Mini-update

For some reason time has been skipping by at a rate of knots without me touching the keyboard as much as I should, well at least in the way which leads me to program my game.

Some progress has been made though, items are visualised on the map and in the inventory and a cursor can scroll about the inventory. When an item is picked up it automatically finds the first space available in any of your bags.

Next on the to do list, is to implement moving items around in the inventory and dropping items.

Lists are handy

So a wee little update on what has been crossed off the list so far, oh and when I've said it is done, it's more like the mechanic is in place but future refinements will be needed.

Combat feedback - done
Complete with warnings of when you are injured, bloodied or critical, <99%, <50% and <10% respectively.

Death Screen - done
Complete with a picture of the brute who killed you and space for sarky failure comments in the future.

Targeting System - not done
Mainly because I needed items to target and scroll through as well as monsters.

Item/Equipment System - getting there
Structures have been set up for items and the players inventory, including bags, at the moment equipable slots consist of the following.

Head, eyes, neck, ring left hand, ring right hand, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, torso, belt, legs, feet, back, main hand, off hand, backpack, satchel, belt pouch.

with possibility of "feats" that increase the amount of equipable slots you have.

Items programmed so far include

container, weapon, weapon components, coins

for future inclusion

armour (for all body locations), rings, amulets, belts, quivers, glasses, mask, potions (including tonics and tinctures), scrap, shields, guns, bandoleer, food and probably many more.

Story Time!

As mentioned previously there may be a little bit of a plot bobbing around the whole game. Here is just a little taster of what is going on.

*image of a steam train running along it's tracks along some green countryside, possible abandoned towns or ruins in the background*  

"It is 2218 in the reign of Her Royal Highness Victoria VII, Queen of England, Empress of the British Empire and ultimately your patron and benefactor. 

*sound of shots being fired and screams of dying men, silhouettes of men with swords and pistol vs rifle and bayonet*  

It has been three decades since the last prodigious conflict was fought between any of the twelve influential Empires. 

*Show a map with the various Empires*  

A state of peace through necessity has come about, the powers of each being so balanced that if one were to attack then the resultant advantage of the increased resources would trigger the others to enter the fray, and the question of who would emerge victorious would be in the hands of the Gods. 

*back to the steam train, slowly zooming in on a carriage window*

It is your duty to be the eyes and ears of the Her Majesty, you have been trained in many arts unique to G.L.A.I.V.E personnel. 

"Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less." Robert E. Lee 

*Cut to the character generation screen*

*Show a dossier marked Most Private the below text is overlaid* 

 Your mission is to investigate any untoward technology from other Empires that may destroy the delicate stasis, if you uncover any you must find the source and either eradicate or procure it as the situation dictates. 

The world technology exhibition is your primary area of concern, but after the conclusion of the fair you are to stay in the surrounding area for a six month period as it has been rumoured that scientists in the area have been making unusual progress with their experimentations."

So yes, this is still very much a work in progress, the Empires are to be worked out and I like the idea of adding in a few more Victorian quotes.


If you can guess the acronym I would be very impressed.

Featurific

Well I've been poking and hacking at my code for the past week or two now and what do I have to show?
Quite a bit actually.

First of all I've been getting the basic monster AI to work, they will now happily run toward our hero when they have heard him and hack at his legs until they get turned into gobbits of xp.
Secondly I've updated the lighting algorithm so that seen areas that are not lit are in a darker shade.
Third new feature is a scrolling option, by holding down left trigger or left shift the player can move the map around to see what's off the screen.

What next to implement, good question, there are many things on my horizon, but in rough priority order:

Combat feedback
Death screen and restarting of the game
Targeting System
Items and Inventory
Advanced monster AI
Options screen
Save/Load Option Data
Monster/Item editor
Load Monster Data