"Wanderlust Adventures" - Developer's Log 18

Please keep in mind that all of the images in Developer's Logs are for Wanderlust Adventures, a new title being worked on by Yeti Trunk, and are a Work In Progress; some of them are mockups or early prototypes.

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The Map

Matt spent time re-coding how the map screen is created and drawn. It doesn't look much different but it's created dynamically now instead of from a pre-drawn bitmap. Along with this (behind-the-scenes) change, players can expect to see more in-depth text descriptions of the locations they visit (i.e. "Bandit Cave").

Ooh! A Dungeon Map featuring bandit trash-talk!

• Like the map seen while travelling around the world (the outdoor - and largest - region of the game), dungeons will provide players with a view of the floor layout they are currently exploring.

• Again, like the overworld map (seen at the top), a trail is left behind to show you where you've already been.

• In addition to the aforementioned features, Dungeon Maps will also show the current floor and how many you need to travel through in order to fight the boss for the dungeon.

• Each time you descend one floor, you no longer have to fight the previous floors of the dungeon (if you die and transport back to town, you will start on the last floor you were on).

• Each dungeon has a "Recommended Level". This is determined by factoring how strong a player ought to be before attempting the dungeon, and also by giving the player an opportunity to earn experience while going through the dungeon (because once you out-level an enemy, it will no longer reward you with experience for defeating it).

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The all-new defense system! Also visible - skill 'cooldown numbers'!

We have re-designed the defense system in Wanderlust Adventures, which affects the Warrior, Assassin, and Crusader classes (though the Sorcerer has a new defense move, too).

• Special Points no longer drain while you hold your defense key. This particular change will greatly assist the Assassin class, who holds his defense key while dashing about.

• Now - while holding defend - a shield will appear above your head with a number. This number is the number of times you can expect to block the basic attacks of enemies (though, some enemy attacks may do more than just 1 hit to your block meter).

• Enemies who are currently blocking and invulnerable to physical damage will have a shield appear above their heads as well.

• When your block meter reaches zero, you will be unable to block again for roughly six seconds while your defenses recharge. Your shield icon will be broken yet visually 'recharging' so you will know when you can block again.

• As a result of this new defense system, players will have a natural inclination to move around in combat when facing multiple enemies (to avoid being surrounded). Not only is this a great tactic in Wanderlust already, but it has the added benefit of keeping your defenses from being broken too quickly.

Looking forward to the Beta!

 ~ Yeti Trunk