The unnamed RPG project keeps moving forward!
This week can be summed up as “menus, menus everywhere”, because that is mostly what I have been working on.
Inventory management
There are several challenges:
- Space constraints: mode 0 resolution leaves little horizontal space, and because I wanted the play area to be reasonably large, I don’t have a lot of columns –or rows really, because the wall of text at the bottom–.
- No mouse: because “emulating a mouse” is a terrible idea in a 8-bit microcomputer (see Bloodwych, for example), and using keys like
ifor “inventory” is a problem because the CPC can have different keyboard layouts; so I’m focusing on implementing menus handled with the cursor (or a controller). - User Interfaces are hard: independently of the system you are implementing them in!
- How many inventory slots are enough? I was planning 14, but then the menu looks too dense; so currently I’m on 10 –this is per character–. I thought this wasn’t enough, but then I was playing “Bard’s Tale 2” last night and it supports only 8 slots. Is it 10 good then?
So far I think I’m happy with the results, including a very packed “stats” screen, with everything I wanted to show.
Another thing I have been working on is adding tables with weapons and armors, all from White Box version of D&D, as well as implementing the rules (e.g. Clerics are only allowed to use blunt weapons). The White Box book is very clear, but this required a lot of back and forth and, for example, realising that a Halfling can wear a plate mail armor you found in a chest in some random dungeon: of course it is the right size! But that’s basic D&D, and I have decided to implement those rules –although I’m tempted to add a house rule to require strength over 14 to use heavy items)–.
Now that I can manage inventory and equip things (weapon, armor and shield), I have everything I need to start working on the combat; which is exciting! Finally something that feels RPG.
There is something that has been bothering me, though, and I should probably work on: the text wall. Because the double buffer and reasons, long story short: it is slow. Although I improved it a couple of weeks ago, it needs a rewrite, and finding a way to make it both more versatile (should support things like “X has done Y”) and faster.
Things are looking great, let’s implement the combat!