Day 4: Blazing a Trail

I’m really happy with my progress for this day. It wasn’t everything I wanted done, but it helped make the concepts much more interesting and real. Plus, I got to experiment with a few things I hadn’t done before, and that was great to see.

Day 4

I started off tweaking the UI. I decided this year to provide more information to players about what’s happening mechanically. In previous years, I’ve tried to be mysterious, but because people play a 7DRL entry for so little time, they often leave confused instead.

I added some features to the Spell casting dialog which tell you when a spell is valid (it gets an MP cost), as well as what the words you’ve entered actually mean. It only does this after you have used the word at least once, though, to preserve a bit of mystery.

I was also playing around with colors and how the game space is presented. Rearranged the HP and MP gauges as well as added some other hints to the UI. Overall, I think this layout is an improvement.

After that, I decided to start tackling environmental systems. I added generators for small lakes/puddles/ponds, which generate pretty nicely. Moving through them slows you down, allowing other things to catch up to you or take potshots. Dangerous place to be, usually.

I also added grass patches, which are flammable. Using a fire spell on a patch of grass with ignite it, and it’ll burn for a bit before going out. If you happen to be standing there… you also start to burn, taking damage every turn for a bit.

Adding in all the different interactions around fire was really fun and satisfying. You can use water spells (which I also added) in order to put out the fire, and yourself, or you can walk into the ponds to do the same.

It’s easy to get lost in working through all of the possibilities, but there’s still a lot to do.

Next Steps

I’d like to continue adding basic spells for all the elements (Air, Water and Earth), as well as implementing the education systems needed to teach the player words in their lexicon.

I have a feeling that’s all I’ll be able to manage today. Wish me luck!

I’ve been streaming my development on Twitch over the past couple days and it’s been really fun and helpful. I’d love it if more folks tuned in, if just to listen to my sweet keyboard ASMR sounds! See you there!