Characters

"Characters" are inhabitants of the world who can be joined in your party. They can be divided in

• Player character(s) (PC)
• Non-player character(s) (NPC) joining in your party
• NPCs joining in non-player parties
• NPCs keeping a shop or ruling the town

PCs are fully controlled by players. On the other hand, NPCs are moving on their own way. If the NPC is joining in your party, nevertheless, the way of to control him or her is restricted.

PCs are made by players at the start of in-game generations and able to exist only in a generation as PCs (about this "Generation" will be explained in another article). NPCs are made automatically by the system and can be existing even if the generation has changed.

Durability of Items

Almost all items, especially equipments, are going to be worn away by using. Each items have parameters of durability and maximum of it. How the item is worn away is divided by 5 steps and shown in literary. (There are some exceptions that I called "Stack Items," but I want to write about it separate from this article.)

How affect?

What I must think here is about its effects. In the first time, I've thought that the item should be broken and lost if it was continued using with condition of 0 durability. It would be like below.

• Durability point is decreased with protecting from enemy's attack. (it occurs randomly, not always)
• When durability point is 0, maximum durability point is decreased.
• If maximum durability point is 0, this item is broken and cannot be used.
• Durability point can be recovered by repairing at weapon shop. Maximum durability point is used as its limit and having no way to increase.

But in recently, I think it's not good. Because players want to keep using some legendary, forged or enchanted items. Passing time is an important factor in this game. Generation alters, but the world keeps advancing time. And player can make own ancestries in this alternation of generations, and leave items to the character of next generations.

What I've planned newly are some penalized conditions of broken items.

1. It takes repairing costs more
2. reduces the ability of attack
3. reduces the ability of defence

2 and 3 are temporary effects that can be restored with repairing.

Though, the cost of reparing is variable between degrees of erosion. From this thought, more penalties are not necessary. Which is the best?

Types of Dungeon

In this game, dungeons are classified into two categories by its way of providing data. One is "Permanent Dungeons." These are prepared out of the game in advance and existing permanently in the world. One another is "Random Dungeons" generated procedurally at necessity of events. I want to think about types of dungeon for this procedural generation of the latter one.

What kind of dungeons can be thought?

It can be defined roughly

1. Natural
2. Artificial
3. By creatures

, and these can be divided into more smaller categories. I want to simply list up what I could think. I think each type of dungeon should have an appropriate generation code. More smaller categories will come from these list (example: Is this cave having water vein?), those categories should-or-shouldn't have appropriate code is a matter must be thought.

Natural Dungeons

• cave
• cavern
• forest
• field

Artificial Dungeons

• mine
• den
• ruined structure
• graveyard
• hamlet

Dungeons by creatures

• cavernous nest
• hole

needed more?

Options of death

When your character's Hit-point reached 0, normally it means that the character has been dead. But I will make some options for against this rule.

Characters

Options for each individual characters' death are like below.

1. Player's characters don't die
2. Party members don't die
3. Important characters don't die

1 is straight meaning.

2. "party member" means NPCs in your party. But event characters who rescued or escorted (etc..) by your party are not included.

3. Important characters are event characters shown in 2.

In any case, the end of each characters' lifetime cannot be overruled. "Passing time has meaning." It is one of most important thing in this game.

Annihilation of party

When all characters in the party are dead, it means annihilation. There are two options.

1. "Game Over"
2. Time passes and start same place

1. After the "Game Over" you can choice from making new character in same world, starting new world or loading your save files.

2. In this case, each character's life-and-death is depended on the option of character's death shown in above. If your party is in the dungeon, they are taken out of the dungeon and some of your items are kept in the dungeon (possibly it will be an option, too).

"Look" around in Towns

I want to show some contextual text, when you get into the town (and with "Look" command). It will be

• number of people
• most appeared job of dwellers

and these are from an impression which the character could see at the time. It means that you may not see so many people at night compared to the noon. And you'll see beggers when the town is so poor. Of course, population and jobs of dwellers can be shown as statistics of town in another way. Those context are made from actual data.

I want to show these literary rather than visually. It is a matter of prefer, because these do not affect the gameplay.

Writing online, the first post

Recently I've been writing some ideas, notes about bugs and ToDo-s on my Moleskine notebook. Writing on papers with a pen is good (Format-free! Layout-free! More intuitive!)

But now, I want to write online. Because it is the easiest way to show notes to others. (and I wanna practice to write in English. :)

What I will write on this blog is almost about "Definitions of LushLife" the game I'm developing. Perhaps I cannot write so tidy way. so, at least, it will be useful for me...

Well, I'm off!