Another text-only update today: If you followed my last entries you already know that im into "roguelike" game concepts. The title of todays blog entry goes even a step further: It describes the "real thing" Im going after: A open-world roguelike game. People keep telling me that it's not possible with VXA, and still I try!

A open-world, roguelike game - what a powerful term. Now, what does this mean for development strongpoints? Here is a quick breakdown what "Realm of Legends" will be - and what not:

• CON: Graphics. I'll keep this project RTP only with some tiny little additions.

• CON: Media & Menus. Again: Not important to me, neither is music or fancy effects.

• CON: Storyline. There won't be a story. Maybe some lore to the background world, thats all.

• PRO: Open-world. You start in or near one of the smaller Villages and thats it. You are free to go anywhere and do anything. There are no barriers or borders except your level & skill.

• PRO: Random. All dungeons, may they be overworld or underground - will be randomized and deep. This encourages exploration and replayability. I plan some dungeons to be like 50 floors deep, this is only possible thanks to the random generation algorithm Im using.

• PRO: Items. There will be tons of items, literally tons of them. Not just weapons and armor but also ingredients, tools, materials, potions, food - everythings.

• PRO: Crafting. Besides buying you will be able to craft almost every item in the game by yourself.

• PRO: Survival. Your characters will need to eat, drink and rest. You will suffer from starvation if you don't. Combat will also exhaust your stamina.

• PRO: Party Sculpting. You start with 1 character and can hire more. You can also dismiss them again. You meet more classes throughout the game and can exchange members until you find your ideal group.

• PRO: Skills. Besides crafting there will be lots of skills, both for combat and peaceful skills as well. This includes haggling, fishing, gathering and many more.

• PRO: Scalability. Finally, all dungeons will scale with your parties level. This means: no matter when you visit a dungeon, there will always be a challenge. No "newbie only" dungeon. Visit the old tower at lvl 1? No problem. Visit the ogre cave at lvl 32? OK. Vice-versa? Do as you wish!

Okay, thats all for today. Realm of Legends is a very ambitious project, but im doing without some very time-consuming features other games focus on. All in all this is a learning experience to me and: there is no deadline, I dont think this game will be finished anytime soon.

It might not be the game for everybody, but if you ask me - it's gonna be a damn cool concept!

yours
-Malagar