Project Questing

Since I decided against a world map, I erased an easy method of grinding from the game. To compensate for the loss, I put in mini-quests to boost exp, earn some money, and get some neat gear.

When I went through a play test of the game, I knew this would not be enough. Chapter 1's field has room for three quests. To add more would force some alterations on the map. But just adding more quests would not fix the problem. Money needs to be renewable and easy to farm. You need money to buy potions, stay at the inn, or get some gear. EXP is not the same. If I had level requirements on items or quests, then EXP might have to follow the same path as money. However, gaining levels only changes how fast you kill enemies or how much damage you take from them. I want to limit that as much as possible to preserve some difficulty.

At the moment, I put in a quick fix to alleviate the problem. It's a rudimentary gauntlet. You fight enemies without rest until you die. When you are finished, you gain whatever money you were finished. (Lose in round 1 = 0g. Lose in round 8 = 80g. ) It's repeatable so you have a chance to get some extra cash, provided that you don't use up any items during your run.

Unfortunately, I have to provide more ways to increase a player's income. Putting in areas with random encounters would be the easiest quick fix, but fitting them into my system would be difficult. Touch encounters do some extra stuff to make Maria's combat system possible.

So far, I have two ideas to put in the next two chapters. The first is random mazes for the player to explore and gain money. Have 10 maps, recycle them, and randomize the loot inside. Put in a boss character and enemies for good measure, but they provide little to no experience. I totally took this idea from Diablo.

The next idea is to put repeatable mini-quests in a city. For example, a merchant want you to deliver some boxes. Or a store wants you to advertise to 10 different people. Nothing too complex, but fun to do. Maybe that theater system I wanted to try has a place in this.... There's more ideas that are floating in my head, but this is just a start. Maybe I'll reinvent something that's already been done or put in something completely original.



By the way, chapter 1 is almost ready. I'm thinking by next week I should ready for some help in the QA department. If you would like to help out, send me shout-out. A comment or some mail would be nice. I'm practically done making the chapter into a playable game. All that's left is to find all the bugs and typos that I left. Fun stuff. >_<