ID:117003
 
I'm going to try a new format in these 'updates/progress' posts by including accomplished goals, to-do lists and some Q/A.


Things added: Ranged-Combat, Stacking-System, Inventory-Interface, Item-Identification, Enhanced-Item-Generation.

Still on To-Do: Spell-Books, Potions, Casting Spells off Items.


Open-Questions for All:
A. Should I add in a 'kick' feature? (Or more odd commands)I'm trying to keep things pretty streamlined but a kick command (is common in rogue-likes) and I got the cool idea that kicking things will activate any spell from enchanted footwear. Kicking is also usually used to break down locked doors or off-hand fighting.

B. How does permanent death sound? Permanent deaths are a given on most rogue-likes, however as 'RPG' is multi-player upon death you float around as your ghost (still capable of leveling and being killed, if killed as a ghost your stuck to your body) and necromancy. So even when you die you can still have fun.



Summary of things added:

Enhanced-Item-Generation: Previously all items were set with a random-on-creation color, that was changed a tad bit. Now when the world starts each material type is set with 3 random colors each and any item created as that material will be given 1 of those colors. (Any item that has more than 1 color is given one of the two remaining colors)

Ranged-Combat & Stacking-System: The system works well, hitting space fires the missile after checking if your holding the required weapon to fire it. Throwing Stars/Knives require no weapon which frees up a hand slot for a sword/shield etc.
The stacking system makes picking up arrows add them to a like pile even a pile in use.


Inventory-Interface & Item-Identification:
I then spent a while thinking how to handle not only inventory interface but also how identifying items would work. I settled on items' identities being per person (which means just cause A knows what kind of sword it is B won't).

All traits are handled on a list and if seen before are handled as such. Which means when you pick up a Silk Robe you'll know what Silk looks/feels like and will identify what a Silk Cap is.

The interface gave me some trouble in terms of space and layout so I re-sized the play window a bit. It's still the same size but the icons are a bit smaller which gives you more view range.

Kicking: Yes
Permanent Death: Because it's multiplayer, no.

Looks very interesting, I like how it's coming along.
Good luck. (:
Another featured article. Keep up the amazing work. Imma fan!
Related or not, I wrote a post on permanent death in a persistent world. Hopefully it isn't too hard to follow and helps your thoughts!
While I haven't read your article yet the key points I glanced at the beginning fall inline with what I have/going to set up.

Ghosts in-game would be able to level-up and still go through the dungeon; and that's if your not revived by an item or a fellow player. Ghosts are also invisible but won't register high-scores.