Dev Diary #5: Flesh Crafting, Inventory and Trading news - Lord Of Decay

The September update is a little late this time, but I think you will agree it was worth the wait.
On the up side there is only one more week until the October update :)

Flesh Crafting

Much of August and September was all about proving the concept and the technology to enable Flesh Crafting in Lord of Decay.

We're excited to tell you that IT WORKS!

Now you can take body parts from your fallen enemies and attach them to your undead minions.
Each body part will have different properties that will enhance the statistics and appearance of your minions.

Our goal has always been to build an undead army, but now you can literally "build" your undead army limb by limb.

To read more about how it works you can click here Bit.ly

Inventory

The most common request we get is for an inventory system. People want to equip weapons and armour. And why wouldn't you? It's one of the most common features in RPGs and it's a big part of player progression.

The reality is that inventory systems in games like Skyrim requires a lot of concept art, 3D assets and technical wizardry. That blows out budgets and development time frames.

Sandbox D7 is a small team and we have always said we that wouldn't include an inventory system unless we could make it worthwhile for the player and make it different from other games.

Flesh Crafting is a great way to give players what they want in a way that has never been done before.

When you loot an enemy corpse you will find randomly generated body parts with statistics and combat effects that are different every time. If you've played Diablo or Borderlands you'll know exactly what I mean.

It could be a Health Potion, a Common Brutish Zombie Arm of Burning, or a Legendary Frail Ghoul Leg of Shocking. Maybe you even pick up a Rare Necromancer Mask of Death Aura.

That's right! You can also customise your necromancer with equipment too!
We'll talk more about customising your avatar another time.

Trading

No inventory system is complete without the ability to buy/sell items from a trader.

In Lord of Decay there are 2 types of traders:

• The Undertaker will buy/sell body parts and can be found in the Necropolis.
• The Shadow Merchant can be also be found in the Necropolis and will buy/sell equippable items for the player.

If you're confused about the Necropolis it's because we have not talked about it yet :)
Stay tuned for more information about the Necropolis in future updates.

Forum Update

It's never been easier contribute to the conversation. I have enabled Guest comments in the forum so you will not be forced to sign in or create a forum account to share your thoughts.

Comment as much as you like, but you will still be required to sign in to create a new thread or participate in polls. Sorry :P

Shout out to our friends

Our friends at WillingShade Studios continue to evolve their first person hack'n'slash Grimoire: Vengeance.
Check out their latest video that demonstrates how they are blending first person hack'n'slash and some classic first person shooter mechanics with a dash of time manipulation.

What kind of minions will you create? Got a better name for Flesh Crafting? Do you think zombies really have feelings?
Then by the Twin Gods don't keep it to yourself! Drop a comment or create a thread on the forum.

You can follow us on Twitter or Facebook for all the latest news, pictures and updates.
You can get involved in the discussion on the Forum.

Thanks for the support
Damian
Sandbox D7 Team