Kieran
Developer
EQUIPMENT SYSTEM
We've got some pretty cool features planned for our inventory system. We're going to be using a "slotless" inventory system. In practice this means there's over a hundred slots and you don't see them. This allows you to equip many combinations of things, rather than being limited to articles of clothing or armour that cover a fixed part of your character's body.
To make clothes we use a dedicated cloth simulator and other tools we've developed. This allows us to make realistic clothes very quickly and easily. It also allows clothes to change depending on what else you're wearing. For example, long trousers will tuck into boots realistically.
This is just a placeholder but our inventory view will be somewhat similar:
ITEM PROPERTIES
Items will have properties that make sense. You won't be just wearing as many items as possible because they confer stat bonuses. You will wear specific items because they do something useful or because you like the way they look.
Most items you find will be fairly mundane. However a good, well balanced weapon can be a significant upgrade over a crude weapon; an armour made of well tempered plates that interlock cleverly and is well padded can provide a huge advantage in terms of protection, manoeuvrability and even things like insulation. Such items can also carry a high monetary value.
There will however also be a great many items with much more special qualities. These won't be randomly generated items that make no apparent sense, they will have plausible though sometimes quirky qualities, you will get a sense that someone designed them with a purpose. These items will be well hidden and well guarded, they won't just spawn at random. If you defeat an opponent you will be able to take whatever they have equipped and they will have been using this equipment to combat you.
ITEM CUSTOMISATION
You will be able to customise many items in terms of appearance and some even in function. While we have no player crafting planned for an initial release of the game we do hope to include the ability for professional NPC craftsmen to adorn or create items to your specification. You may for example get a Tailor to make a garment with your choice of design, fabrics and colours. What you wear can significantly affect how people perceive you and also provide useful disguises. Dyeing or otherwise colouring items is something you may be able to do yourself. Some rare items will be predisposed to draw power from additional items that may be slotted in or combined with them.
SET ITEMS
There will be items that benefit from being used in unison. Again these will typically not just provide a statistical bonus, they may produce new effects or perhaps not function correctly until worn or used together. Even mundane items may provide an advantage when matched, for example, pieces of armour made from the same smith are likely to meet better providing better coverage and manoeuvrability.
WEAPONS
The game will feature a wide variety of mediaeval weapons including daggers, swords, clubs, maces, axes, spears, halberds, flails, hammers, staves, bows, crossbows and many others including some more exotic examples. Each weapon type and even individual weapons will affect gameplay in a noticeable way, our completely physics driven combat actually gives you a feel for each weapon and how to use it in combat. Different weapons will also feature specific attacks and manoeuvres. We also plan for weapons to realistically lodge and stick into things they hit!
There are only two close quarters weapon skills, Light Weapons and Heavy Weapons. The idea here is that if you are, for example, skilled with a sword some of that skill will also transfer to a mace. Skill milestones however will allow you to specialise in specific weapon types and learn manoeuvres that lend themselves well to particular weapons.
ARMOUR
There will be a vast array of garments and armour following the theme of the European middle ages. Though the game is not historical we are taking many real designs of the era. We will also include more elaborate and fanciful designs than were common in the era but always maintaining the emphasis on realism.
All damage is locational and based on accurate collisions. Armour doesn't just give you a defence value, it will cover parts of your body and protect them in various ways. Armour is cumbersome and the Armour skill will help you manoeuvre better in heavier armours as well take better advantage of the protection it may offer. Different armour and attire may also produce more or less noise introducing stealth concerns.
TRADING AND MONETARY VALUE
Economics will be fairly realistic. Valuable items will be relatively rare and hard to come by. You can pick up anything but it's unlikely anyone will ever want to buy a whole bunch of junk items from you. Collecting money is not necessarily a significant objective for the player. Items will have plausible monetary values, even a valuable item is unlikely to be worth more than a few gold coins. Common transactions would take place using silver or copper coins.
CONSUMABLES
We still don't have anything like a list of consumable items that will be featured in the game but we don't want these to be a fundamental gameplay component. There will certainly be no healing potions or spell scrolls, this is fundamentally a low fantasy, realistic world. Some draughts may slightly quicken your natural recovery from injuries and some items may produce effects which deplete them.
Hopefully this gives you a decent idea of what to expect from items in Sui Generis. You'll have plenty of opportunity to hunt down powerful and curious artefacts, have fun with the realistic combat using a variety of mediaeval weapons and armour and, most importantly, play dress up doll!
We've got some pretty cool features planned for our inventory system. We're going to be using a "slotless" inventory system. In practice this means there's over a hundred slots and you don't see them. This allows you to equip many combinations of things, rather than being limited to articles of clothing or armour that cover a fixed part of your character's body.
To make clothes we use a dedicated cloth simulator and other tools we've developed. This allows us to make realistic clothes very quickly and easily. It also allows clothes to change depending on what else you're wearing. For example, long trousers will tuck into boots realistically.
This is just a placeholder but our inventory view will be somewhat similar:
ITEM PROPERTIES
Items will have properties that make sense. You won't be just wearing as many items as possible because they confer stat bonuses. You will wear specific items because they do something useful or because you like the way they look.
Most items you find will be fairly mundane. However a good, well balanced weapon can be a significant upgrade over a crude weapon; an armour made of well tempered plates that interlock cleverly and is well padded can provide a huge advantage in terms of protection, manoeuvrability and even things like insulation. Such items can also carry a high monetary value.
There will however also be a great many items with much more special qualities. These won't be randomly generated items that make no apparent sense, they will have plausible though sometimes quirky qualities, you will get a sense that someone designed them with a purpose. These items will be well hidden and well guarded, they won't just spawn at random. If you defeat an opponent you will be able to take whatever they have equipped and they will have been using this equipment to combat you.
ITEM CUSTOMISATION
You will be able to customise many items in terms of appearance and some even in function. While we have no player crafting planned for an initial release of the game we do hope to include the ability for professional NPC craftsmen to adorn or create items to your specification. You may for example get a Tailor to make a garment with your choice of design, fabrics and colours. What you wear can significantly affect how people perceive you and also provide useful disguises. Dyeing or otherwise colouring items is something you may be able to do yourself. Some rare items will be predisposed to draw power from additional items that may be slotted in or combined with them.
SET ITEMS
There will be items that benefit from being used in unison. Again these will typically not just provide a statistical bonus, they may produce new effects or perhaps not function correctly until worn or used together. Even mundane items may provide an advantage when matched, for example, pieces of armour made from the same smith are likely to meet better providing better coverage and manoeuvrability.
WEAPONS
The game will feature a wide variety of mediaeval weapons including daggers, swords, clubs, maces, axes, spears, halberds, flails, hammers, staves, bows, crossbows and many others including some more exotic examples. Each weapon type and even individual weapons will affect gameplay in a noticeable way, our completely physics driven combat actually gives you a feel for each weapon and how to use it in combat. Different weapons will also feature specific attacks and manoeuvres. We also plan for weapons to realistically lodge and stick into things they hit!
There are only two close quarters weapon skills, Light Weapons and Heavy Weapons. The idea here is that if you are, for example, skilled with a sword some of that skill will also transfer to a mace. Skill milestones however will allow you to specialise in specific weapon types and learn manoeuvres that lend themselves well to particular weapons.
ARMOUR
There will be a vast array of garments and armour following the theme of the European middle ages. Though the game is not historical we are taking many real designs of the era. We will also include more elaborate and fanciful designs than were common in the era but always maintaining the emphasis on realism.
All damage is locational and based on accurate collisions. Armour doesn't just give you a defence value, it will cover parts of your body and protect them in various ways. Armour is cumbersome and the Armour skill will help you manoeuvre better in heavier armours as well take better advantage of the protection it may offer. Different armour and attire may also produce more or less noise introducing stealth concerns.
TRADING AND MONETARY VALUE
Economics will be fairly realistic. Valuable items will be relatively rare and hard to come by. You can pick up anything but it's unlikely anyone will ever want to buy a whole bunch of junk items from you. Collecting money is not necessarily a significant objective for the player. Items will have plausible monetary values, even a valuable item is unlikely to be worth more than a few gold coins. Common transactions would take place using silver or copper coins.
CONSUMABLES
We still don't have anything like a list of consumable items that will be featured in the game but we don't want these to be a fundamental gameplay component. There will certainly be no healing potions or spell scrolls, this is fundamentally a low fantasy, realistic world. Some draughts may slightly quicken your natural recovery from injuries and some items may produce effects which deplete them.
Hopefully this gives you a decent idea of what to expect from items in Sui Generis. You'll have plenty of opportunity to hunt down powerful and curious artefacts, have fun with the realistic combat using a variety of mediaeval weapons and armour and, most importantly, play dress up doll!
