Craven

An in development ARPG blending Pokémon monster collecting and Diablo style looting.

Planned Features:

• Open ended gameplay.  The final boss is accessible from the start.  Play however you like in order to build up the strength to beat him.
• Fast paced 1 on 1 Active Time Battles.  Blends Pokémon's turn-based strategy with Diablo's high speed action.
• Capture and develop different species of monsters.  Strengthening them is more than just leveling up.  Power is split between Training, Equipment and Friendship.
• Lootlootloot.  Defeat monsters, open chests or complete map objectives to get equipment for your monsters.
• Varied equipment.  Each item has a set of Fixed and Rolled Properties which govern the type of stat it will have.  There are already 67 stats in the game.  Fixed Properties show up across all instances of the same item.  Each item also has a selection of Rolled Properties that are randomly selected on creation of the item.  With Fixed and Rolled options each item has an identity while being somewhat unique from its peers.
• Semi-Randomized Maps.  Each map has a handcrafted layout.  On entrance to the map the monsters, chest locations, map goals and other content is randomized.  Completing all of the Standard Goals has the map become available for reroll.  Once the reroll is primed, the next time the Player enters the map the entirety of its content will be refreshed allowing for new objectives to be tackled.
• Crisis.  While operating in the map all of the Player's action builds Crisis, think a combo meter.  Race its ever deteriorating value and push it to the max in order to gain a burst of loot but more importantly enter a state of increased rewards for the remainder of the map.
• Three Regions with 5 maps within.  Each Region has a Strife Level determining the difficulty.  Rank up in Strife by playing in the Region so as to spawn higher level monsters and drop better loot.  The Strife Level of the Region can be reset by defeating the local boss for big rewards.  With multiple Regions available the Player is able to power level in one place, constantly resetting the Strife as it becomes too difficult, and in another Region, push to the highest possible level.
• Farming.  Drop a seed down and progress its growth by rerolling maps.  Feed your monsters to gain temporary affixes altering their stats and abilities or use them in combat as potions.
• Story Mode.  A separate, narrative-heavy, mode outside of the main game.

Philosophy:

• All End Game.  Many hack n' slash games only get going once the main story is complete.  Not here.  Start end game styled content as soon as you hit start.
• Reward everything.  Each action either gives a reward or progresses you towards one.
• "Feeding" systems.  Each system should stand on its own but each system should feed back to the central focus of the game, the Player's monsters.  Farming might exist as its own thing but you farm to get yourself increases in monster power.  A crafting system might have its own "economy" but it will quickly get back to influencing monsters in an interesting way.

Progress:

Many of the Planned Features are in some form implemented.  Plenty of work is, of course, still needed.

• Combat is fully functional.  Stats are being tied into calculations.  Combat actions are implemented at a base level, they have no effects beyond damage.
• Map goals are fully functional.  Randomization will be added later.
• Monsters can be captured and leveled up.
• Monster Pen management is partly complete.  Monsters can be moved in and out of the Party but not into other pens.
• Equipment is rolled on creation and is fully equippable.  Stats are calculated, just not used yet.
• The final boss, Craven, is accessible, albeit able to be one-shot.
• Farming has items able to be picked but not planted yet.
• Strife and Crisis are functional.  Difficulty is not yet tied to Strife but the hooks are more or less present.
• The plot of Story mode is being worked casually but implementation is a low priority and will be looked at after sizable progress is made on the main game.  The story will be episodic but continuous.  A basic outline has been developed and a 23 page script for Part 1 has been drafted.  A preview will be forthcoming.

All art is WIP.

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Email: the.craven.game@gmail.com
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