Hey everyone!
Another month of development ends and I want to give you an update about the things I've been working on.
Before we get to the actual new game content featuring the titular rats and ferrets, let's take a look at some new and updated systems.
Game Modes
As mentioned last month I spent some thoughts on how to implement difficulty levels. I'm happy that I already managed to implement a first version of this feature upon starting a new game.
As you can see there will be 3 game modes in total: Relaxed, Adventure and Challenge.
Relaxed: You start with more health, deal more damage, and receive significantly more experience points.
Adventure: This is basically the original experience without modifiers.
Challenge: Wont be available any time soon, but I'm open for ideas here! Maybe this introduces some kind of death penalty as well.
Multiple Save Slots
While working on the new game modes I figured it would be also a good time to finally implement support of multiple save slots. So now when you select "New Game" from the main menu it will automatically create a new savegame and you can then select the slot when you "Continue".
Improved Introduction & Help Menu
Another important feature on my feedback list was the overhaul of the in-game introduction.
I wanted to add something that is as unobtrusive as possible but also gives players with not much experience in this genre a good foundation to learn the various mechanics.
So I added a small tutorial window at the side of the screen that asks if you want to learn more about a specific topic. Those tutorials pop up upon specific events in the game. I think it's about 3-4 times, so not too much, but enough that every player should be able to see there's an in-game help menu with various topics that they can look into if they have questions about how the game works.
Of course there's much room for more help content in the future, but as it stands now I think it's a good starting point.
I'm very confident that the new help menu along with the Relaxed game mode ensures that more players will have a great experience no matter where they are coming from.
Immerfurt - Of Rats & Ferrets
Now for some of the new content I'm still working on, but I want to show you what I've come up with so far.
Immerfurt is the next big settlement in the southern part of the map. Rats and ferrets both try to make it a place of prosperity, trade and crafts.
However, both tribes are not always completely united in their worldview, which increasingly leads to conflicts between the business-minded rats and the craft-skilled ferrets.
Immerfurt is also the home of two guilds that the player can join:
The Adventurer's Guild and the Mages' Guild.
Both offer a questline with some unique rewards, but this will be further developed during the Early Access phase and I'll share more info once the time is right :)
Player Stash Container
Last but not least, I also added a special, persisted chest for you, where all "too good to be sold" items can go in!
That's all for this busy month! I hope you like the new additions!
If you want to learn more about upcoming features, you're very welcome to join our growing Discord server. I'm posting there frequently about development or discuss new ideas. I'd love to see you around :)
Until next time, take care!
Felix