I've been bored lately and, when I'm bored, the desire for creation flows stronger than usual. Escapism channeled in the right direction. So I actually put a lot of thought, even corrected a few bugs, in Project Shock over the weekend.

The scope of the project remains a Sci-Fi Roguelike, but I'm still stumped on deciding the overall RPG aspect of it:

• The original design doc called for ability terminals, one existing in each quadrant, that the player would step on to earn that ability. There were 25 quadrants so you'd be able to accrue up to 25 abilities. This was back when "keep it simple" was the keyword.
• I've since ditched simplicity and tried to make the scope wider, a mechanism where the player leaves the map to facilitate easy transport between sectors. While off-map, they're able to customize their abilities. Which abilities they're able to take is based off of how much prestige they've earned.
• 
• Now, I'm wondering if maybe I should go full-on mecha. In other words, the player customizes their avatar as a robot in which they can swap out head, torso, arms, legs/mobility while off-map.
• Further, it might be interesting if I do not allow the player characters to take direct action. Instead, they place devices which act for them. In other words, upon encountering an enemy, they might place a shield generator and a turret, but be unable to attack the enemy directly.

There's four refinements of thought as to how to nail the RPG aspects. (Not that this was the only four - at one point, I was thinking in terms of collectible card games.)

But what about what happens outside of the player character? I'm thinking of having a futuristic resource system in which there's only three resources:

• Energy - Because mass to energy technology exists, this both enables action and provides the materials for action.
• Time - Things take time to do, so time is a commodity. The way I handle my devices' heartbeat functions, time manipulation technology is a possibility.
• Intelligence - That's where the player comes in: they're the ones who make the decisions. The players themselves emerge as a valuable commodity.

Another way of looking at this is that there's actually only one commodity: energy. That pleases the Keep It Simple principle that, while I'm somewhat eschewing because I don't want a shallow game, nonetheless could make my job a lot easier if applied to the right places.

In my mind, my little 5x5 sector Roguelike game has grown into a game of multiple modes - as my games typically will. An "adventure" mode where your customizable robot troubleshooter uncovers new sectors, and a "build" mode where you actually plan your sectors' construction. Much like how Dwarf Fortress has an adventure and a build mode, but meshed together into the same experience simultaneously.

The devil is in the details, which I was working out... then I picked up a PSP last weekend, along with the glorious time-vacuum that is Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.

I wonder why it is that no BYOND developers have tried to take to create a knock-off of this yet? It's actually a pretty compatible formula.

So my creativity is again deflected for awhile as I play with my new toy.