Okay, so I've been putting off posting an actual thread about my game, or even showing it off, for a very long time. I think I now have enough done that I can start posting about it.
This is an isometric RPG that I've been working on for about 1 and a half years. Of course, a lot of that time was also spent learning 3d, learning C2, and learning about game design. I also took a couple short breaks when I reached sticking points to try some quick prototypes. I still have a long way to go. I need to build the levels and create some more enemies, but most of the gameplay is in place. Since the preview time is already about 45 seconds, I decided to hold off building any more and just focused on gameplay features for a while. Soon, I'll be building out the rest of the game.
The target platform is PC. I hope to get it on Steam eventually.
Anyway, here is what I have to show.
This is just a test area. I plan on building a full castle with at least 3 or 4 levels plus 1 or 2 underground areas. Each room will be small, but I plan on mixing it up with different sizes or layouts for the rooms, different enemy placement, and whatever else when I get to that stage. It'll be sort of an "open world" castle. You can go between rooms as you please or seek alternate paths.
You can spend skill points at any time. They can also be saved for later. You will need a good amount of skill points to beat some of the enemies in the game. Skill points either improve your abilities with weapons or your overall strength and health. As I get more done, some of this may be modified for game balance purposes, but so far it works pretty well.
Combat relies on hit rolls. Your attacks are compared to a 1d10 die which rolls 1 through 10. Your skill with a weapon can be from 1 to 10. If your skill is equal or higher the the computer roll, you successfully hit the enemy. I have it started at 3 which hits 30% of the time. It can be increased to 10 to hit 100% of the time. Enemy attacks roll from 1-15 or 1-12 depending on the enemy and roll against your agility. If your agility is equal or higher, they miss.
Loot will be random. I use functions to determine what loot you get from the containers or whatnot. Whether the enemies will drop something has yet to be decided. Everything you do gives skill points so you can level up. Objects that you can interact with will be highlighted in yellow. This was partially inspired by Deus Ex. I also wanted some randomness since this game was originally meant to be a full rogue-like, but deviated slightly. I am still probably going to feature some rogue-like aspects though such as permadeath.
I have done a lot of work to make a nice HUD for the game. I think I have redesigned it about a dozen times by now, not to mention small tweaks or experiments. I'm finally happy with it, though of course, I may or may not revise or improve it as time as goes on.
The goal of the game right now is to collect loot. Since you are a thief character, it seemed like a good goal. I may let the player choose the goal amount or whatnot. It just depends.
I chose a thief because it had the most varied skills. You can attack at close range, hide in the shadows, set traps, use a bow, pick locks, and whatever else I add before it's done. I didn't want the game to be about straight combat. The enemies do not attack right away. If you get close or do something suspicious, however, they will come after you. I made it this way so you could decide if it's worth attacking a difficult enemy or bypassing him.
The game is pre-rendered 3d. I use Modo and Zbrush. I also use Photoshop for the HUD. I render everything on different layers. For example the castle floor, back wall, and containers are all on one layer since they are rendered together. The front wall is on a higher layer so it always appears in front of the characters. The characters themselves and any miscellaneous objects will use z-order sorting. Characters are rendered in 8 directions. So, each animation has 8 variations. I explain more about this in the video below.
I built most everything from scratch. I am using my own character models, my own animation rig, my own levels, icons, portraits, and eventually sound. This has been a solo project.
Here is a video I made. It lasts about 18 minutes. I explain quite a bit about the game. Please do note that this is a very "casual" recording. So, forgive the occasional "um" or "you know" that sneaked in. I was a bit tired when I recorded it... <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8-)" title="Cool"> (oh and try to watch it at 60fps in Chrome if you can).
Anyway, I most likely forgot to mention something, but the game still has plenty of time left before it's done, so I'm sure there will be plenty of updates.
I'm fairly new to game design, but it seemed like it would be something I would be good at. Technically, I'm an artist. That's why I chose C2. This game is the first one that I am taking to completion. I've been reading books and studying everything I can to make sure I get started off on the right path in game design.
Update 8/22/15
New screens. (see page 3 for details)
Update: 9/3/2015 New video!