Some thoughts and ideas for coming releases (bug and feature request of zasvid already implemented):
On the side of the engine, I'll try not to focus too much on that for the time being. I'd like for the next version to have remappable keys (trivial, but a bit boring, to implement) and a start menu, rather than dropping you right into the game. More longterm plans include adding a function to zoom in and out of the map (scaling to 1:4 every time you zoom out allows me to fit ~16 true hexes in one "superhex") – this can effectively take the place of an overworld with long-distance travel options, without breaking game flow too much.
Leaving fancy stuff like that for later, I'll instead try to add some actual content for the next release. I want to work on the setting and give the map building routine some loving. That stuff is fun to work on, but also much more difficult than just assembling the engine. I envision at least within a few releases to have a game with a moderate scale, where you are assigned a mission in the beginning, something simple, like: You arrive from the Old World on behalf of some mining company to investigate weird (or missing) reports from a lead mining community. This means I get to set up your RL-standard village with a dungeon. Of course, there will be the option to head out into the wilderness to explore a practically infinitely expandable desert continent (which should also be more interesting than now, with meaningful encounters, settlements, and such).
On the bare-bone content side of this, I need more critters, props and abilities. There'll be various human archetypes, from humble proles, to natives, to different kinds of shooters (pistol wielding goons like yourself, mad prospectors firing shot guns that must be reloaded for every spread shot, shooters entrenched in ditches or hidden in trees …). There's also the possibility to expand on the animal life (here I want to do semirandom species based on templates: stuff like "small livestock" (~chickens, pigs), "cattle" (not necessarily bovines, though, might as well be huge lizards), "big predator" (quick or slow, and with various abilites, to spawn anything from alligators to tigers), "game" (your buffalo-likes) – and I wouldn't be ashamed to model something on buzzards or locust swarms, either). Same goes for the fauna (again, plants should be more or less randomized – there might be fruits, berries, roots and shrooms that are medicinal or poisonous, not to mention dangerous plants that sting, entangle, or even walk around; stuff like random growth patterns could also be thrown into the mix, so you might get anything from solitary plants with edible berries and a nasty stinger, to glades of weeds that impair your movement).
There should of course also come new props and weapons into play. I guess a western game needs a variety of firearms, from derringer-like small guns with a single barrel to rifles and carbines fit for elephant hunting, and even cannons and mounted machine guns. Melee weapons will also be added, of course, most of which might also be usable as tools (pick ax to clear rock, etc). Concerning utensils, I might add periscopes and telescopes (temporarily shifting your point of view a single hex or a whole screen away), lanterns, explosives and mining utensils, drugs, flammables, and maybe stuff you can wear (bullet proof vests spring to mind). The list of equipment isn't very long at the moment, though. It's not as if I'm adding wands of polymorph any time soon, but I guess some snake oilers might procure tonics with potion-like effects.
There's also a wide range of skills and activities to consider. Once I have some stuff that changes owners in the course of the game, there'll need to be trade going on, probably using lead slugs as the main currency. Gambling is also a must, and should be more than just automated card game outcomes. Cock fighting should fit the bill, as you can choose which bird to bet on, before the critters are actually pitted against each other in the game. This leaves possibilities for imaginative attempts to cheat and such – which in turn opens up for lynch mobs (rather than the gallows, I think
breaking wheels will be the preferred form of execution, and of course taring'n'feathering an option for lesser misdemeanors). For skills, I'm currently envisioning skill trees that grant various feats: Feats of Acrobatics to move around the map more efficiently, feats of Marksmanship to allow stuff like called shots, gun fanning, and dual wielding … at some point, there should also be a system implemented for riding, and maybe for taming wild beasts and almost certainly for driving cattle. And there should probably be a reputation system that shifts peoples' bias towards you (local heroes are loved by townsfolk and despised by criminals, cop killers get bounty hunters on their necks, and so forth).
Still on the fence regarding hunger/thirst. I guess it makes sense in the setting, but I've never been very fond of how food is managed in most RLs. Another issue I haven't really got to consider deeply is how character building is going to be done. I think character development should be based more on acquiring mundane skills and traits than piling up a gazillion magic items and superhuman stats. I might add traits like "strong", "weak" that tweak single properties or grant intrinsics, rather than a stat-based system. If I'm going to have a character creation system, I'm still not quite sure how it will be done. Maybe choose one of several starting archetypes (gambler, drifter, desperado …) and modify with a few traits – or I might let you always start out as a Nameless hustler, and develop the character from there.
Just brainstorming my head off. It goes without saying that a lot of this touches on stuff that will take a long time to implement, so don't expect a sprawling world with a living economy and an advanced culture for the next release. Instead, I'm hoping to have at least a single mission to aim for, with some skills/traits and props in place and a small handful of adversaries, allies and extras (human and animal). I haven't even touched on map generation in this post. Suffice to say, I was recently moved by a comment by Don Van Vliet (in a documentary on the same) – late in his life, he moved out into the desert to become a painter, and mused about how that landscape is extremely subtle. It would be nice to capture some of that subtlety: here a shrub or cactus, over there a far-away mesa, but enabling the player (and adversaries' AI) to take advantage of those simple variations. There can be steep hills (that block movement and impair firing accuracy from the low, but not the high ground), ravines fit for ambushes, etc. Maybe more on that later.
As always,
Minotauros
