Thursday Inventories

Tune In For A New Feature

As promised on Wednesday, I have a new feature of Reloaded to reveal. It is in the very early stages graphically, but functionality it is pretty cool.  Rather than the simple pick-up, throw, drop feature of the current FPSC engine, a new  inventory system will be added to allow collection of multiple items and the ability to store, share and even steal items within the game.

This first shot shows the inventory panel opened for the player after he collected three items from the level.  Each item has a thumbnail, description, weight and size properties which will confine how much you can carry at any one time.  As I said, the artwork is programmer art, and I have now passed this prototype to our 2D artist to work his magic!

Here you can see our intrepid player pickpocket the contents of the Thug character.  The same system will be used to conduct trade with Non-Player-Characters and everything in between. Scripts will ensure that dodgy trades or foul play (like the character discovering he is being pick-pocketed  will result in further gaming fun!

And no RPG style game would be complete without opening treasure chests, cupboards, draws and other storage containers, choc full of lovely items!

With the addition of inventories for players, characters and in-game objects the games you can create open up in new and exciting ways.  Once we have some mock-ups of the final inventory panel artwork, I will share with you so we can have a chat about which one is best.

Explosion Take Two

For those who did not see the improved explosion capture from Rick, I have posted it in my blog today (without the stutter) so you can see where we are. Don't worry about the background, it was an old level taken from FPSC X9 and does not reflect the artwork that will comprise the Reloaded scenes.  You are also looking at the explosion without any shading which will blend the effect with the rest of the scene to make it look highly polished.

Signing Off

The storm last week nearly ripped a 1000V line out the wall of my house and it's pretty dangerous right now. The engineer is replacing it as I type so I might lose power any minute. Going to sign off now just in case I don't come back :) Catch you Friday!!