[font=arial]Let's talk about creatures and creature types shall we.[/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]In the beginning i set myself a goal to keep the overarching design of the creatures very streamlined, their core behaviour being defined by the major creature archetype they belong to. Then under that i felt ok to give each creature its own unique feel / behaviour. That was another thing i wanted to make sure of, each creature in the game should be able to do something unique. To keep it simple on the surface that meant maybe a handful of different creature archetypes and a set of simplified stats to describe their strengths and weaknesses.[/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]Initially i started out with 4 Creature Types:[/font]
[/font][/color][font=arial]Defender: Melee - a stationary defender that waits for the hero to walk into them before attacking[/font]
[font=arial]Defender: Range - a stationary defender that waits for the hero to walk into their range and then plinks away at them[/font]
[font=arial]Plunderer - a creature that walks into town , does some damage, and then delivers some loot to the lair[/font]
[font=arial]Gatherer - a creature that gathers some mana/gold/health and delivers it to the lair[/font]
[color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]During first month of development, two more types managed to sneak in[/font]
[/font][/color][font=arial]Invader - a creature that walks into town and does a significant amount of damage[/font]
[font=arial]Patrol - a creature that patrols the dungeon between its spawn point and the top floor and will attack any heroes it runs into - it can be ranged attacker or melee[/font]
[color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]So that left me with 6 major creature types, and i am happy with that list, i dont think i want to add any more to it.[/font]
[/font][/color][font=arial]Mmmm, Math.[/font]
[color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]So in order to describe their strengths and weaknesses some stats needed to be defined. Again the goal here was to keep it simple. Stats that every gamer is already aware of and keep the numbers small. [/font]
[font=arial]As of right now these are the creature stats:
[/font][/font][/color][font=arial]ATTACK - defines melee / range attack base damage (1 = weak, 20 = epic)[/font]
[font=arial]HEALTH - defines how much damage the creature can take (1 = weak, 40 = epic)[/font]
[font=arial]SPEED - defines the movement speed of the creature (1 = slow, 5 = super fast)[/font]
[font=arial]RANGE - only relevant for ranged attackers, defines their attack range (1=close, 3=far)[/font]
[font=arial]CAPACITY - only relevant for creatures that carry stuff, defines how much they can carry (1=little,5=a lot)[/font]
[color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]The health and attack stats scale with the creature level, but will always be displayed to the player as their base values. [/font]
[font=arial]So for example a creature with 5 base hp spawned on the first level floor has a total health value of 5.
[/font][font=arial]A creature with 5 base hp spawned at the fifth level floor has a value of 25.
[/font][/font][/color][font=arial]Some Variety[/font]
[color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]So taking the 6 archetypes and mixing them with unique creature abilities i am able to do some cool stuff. For example the Skeleton Warrior creature is a melee defender, and he has a unique shield block ability that blocks the next melee attack.[/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial][/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]Or the Skeleton archer which is a ranged defender that at the highest upgrade level starts shooting fire arrows that may set the target on fire.[/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial][/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]Or the Succubus of the Pit floor who is a ranged defender, that casts a magic missile that has a chance to seduce the target it hits making it temporarily fight for you.[/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial][/font]
[/font][/color][color=rgb(51,51,51)][font=Georgia]
[font=arial]And that's just the start, i am super excited for the possibilities.[/font]
[/font][/color]If you like checking WIP screenshots and videos and follow development as it happens go check out the game's twitter and facebook, as i post to those daily!
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/wickedlair
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wickedlair
