First off, we are doing great on Kickstarter at 20% of the way to our goal, we are over 40% to the top 100 on Greenlight and the whole team is really excited about getting this funded and starting to work on our stretch goals!
Now to the important thing some of you have been waiting for. The gameplay video is ready! However, before you go straight to the link and start watching here are a few things to keep in mind about the video.
- We have said it before but we want to make sure we set expectations. This is a pre-alpha demo. As such we are only working in a small static world, with static events and stories, and static building options. We are working on our randomization systems for the full game which will include the procedurally generated world, randomized stories and events that are driven by our event manager system to keep the game engaging, and the ability to build where you want once you have set up your base rather than only specific locations we have pre-set.
- I am intimately familiar with the demo so this is a pretty solid playthrough. As such if you want to experience the difficulty of the game for the first time without seeing how it can be done I would skip watching the video for now.
Dev Diary
To continue on our discussion about characters lets delve into leveling and then move onto inventory and equipment.
The goal is to create a system that is easy to understand and quick for the player to get through so he can get back to the game. As we are taking a more rogue-like approach to the game we want to keep the progression system light and easy to fit better with a game in which players might be churning through multiple characters a session.
Every time a character levels up he will gain additional points to his statistics and the player will often have to make a choice between a pair of perks that give the character unique abilities.
The rate of statistic gain and the perks that can be obtained are laid out in each role's progression tree. Players will be able to see this tree in-game so as to know what perks and advances are upcoming. This will allow players to have a long term strategy on how to level up their characters.
Characters will advance in skills and abilities via a standard experience point (xp) and leveling system. This means characters must gain sufficient xp to advance from level to level, and the higher the level the more xp they will need.
Characters will gain XP for the following things:
- Killing zombies, mutants, and all other enemies
- Successfully searching for salvage
- Successfully crafting items/fortifications
- Succeeding in an event
The amount of XP gained for each item listed above will be dependent upon the difficulty of the task (harder tasks rewarding more XP than easier ones) and game balance.
When a character gains a level there will be a UI sequence that allows the player to level up that character by choosing one of the two perks available at the new level. Once the new perk is chosen, the character is considered "leveled up" and can begin earning XP towards gaining the next level.
Characters also gain stat increases with each level gained. These increases are automatic and are immediately applied to the character once they have leveled up by choosing their new perk. Essentially this equates to your experience living in a post-nuclear zombie infested wasteland. If you are familiar with the Walking Dead series this is akin to people getting munched very often at the beginning but the longer they have survived the better they have gotten at dealing with the undead and their environment.
Perks are bonuses and/or new abilities that characters gain whenever they level up. These perks are designed to allow players to define more fully each of their characters in a quick and easy way and to give each a unique feel.Each role has a progression tree which outlines what perks become available when a character gains a new level. Whenever a character gains a level, the player will choose one of the two perks that become available at that level. Whichever perk is not chosen will be unavailable to that character for the rest of the game. We are also considering options for gaining perks through training by other survivors or completing certain events in the game but this aspect is still in early design.
Perks come in two types: Passive and Active.
Passive perks provide bonuses to the character at all times, such as increases to stats or bonuses to certain kinds of stat checks (such as searching or crafting). Once the player chooses a passive perk for a character they don't need to do anything ever again to gain the benefits of that perk.
Active perks are perks that the player must activate via key or mouse click in order to gain the benefit of that perk. When an Active Perk is chosen from the progression tree, that perk and it's icon will show up in the main HUD in one of the perk hotkeys. The player must press that key in order to activate that perk.
Active perks generally give benefits or effects that are short lived and which cost the character Vigor to activate. Depending upon the strength of the perk, and game balance, the cost in vigor of a perk may mean the character cannot activate that perk repeatedly but must wait for vigor to restore before activating it again.
Next dev diary we will delve into the inventory and equipment design. As always we would love to hear your thoughts and your suggestions for future dev diaries.
