http://www.bronzeandfaith.com/Background
Development
This Roguelike was started with no former experience in programming (aside from a few web technologies like php & javascript).
Inspiration and setting
The inspiration comes for a big part from Bernard Cornwell's "Stonehenge". The Roguelike will be settled in the early bronze age with a strong emphasis on faith and professions. The developer will try to make it historically accurate, or at least plausible.
Game Concepts
Character Development
Skill development will take much time and energy and it will be close to impossible to carry out more than a handful of professions to perfection during a character's lifetime. This will make it necessary that the player decides exactly what he will do with this character.
Interactive society
Interaction with NPCs will be very important, there will be an economic system and there will be large NPC behavior trees. Many things you do will cause a reaction from NPCs. Joining a settlement will bring many benefits, but also responsibilities.
Realistic health
Health is very important, due to historic accuracy. Fights do not depend too much on Health Point tanking, but more on skill, luck and equipment. There will be a handfull of diseases like flu and infections, but also remedies.
Religion
You do not only get respect from other NPCs, but also faith. You can create an own god, give him features and start propagating your faith. Depending on how convincing you are, you will get many followers and power.
Profession
Although you can do almost anything you like when you live in a settlement, you are supposed to contribute to its wealth somehow. When you officially pick up a profession, people want to get things done, but they are willing to trade their goods, too
It is early yet, and Java powered, with both a download and browser applet---but it certainly looks promising and any skillful java folk could probably point the fellow in some good directions.
Indeed, even though I enjoy achieving something on my own, I am still depending on the guidance of others. I don't ask for someone who writes everything for me, but I would really appreciate some feedback about what I could improve or some methods I don't know. Hell, I am grateful for every link that will be posted containing some useful information or even a tutorial I may not have seen. Bronze and Faith is completely written in Java. If I get help, it would be a pleasure for me to write a documentation.
Problems I currently need help with:
-A time system. I need to make each action consume time or action points. During that time, other creatures can do their turns. A global time needs to catch up with this, too: I want minutes and hours running in the background, as I will add a calendar at a later stage. Among few other time systems, I found this: An elegant time-management system for roguelikes. However, I simply can't imagine how to translate this into Java or what really makes this work, even though I somehow understand what it does.
Contact: jerry@bronzeandfaith.com
(I speak English, German, a bit of French and Luxembourgish.)
