I uploaded a preview build! Check it out:
https://newretrogames.itch.io/incrementalrpg
Warning: have not tested it at all!
Update 9: Live Preview Online!
As I chip away at the final things I can implement before the deadline, a few small but important additions today. Armour was finally implemented, and more work was needed on the passive skills system, its more complex now, but arguably more interesting. But I really spent most of the time getting things working and fixing the inevitable bugs that resulted. I'm aiming for update 10 tomorrow to be the final game jam devlog :O
Latest progress:
- Finally you can equip armour AND weapons. No more naked adventurers running around!
- Weapons and armour actually have an effect! (e.g. swords increase damage, armour reduces damage).
- A couple of new armours and new weapons added (mainly for testing purposes - try them out!)
- More UI tweaks, the resource menu expand/collapse is much cleaner now, NPCs can also be expanded/hidden
- Skills have been refined, and made more complex;
- different skills have different "difficulty" to learn, making them take longer to learn, and once learned, they also have different "learning rates", taking longer to level up.
- being "untrained" in a skill now imparts a penalty, while being "trained" gives you a bonus. (the bonus worked before but was hard-coded in, now its properly coded via functions).
- untrained skills can have multiple "negative levels" meaning higher penalties, but as you level closer to 0 the penalty reduces with each level closer. Once you get to lv. 1, the skill is "learnt" you get the bonus instead of the penalty, which also increases with each level.
- when you learn a skill, the game notifies you, if you are still in negative levels the game gives you a (pretty obvious) hint that you are improving in that skill.
- Gathering, Chopping, Mining, Combat and Defense skills fully working now, affecting the relevant skills outcome.
- Enemy's defense actually does something now!
- Trading skill added which improves market rates.
- NPCs now appear on a list on the left side, regardless of location, making better use of empty space
Visual Tweaks
As mentioned, NPCs now appear on a list on the left side, regardless of location, making better use of empty space.
The tab will show the NPCs in the current "room". I plan to make this menu become also more context-sensitive, later, though. E.g. it could show other general actions you can perform, that dont fit into normal area of the tab that you are on.
Game interface with left menus all collapsed
With all left menus expanded
Skills
I fixed up the code so gaining skills is no longer hard-coded per skill (I generally hard-code it in one or two areas to "test" my idea, then I create a function and use that instead). This means that adding new skills is now easy and scalable. More importantly, I expanded the skills system a bit and pretty happy with how it works now. It's way more complex now, though in relatively subtle ways.
Like before, when you perform an action, the game checks if you have the related skill. If you have it, a bonus is applied and the skill gets XP. If you don't have it, you get the skill, but "untrained". However NOW, untrained skills incur a penalty, as opposed to trained skills giving you a bonus, to whatever you are doing. Furthermore, skills have a ton of other properties. Untrained skills can be more "difficult" to learn, begining at lower levels (-1, -2, etc), and start with lower -XP levels, meaning it takes longer to reach the holy Lv. 1 when you start getting bonuses instead of penalties.
Skills can also have differnt learning rates, basically the rate it gains XP while untrained, and training rates - the rate it gains XP after its trained. Generally speaking, the untrained XP gain is double that of the trained XP gain rate.
Skills also have different XP curves (affecting how much the XP requirement increases for each level).
This adds a ton of customisation to skills, and (to me, at least) makes them a lot more interesting and variable.
You can see it in action here, in the currency exchange menu. The [dev] info (only appears when "devmode=1") shows the underlying variables. The base rate is 100 copper to 1 bronze, with a market rate of 1.03 meaning its 103 copper to get 1 bronze at the moment (a pretty good deal!). But you are also deeply untrained in the "Trading" skill. The initial level of -2, with a penalty of 2 per untrained level, meaning the maximum penalty of -4 value to all trades.
In other words, for buying copper, it costs 4 more than the actual market rate. For selling bronze, you get 4 less than the actual market rate. Eventually, from lv.1 onward you'll get a bonus of +1 per trade instead, getting more bang for your buck when buying and selling.
Next steps
There's a ton of stuff to do really. But I'll do what I can by tomorrow. Critical things are:
- add loot to monsters, esp. weapon blueprints
- flesh out incremental side a bit, more story and upgrades so there's a logical flow
- finish crafting system (currently it displays craftable items, but you cant actually craft anything yet)
- add final boss and victory sequence
If I can get those done tomorrow.. the game might actually be a "complete" experience. Basically a prototype, but hopefully an interesting one!