Hello dear gamers, long time no see!
As you know, we are part time devs. Implementation phase of our alpha build is taking longer than we anticipated. Therefore, I’ve got time to rethink some major ideas about secondary mechanics, that I would like to share with you in today’s blog. But first things first, let’s learn something about leveling, training and skills mechanics.
Leveling is essential feature in every RPG game from prehistoric times to nowadays. In Elothia when you get enough experience to advance to the next level, you don’t get any new stat points like you usually would. Instead you raise your trainable stats cap and get older in-game. So the real strength of the main character is unlocked by interacting with the world itself, like battling, exploration and more, while the level shows the overall unlocked potential of the player. As an addition, players get one skill point when they level up.
Training is much as it is in the “real world.” So if you want to raise strength, you need swing your sword more. If you want to raise you magic, use your spells. It’s simple, yet an interesting way to breathe some life into the mechanic of level up = stats up. This mechanic is inspired by the awesome mmorpg from ancient times “Ultima online.”
Skills in Elothia are the main differentiator between player play-style. We don’t have classes in the game, but instead, we leave the paths open for free choice, so the player can create many classes, from ordinary warrior or mage to some combined exciting dual, or triple class characters. The skill tree is in the form of focused spiritual rings, which could be opened by meeting stats requirements, or by certain storyline choices, or by some completed deeds. Each spiritual ring is tied with specific place in the world. This mechanic is influenced by “FFX”, but from fresh new angle, and it connects the player with the game world itself.
As I mentioned before, after many long discussions, we decided to tweak some things.
First of all, we implemented permanent death system, so when you die, you … die. But to compensate the possible frustration we added new action to the battle mechanic – run. So if you see that battle could end tragically for you, you can try to run for your sorry life. Another way to escape the reaper’s scythe is spiritual bonds with the world itself, which can in certain circumstances save the player from the death door. But this form of high spell needs huge amounts of spiritual energy, so when used, it consumes few skill points invested in the ring. So in the end, player will be a little weakened, but alive.
Ultimately, every bad news like delays and bugs give us time to polish the better gem out of muddy stone. Next time I will share the current dev status with you, few amazing peeps from our story and the world background.
Wishing you good hunting!
Martin and team
