It's been a while! Let's catch up on what's new, what's being worked on, and what to expect next! [h1]Combat[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/76fa48d30bc2da31c8607bb9a0a2e34dc74b2b62.png[/img] [i]A nasty right hook[/i] Combat is being reworked from the ground up. It was a tough decision for me to do this, but the previous system didn't accomplish a lot of the goals that I set for how I wanted combat to work. The way I envision combat in Runeforge is something actiony and fast-paced like hack n slash, mixed in with an occasional souls-like mob that has slow but very punishing attacks if you don't dodge in time. So making sure combat is done right is important because I want players to be able to use their own weapons, weapon abilities, and spells in an environment that makes it fun to continuously tinker, upgrade, and test out new designs you come up with! [h2]Weapon Types[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/3a5724cf169c41ea4fa784ae09ac074e2e4dbe03.png[/img] [i]A swing of the sword. The weapon trail isn't correctly mapped here, something I'll be fixing tomorrow![/i] There will be several weapon types that you can create when the demo rolls out. Each weapon type offers a different playstyle. Here they are: [b]Daggers[/b] - Although not as strong when fighting face to face with opponents compared to other weapon types, daggers reward players for flanking opponents and attacking from stealth. [b]Axes[/b] - Axes provide a high risk high reward playstyle by having the largest damage range out of any weapon and offering high crit damage at the cost of crit chance. [b]Swords [/b]- If you're looking for a more balanced and reliable playstyle than look no further than the sword. Swords offer high damage and decent attack speed. [b]Hammers [/b]- Hammers have the smallest damage ranges, providing very consistent damage as well as having the highest knockback of any weapon. If you're looking for more of a supportive or defensive playstyle then the hammer is your best choice. [b]Greataxe [/b]- Has the highest damage potential in the game. Two-handed weapons, like the greataxe, also provide AoE damage with sweeping attacks. Two-handed weapons are also slower, deal more damage, and have higher knockback. [b]Greatsword [/b]- The fastest two-handed weapon. Great choice for a two-handed DPS build. [b]Greathammer [/b]- Has the highest knockback in the game. If you like the defensive style of the hammer but want more damage, knockback, and AoE attacks the greathammer is the best option. [b]Bow [/b]- A ranged weapon requiring you to aim your shots, not much else to say ^^ [b]Staff [/b]- A two-handed weapon with low damage and decent knockback to keep mobs away while you cast your spells. Reduces mana cost of spells. [h2]Damage Types[/h2] Damage types also provide additional ways to customize your playstyle. Damage types are given to weapons when you find an ore with a damage type modifier on it and use it to craft your weapon. You can also learn how to create spells with a particular damage type from a skill tree. Here's the damage types you'll find when the demo is out: [b]Physical [/b]- This is the default damage type for all weapons. Armor is used to lessen the damage of incoming physical attacks. [b]Magical [/b]- Magical damage is a blanket term for the different damage types below. Resistance is used to lessen the damage from incoming magical attacks. You can also have specific magical resistance (fire resistance for example). [b]Arcane [/b]- Arcane damage provides stacks of "Amplify". Amplify is a status effect that increases arcane damage. Good for ramping damage. [b]Fire [/b]- Causes "Burn", a status effect that deals tick damage to the target. Good for damage over time. [b]Frost [/b]- Causes "Freeze" stacks. Each stack slows the target until a max stack is reached where the target freezes for a short time. Good for crowd control. [b]Electric [/b]- Causes a "Static" attack. Static attacks deal a portion of the damage to nearby targets. Good for AoE damage. [b]Spirit [/b]- Causes a "Smite" attack. Smite executes targets below a certain amount of health. Good for finishing off targets with a lot of health. [b]Shadow [/b]- Provides "Lifesteal". A portion of your damage is converted into health for yourself. Good for sustain builds. [h1]Music[/h1] Rayes has been cookin' up an absolutely amazing OST that I cannot wait for you guys to hear! We have just a few more songs left before it's done! Here's one of the songs that we teased a little while back, it's one of the battle songs: [previewyoutube=l1texwHyHWA;full][/previewyoutube] There will be tracks for different environments to help create the right vibe wherever you go. Whether its a mysterious cave, an enchanted forest, open fields, or an ancient desert, you'll have the right tunes playing the entire time. There's also two battle songs, a "regular" one (the one that was released). Then we have a dramatic, more epic sounding one for special occasions.. 👀 There's also going to be a main theme song that will play when you open up the game that I can't wait for y'all to hear it! Rayes has also cooked up some really cool tunes for leveling up, dying, and even when you enter a new region! [h1]Movement[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/f50a4ae509a9570eb707513abbe7e957afe7b175.png[/img] [i]Running around in a forest[/i] Just a couple changes to movement that I'll go over: The run animation has been changed, the player leans forward and the swaying of the torso is more noticeable. It gives more life to the animation, if you want to see it in action I highly recommend joining our Discord! [url=http://discord.gg/HqXdhKjJ2q]http://discord.gg/HqXdhKjJ2q[/url] [h1]Character Creation[/h1] So this section is gonna be more about theory and vision than me showing you actual stuff. I wanted to provide you guys more information about what you can expect soon. First you'll have the basics like choosing a race (each race will provide certain benefits), appearance, name, etc.. [h2]Trait System[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/a0af9d896a71335ba7bd3ea33e5727084c965312.png[/img] [i]"Project Zomboid": Good traits in green, bad in red. You can see points to spend in the bottom right. [/i] On top of that there will also be a trait system. This system is similar to ones you find in Project Zomboid, Stellaris, and Deep Woken. What these systems have in common is you pick positive & negative traits for your character (or in the case of Stellaris, your whole species). You'll have a certain amount of trait slots, I think 5 may be a good number. Then you'll have trait points to allocate. Really good traits cost more trait points, and to get more trait points you need to add negative traits. Really bad traits give more points. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/771beb72064f4e8dec91fe53b34f569974f3a1f9.png[/img] [i]"Stellaris": Traits affect your species. [/i] I want to go with this system because it provides first of all more replayability and nuance to character creation, but also it allows for some pretty interesting builds. My focus with the traits will be to create traits that are interesting and fun that will actually affect how you'll play the game. I've thought of a few already that I may just add. Some are more game changing than others, for example the "Prizefighter" trait will make it to where you cannot wield weapons, but you do substantially more damage from unarmed attacks. Then there's some traits that have a smaller impact like the "Dimwitted" trait, which decreases your intelligence score. Some traits have versions that are even more significant such as "Brainless" which significantly decreases your intelligence score but gives you more trait points to allocate. [h2]Starter Weapons, Abilities, & Spells[/h2] Now what I think will make Runeforge stand out from the very start is allowing players to craft their own starter weapon, spells, and abilities from the character creation screen. This will get you right into the gameplay loop from the very beginning. Because now you're thinking about how you want to play the game, what build you're going with, and how you want to upgrade your spells, abilities, and weapon! One of the primary goals of developing Runeforge is to make it a "personal" game. I want the character to feel like it's really your own. The sword you made, the spells you designed and upgraded, those were all made by you. I want the player to feel a personal attachment to the character they create, and starting this from character creation really helps with that I believe. So if you're like me who enjoys spending an hour in a character creation screen then I think you'd like how character creation will be in Runeforge. If not, then go ahead and click that randomize button and choose some spell and weapon presets! [h2]Progression[/h2] So I've been thinking a lot about how progression will work in Runeforge, because it's almost about that time to implement a skill tree. I really would like y'alls opinions on this but I have 2 main ideas for progression. Idea 1: Traditional Progression [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/3146d4ccef69539294f046cf6aadf4dfeba88efd.png[/img] [i]"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order": Traditional skill trees where one skill leads to another.[/i] A traditional progression system of unlocking passive skills from a skill tree, or multiple skill trees. Skills may also have levels that you can continuously allocate XP to gain increasing benefits from that skill. Idea 2: Introducing Chance [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/f5195b8b0e5c185c9a312761f504caba573bd5c1.png[/img] [i]"Deepwoken (Roblox)": You choose from a hand of cards when leveling up. What cards you get are random but are influenced by your stats. You can also burn cards to not see them again or freeze to get a card you like for your next level.[/i] A different take on skill trees where there is a random chance of unlocking a skill (probably when leveling up) that you can then allocate XP to. This system would allow me to have a rarity system for skills, where Fabled skills provide game-changing benefits if you were lucky enough to get one. I think it increases depth and replayability at the expense of having less control of how you develop your character. I'd really like to hear your opinions on this, because I'm leaning towards traditional progression unless you guys would like to see the 2nd option, in which I'd be happy to do! ^^ [h1]What's Next?[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41441434/a98754ee624b5e69e84da4366fef4c0bef58465e.png[/img] [i]Zombie run animation[/i] I really wanted to show you guys some real combat today, but I'll have to save it for this week and next week to polish things a bit more. I've also been thinking about doing some long form content on my YouTube! I might replace these posts with videos showing everything. I think it'd be more entertaining and reach a larger audience. But it's just an idea for now, let me know what you guys would want! But as for development, the next news post will feature a lot more combat mechanics! I'm polishing things and adding more animations for the mobs, I'm also improving mob behaviors too. Then once that's all done I'll be working on character creation and that'll be the last major update before the demo releases to patrons! :D 'Till next time!