Posted February 05, 2019 by JonKeller
#gamemaker #rts #sim #rpg #game design #arclands #roguelike #roguelite
Hey there! Today I'd like to talk about what you can expect from some of the more RPG inspired elements of Arclands.
There are two ways to lose in Arclands - either your main building gets destroyed or your citizens grow so unhappy that they leave. In a regular city building game you'd have nothing to carry over to your new city - that always struck me as a little disappointing. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to give Arclands more RPG elements - mainly a main character that grows stronger with you. This mechanic obviously has been popularized by modern roguelikes which make failing part of the fun - but Arclands is similarily inspired by older hero driven RTS games like Warlords Battlecry and Spellforce.
Depending on how well you did (like how big your city was, how many rare artefacts you've found...), you get benefits for your next try. You can carry over some of your most loyal citizens, salvage rare resources and get EXP for leveling up. This serves two functions: the early game becomes shorter, so you don't have to invest a lot of time to get to where you once were, and you become stronger, so you can progress even further.
Character growth is very important to Arclands - I really want to capture the feeling of getting stronger with each try. That's why I'm also implementing a diverse list of spells you can learn to defend your city better and be more likely to survive exploring dangerous places. Some may be learned by simply leveling up and choosing on a skill tree, others can only be found hidden in the wilderness. Here's a cute little meteor spell for you:
Well, that's it for now. Hope this was interesting to you - see ya'll next time. :)
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