Hello everyone.
I want to ask the community for some feedback on my current game project. This might be a bit of a long post but I'll break down each of the key features below and my plans on how they will be implemented into the game.
My game is called EverHeart, and it's an aRPG roguelite based in a dark fantasy world with themes of mages of necromancy. I wanted to create a roguelite that uses a mouse-based control system like diablo and league of legends, while capturing the key features of RPGs but building them in a proc-gen, bite-sized format. I'm doing this by creating a leveling system that starts at level 1 at the beginning of each run, and procedurally generating all the content through runs, including the levels, items, spell upgrades, and questing system.
For anyone interested in seeing the gameplay, I have some gameplay footage of the current state here:
https://youtu.be/Etzxnl8YQE4?feature=sharedA couple caveats of the current state of the game, though. The item system is temporary as the plans I have for the item system is much more complex. I'll go into that below in further detail. Also, the quest system will need a lot of work in the future. Currently, the quest received at the start of the level is procedurally generated, but the algorithm in its current state only generates kill & collect quests. This will be more complex in the future as well. The demo video serves to lay out the foundation of the game's direction.
Key Features planned:• Dark fantasy, border-line horror setting.
• More mage classes, including inferno mage, battle mage, and frost mage.
• Player customization of spells, items, and potions with a balance of RNG and decision making
• Completely different playthroughs using a biome system and stringing together a few biomes and areas using procGen.
Back Story:The once, vibrant kingdom of Everheart is now controlled by a cult of Necromancers. The previous king, who was at the brink of death, sought a way to cheat his fate by seeking the wizard he kept in his counsel. The king, unlike most, knew this wizard had some power to heal, although he didn't quite understand the scope of this wizard's practices. While necromancy was specifically forbidden in the kingdom of Everheart, this particular wizard practiced such dark magic in secret with his fellow, like-minded wizards. The power to bring those most valuable back to life, and control them like puppets on a string, enticed the ambitious lusts that plagued this wizard's mind. And so, with the King's condition, he found an opportunity to take power over EverHeart. With a swift betrayal, the king who is now dead, yet somehow alive, has become a puppet to the Wizard, so that he can gain full control over EverHeart's people.
The backlash of the cultists was swift as they came out of hiding from their forbidden practices. The kingdom of EverHeart is now in the hands of the undead and those who wield the power to control them. And the practice of any forms of magic, is now forbidden in the kingdom. A result of the dark wizard's grudge he held for so long while practicing his own dark magic in secret. While most wizard's have been vanquished from the Kingdom, some have found refuge in a hidden enclave deep in the mountains. Unseen. Unheard. And now seek to destroy the very artifacts the necromancers use to remain in power.
Gameplay loop:The core gameplay of EverHeart is to make your way through a small section of EverHeart in order to infiltrate a location where a cursed artifact is kept. The player's goal is to kill the necromancer who is protecting said artifact, and destroy it entirely in order to diminish the power of the necromancers. Each playthrough will be completely randomized in terms of areas using a biome system and connecting those biomes in a realistic fashion. For example, if the first area is a forest, the second area could be a cemetery, or the outer games of some ancient ruins.
Leveling System:Each run will consist of starting at level 1 with a spell progression system similar to MOBAs. IE: Unlocking each skill as you level up, then future levels will allow you to upgrade the skill of your choice with universal modifiers. For example, it's possible to upgrade all your spells with the modifier "Explodere" if you were to high roll each upgrade. This will enhance all your spells, so they explode on impact and deal AOE damage. A spell such as "Globulos", which are three arcane orbs that circle the player until they are close to an enemy, would then become "Globulos Explodere".
Item system:Currently in the demo the item system is very temporary, as mentioned previously. My plan in the future is to create a three-tier system where the player can customize their items based on a fusion type system. For example, the items looted will all be tier 1 items with some randomized stats. If the player wishes to upgrade their wand, for example, they might take a wand with +50 damage, boots with +5% movement speed, and a spell book with +25 damage. This would give the player a tier 2 wand with all those stats (+75 damage and +5% movement speed). Likely, those stats will be buffed slightly while upgrading into a tier 2 wand. Should the player want to upgrade the wand to a tier 3 item, they would need to fuse three tier 2 items with the wand set as the core item that is being upgraded.
Potion Crafting and Progression system:I'm designing a system that can be helpful towards each run, but still leans into skill-based success versus grinding for level-based advantages. In order to do this, I want the player to be able to find crafting ingredients each run that can be used to craft potions before their next run. Much like the item forging system for gear, I plan on also make this similar. For example, an herb might give 10% healing. If the player places three of those herbs in a potion, the potion will heal for 30%.
Aside from potion making, I'll be adding runes that can be carried with you on each run. These runes will provide some kind of upgrade to the player's combat stats. The caveat is the runes have to be found as loot from mini bosses or randomized events that can be found throughout the run. And the runes can only be used once. So, if you succeed in a run, or fail, the rune is then destroyed, and you will have to do your next run with a different rune if you don't have more of that same rune in your inventory.
Class System:Rather than having different characters for each mage class, you will be able to equip a spell book prior to your run. This allows me to build the game so you are creating your own character and can easily transition between different types of magic. Currently, the classes I have planned are Arcane Mage (can be seen in video above), inferno mage, frost mage, and battle mage. There will be some account progression towards unlocking each class, likely through currency gained from each run.
Quest system:This is a little tricky because I want the quests on each area to be procedurally generated but they need to fit into the overall theme. Likely, the quests will need to be some procedurally generated puzzle or at the very least objective that the necromancers have created in each area in order to protect their location. This system still needs work. Especially since in the current state of the demo, the quest is just a procedurally generated collection quest.
Conclusion:Currently these are my plans for the game and what I'll be working towards throughout the production. I'll be releasing a combat demo in the upcoming weeks on itch.io in order to get more feedback on the current state of the game. Then work on developing some key systems further until the current Cemetery Level has all the planned systems for players to test, including potion crafting, item forging, and a more complex quest system.
I would love to hear some feedback and constructive criticism on the current state and direction of the game.
Developer
