Dev Log -11: Armor Types

← DEVLOGS
2012-06-24

It's been a crazy week since I released the demo video. It went better than I hoped. I got a lot of positive reactions to it, and also some attention from a couple of digital distribution platforms.

Next big step is to release a playable demo to the public. I made a big list of all the stuff I want to get into it.

This week I got the three armor types done, with blueprints, components and all. Now before I talk about the specific armor types it's important to understand what the basic properties of armor mean:

  • Damage Resistance / Damage Threshold - most people will be familiar with this. DR is a percentage of total damage that is absorbed by the armor, while DT is the flat amount of damage that is subtracted from the incoming attack. So basically DT can absorb the whole thing, so only attacks that do more than it can actually hurt you. But unlike in some games DR and DT don't add up, the armor will either absorb the amount of damage specified by DR or by DT, not by both. It will use the one that absorbs more damage.
  • Encumbrance - this property indicates how much the armor restricts movement and how noisy it is. Dodge, evasion, stealth and movement points are reduced by this percentage.
  • Minimal Strength requirement - if you wear an armor and do not meet the strength requirement, it will reduce the amount of action points you have (and this is very bad).

 

Underrail - Metal Armor Crafting

Here are the armor types that I got done for the demo:
  • Leather Armor
    • cheap
    • provides some mechanical damage protection
    • can be padded to provide extra protection in melee combat
    • components are readily available (animal skin)
    • can provide other damage resistances depending on the type of leather used
    • low encumbrance, no strength requirements
    • can be crafted with an overcoat that grants stealth bonuses or additional protection
  • Tactical Vests
    • provides excellent protection against bullets (+200% DT), but not much against other types of attacks
    • low encumbrance unless anti-rifle plating is used
    • no strength requirement
    • can be crafted with an overcoat that grants stealth bonuses or additional protection
  • Metal Armor
    • Excellent mechanical resistance
    • Decent energy resistance
    • high encumbrance
    • moderate to high minimal strength requirement (depending on type of metal used)
    • can have offensive enhancements (spikes, blades)

The final game will have at least two more armor types, but I haven't decided which ones yet.

Next week I'll be working on weapons, with focus on the ones I haven't done much work on yet - the automatic weapons (SMGs and assault rifles) and melee weapons (knives and sledgehammers).

← DEVLOGS