The title is a bit of a mouthful, but today I spent less time learning and developing and more time thinking about where the gameplay was headed. As I fiddled around with the whip I realized it was not like other melee weapons such as a sword, spear, or axe. It was similar to a ranged weapon as well, it requires aim and great precision to use properly. I did a quick tutorial on how to launch flaming chairs so I could learn more about projectiles. Moving forward I have to think more about whether or not you can only use the whip when you are “aiming,” as one would with a gun in most third person games. I was also able to make the collision point of the whip adjust based on the objects in front of the character. Basically the whip will currently affect whatever is closest in front of the character instead of a fixed point, it can’t pass through walls or objects. Beyond that I only fixed the kink in the lantern animation. Since I did a lot of thinking today this post seems to be the right one to finally talk about the story, what is canon and what is subject to change.
Canon story
The world I made for my Dungeons and Dragons campaign is called Zagrat. So the game will be set in that world.
The setting will be in the 14th century of the world. I won’t go into the history of the world, only specifically the land the H.A.U.N.T. is from. HAUNT was founded in New Garyton, a big city based on New York City. It is on the west coast of Gary (the land mass east of the Crying Isles). Gary was named after the man that “discovered” it. HAUNT is basically like the FBI of the kingdom, but with less members and more mystical. HAUNT stands for The Holistic and Abnormal Unit for Nabbing Tricksters.
There are four boroughs in New Garyton: Orwell, Oldseed, Verdeheim, and Loxwood. The city is ruled by Lordrunner, Gary the Eighteenth (a descendant of the first Gary if that wasn’t obvious). This game will be set in Loxwood, the most dangerous part of the city. Unfortunately I have not made a map of the entire city, but I do have a map of the Queespike academy where they train Haunters and the map of Loxwood. Both were made with a free map maker online.
Queenspike is located in Vhistyard, the northern part of Loxwood. This burough is teeming with life and filled with many new buildings of no singular architectural style. It is the oldest district of New Garyton, once the center for trade especially in spices, but its business declined over the years. Traffic is always a bit tight, and the lines are long at the worm stations. It has the poorest population in all of New Garyton. Loxwood is also known as the plum pits because when it rains the droplets are colored like amethysts.
Trickster is a title given to the most dangerous criminals that even the city guard cannot handle. Haunters are trained specifically to track and apprehend their targets, making sure to minimize any losses. Haunters keep their original names, but to fellow officers they address each other by their codenames. The codename is finalized upon graduation from the academy. It is required that the Haunter choose their name, it must be an adjective followed by an animal. For example: Iron Hawk, Red Leopard, Fast Wolf, Righteous Ant-Eater, etc. Each Haunter is equipped with a half-cape that displays both the emblem and their ranking based on the color. The half-cape is specifically crafted to also turn into a scarf when manipulated properly, this is so an officer can slip into incognito mode when the need arises (this probably won’t end up in the game).
Subject to change
The following are some aspects of the story I’m still working on, though it has been awhile since I’ve actually thought about it.
A Haunter swears an oath upon graduating from the academy.
OATH
I [name] do wholeheartedly promise that I will protect Gary, and New Garyton against all Tricksters, foreign and local. Though I bear many duties and responsibilities alone, I am but one of many. Now the hunt begins, Lordrunner watch over us.
I wanted to have a ranking system similar to the police or the FBI, but it is also a fantasy setting after all so the names match the theme.
Ranking title followed by cape color (in ascending order)
- Nimrod (Brown)
- Woodsman (Dark Green)
- Trapper (Navy Blue)
- Stalker (Purple)
- Predator (Grey)
- Hunter (Red)
- Master Nabber (Black)
Since everyone in HAUNT has animal names I wanted a logo to reflect this essence. I’m sure it can look better than what I have so far.
I suppose that’s all I want to share so far in regards to the story without spoiling anything as well. Tomorrow I’ll continue working on the whip mechanics. Hopefully by the end of the week I’ll have more than just hitting stuff in the world.
GoldenGratus Games 