Phew. Had a busy couple of weeks, that coupled with a little bit of burn out meant not much has been done on the game lately. What I have done is mostly design-related, a little bit of content, and recently more coding on the combat system. I think that’s what turned me off about the project for a while–too many hours sunk into one part of it. However, it’s nearly done now, and I’m pretty sure nothing else is going to be as big as the combat system. It’s my own fault for making it complex to begin with, I should have started simple and added features gradually. On the other hand that would’ve meant a lot more work in the long run. In any case, I’m almost at the point where I can move on to other things.
The other things in this case will probably be more content, especially in the town. ‘Support’ for the monster drops, which will be the kind of things you’d expect monsters to drop (ie bits of themselves). Some of these bits will be useful in ‘mixing’ for the alchemy/herbalism system, some will be ‘craftable’ into decorations or possibly weapons, and some will be edible. So, for example, if you kill a blue scavenger you’re likely to get a handful of scavenger claws, some scavenger teeth, a blue scavenger hide, some scavenger meat and a blue scavenger tail. The hide is craftable, as are the claws and teeth (which may also be ‘mixable’ with the proper preparations). The meat is edible and the tail will be important later. The player can sell all of the bits to various people (or, eventually, other players) or use them themselves. At least, that’s the plan. I might have a ‘trade’ system too–trade two raw blue scavenger hides for one treated one ready for crafting into armour, for example, rather than just sell them for money. On the other hand money makes things simple.
Skill badges are another priority right now. I’m still undecided about when they’re awarded–at the time you ‘earn’ them, or through some set location. I’ll have to think about it some more, at the moment I’m leaning towards ‘when you earn them’. Maybe with a little pop-up “You’ve earned the ‘Knifey-Knifer’ skill badge!”. I think that’d be more satisfying. It means more code in individual pages, though.
