Today’s Music Choice
“Here’s to Never Standing Alone” – a more positive social/cutscene theme, and another repeat. I’ll have a new piece to share next time. Probably.
Character Introduction: Independent Allies
All character designs and artwork by Bianca Augusta.
Aside from your starting allies, two more characters will join up early on in the story to bring you their own unique skills and services. They will remain loyal to your party regardless of your starting faction choice, and have their own social and story segments just like any other (non-custom) ally.
On the left is Moke Kelembe, a carnavin dweller employed by the Grand Continental Leadership as a chemist and researcher. A quiet and reserved gentleman, Moke was adopted and raised by a drekoran family from a young age, due to the long-persisting carnavin superstition that children born with black fur are bad luck. This upbringing blessed him with a strong work ethic and interest in some kinds of technology, as well as the natural magical affinity seen in most carnavin. Now, he works in a government-funded laboratory in Sunbreak, researching natural and artificial chemicals and developing explosives and biological weapons for government peacekeeping.
Moke is a recurring character of mine, who always appears in some form (or under a different name) in all of my games. His outfit is similar, but his personality this time is a little more reserved and, at the same time, a bit eccentric. His starting class is the miasmatist.
And on the right is Mahk Sikohlon, a drekoran spacefarer, and heir to the Sikohlon family fortune. The Sikohlon were an ancient cult of pacifistic drekoran living outside of Sevurox for hundreds of years. During the First Breach – the rocket launch and establishment of the first space colony – the Sikohlon participated en masse, moving their entire population to the stars in hopes of finding a new existence not tainted by war or historical strife. Over time, though, the Sikohlon broke away from the other spacefarer colonies to form their own collective, and as their technological prowess grew at an accelerated rate, they gradually lost sight of their original tenets. Their technology eventually turned to weapon crafting; first, for self-defense, but over time, as a way to generate wealth while arming the other spacefarer factions, especially the Inter-Space Operations security force.
Mahk himself is haughty and proud of his heritage, and comes to Cradle independently when word of strife between the dwellers and spacefarers reaches him. Despite his sheltered upbringing, he fares decently well on the battlefield, and brings his weapon-building prowess to the Cradle Project. But, did he return to the surface to expand his business, or is he here for another reason?
Mahk first appeared in my older series of games, and is very similar to his original incarnation in design and personality. He was pretty popular, though, so I’m glad to have him back. His starting class is the challenger.
That’s it for the “main” cast of Eden’s Last Sunrise. There are several more characters who will join (or oppose) you based on your story path, but they will have to remain a surprise. You’ll get to meet them in the game itself.
Progress Report
It hasn’t quite been a week since my last update, but I finished a couple of small milestones in the meantime.
The big addition is the weapon crafting system, though it’s more like “weapon upgrading.” A work-in-progress screenshot is on the left. It’s pretty simple: take your weapon, add in some materials and cash, and get an upgraded version right away. I wanted to keep weapon progression simple, and not get too deeply into things like modular upgrades (adding a different muzzle/ammo clip/whatever). You’ll gather quite a few weapons in the game, and many are already specialized without needing an additional level of customization to fuss over, so I think a simplified upgrade system will be less of a headache.
Materials come from many sources: in battle, as battle/mission rewards, and even some social events. “Loot” also drops from downed enemies in battle, appearing as a little pickup in the square where they fell. You have about one round of turns to move an ally onto that square to pick up the loot before it decays and disappears. This should add a fun little risk/reward element in the heat of battle. (Note that winning the battle means you automatically gather up and loot that’s still out on the field, so you don’t need to worry about losing them).
Anyway, weapon crafting works! It unlocks a short time into the main game (when you recruit Mahk, naturally), so you’re not thrown into it immediately. Most weapons have 5 upgrade levels. Consumables like health kits can be upgraded too, increasing their potency and number of uses per battle.
This week, I’m finishing up the post-battle reward screen. Battles grant experience, skill experience, class mastery, and loot/equipment, and I’m working on the screens that show all this to the player. Once that’s working, I’m going to start on a new battle map using some of the new art assets I’ve acquired, so I’ll be able to show that soon. Once I’ve got a tight little game loop built for testing, I’ll start working on the actual game content. All the templates and pieces are in place, as well as the scene-to-scene and UI skeletal logic. It’s almost time to put some meat on those bones.
