Salt and Sanctuary
A 2D action RPG with a very large skill tree.
Where Salt and Sanctuary comes up2 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testBuilding Better Skill Trees
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testDo We Need a Soulslike Genre?Salt and Sanctuary is a 2D action RPG that follows the Dark Souls template closely and ships a very large skill tree. Game Maker's Toolkit cites it, with Path of Exile, as a huge skill forest, when a small pruned set of interesting upgrades works better. The lesson: borrow a proven formula's strengths, but don't copy its systems wholesale or pad progression with filler.
- Salt and Sanctuary, Path of Exile
- Weak skills added to look big
- Dilutes the good upgrades
- A handful of truly interesting upgrades
- Tight, deliberately pruned tree
- Often the best solution
Brown: prune the tree, don't pad it
From Game Maker's Toolkit, Mark Brown
What was said about Salt and Sanctuary
Salt and Sanctuary's huge skill tree is a model to prune, not copy. Game Maker's Toolkit names it alongside Path of Exile as having a huge skill forest. Mark Brown prefers a tightly pruned bush of a few truly interesting upgrades.
His warning is that adding weak skills just to make a tree look big dilutes the good ones. Quote: "a tightly pruned bush with a handful of truly interesting upgrades is often the best solution."
Salt and Sanctuary follows the Dark Souls template closely, so it reads like a clone. Mark Brown lists it among Souls clones that stick rigidly to the Dark Souls formula. The other games on the list are Lords of the Fallen, The Surge, Nioh and Death's Gambit.
Clones of this kind rename estus flasks, bonfires, souls and the homeward bone, and add only small ideas like stance-based combat. The result is games that feel more like sequels than new games.
Building Better Skill Trees
Like Path of Exile, it has a huge skill forest, while the preferred model is a tightly pruned bush of a few truly interesting upgrades.
Salt and Sanctuary's huge skill tree is a model to prune, not copy. Game Maker's Toolkit names it alongside Path of Exile as having a huge skill forest. Mark Brown prefers a tightly pruned bush of a few truly interesting upgrades.
His warning is that adding weak skills just to make a tree look big dilutes the good ones. Quote: "a tightly pruned bush with a handful of truly interesting upgrades is often the best solution."
Do We Need a Soulslike Genre?
It is named among the clones that copy Dark Souls closely and stick rigidly to its formula.
Salt and Sanctuary follows the Dark Souls template closely, so it reads like a clone. Mark Brown lists it among Souls clones that stick rigidly to the Dark Souls formula. The other games on the list are Lords of the Fallen, The Surge, Nioh and Death's Gambit.
Clones of this kind rename estus flasks, bonfires, souls and the homeward bone, and add only small ideas like stance-based combat. The result is games that feel more like sequels than new games.
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