Milestone 1: αω plasmashark

The first milestone is not a Minimum Viable Product, but rather a set of core features that show off the primary game loop and - most importantly - are FUN.

Summary

The first milestone will take the player through a simple tutorial zone with a quest, which will allow them to discover the various systems involved in the game. After that, they will be let into an small open zone with endless spawns, allowing them to experience the progression system.

You can read the story outline for the tutorial area on Google Drive.

Proposed Timeline

We want to have a demo-ready prototype completed by the end of the 2021W fall semester. Here's a rough outline of the proposed timeline, since Wednesday, Sept 15th, which was the first RPG meeting of the semester:

Nov 3rd [7 weeks] - 1st Part of Tutorial Zone
Includes NPCs, quest setup, town area and player.

Nov 24th [10 weeks] - 2nd Part of Tutorial Zone
Includes combat zone and boss fight.

Dec 3rd [11 weeks] - Polish + Extra Features
Polish on existing areas, game balance, looting/leveling, UI / HUD.

Dec 10th [12 weeks] - Demo
Full polished demo from class selection all the way to final boss fight.

Systems

The following systems will need to be implemented to some level of depth for this milestone:

• Experience
• Classes
• Level-ups
• Movement
• Combat
• Dialogue
• Alignment
• Weapons (only primary slot)
• Quests/notes
• HUD

Content

The following content will be required to demonstrate the functionality of the above systems and create a satisfying (though simple) game loop:

• One tutorial zone
• One endless farming zone
• Two classes with levelups
• One quest with dialogue, item interaction and reward options
• Several weapons that can be dropped from enemies
• A couple enemy types