Sand Alpha 0.6.0

Big changes in this update. I've added stats, overhauled the exploration food and water system, added food items, and more. So lets get in to all the changes.

Changes to the Player:

• I removed the player upgrade object and all investment in that will not count towards anything anymore (sorry)
• The player now has 5 stats that affect different aspects.
  • MIGHT - leveled through using melee weapons; affects melee damage and shield/blocking amount
  • INTELLECT - leveled through crafting and a little through collecting; affects crafting levels and affixes [not yet implemented]
  • GUILE - leveled through range combat and stealth; effects ranged damage 
  • HEALTH - level through taking damage and using stamina (running/dashing); effects max health and stamina 
  • TECH - level through using tech mods and building; effects tech mods and available energy for mods [not yet implemented]

NEW INVENTORY UI

• Mods will be TECH powers that the player can use [not yet implemented]
• I am still adjusting the leveling process, but you should get lots of levels early on and gain the slower as you progress.
• The max level for any skill is 100, but I don't expect anyone really to get there.
• Blocking is changed. Instead of blocking 3 hits and then slowly recharging; your blocking now depends on the damaged received. So you start of with 6 blocking HP and this levels up depending on your MIGHT skill. The blocking regen rate should be similar then before. This change was to make melee viable in the 'end game'.

 
BLOCKING UI

Added Gear and Food Items

Because I removed the player upgrades item/menu I had to have a way to substitute for those things stats didn't cover. So I've added several passive items to account for things like ammo count and exploration water.

• Ammo Pouch - You can create an ammo pouch that you can keep in your inventory (you can have more then one) that will increase all weapon max ammo by 3 clips [ex shotgun hold 5 so the increase would be 15]. This is crafted in the tool workbench. I plan on making several tiers of this item and possible 'gun specific' ones (think quiver).
• Canteen - This item replaces the exploration water. Now instead of having a separate item you have to keep track of; moving on the map now uses the water in your inventory. The issue is your inventory is separate from your base inventory. The canteen solves that problem. For every canteen in your inventory you'll get 10 water added to your personal inventory when you leave your base. When you return from exploring that water will NOT be added back in to your base inventory. This also removes the need to make water from the tent menu. Also I think 3 tiers of this item would be good (flask, canteen, water skin).
• Dowsing rod - This item will help you find water (cactus only right now) in the wasteland. It gives you a direction to the nearest water source. Crafted from the tool work bench for 'very' cheap.

THE DOWSING ROD FOUND WATER!

• Food Items - I've added 4 food items that can be crafted: trail mix, roasted corn, roasted meat, and soup. Each item has a limited number of uses and heals a certain percentage of health over a long period of time. This can be crafted at the NEW stove item.
• Stove - This is not a gear item but it is a buildable item that produces food items. I will probably make a cooking fire item that can cook only a few things, but this will work for now.

STOVE BUILDABLE

Changes to the Starting Gear/Map:

• I've added a stove to the starting house and moved the crates in the corner to outside the house.
• Now the player starts with a canteen in their inventory. This will give you 10 water free when you leave your base to explore.
• Also fixed the bug where people started the game to a blank map. It took me awhile to find this bug. The issue was created when people started the game WITHOUT unzipping it. Even if you un-zipped it later the old campstarter.ini file would be blank and give you a blank map. I now have the game delete the campstarter.ini file every time it is run and reload the defaulted one.

UI Changes

• Trying to make the UI look better I've been experimenting with button styles and colors. None of these are close to final.
• 'Re-made' the inventory screen to add the display of stats. Also shrunk it down some.
• Changed the way some of the text looked.
• Changed the blocking UI (see above in 'Changes to the Player') to be bigger and display the blocking HP

===WHAT I AM WORKING ON NEXT===

So I am still mulling this around in my head if I want to add it. That is injuries (on the flip side would be mutations). So the idea would be if you took damage and you HP is lower then 50% you have a chance to injury yourself. Injuries would last even after death. Healing them should be expensive or hard.

• Head - Chance to Fumble on Attack; A fumble state makes the player not be able to attack
• Eyes - Vision impairment OR lowered fire speed
• Chest - Lowered Max Health
• Abdomen - Lowered Max Stamina
• Arms - Melee damaged lowered
• Hands - Decreased Ranged Damage
• Leg - Lowered Stamina regen
• Foot - Lowered base move speed

• Injuries can happen when taking damage while less then 50% health
• Injuries can only be cured by sleeping (50% chance) or using bandages (10%) or First Aid Kit (25%)
• injuries can have different severities (superficial minor major critical)
• Injuries start off superficial but if the body part gets injured again it moves up in severity.
• Injuries would last even after death.

The next thing I really need to do is work on Mods/science powers. I am thinking E.D.I.E. will gift you a suit that allows you to do a variety of sand like powers. Like harden sand to make a temporary wall or make a sand blast wave stunning enemies. Mods will either have cooldowns or use 'suit power' that will regenerate (or can be repowered with batteries) or maybe a combo of both.

After that I will make crafted items have stat modifiers and tier levels. I will most like also add more weapons.

Once all that is in, I will fill comfortable saying the game is feature complete. I could then start focusing on adding content, but will most likely transition from Alpha to Beta (which most likely will involve Kickstarter and STEAM EA).

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