A Look Into Chapter 2

So now's the point where I let you look at how it's going so far.

The truth is, surprisingly well! Visually there's still a lot of work to be done (the map is missing a LOT) but it's not too far off from the mockups I put together, which pleases me. Ultimately the final UI is going to be a little busier than I initially hoped but I actually prefer it to having the verbs visible as UI elements.

• There is a maximum of three enemies per fight. I'm not willing to budge on this and quite frankly I may even dial it down, the combat is pretty brutal as is even with fights maxing out at two currently. I either need to buff the player or nerf the enemies, I haven't figured out which yet.
• Not all party members will combat-oriented. A few will be damage dealers but they will all have different roles; healer, support etc. Again, I'm trying to keep the bones of this thing as simple as possible so I'm not trying to have a hundred different floating point calculations going on at once.
• Fight backgrounds are largely going to be based off of the backgrounds of SNK games. Expect cheering crowds as you blast dudes in the face. If anything it gives the game an unexpected Death Wish 3 vibe, which I'm okay with. Oh, and the blimp is animated. I plan on adding some searchlights to it at some point.
• The majority of combat will take place on the map with select encounters occurring during story sequences. In order to reduce player fatigue retreating will usually only be an option during map fights and will be unavailable during story fights. The retreat calculation is essentially weighted 60/40 in favor of the player, so more often than not retreat will be successful. It is still random, so there is always a possibility of failing three/four/five retreats in a row but I've made it less likely. There will also be an NPC ally whose passive will be reducing the possibility of combat encounters/providing the player the option of fighting or evading the encounter altogether.

Now let's touch on the map.

Go ahead. Take it in. It's ugly. Take comfort in the fact that this isn't the final map and only the bones of it. All of the structures will be drawn over and animated and there will be visible traffic. Event cards like these will trigger randomly (or not-so randomly if certain conditions are met/not met) as the player walks around the map and follow the player for a set amount of time before disappearing. Some of them, like this one, will lead to combat encounters. Some are merely for world-building, others act as traveling merchants. The player can ask around about the locations for certain stores as they open up more of the map, or they can walk around blind until they stumble upon them. As of now if you get within roughly a block of an unidentified store it will be identified and you will automatically enter it the first time. You have your usual fare: the hotel you stay at, weapons/armor stores, combat item stores, food vendors. Then there are locations that are part of a story encounter and then remain open for the player to return to (i.e. a homeless encampment, a bar where you can find information/work, and of course....