http://edigames.com/revelimmortal
It was a good work weekend at the EDIGames office...
Stats/Battle system changes
An important change to Revel is the removal of traditional DnD/RPG stats, you know: Str, Dex, Wis, Int...
I have decided instead that Revel will have equipment-oriented advancement.
All character templates have base adjustments for actual stats; such as protection, meleeDamage, magicDamage, speed.
This let's me easily adjust baselines for categories of enemies; since enemies never wear actual equipment.
Another change is in how protection is dealt with; for a while I was doing the DnD type calculation where, if a mob can't ever hit over your protection there is no way they can hurt you. However since calculations are taken in isolation, this becomes absurd if you're mobed by 20 such enemies at once.
The current solution is to let armor absorb DPS reducing its effectiveness; this works exactly like a regen shield, and there is a decent UI showing the effect in 0.13 to be.
However, I am seriously considering dropping this experimental feature in exchange for a nominal 10% damage never absorbed by protection; what I've come to know of as 'scratch damage'.
A need for modal messages
Currently revel uses a non-modal queued notification system; and it is used a lot; to the point that I am now sure it is overused.
I have 'shoe-horned' way too many important, long messages into this system; messages that need pause and consideration.
So tonight I'll be adding a Modal Message Queue, along side the non-modal; in this case such messages will appear sequentially and require clicking an OK button from the user.
They are great for notifying big changes in gameplay: "You have been exiled and left for dead in a cave on the Maranon Frontier."
In this case, modality will both be input modal and pause the game while open.
Modal messages will also fill a functionality gap, where you need to provide extra information while in an NPC conversation, Narrator-Style.
late breaking side note:
I;ve decided to postpone the release of 0.13 until next week, so that I can refine some of the newly added content and system changes between now and then.