Week 37 Update

TL;DR paid down tech debt; lots of magic & spell design work; did more Kickstarter stuff for November. Goal is to have as much in place for Kickstarter done by the end of September so I don't have to make significant changes in October, just focus on promotion.

This update written on my phone, apologies in advance for autocorrect weirdness.

Build & Deployment:

Development:

• Been working through the implications of the new layered interface framework and paying down technical debt. I'm updating how different 3d meshes & models are generated and stored so they can be easily accessed by the requisite layers.

Design:

• Hacked together a new iteration of the magic schools and spell progression, and began to integrate the spells with the metaphysics component system. When I left off with the spells and magic system, I hadn't yet decided how many components would constitute a soul - but the work I did on spells influenced the modern version of the metaphysical components:
  • Spell progression within a school works on a scale that is neither linear, nor geometric, nor exponential. It's a combination of cosmic-scale development and occult symbolism. I've attempted to keep many "iconic" spells at their "traditional" levels though this has meant moving and combining some lesser spell effects (not to mention some renaming). 
  • Each "school" of spells reflects a tradition and theme of magic, incorporating the concept of a magic "sphere" or "domain" for those familiar with them, and some are more explicit in their references than others. For example: witchcraft, druidism, exorcism, invocation, necromancy, divination, prophesy, convocation, and artifice are all distinct schools of magic which represent traditions of magic and include unique magical effects pertaining to those traditions. 
  • Spell "levels" indicate more complex spells and rituals, calling upon greater expenditures of Mana with commensurate effects. Some traditions have a monopoly on particular themes or effects, such as the summoning or creation of undead being confined to necromancy, with more general effects being spread across multiple traditions. In the former case, this often means that spells indicate an escalation in the cosmic sense, as the implications (not just for the body, but the greater soul) of a zombie, ghoul, vampire, lich, and mummy are all quite different.
  • Finally spells take into account that not all magic-using classes access them in the same fashion. While the spells and their effects are ranked by complexity for comparisons' sake, some magical effects are never researched or prepared as a "wizard" might. The "exorcism" spell, for which the Exorcist class is named, is granted by faith in one's patron. It is used to bind spirits to the authority of said patron, and thus subject the spirits to the patron's edicts.
  • Wizards are of course, the ones spoiling everyone's fun. They are to blame for the complexity ranking of spells, since SOMETHING has to keep their power in check. Now that spells are organized into traditions, freed from arbitrary shackles of "wizards shouldn't be able to cast heal, that's OP" and other, non-wizard spell-casting classes have alternate means to access their spells, wizards are free to pursue research into any school they wish.
• Updated designs for magic items to "soften" level requirements and enable different approaches to progression. There are broader implications to using magic items that are "above your pay grade," and the short version is they can stunt your character growth. This game mechanic resembles the "intelligent magic item" rules from old school Dungeons & Dragons.

Influence:

• Might be time to get back into Berserk. Blame Super Eyepatch Wolf and Fear & Hunger.

Marketing:

• Think I settled on the template for backer reward tiers. I fleshed out a few more of the main ideas to be consistent from top to bottom.
• Don & Hazel are scheduled to be in the meeting today, and hopefully we'll be able to talk some music talk! Excited to be thinking about the soundtrack!