New Adventurer window

Just a quick update, before getting back to coding…

Here is a screenshot of the game with its new popup in place. You can also see the second sprite set used.
Classes and characteristics aren’t done, only name and personality are really generated, and personality isn’t used yet.

Screenshot of the New Adventurer window

 

PS : this is a follow-up of this post.

Next features: the Adventurer (part 2)

This is a quick follow-up to the previous post on the subject.

I’ve finished the second mock-up about new UI elements. This time it’s a new (popup) window to show everything about an Adventurer. It will replace the side panel in the end, while providing much more information.

I know, I shouldn’t have drawn a ‘picture’ for the Adventurer using my mouse skillz 😉 Anyway, here are some explanations of the non-obvious stuff.

The window is divided into 3 parts (not counting the title bar).

The top part is obviously current state plus some general information. There are some new items here, from features not yet implemented. The portrait is clickable to jump toward the guy’s location.

The bottom left part shows the Adventurer’s house, it allows to quickly jump to the house, and shows some info. This is empty in the mock up, but you can imagine levels, upgrades and special capacities.

The bottom right part is tabbed, there is a missing tab (‘Quest’ or ‘Goals’ or whatever its name will be, it will contain the stuff currently on the side panel). The rectangles on the left are meant to look like a scroll bar 😉
This is a major new area, to give more depth to the Adventurers.
I’d like the log to feel more like story telling than computer messages, although it would be a huge task. So for the first versions, it should look like my mock-up.
The statistics content is not yet designed, you can expect kill counts, quest counts, death counts, DP gained, GC gained, GC spent, etc…

Now I must go code all this 😀

Next features: the Adventurer

I have been very busy thinking about the next steps for TRS these last days, fueled by interest and active feedback in my topic on TIGSource.

And so, the focus of my next efforts will be the Adventurer.

It is now obvious for me that one of the key elements of making the game appeal to players is making them interested in those little guys that run around, taking quests, killing monsters, getting rich and leveling. So, here are my plans for them:

1. Classes: typical RPG stuff (ranger, mage, fighter, etc…).
2. Looks: make each of them look different. At the very least, I will have one sprite set per class for starters.
3. Names: pick a random names generator and use it.
4. Personalities: have them behave differently in the same situation: fight until death, run away when injured, etc…
5. UI: all this will require lots of new interface elements.

I’ve designed several new UI elements on paper already, I’ve redrawn some with Paint.NET to clarify my thoughts and share it before they are integrated in a build.

Here is the first one: the recruit window. Instead of double-clicking the Adventurers’ Guild just to buy a new clone, you’ll be presented with this window, giving a choice between some available characters. Main inspiration for that is Theme Hospital.

Legend:

1. Portrait
2. Special ability (could be fast, strong, lucky, …)
3. Name (random generated)
4. Class (ranger, mage, fighter, …)
5. Personality (coward, blood thirsty, suicidal, intelligent, indefatigable, …)
6. Bonuses/maluses

I have other big features in store, stay tuned for more info!