So, I'm still tinkering on this. Visit the
devlog for various tales of progress (although I'll be announcing releases here, as well). In broad terms, I'm working to "make the game world interesting" … whcih might include anything. Right now, I'm fiddling with a sustainable UI for speech, so that I can start adding dialogue, bounties (quests), etc. I have a couple of mock-ups, not sure if the text and border should just fade in, or if it should emulate a brush stroke, or something. Prepare to spammed with some gifs!
fade-in effect:
animated border:
A possible problem with the animated border, is that I'll need quite a lot of frames for big blocks of text, which makes it fiddly to set it up in a consistant way ...
In other news, I'm hoping to pin down some more permanent decisions regarding inventory items. Some ideas currently being kicked around:
* Constrained inventory: Beings will only be allowed to carry 6 items. This fits nicely with the hexagonal grid, as upon death, you'll just drop your stuff in a circle around you. If this gets too cramped, I may raise the allowed amount, or (in any case) add a "Burro" perk that allows you to carry more, or add containers. Containers tend to be a hassle to work with, though … There should be a good system for stashes (maybe even building a head quarters in town). What I hope to achieve, is a system where the player has to carefully choose which items to bring along on a dangerous mission.
* Encumbrance: There's no detailed weight system, but items come in three main categories: in addition to normal props, there are stackable items (several fit in a single inventory slot), and cumbersome items (carrying them slows you down).
* Lead slugs (♄): Lead slugs double as ammo and cash, and may serve as some kind of general "resources" stat. Certain skills might cost some ♄ to use, representing materials spent. And I'm considering, instead of a food clock, to have a system where you need to "camp/rest" once every 1000 turns or so. Camping would cost 1 or 2 ♄, and if you have none left, you might receive a penalty the next day. Conversely, some items (eg. sleeping bag) or skills (eg. cooking) might grant you a bonus. There'll be little incentive to waiting around the map in any case. In particular, lost health levels will only regenerate if you stay at a hospital or saloon for a prolonged time (costing many ♄, and possibly forfeiting current bounties).
* Crafting: I guess there may come a crafting system later on, although I haven't thought this through yet. With such a cramped inventory, I guess it could make sense to allow the player to invest in particular items, eg. improving his favorite sixshooter over time.
* Gift giving: I'm hoping to implement gift offering simply as dropping an item in front of an NPC. This can then be used to alter your standing with that person (and their faction), as well as trigger fetch quests and the like. Bounties on criminals' heads will probably be collectible by bringing their actual head to the right officials. This strikes me as an idea that sounds very obvious in theory, but might require being pointed out with flashing signs, to make sure that everyone gets it.
* Wearables: The kind of weird west setting I'm aiming for doesn't seem to fit so well together with the typical paper-doll RL hero, and at the moment there's no system for wearables. I'm thinking of adding items that grant some kind of boost if you keep them in your inventory, though. It may feel silly if in effect you're wearing three hats at the same time, but it could be explained as your character automatically switching to the appropriate wear. Such "carryables" might grant resistances (gas mask, bullet proof vest), or increase vision in dark areas (lantern), or give some social bonus, like the possibility of recruiting people (law badge) … Again, it feels like this may play well with the idea of a constrained inventory. In any case, there will be no stuff like "sombrero [0,+1]" or "snake skin boots of sneakiness"
* Item ideas: Again, there's not the huge array of stuff that you get with a fantasy or scifi setting. But I have some ideas, of course: Various bombs (smoke bombs are already in place, and I might add poison gas, perhaps, or "firecrackers" that stun and deal moderate damage?); fuses and trip wires (there's barb wire that you can roll out on the map, and a fuse might work similarly, burning one hex per turn until it reaches the bomb, with more expensive wires going off the instant someone steps on them, or with a detonator); ropes and lassos ("the lariot" should be a central object later on, it should be possible to capture live people and animals); poison and medicine (not like potions and venom in typical RLs – non-magical medicine takes time to work, after all, but there might be adrenaline syringes that you can inject in the heat of battle); periscopes and spying glasses (allowing you to see locations currently out of view); books and scripture (not sure how this will work … the newspaper might list some current gossip, a book could perhaps teach a skill) … And time will always bring new ideas.
As always,
Minotauros
