DarkRPG Progress: The Seaside Grotto & Characters You Meet

Greetings, one and all!

I've got a progress update to share on the DarkRPG project + tantalizing WIP screenshots. Enjoy!

What have I been working on?

• Character-specific saves: It occurred to me that in a game such as DarkRPG project, where multiple playthroughs are encouraged while playing as different characters, that I really should have a way for those character-specific saves to be automatically organized and separated for players. That meant the existing system used for Sanctuary in Time, in which all save files were automatically dropped in the same directory, just would not do. So, I got to work, and I'm quite happy with the results.Now, each time you create a character for DarkRPG, a new directory is automatically created in the SAVES folder just for that character. All auto & manual saves will be deposited there by default. And because the titles for these character folders are time stamped (year-month-day_hour:minute:second), you can even create multiple characters with the exact same name and still get different directories for managing each one.

• Narrative Hubs: What are they? The current idea is to build the world of DarkRPG as a series of "narrative hubs." These are essentially physical locations in the game world that present you with a banner image at the top (to give a general idea of what the area looks like), text that names & describes that area, and then information about things you notice upon entering that locale (which may change from one visit to the next). At the very bottom, you get choices for how to interact with those various points of interest.

  • You can approach & interact with characters found present.

  • You can investigate points of interest.

  • You can travel to adjacent areas that may connect to this area.

• The Seaside Grotto: The Seaside Grotto is the first of these narrative hubs I'm working on, and it's also the first area players will encounter when they follow the main story. Through a series of unfortunate events, the player finds themselves washed ashore in the Seaside Grotto following a shipwreck, and now must get their bearings, figure out where they are, and press forward in their efforts to help a sibling in danger.
  The Seaside Grotto is a sand-lined divot along an otherwise jungle-encrusted shore, in a dark and largely unexplored land that holds untold mysteries. Here the player can engage in various interactions, which include approaching a deformed scavenger who's gleefully scrounging through the washed-up wreckage, and speaking to a fit-looking native woman who has a rather imperious manner.

• Dynamic, branching dialogues: In the course of working on the dialogue interactions for these new characters (Jacoby the Scavenger and Brianna of the Soaring Cliffs), I've redesigned how dialogue interactions work in a manner that makes creating & managing more complex, branching dialogues an easier task. You'll find that when you talk to these characters, their dialogue options will dynamically expand and contract to open up new topics for exploring while removing old topics already answered. These characters also recognize whether it's the first time they're speaking to you or a subsequent encounter and react accordingly.

 (See the native woman "Brianna of the Soaring Cliffs" in the screenshot above. My goodness, she does seem to remind me of someone. But who? Could it be Brianna Morgyn, star of Sanctuary in Time, returning to play a different role in DarkRPG? Or perhaps that's merely a coincidence, and this "Brianna of the Soaring Cliffs" is an entirely different personage.)

 (See "Jacoby the Scavenger" in the screenshot above, a simple-minded and slightly deformed man who lives along the shore of the Seaside Grotto.)

• Romanceable companions: Both Jacoby and Brianna are planned to be recruitable characters, who can join the player on their adventures, help them out in fights, and even be romanced (should the player desire it). And being an adult game, DarkRPG will also support a full range of romantic and erotic options, with both explicit text and still images to accompany those interactions.
  Because the player's character can be male, female, or shades in between, all such romanceable companions are being designed from the ground up to be functionally bi-sexual. So, no matter what kind of character you create, if you decide to pursue romance with a partner, they'll be potentially open to the prospect. (Gay, lesbian, and straight sex will be fully supported, with all such opportunities dependent on player choice.)

But there's more to come...

In fact, I've already started work on the very beginnings of a new, more sophisticated & dynamic sex system to be used for this game. But I'll share more details on that in a future update...

So, what do you all think? Do you like the idea of narrative hubs, and how dialogue interactions with characters look so far? And who's your favorite companion of the two revealed today, the simple-minded but strong Jacoby, or the imperious native girl Brianna? Let me know in the comments below, but remember...

Above all else, have fun!

Max (Novus Operandi)