HTD Day 16

Alright, in this weeks post I want go into weapons and how they may differ from eachother.

In HTD we plan to have many different types of weapons that players can choose from to fit their style. These, of course, won't all be available right at the first release but we'll be releasing more and more as we continue with development. The term "weapons" in this case also includes things like shields and trinkets that you can hold. There will be one-hand and two-hand versions of all nearly all the different types of weapons. I say "nearly all" because there are some exceptions like shields which are usually only one-handed and polearms which are typically only two-handed.

The weapons will be broken up into a few general categories and than branch from there. Here's a list of what we're thinking for some of those categories with their type of weapons:

Light Melee: lighter and faster, close-range weapons

- Daggers, Shortswords, Small Axes and Maces, etc

Heavy Melee: heavier and slower, close-range weapons

- Polearms, Longswords, Large Axes and Maces, etc

Light Ranged: lighter and faster, long-range weapons

- Bows, Small Guns and Throwing Weapons, etc

Heavy Ranged: heavier and slower, long-range weapons

- Crossbows, Large Guns and Throwing Weapons, etc

Fist: Varying sizes and speeds, close-range weapons

- Knuckledusters, Bos

(Sam: What's a bos?), etc(Bos - It's a super secret weapon! :) No, actually I guess the plural version is actually just Bo, aka Bō. Like a Bo Staff and other stick weapons.)

Magical: Varying sizes and speeds, long-range weapons

- Wands, Staves, etc

Light Shields: Smaller and lighter, off-hand weapons

- Bucklers, Heater Shields, etc

Heavy Shields: Larger and heavier, off-hand weapons

- Kite Shields, Tower Shields, etc

Trinkets: Various sized, off-hand weapons

- Scrolls, Books, Magical Globes, etc

The weapons in each of these categories is affected by certain character stats differently. For example, Heavy Melee Weapons will benefit from high Strength and some Dexterity whereas Magical Weapons will rely mostly on Intelligence and only a little on Dexterity. Another thing is we'll probably have equipment slots for 1H/2H Close-range Weapons, 1H/2H Long-range Weapons and your character may swap between them automatically depending on the distance of the closest enemy. So if there's an enemy unit coming towards your warrior character he won't just be sitting there waiting for the unit to come within melee range. Instead he'll auto-switch to his ranged weapon and use that till it gets closer or another enemy gets closer. This also helps prevent your warrior character from just getting out-ranged by an enemy unit that is attacking him constantly from a distance.

We're also thinking about having weapons be a bit customizable in some way so you can gear it more towards your character's style. Things like tradeskills will certainly provide some other possibilities as well. Either way, we'll have tons of weapons eventually and any suggestions you guys make will be helpful as always. Even some of your own designs could certianly make it into the game and would help Kevin out greatly. Speaking of Kevin, check out his blog, KXN @ HTD to see some additional HTD art and be sure to participate in any polls he has going because that helps us know what you guys want first. Also here's a fitting image of some weapons:



HTD Weapons

Be sure to leave use any feedback and suggestions you guys might have, it's greatly appreciated and very helpful to us, thanks!

-Dan