The Fifth Expedition is a game under active development. As such, not every planned feature is fully implemented yet. This roadmap serves as an outline of what we currently have planned. We will update the roadmap with every major update to the game to reflect the current state of things. To give a better overview, the roadmap is split into two categories. The big things, game changing new features we have planned to flesh out the core gameplay. And the little things, minor tweaks and fixes we plan to implement to fine tune the game. This includes both our own ideas and changes as well as suggestions and feedback from the community.

The big things

Savegame System Right now the game saves automatically after every mission. Eventually we want the system to be able to save anytime, anywhere and also keep track of the mission map you are currently on when you abandon that mission and come back to it afterwards. The system will come in 2 variants. Normal mode, in which the game saves automatically in regular intervals. Similar to something like Dark Souls, XCOM Ironman mode or Diablo 2. And Free Mode, a variant for people who want a more safe approach and be able to quicksave and quickload to their hearts content. This won't be the way it's intended to play, but we want to keep the option open for those who wish it. Environment Variation Currently, every level is sourced from the same tileset. In future updates we plan to add more variation to this tileset as well as add completely new tilesets that will appear as you progress through the game’s campaign. Speaking of which... Campaign Mode Right now, only the Endless Descent mode is available. In future updates, we will be adding the campaign mode, which adds story elements and a definitive end goal into and around the core gameplay. Also included in this is a dedicated tutorial level that will go through the basics of gameplay step by step. You will also located the remains of the previous expeditions and find out what happend to them. Medical Aid System Over the course of a campaign, characters will start to experience the consequences of injuries more directly. Whereas right now, they take damage, heal up and truck on, in the full release we will eventually have a system where every injury carries the chance to inflict persistent wounds to the character. The more damage the character took, the higher the chance will be. Such wounds will come with some penalties to the character’s performance, ranging from the minor downgrades to absolutely critical, crippling conditions. To make sure the entire team doesn't end up completely broken down, there will be an option to select characters for medical treatment in the camp. Research System In order to flesh out the crafting and allow players to go after specific items they need, we will be implementing a research system. With this, instead of creating a specific item from the list of available schematics, you will be able to select an item category and create a random item from within that category. When a research project is complete, you will get to chose one of 3 random items to be build, adding both the item and the schematic for it to your inventory. Player Skill Tree Where right now we only have fixed player skills, in the full game you will be able to pick and choose which ones you want to take into each mission. For every completed mission, you will get one additional skill point with which to unlock new abilities or upgrade existing ones. Environment Interaction In the game as it currently stands, the environment of every level is mostly static. We plan to implement more different things to be discovered that characters can interact with to directly influence the area around them. In both explosive and non-explosive ways. Character Customization Along with more different faces for characters, we will add the option to change their name and appearance at will. This will include hair style, skin and hair color, accessories and clothing colors.

The small things

Button system overhaul Right now, buttons either switch something on or off. And there is no way of knowing what any given button will do. We plan to change this so that buttons get separate models based on their functionality. While we do want to keep an element of "what will this do?" in the game, you should have a rough idea of what's in the cards when you use something. Additionally, there will be buttons that do things other than switching randomly connected devices on and off. Like for example interacting with the alarm system. Alarm system Like buttons, alarms right now are very binary. We plan to change this so that there are multiple alarm levels that have different responses. From simply activating security measures in the area to actively calling in a number of mobile enemies in the area or even spawning completely new threats. You will be able to keep track of your current alarm level within the UI and have options to lower it or avoid it outright in some cases. Resource penalties Most resources will have a functionality assigned to them and if you run out of it, that functionality will no longer be available. This is mostly so having no more of any given resource actually carries some consequence with it. Gas system Because nothing says fun and games like having a system dedicated to calculating the spread of poison gas. In essence, we're working on adding the option for there to be gas of various kinds in the map. Cause by both the environment, enemies and your own equipment and taking the form of anything from friendly good healing gas to... the other kind. UI / Effects / Animation fixes and updates An ever ongoing process, the game’s UI, visual effects and character animations are in a constant state of being updated and improved. This will of course continue until we're happy with the result. Or the heat death of the universe, whatever comes first.

[ 2016-04-08 14:41:08 CET ] [ Original post ]