The “pillars” of Dereliction:

The swarm:

Combat and exploration/ navigation revolves around the swarm, and the nest. I need to keep this in mind. As the player goes deeper and deeper into the Dross nest, it’s gets more dense, more infested. There’s more enemies, and fewer places to hide, breathe. I intend to in one way or another have the Dross adapt to how the player plays. Tho I haven’t been focusing on that recently. The swarms that spawn are random. However I intend the enemies sent to the player to be purposeful, to deal the most damage and to take as few casualties as possible. Another idea I had was the bugs weak spots do not need to stay in the same place as the player progresses. The bugs could, for example, grow head armour after too many headshots from the player. Better peripheral vision if they are snuck up on too often or evaded for too long. Increased speed if the player is constantly running away. Etc.

So the bugs get stronger as the player gets weaker.

The Dross Nest

Degradation:

The player needs to feel strong at the beginning. As the player proceeds through the game, they will start to feel worn out. Taking damage permanently lowers health max, carrying capacity, movement. Etc. Any upgrades are only upgrades without taking losses, for example max health increases. Also, the player has a finite amount of ammo at the start, and while it may seem infinite at the start, it’s not going to last. I’m working on realistic sacrifice ideas for the player to choose too. An example would be a powerup spot that will only allow one item to be selected. So the player must choose between health or ammo. More oxygen or movement speed etc.

The Dross Swarm

All design decisions need to strengthen these themes. There are a lot of first person shooters, a lot of rouge-likes. I am not making left 4 dead. I am not making Doom. I feel I am on a good path towards whatever it’ll become. I will see you next update,

~Salt