slime, and companion to Beatrix. Trouble is brown with light brown stripes, has a thinner tail, and only has half of it's left ear. Trouble also has the unique trait of only temporarily turning into a Largo, briefly gaining helpful abilities without the fear of turning into a Tarr.

Brian Greymats - the CFO of the corporation that trades with the Far, Far Range slime ranchers. Brian is more concerned with profits than any kind of moral integrity, and is more than willing to partake in shady business paractices if it helps the bottom line. He keeps the CEO in the dark regarding his... less than favourable deals. What they don't know can't hurt them, right?

Robin Hope - the CEO of the aforementioned company. She's compassionate and righteous, almost to a fault, despite being the owner of one of the largest corporations in the galaxy, which mostly deals in what some would consider exploiting innocent slimes. She's a known philanthropist, and has started many charities ranging from conservation, to humanitarian aid, to medical research funds.

Red Jim - the main salesperson and business contact of the corporation, who operates in the area that Beatrix and Sarah are in. He's a good person, though a little too good at his job. Many a granny has been convinced into buying the newest tech and slime products thanks to his (quite literally) silver tongue.

Tarrors - get it? Tarr-ors. Terr-ors. Haha... Larger "queen Tarrs", that seem to be inexplicably popping up in the Far, Far Range. They spawn Tarrs, and causing nearby slimes to have an insatiable hunger for plorts. They also cause the local non-slime wildlife to transform into Tarr-hybrids, making them aggressive and dangerous.

Tarr-hybrids - non-slime wildlife transformed by Tarrors. They come in many shapes and sizes, and have a wide variety of abilities. They can be cured with the help of the vacpack, though some might require specific upgrades and methods to cure.