So I'm currently in my final year at Teesside University. The biggest module I have is my final year project. For this we pretty much get to do what ever we want. (to a degree of course)
I myself have a big interest in RPG based games so for me it only made sense to look into RPG based mechanics. The biggest issue I find in RPG's today is the lack of game play surrounding crafting based mechanics. In most games this is usually done through an interface and doesn't require much skill from the player. They simply click a few button and POW, they've got a new item.
One thing I would love to see more of is more in game mechanic surrounding crafting based mechanics. This is why for my FYP I've decided to look into "Interface free RPG based mechanics". This could sound a little confusing at first but all I'm trying to do is come up with a few crafting mechanics that doesn't require the player to click a few buttons in an interface.
My ideas at current mostly consist of the player moving objects around the the environment and then interacting with key pieces of machinery. The main mechanic I'm currently working on is a smelting system where the player needs to increase the temperature of a furnace before placing a crucible (with mined ores inside) into the furnace. Once the crucible is in the furnace the player must keep the temperature at the right level until the contents of the crucible are glowing.
So far I've spent my time getting something that works. After coming back after the Christmas holidays I've noticed a few area's I wish to improve before I move on to the seconds mechanic I wish to work on. This is an alchemy based system where the player will mix items in a cauldron. I however want to make sure that the system I use to heat up the furnace works the same way as well as the system to use up fuel. So with out further a do here's some screenshots, hopefully there'll be a video but I'm having trouble find some software that doesn't cause lag issues. So yea, screenshots.
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| This is a coal pit. This is a place the player can store and get fuel such as coal from to place into the furnace. |
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| This is coal that has been placed into the furnace. There is a set hight the furnace won't count the fuel as being in the furnace. This is to allow room for the crucible at a later date. |
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| To get the ball rolling the player then needs to use a fire lighter. In my set up I just have a red cube. The player holds the cube and when there stood in front of the furnace with coal in it, they press E. |
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| When the furnace has been light the furnace starts to emit light as a visual aid that the furnace is on. At current the coal doesn't have a temperature and the texture is change straight away. I would like to try and get this to happen as the coals themselves heat up. |
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| As the temperature increases more flames particles are activated. These are attached to each piece of coal. |
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| At the side of the furnace is a bellow. This is used to increase the temperature. The actual way this will function is still be adjusted. |
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| As a visual effect if the player was to remove a piece of coal (fuel) from the furnace the texture changes back to black and the flame slowly goes out. The mechanic for fuel is still something I'm working on. Why? The simple answer is because I don't like the way it currently works. :) |
So for all the technical viewers here's some of the kismet behind what I've currently got working.
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| Kismet for the coal entering the furnace. |
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| Kismet for the coal particles. |
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| Overview of the furnace mechanic maths. |
I'm currently doing an overhaul of the maths behind the furnace mechanic as I feel the way the temperature is increased is very clunky. The idea I've currently running around in my head is to have the temperature increase to a stable temperature based on how much fuel is in the the furnace and having the bellows as a way to speed up getting to this level and possibly as a way to get to higher temperatures for metal certain ore types. All this might not make much sense but every time I test what I' make I access how fun it is and go from there so my thoughts are still a little scattered until more testing has been done. I do hope to get the main furnace mechanic doing within the next week or so I can go onto the alchemy mechanic of mixing ingredients at different temperatures.
Hopefully I'll have a video showing what I've currently got in a week or so, so stay tuned for more. :D
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