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[shaka]

Hiya!

Long time lurker that finally decided to make a game here

The game's working name is Slumlord. And as the titel suggests you play a dude/dudette that has bought an old apartment building and it's you job to get it make it "habitable". It's a mix of strategy and rpg I'd guess.

The building is split into a number of apartments that you can decorate and install appliances in. The more fancy stuff you get the more you can charge in rent. You also have to keep the place clean and repair faulty equipments. If you don't the tenants will complain and eventually move out.

I've only worked on the game for a couple of days so I haven't got much to show yet.
Here's a screenshot of the early prototype. The graphics are temporary so please don't hit me!



I work fulltime as a software engineer so I'll update this blog sporadically but I'm really looking forward to doing this

[shaka]

I don't really have a plan for how I'm supposed to tackle this project but I felt an inventory system was needed since your character will need to do alot of different chores using different items.
For example mopping the floor, repairing appliances etc.


The character's inventory

I've decided to go a similar route that Don't starve with a visible inventory down at the bottom of the screen that might be expanded if you have aquire a toolbelt or something like that.

[The Armorman]

What if it was all in your head.

Here is a mockup for HEAD INVENTORY:

if you want, you can have this one for free! If not I am so sorry. Sorry. I did not mean to. Please.

I like what you are doing for your first vid-con, and also, good luck

[ITTA]

I love that. If Shaka does not like this head inventory concept I will gladly use it w/ permission but he's got first dibs. I love it though so I think he should use it

[shaka]

@The Armorman
Cool idea I'll probably just do something simple for now though while still prototyping but it's certainly innovative :D

@Canvas. It's cool Go aHEAD (Bwuahahahahaha!)

[shaka]

Finished the basic inventory. Click to move objects between containers.



When the player first arrives at the hotel it's been abandoned for some time and the first thing the player has to do is clean it by removing debris, sweeping the floors etc. To do this the player will use different tools so I think my next step will be to let the player be able to equip items in his/her inventory.

I also started working on the tenants AI. I've decided to use a utility system (like the needs system in The Sims for example). My goal is to make it so that the npc all have their own personalities. Some have jobs and leave the building during the day, others stay at home all the time (agoraphobic?).

I also want the player to be able to be dishonest and steal stuff from the tenant's apartments when they are not home. This should of course have some consequence, but might earn you a quick buck.

Stay tuned!

[shaka]

Got some more work done yesterday.The character can now equip items. I've decided to create the character from separate body parts that can be animated through script since I'm pretty lousy at the art deptrtment and want to keep it as simple as possible. (I'm developing this in Unity btw).

[shaka]

I was thinking about some of the gameplay elements I want to implement and alot of them didn't really fit with the whole apartment building idea. The player would mostly be confined to the hallway/cellar or other non-apartment spaces because there would be no reason for the him/her to enter an apartment except for when he/she has to do repairs etc. So I decided to make the building a hotel instead.
This will also cycle the inhabitants more frequently and you'll be able to enter the rooms between visitors to do maintenance.

[andyfromiowa]

I also want the player to be able to be dishonest and steal stuff from the tenant's apartments when they are not home. This should of course have some consequence, but might earn you a quick buck.

Interesting.  Is the focus of the game to take advantage of people on a regular basis?  Or is it more up to the player?  When I hear "Slumlord" I don't think of good intentions.

[shaka]

I also want the player to be able to be dishonest and steal stuff from the tenant's apartments when they are not home. This should of course have some consequence, but might earn you a quick buck.

Interesting.  Is the focus of the game to take advantage of people on a regular basis?  Or is it more up to the player?  When I hear "Slumlord" I don't think of good intentions.

Hi andyfromiowa!

When I first started working on the project I wanted it to be a real slumlord simulator where your main objective was to earn as much cash as possible using any means necessary. Now I'm considering it to be a spectrum where the player can decide for him/herself how much they want to take advantage of the tenants / guests.

[shaka]

AI update:

I added the most basic hotel guest / tenant ai today. The npc will rent a room (just an internal step at the moment it isn't visualized yet). Go to the bed, sleep until it's time to checkout and then leaves.

I still haven't added any animations for the npc since I'm currently focusing on the main game loop.