A downloadable game

Pixel Town (working title) is the reason I got into game programming. It's an idea I've had floating around in my head for years and the desire to see it made real is what keeps me going! I first tried to adapt it into a system for Dungeons and Dragons but it wasn't very effective there. Now that I've got a few games under my belt, I've begun work on this dream project!

Here are the main mechanics, roughly outlined:

1) Town simulation

This part of the game is turn based alternating between day and night. You have a pool of mana points that refill every turn that you can use to conjure an army of wisp workers to construct things. Resource management is not a focus of the experience (no wood, stone, etc. to gather before building). It is assumed the workers are able to scavenge or conjure up whatever materials and tools are needed.

Heroes and NPCs will stumble upon your town, arriving in the day and leaving at night. If you build lodging for them and provide a pleasant enough experience, they may stay overnight or longer. They will visit the town to buy and sell items needed for their adventures. Of course, you'll get a cut in the form of taxes (rate not adjustable).

You can hire these visiting heroes using the gold you earn from taxes to accomplish tasks beyond the borders of your magical town. Once a hero accepts the quest they will begin their journey to the location, possibly taking a few turns. When they arrive you may choose to cast the "Mind control" spell and take control of their actions in the 2D platformer portion of the game, otherwise they determine their success or failure of the quest semi-randomly - a daunting proposition since failure could spell their doom!

2) Classic 2D platformer action

The hero arrives in a short, procedurally generated 2D combat-focused platformer experience similar to early NES Castlevania. You play as the hero and get abilities related to whatever weapon they bought in your town and their class. Their stats similarly effect their gameplay (ex. edge grabbing if they have enough STR, double jump if they have enough DEX, etc.). 

The hero will often have a stated goal given when they accept the quest such as finding a specific thing or killing a specific enemy. The player may choose to abandon the quest at any time, allowing the hero to escape with their life intact. This may be preferable, since letting the hero's health points get to 0 could mean they don't survive and are lost forever! Don't worry though, there are plenty more heroes out there! If you're truly attached to the hero and have a temple built in town, resurrection though divine intervention is an option.

3) Character management

While building the town and 2D action platforming are fun (hopefully, anyway), the main focus of the game will be managing the various needs and desires of the heroes and NPCs who visit the town. They will offer suggestions or requests about how they town should be laid out or what it should contain. Fulfilling these requests will make them happy, meaning they will stay longer and return to town more often in the future. Sometimes the requests could conflict with other visitors requests, or just not be easily feasible, requiring the player to make difficult choices and pick favorites.

If the character likes you and your town enough, and there is space for them, they may ask to become a permanent resident. Depending on their skills, this could provide a valuable improvement to the town. For example: blacksmiths can provide more and better items for sale, bartenders make visitors happy, clerics can return dead heroes to life, enchanters can imbue weapons with a temporary boost, etc.

The characters in this world have strong and varied personalities and using that information well is a large part of the game. Through your interactions with them you'll eventually discover their traits, or, if you're impatient, simply use some of your mana to cast a spell to figure out exactly who you're dealing with. Some characters that might visit the town:

- A do-gooder who accepts quests for cheap as long as the objective is to help the innocent. Loves to complain about anyone else in town who isn't a paragon of good like them.

-A greedy thief who occasionally manages to steal gold from you and other visitors. They seem desperate for money, though, so they should accept any job, no matter the challenge, as long as the price is good.

- A power hungry min-maxxer who will only come to your town if there is an enchanter. They'll accept any job if there is the promise of a powerful magic item for them. They will leave immediately if there are no quests and nothing to buy.

-A gossip who loves to talk to you about other visitors. Super helpful if you can wade through all the useless details they somehow found interesting enough to tell you.

And sooo many more! I hope you are excited for the game and follow me for more updates.

Here are some of the more recent videos of prototyping gameplay.




More information

Development log

Comments

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ThomasFGER320 days ago

especially interested in "Town Sim"

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ThomasFGER320 days ago

Very cool

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