So, I decided to start making a prototype for Dungeon Paths back in May, after finishing Susurrus during Advjam2020.

The idea for the game came to me early in the year, and while I tend to design narrative games, this action game appealed to me. After spending two intense weeks on the jam, I took a short break, but decided to use the momentum and the skills I had learned to prototype my fantasy game.

In Unity, and using the Synty POLYGON - Dungeons Pack (which I grabbed when it was on sale) as a base, I started to piece together the very basics: character movement, each characters' UI, how AI works and the main game UI.

Characters plural? Why yes, as if doing my first ever first-person game wasn't complex enough, the game features three playable characters, each with very different control scheme:

There is the MAGE - she has no melee attack, but instead uses a range of offensive and defensive spells based on combinations of the three 'Aethers': Above - lightning, Here - air, Below - fire.

Then there is the BARBARIAN - by contrast, he has many melee attacks, and several special moves such a fast running charge, all of which he can join together into powerful combos.

Finally there is the ASSASSIN - they are the weakest of the characters, but can move faster and leap further and higher. They kill using sneak attacks and the ability to chain attacks together in 'Focus mode' where time slows down around them.

Here's the plan going forward:

• JULY - Finish all of the Mages' spells (offensive and defensive), get the Barbarians' charge move done

• AUGUST - Get the Assassins' combat moves and attack chaining system in (with a temporary animation to cover all attacks)

• SEPTEMBER - Get the Barbarian combo moves and system completed, prototype the Mage enemies, level design for Mage areas

• OCTOBER - Prototype the Assassin enemies, level design for Assassin areas

• NOVEMBER - Prototype the Barbarian enemies, level design for Barbarian areas

• DECEMBER - link all of the above together with character switching, including "shared" rooms

And while all that is ongoing I will be planning out the overall design for the dungeon itself, in terms of areas, themes, and how it meshes with the story, and the background scene loading/unloading and game save/load stuff too.

I decided to start this devlog here so I wasn't cluttering up my blog with game-related stuff, and to gauge the interest in the game as the prototype progressed. So if you're following me, don't hestitate to drop a comment or ask questions.

Tony.