Taking Global Inventory

I find that I don't like to make posts without fancy pictures, but at the same time I don't like to let as much time pass between posts as has the past couple weeks. I did have a hard couple weeks with a string of headaches as the seasons and weather changed drastically here in Japan, but I have also made important progress on parts of Solace Crafting.

Originally I was just reworking the User Interface (UI) though to get it where I want it, for now, I needed to improve the global inventory control system. That being how world items, player items, items left in facilities, storage chests, loot chests, etc. are all managed.

Inventory is not a big deal when you are simply moving things from A to B, but in Solace Crafting we actually have quite a few systems that required quite a bit mode code to get working properly. For one, as shown in the attached screenshot inventory has special slots for raw resources which are upgradeable both in total slots available as well as stack size per slot. These are part of the "Void Storage" system which is important to streamlining resource gathering throughout the Multiverse of Solace Crafting.

The other major user of Void Storage are Dimension Crystals which are player built facilities that let us teleport between locations we deem important. Any dimension crystal can be equipped with void slots for resource storage allowing the transfer of resources between locations as well as remote access for crafting facilities within range. Normally just storing the items on the gameobject itself would be enough, but this way we can track and make sense of where all of our items are throughout the Multiverse.

Now that the inventory system is fully equipped and running well, I have the tools to make persistent objects anywhere in any world. In pregenerated worlds this wouldn't be a problem, but in Solace Crafting we are free to travel thousands of kilometers making the programmed destruction and respawning of everything in the Multiverse necessary.

As I polish some final steps in the crafting UI I'm moving more and more into polishing up the skill system. Soon I'll have my hands on Terrain Composer 2 and then we'll be getting ready for Kickstarter with the dream of developing full-time!

Environment, Health, and Skills

The User Interface (UI) for Solace Crafting has gone through many different stages of evolution. Recently it has merged into a single cleanly divided overlay. Initially I thought it best to have multiple windows that were movable letting players customize, but to be honest it was a hassle Now as a single static overlay with different tabs things are now much more clear, consistent, and concise.

While implementing the new UI I also added in satiation, hydration, nutrition, and temperature. Each of these four systems is controlled by several different factors, for example when a player is too hot, diseased, or poisoned, their hydration decreases faster, though the end result is displayed with a simple percentage and colorbar.

Most of the weather mechanics are in a flowing freely. They can mix and match a wide variety of stages from hurricanes to monsoons, heatwaves to cold fronts, etcetera. The minimum and maximum
rain or snow, wind, and temperatures are decided by the weather stage, but then move independently making no ten minutes of weather the same.



Temperature becomes very important to survival, though starting out doesn't need to be bothered with much. Come first nightfall you might freeze to death if you're still not wearing anything at all, but that can also be averted with a warm camp fire. In Solace Crafting we manage body temperature whose lengthy exposure to cold or heat will push the player past their limits but skin temperature is handled separately. Thus even a naked player could warm up by a fire enough to gather for a while out in the cold rather than having to sit by the fire until sunrise. Player core temperature and the limits we are capable of withstanding can be managed with armor, as well as special clothing known as underwear, which we'll get into in the future.

In other news, the skill system has gone under a bit of evolution. Rather than creating a skill for everything, I've cut the total number of skills in three, and added related upgrades to almost all skills. Thus a shield bash doesn't become obsolete when shield slam becomes available, instead a chance to stun can now be added onto the shield bash. Further points can be spent to increase the damage, or the stun chance, with a percentage of each point being shared with all related upgrades. This maintains the high level of class customization while keeping the hotbar from getting too cluttered.

I also created a couple monsters and played with a lot of animations and animators, but I'll polish them a thousand fold before we go into that ;p

I'll post more screenshots soon!