The next gui improvement that I am adding is a skills menu.
Currently, the player is awarded skills or traits as they play the game, by accomplishing certain tasks (crafting a certain number of items, etc).
However, I also want the player to be able to choose some skills manually from various skill trees.
This is what I am working on now.
I can assume that the inventory is now done, apart from from extensive testing.
It is possible to store certain items in the inventory and transfer them to the equipped item slots. It is also possible to drop items from the inventory.
Some large items (like weapons, etc) cannot be stored in the inventory.
The inventory is also, of course, persistent, and the inventory items are stored on the server.
The inventory also supports stacking, and has a max weight and displays the current weight carried.
It is not possible to craft items directly from the inventory however, since I want to make the game as realistic as possible.
So, to craft, the player must first equip or drop each crafting component, then combine them one by one either in the world or in the equipped item slots.
I may change this in the future, but it works well for now.
The inventory menu is going very well.
The basic gui functionality is done, and I can pickup items and swap them between the inventory and the equipped item slots.
This is all quite preliminary for now though.
The next goal is to integrate this system into the project itself.
I may have some items that can only be equipped, and some that can only be added to the bulk inventory, or I may allow all items to be stored in the bulk inventory.
This will take quite a lot of testing to get right.
The next step is to work on the inventory improvements.
This will be difficult.
The objective is to create a “bulk inventory” similar to what would be in most games, where items are stored without being displayed.
I wanted to avoid this, so that all items the player is carrying would be visible on their body, but as the project has gotten more complex, it has become obvious that this is not possible. The player would simple be carrying far too many items.
Instead, the player will need a bulk inventory, and a smaller set of equippable item slots.
I am not sure yet how this system will work, but the next goal is to implement it in concept, and then integrate it with the existing system.
I have modified the spawn scripts to add the new items to the world.
They will now spawn in random locations as the player explores.
I have also added support for spawning items of varying sizes, and adding new items that the player has not previously found.
Finding an item for the first time will unlock it in the 3D printer, allowing the player to manufacture it.
I have also made improvements to the items and crafting system.
I have finished creating most of the objects that I will be using for the next phase of the project.
There are additional weapons, as well as health items and tools, that the player can craft, manufacture, and use.
These will be important when I add in more enemies to the game later.
Some of the new weapons use ballistic projectiles (Ie, they are not hitscan based) while others are hitscan based.
The code is fairly well written, and new weapons and items can be added easily, based on the existing classes.
Most of the basic items have now been added to the project.
I have also made improvements to the crafting and manufacturing systems.
It will take another week or so for all of the new items to be added, but so far things are going quite well.
Once these items are added, I want to add more improvements to the inventory menu. Currently, all items that the player is carrying are displayed on the players body, which is great for immersion, but it limits the player to just a small number of items.
I intend to keep this system, but use it only for large items, or items that are currently equipped. I will need another, more conventional, inventory gui for storing harvested items, etc, and this should work with the crafting gui as well, ie, it should be possible to craft items directly from the inventory.
I also need to add a skills menu, where, as the player levels up, they can select from a list of skills using skill points. Currently, there is a system in the game to assign traits based on a players actions, but I want the player to also be able to choose some upgrades, etc, manually as well.
I am working on adding the new items to the project.
So far, this is going very well. Most of the basic items are now working, and can also be crafted from simple materials.
The player can construct simple flint tools from naturally occuring materials, and can also manufacture more advanced items with the right equipment.
There are a lot of other items to add, including some more complex ones. I will also need to improve the inventory and crafting systems to incorporate the new items.
I have finished the models and textures for all of the new items that I want to add to the project.
The art is fairly basic at the moment, however the focus is on the functionality and immersion with the world. I will need to create many more objects like this in the future, this is crucial to the gameplay.
The next step is to add the code to make these new items work, and add them to the crafting system (Some items can be crafted from other items, etc).
