DL-022 ∞ CARDsys v.01
Wow, September was crazy. I was working up to 14-hour days during the week (counting my day job) and had plenty of weekend dev sessions, but I think it paid off. The CARD system (CARDsys) is in the game. It's real!
All packaged up in an easy-to-use drag and drop free cursor style! CHROMBos is the operating system of the End Future!
Quick recap of what the CARD system is. INURBIS isn't quite a card battler or a deckbuilder, but playing Spire-like card battlers, I loved how the cards blended a lot of RPG archetypes into a single system. I wanted to bring that clarity and simplicity to something closer to a classic RPG build-making experience. In INURBIS, a card can represent any of the following, and probably more:
status effects
weapons
attacks
skills
equipment
knowledge
items / objects
traits
cybernetic implants
physical objects
metaphysical stuff
Where other RPGs might give you a skill tree with nodes, I want to give you a card board with slots. Like slotting materia in FFVII, INURBIS has you slot your cards into CARDsys. Each slot has its own designation. One might be a satchel for physical items, while another represents the cloneling's cyberbrain (for brain implants) while another represents the cloneling’s mind. You don’t want your cloneling getting too many smart ideas (unit performance may suffer). Cards can also be held or created in the cloneling's HANDS. For now, the right hand is for weapons and the left hand is for everything else. Jack is right-handed, after all. Placing a card in a slot can cause other cards to spawn in hand, and vice versa. Cards can even be slotted into other cards, combining them! They can have n sides, since they're a digital construct meant to help the USER navigate complex interactions through one unified interface.
When planning this feature, I knew I didn't want a typical inventory system. I didn't want INURBIS to be another game where you feel obligated to search every nook and cranny, filling your inventory with garbage to sell to a merchant so you have room to do it all again. There's nothing wrong with that kind of game or playstyle, and INURBIS does have loot and currencies, but I wanted to cut that fat from the game loop and boil inventory management and run building down to something much simpler: Do you have a card or not? Will you swap this card for that one? Will you use up a card to change the game world? By putting complex RPG decisions into one format, I hope the player has more room to be immersed in the world, combat, and exploration.
WIP, obviously
CARDs can be flipped over to reveal additional sides, which explain how to use the CARD or change its functionality! Usually the face describes the object or concept, while the back explains how to use it and what it does. The Ancient Blaster is a good example. It's found in disrepair, with access only to its Quick Shot attack, which costs a huge amount of ENRG to fire. Flipping the Ancient Blaster card shows the Quick Shot side, with how to use it, its cost, and its damage. Repairing and upgrading the Ancient Blaster can modify existing attacks and add new ones, like the upcoming Charged Shot.
I really wanted a flexible system where combining, repairing, and modifying cards works dynamically instead of following linear upgrade paths. I’m not done yet - there's still CARD system work that will carry into October, but the core is complete and working! I'd guess I have 1 to 2 weeks left before I can shift my focus elsewhere. I will probably do a video once everything is looking and feeling good.
I originally planned to leave the CARD system out of the alpha playtest, but a few months back my perspective shifted. The CARD system is a core part of the INURBIS experience, and I want to get it into players' hands sooner rather than later for feedback and ideas. Once it's alpha complete, I'll switch my focus to adding content to the second level, expanding the playable area, and starting on the cloneling leveling system, the 3rd and 4th enemy types, and the STRS system. I don't have a set timeline for the closed alpha playtest, but I think it'll run long enough to include all of the above. Still, my goal is to finish as much of this as possible ahead of December.
Thanks and see you space cowboy,
HHRRISSTT
