Development Blog
^Clicking this and following makes me happy^
Little bit about me and the Project
This is a one man project, being coded from scratch in C# XNA. Everything is done by me, so production can get a little slow at times. Since really leaving here about a couple of years or so ago, I've been working on a series of on and off projects, switching between game engines and languages, learning programming here and there and trying to juggle that with school and life in general. This is a project that I'm pleased with the progress so far, and I want to now get back into a community to get some C&C. Since this is the first forum I really got into with game making, it had to be here. So here it is.
What's this all about then?
Inhabitation is a sandbox mine/crafting game (ahem) with RPG elements, and town management features. The game focuses not just on your own survival, but on helping a village grow from being a tiny settlement to a bustling town. The game is a 2D sidescroller which brings in elements of crafting, building, mining and generally exploring a world and doing what you want. My aim here is to take what I love out of sandbox games, and roll it all up with RPG questing and the sort of exploration where you really don’t know what’s under the next block.
Early Game Breakdown
Firstly, the player generates their world. This world is created using a series of defined parameters, depending on how the player wants to play. World size, biomes, rarity of certain resources, starting NPCs. All under the control of the player. Of course, entirely random is in there too.
Now the player will spawn in this world, at the heart of a tiny settlement. This settlement offers a few NPCs, each with a job or quest for the player. Your choice, help the villagers out and they will reward you. Or wander off and build a castle on a cliff.
Villagers will offer you rewards for your actions depending on what they need you to do. Collecting resources, crafting something important, or hunting a certain mob will all get you something in return for your ‘gracious nature’.
Of course, in a terrain that’s as varied and dangerous as this, you’ll need tools and weapons. Pickaxes and swords are on offer, as you will be venturing deep underground into sprawling caverns filled with the kind of things that have a tendency to go bump in the night. Oh, and treasure. Which the NPC’s probably want as much as you.
So as well as developing your own little house, you have a kingdom at your disposal. The more you do for your village, the more it grows, and the more it can offer you in return. We’re talking factories that craft things way above the level you can achieve with a couple of sticks and some coal (a cookie goes to who can guess what that makes).
And this world you’re in will evolve around you, day and night, season to season, with different events occurring all the time. Different NPCs, different mobs, different ‘rewards’.
The world outside is a very interesting place… don’t get lost out there. And for God’s sake, pack torches.
Some Features
- Randomly generated side scrolling terrain with multiple different biomes and cave systems.
- A Real time lighting engine which takes into account your own light source and other light sources around the world.
- A retro look and feel both through custom pixel art and sound effects
- Crafting and item collection – easy to manage drag and drop crafting combinations from right inside your inventory.
- Weapon and tool system – your character has two hands, which means he can hold more than one item at once. Left and right click correspond to your two equipped items, but careful of your choices. You don’t want to be trying to mine your way out of flooded tunnel trying to beat mobs with a torch any more than you want to be left able to fight but to drown in the dark.
- NPC questing and trading – NPCs offer jobs for the player which reward them with new materials, items, and XP.
- Levelling system – the more you do, the more you level. You’ll receive XP for mining new materials, killing mobs, and questing. The higher your level, the deeper you can venture and the better stuff you can use. Don’t dig too greedily or too deeply.
- Building – this is self-explanatory. All blocks you collect can be placed back down wherever you want them. Just don’t expect your village to be pleased if you build their houses out of grass.
- Multiplayer? – this is a big ‘what if’. I’d love to do multiplayer, but this would be a way into development. I’d have to look more into this, but it’s something I’d love to do.
Early Screenshots
And I leave you with duel wielding pickaxes
But I hope your's has ... erm for lack of better words Replayability I have tons of ideas if you want any, both my brothers and I play, ermmm anything you need help with just let me know ( idk much about XNA but heck ^^ i could try something )