Late 7DRL start - Bloodlust
Drakalor Tourist
competition. I'm now officially announcing the start of my project,
Bloodlust. The basic premise is that you play as an old vampire,
trapped in a government facility for scientific testing (for military
purposes). Your goal is to use your vampiric abilities to escape the
facility, so that you can rejoin your clan. You'll have to deal with
the intense security on your way out, and overcome the barriers
specifically designed to keep your kind locked in.
Your powers will include the ability to heal by feeding on human
blood, short bursts of superhuman strength and speed, temporary
invisibility, and maybe some other powers, depending on how
development goes.
I'll probably use a BSP-based map generator, since it will more
accurately model a building complex. I'll be using C++ and libtcod
all the way, and possibly tie in some Lua scripting. My biggest goals
for this project are to include dynamic lighting, since it will be
possible to knock out the generator, to leave the place in darkness,
since you can see in the dark. Backup lights (probably red) will go
on, and security will use flashlights and nightvision goggles, until
the backup generator either dies or is destroyed, in which case the
darkness will be even more complete. I think I may add in some sort
of darkness skill, that will shroud the area in darkness even further,
dimming the flashlights.
Also, I'm hoping to introduce stealth-based gameplay, and making
combat very deadly, and something to be avoided until conditions are
just right. Inventory will probably be minimal, with the exception of
keycards. Since silver will be harmful to a vampire, all of the
security will use silver-laced armor and weaponry, so that you can't
loot the corpses for anything more useful than keycards. Other items
may include vials of blood (used for experimentation, but useful for
healing).
Other goals will include color-coded keycards to open doors, and block
progress, ala Castlevania or Metroid. Using a BSP structure for the
map should make this easier, and prevent the dreadful possibility of a
necessary key being locked behind a door, and thus being unreachable.
I'd also like to use some sort of tree-based skill system. You'll
start off weak and malnourished, and limited in your skills, but as
you continue feeding, you'll gain life force points, which can be used
to unlock new skills. However, as a twist, as time passes, your life
force points dwindle, only rising as you feed. I may use a geometric
or exponential curve for the rate of decreasing life force, so that
you have to feed more often to maintain a higher skill level.
If I have time (which I probably won't), I'll add in other vampires
that you can free, and include allied teamwork, but this probably
won't happen, unless progress goes quicker than I thought, and real
life doesn't interfere as much as it probably will.
Well, wish me luck!