I’ve set up the project for the gameplay prototype by converting an older assignment done in DirectX. This is the most recent version of my engine although it doesn’t include the particle-engine component. My particle engine is actually developed for my final year project based on the same engine but in OpenGL so it can be easily ported later to the PSP. The initial design of the engine though allows adding the particle component very easily so I would probably add it later for creating some simple effects.
The first thing I’m going to do is adding the terrain. It’s not going to be completely flat but it’s going to be simple. I’ve done some complex terrains in the past and have made my players moving on it - that’s without passing through it. For this game though I don’t really need that detail as it would look awkward. What I’m going for is probably a flat terrain with height adjustment. This means that there won’t be any curves on the terrain and the surface will always be flat but there will be slopes that the player gets up and down. Don’t forget we’re talking about Mesartians here, so things like stairs and such don’t even need to exist.
Then I’m going to add the player and implement some of the controls for moving around the level, including getting up the slopes at the right height. Since this is a prototype I’m not going to use any complex graphics for the player; it would be a waste of time. A cube or a sphere would do and so it will be for the enemies. Of course in the final version I’m probably going to spend a bit more time on the presentation - probably will use a blue particle-fire like effect for the actual Mesartians and something that looks equally good for the various enemies.
An important element that has to be implemented in the gameplay prototype are the various player and enemies characteristics like health points, strength and so on. Other than pleasant to play for a while, the system doesn’t have to be something extremely deep or great. Still getting these stuff balanced to something that looks almost right isn’t as easy at it sounds. For example if there is a character statistic named “strength”, how exactly it affects the combat? Obviously it makes the entity stronger but questions like “how stronger makes the X kind of hit?”, “how important is when the opponent has X protection?”, “how can it be leveled-up?” and so on have to be answered precisely. Therefore I should come up with the exact combat system and the factors involved with it, before attempting to put any kind of mechanics-related code in my game.
