DEVLOG XII - Inventory & Character ResourcesIt's been a couple of weeks since the last update so I figure I'm due to talk about what I've been working on. Still chipping away on multiple fronts, including (but not limited to) still playing around with the
UI to figure out how it could look, writing and revising the
story outline--but actually starting to make real progress here, beginning to make actual, significant headway on
environment art, as well as starting to pick up
animation work again on both characters and environments. So
yeah, that's a lot of things. It's honestly exciting to making headway in a few categories simultaneously, and I'm sure I'll dedicate some future devlogs to some of these topics individually, but for this devlog I wanted to focus on something that's been weighing on my head a lot lately...
...adding more 'gamey' elements to the game.
As a narrative-heavy, visual-novel-esque game, it's important to find other elements that are worked into the gameplay so that it's not just endless screens of dialogue with the occasional decision. Where my brain goes with that is immediately wanting to find ways to weave in:
- Character 'Stats' or Resources
- Inventory System
Both of these things are very much in the conceptual stage of development, but for the purposes of testing, I started by implementing a basic character stat/resource called
'Willpower'. I haven't fully worked out how you will be able to gain this yet, but I like the idea of your decisions giving you resources that you can choose to spend throughout the game on major moments. i.e. Do you want to spend 5 Willpower to save character X or would it be better served preventing Y from happening? Or should you just save it for something bigger you fear is coming? I think its a simple but effective way to work in some resource management to the game, and I'm brain-storming on finding other ways to leverage character stats or resources into the gameplay.
Special Items are another way to leverage 'gamey' elements without diverging too far from a narrative game. In the end, items are really just more decisions dressed up differently, but I believe they do help change things up. The important thing to keep items interesting is to ensure that every special item can be used in multiple ways that impact the story, rather than just as a way to measure progress (i.e. you can't get past X until you find Y).
Additionally, I'm iterating through a very rough-looking Inventory/Character profile. I thought it would be best to try and create an interface where the player can go to get a high-level overview. Things like any stats or resources they have, any items they may be carrying, and quick access to the Overworld and Underworld maps to facilitate travel. Below are a couple WIP GIF's that showcase what I've got so far. Very much open to feedback or ideas on this:
Placeholder UI - Character Profile w/ Inventory, Map & Resources
Testing Adding & Removing Items from Inventory
It's all still very much a work-in-progress. Ideally once the UI gets finalized we can revisit this layout and improve upon the design, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the progress. Its all early and rough around the edges, but it feels like a step in the right direction for finding ways to make the player's experience feel even more interactive.
What are your thoughts? What are things you believe help make narrative games feel more interactive?[/list]