
Sword Hero - Alpha Roadmap

Green - Done
Yellow - In Progress
Red - Upcoming
Basic Movement
Characters are able to walk, run, jump.
Falling
Characters are able to fall.
Day-Night Cycle
Time can pass at variable speeds, affecting various game systems.
Weather System
Global wind, fog, rain levels - and the ability to affect other systems. Support for special effects, such as spawning lightnings.
NPC Base
Programmable NPCs and behaviours, such as lifting others, disposing corpses, looting, interacting with object, etc.
NPC Sight, Hearing
NPCs are now aware of their surroundings, with sight and hearing treated separately . Specific sounds can alert specific NPCs.
NPC Factions
Each NPC now belongs to a faction, which drives their hostilities.
Alarms
Interactable bells which can alert specific NPCs when hit or otherwise activated.
Buttons/Switches
Objects which can be activated based on specific conditions, such as being hit, pushed, standed on or by placing an item on it. (Pressure plate)
Item System
The foundation for all items in Sword Hero - components which can hold data about the item, their owner and their state. And the containers in which items can be.
UI System
The foundation on which all UI is built upon in the game.
Universal Health Component
Anything that can be damaged in the game - Objects, bodyparts, interactables, etc. - use the same Health component.
Stat System
Creatures now have numerous stats which drive their capabilities, such as Strength, Dexterity, Arcane and other, more specific secondary ones.
Equipment System
Humanoid characters are capable of equipping specific items into specific slots, and the change is reflected on characters.
Moving Platforms
Characters are now compatible with moving platforms, which will serve as the foundation of big gates, elevators and the Train.
Environmental Traps
Tripwires which function like a one-way switch, arrow launching traps, floor spikes, etc.
Interactable Post System
Posts are objects in the world with which characters can interact, with a special animation. Such as Anvils, Chairs, leaning at walls, chatting, etc.
Bodypart System
Characters are now made up of several bodyparts, some of which can be essential to them staying alive, or can contain an item optionally, have separate armor values, resistances, etc.
Melee Combat Basics
Directional attacks, charged attacks, sprint attacks, jump attacks, parrying, defending, separation of weapon types.
Ranged Combat Basics
Ammo usage, accurate projectile launching, separate state while aiming, etc.
Destructible Props
The ability to have breakable objects - The first two batches of breakables implemented.
Human Customization
Humans can now look differently - Face, Hairstyle, Facial Hair, Colors.
Stat Based Appearance
STR, DEX and ARC affect a character's mass, muscle definition and eye glow.
Explosions
Certain effects can now produce AOE damage, first with Lightning Strikes and the exploding Cauldrons.
Lifting Objects
Objects and Bodies can now be lifted either by the default path, or using Telekinesis.
Throwing
Objects and bodies can be thrown, with their velocity and damage on collision based on the stat used for lifting.
Decapitation
Bodyparts now can be cut off of any creature.
Interactive Foliage
Foliage that moves when touched, affected by shockwaves, burns away in fire.
Custom Lighting System
High performance lighting system that can support any number of dynamic lights, and can differentiate between interiors and exteriors.
Combat Routines
Exchangeable data sets for NPCs, which drive their reactions in combat to specific actions by their enemy. Separate ones created for each skill Tier.
Dialogue System
Dialogues with special camera angles, triggers, animations, optional voiceovers.
Memory System
NPCs now observe specific actions done by other entities, such as Stealing, Trespassing, Vandalising, Threatening, and others. They store a marker of the event, which will later be utilized in the Crime system.
Bark Reactions
NPCs can now react to specific actions with voiced lines.
Custom Decal and Gib System
High performance setup that can allow even up to 50.000 individual decals and gibs.
NPC Daily Routines
NPCs now have programmable daily routines, which drive where each of them should be and what they should be doing at any given point throughout the day. Separate routines for being Injured, Fleeing or being Alerted.
Ability System
Creatures can now have Abilities and Psi - This system serves as the base of all active abilities, such as Spells and the Psi-Kick.
Perk System
Creatures can now have Perks, which provide passive changes.
Doors
Doors have been added, building on the Button system.
Locks and Lockpicking
Locks are physical objects in the world, which can be either destroyed if the attacker has enough power, or picked using a Lockpick.
Readables
Special items which can open a reading interface, either directly or by using the item from the Inventory.
Gold and Satchels
Implemented Gold as currency, and Satchels, which are Items which can have items in them.
Ailments
Every health can now be afflicted by certain Ailments, such as Wound, Disease, Scar, Sickness, etc.
Buildups
Buildups are technically ailments, which have their effect play out either if they get filled up, or incrementally based on their progression - such Burning.
Sleeping
Beds can now be used to skip time and sleep - also granting a buff in the process. The buff depends on the quality of the bed.
XP and Levels
Creatures can now get XP for certain deeds - upon leveling up, their Max Blood gets increased by 5, and they 10 Learning Points.
Climbing
Climbing is now possible using special handholds - even on moving objects. Clinging to giant enemies will use this system as foundation.
Water System
Bodies of water are treated as volumes - with lightweight components, which can be queried to know if they are in water at any given moment or not.
Swimming
Swimming both on the surface and diving underwater - oxygen level tracking.
Settings
A settings window has been added with numerous graphics, accesibility and audio options.
Main Menu
Separate Main Menu from which different game modes can be entered.
Female Characters
A system which can morph characters to female proportions have been established, along with separate faces, hairstyles and voices.
Calendar
Established based on existing lore and the special case of the Ringworld - A calendar consisting of 10 months, 6 days a week.
Photo Mode
A photo mode with various effects.
Trading
Trading is now possible between the player and any itemcontainer using a special interface.
Fire and Heat
Fires that spread to nearby flammable surfaces and heat volumes, inside which Burning builds up. The cooking system will tap into these heat volumes.
Procedural Wounds and Scars
Each Character has a voxel grid, in which they store the deformities of their body, such as Wounds, Scars, Burns and Curse.
Universal Monster System
New creatures can be rapidly implemented into the game, using fully procedural animations driven by config values.
Non-lethal Combat
When a creature brings the health of another creature below a certain threshold, who is otherwise neutral to them, they will curl up on the ground and cry/whimper, at which point they can be robbed, lifted or finished off.
Crime System
Guards, captains, fines, jail time, exile, major/minor crime differentiation, bounty hunters, Faction specific laws, etc. - will all be handled in this feature.
Prostethics/Physicians
The basics of the Prostethics system is already done - I'll still be making the entire functionality of the Physicians, and the special Prostethic related interfaces.
Fishes & Fishing
The basic Fish functionality has been added, but the activity itself is yet to be created.
Armor Dyeing
The functionality itself is already done, its just needs an interface.
Localization
The localization system itself is already implemented, the replacement of "hardcoded" texts is underway.
Save System
Saving/Loading is already mostly possible, however the process needs some unbloating, and refinement as I'll be adding other new features.
Playable Female Character
The playable female characters will arrive together with Character Creation.
Controller Support
Largely done, only needs some work to handle cases that will be special in case of Controller usage, such as the radial menus, button navigation, etc.
Shields
The internal system is already prepared for shields, it just needs to be finished and shields added to the game. Shields will provide extra Poise, and allow characters to block projectiles.
Arena System
There will be 3 arenas in the world - and their function will derive from the arena already seen in the Combat Demo.
Decomposition
The visuals for decomposition are mostly finished, it just needs to be laid on existing game systems.
Custom Pathfinding
The current Unity based pathfinding (resulting in the random teleportations and glitches) will completely be replaced by my own solution.
Quest System
A central way to keep track of the state of Quests.
Journal
An interface to view Quest progress, and other vital information about the world.
Maps
An interface where the player can view maps they acquired through any means - and also leave notes, and draw on them.
Tragedy Routines
A system which can replace the behaviour of any NPC if a combination of conditions becomes true.
Learning from Masters
Methods to allow the spending of Learning Points either through dialogues or other means, to increase Stats, or learn a new Ability or Perk.
Getting Drunk
Pairing special functions, animations and interactions to becoming intoxicated.
Gambling
Each faction will have their own gambling mini-game.
Housing and Realty
Buying, furnishing and renting out homes + the system that will calculate the price of homes and rent based on certain conditions.
Investing
Invest in specific businesses and get a part of the profit between Chapters - as long as the business still operates.
Addictions
Frequent usage of Greyweed or alcohol can lead to addiction, which can produce the Withdrawal ailment.
Train
The Comet - the train which goes around the island - will be the first form of fast travel available.
Deployable Traps
Special items which can be placed both by the player and other humans, which inflict damage or specific effects when triggered.
Stealth System
Alerting nearby NPCs by footsteps will take the floor's material into consideration - and the light level - on top of Sneaking itself.
Addition of sneak attacks and backstabbing.
Wanted Posters
Special quests which will reward players based on how intact their target is when bringing it to the authorities.
The Bank
A place where players can leave their money so it can't be looted off of them - and it also pays interest between Chapters.
The Bank itself will be a physical location, neutral to all Factions - with fully explorable interior.
Cooking
Frying, cooking and baking items or certain combinations of items using in-world heat sources to produce dishes. ...or Coal.
Throwing Weapons
Throwing Knives, axes, bombs - technically consumables which will act like throwing weapons.
Archlances
Archlances will be special late-game weapons that have deadly precision and deal great desctruction, but can only be fired a set amount of times before it needs to be reloaded at an anvil.
The Veiled
Once per in-game week, the Veiled will roam the island - the most monstrous of Undead, looking for corpses to collect for their master.
Mining
Ore nodes spread throughout Wes, which can be mined if you have the appropriate STR or ARC.
Crafting
Multiple levels of Alchemy and Blacksmithing you can learn from Masters around the island.
Capes
Using custom cloth physics.
Damage Types
Separating physical damage into 3 sub-types: Piercing, Blunt and Sharp.
Cranial Implants
Special implants using which the Delver will be able to open entrances to the Deep.
Character Creation
The interface at the beginning of the game where players will create their character, choose their origin and beginning Perks - both good and bad ones to balance out their value.
