Most of the damage/healing calculations and buff/debuff states are done. I've actually reworked the character-specific buffs/debuffs to target more than one stat, playing into the elemental affinities of their magical attacks. There's still a lot of testing left to do, however, especially when it comes to balancing enemies. One of the features I'm including is that the enemies have levels that are based on the average party level. So, you can expect each fight to be at least mildly challenging. However, I also don't want anyone to turn the game off in frustration, so there will be a couple options for lost fights. First is to retry - because let's face it, sometimes it's just bad luck! The second is to avoid the fight altogether. In this case, the enemy will disappear, but the party will lose half its gold.
The random enemies will either be visible on the screen, or require some sort of action - like the rats in the Bethlam Tower, where you had to shake the barricade to make them appear. There will be a few "trap" type encounters as well, where you trigger battles by stepping on particular tiles, but they will limited to certain areas. My goal is to provide plenty of battles for those of you who enjoy battles, but not force them on the players who would rather not fight. I should also mention that all states will be cleared after the battle (including death) and all characters will be healed to 50% of their health and mana. So, those moments when you're on your last potion and still have half a dungeon to go should be rare.
I'm also pondering the notion of adding a few more exploration areas to chapter 1 and 2. The forest path to Summervale, for example, is very linear and short. When I was developing the area, I had a much bigger set of maps in mind, but I shrunk it down for convenience. You would, of course, get to explore those areas when you went back to Summervale (chapter 3). But would you rather see them right away?
Now, as promised, here's a screenshot of a map in Chapter 3:
Where could Alistair be now? And what awaits him in this cave? Stay tuned!
The losing half your gold scenario, what is the (in game) logic behind it?
ReplyDeleteIn the case of humanoid/demon enemies, it's the basic pay-off to walk away. In the case of mindless beasts, the coins themselves are shiny and distracting. Throwing them and running away is effective enough.
ReplyDeleteIn the case where the said amount of gold is HUGE, the oversized bag is dropped on the enemy, squishing them and destroying any loot they may have held (along with experience, because let's face it ... squishing an enemy with something heavy doesn't require a whole lot of skill).
There will also be a base of operations where you will be able to bank gold and buy the basic items (potions, food).
Ah, thank you! I was going for a natural look, as it's a series of natural caverns that some humans recently came across and made their home. Most of it will be rugged and natural, but there are a few man-made elements. I'm still playing with the design, but I think there may be some elevators and platform jumping involved :)
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