INVICTUS

I began by setting up the interaction system for the player and scripting level actors for each interactable location (Ludus Magnus, the Forum, the Colosseum, and the Aventine temple). This step consisted of both designing and programming the UI menus for each, as I decided early on to keep the game UI-only given the small timeframe for the project.

Next I moved onto implementing the favour system for the game, which is handled inside the Aventine menu system. This tracks the player’s current favour threshold and assigns the appropriate number of sacrifices for them to increase their base stats.

After this I moved onto building the inventory system and its accompanying UI. This was the most challenging step as it involved implementing features such as dragging and dropping between different inventory slots, dynamically setting inventory size, storing item data, and being able to equip/unequip weapons and armour.

Next I began setting up the shop menu, designing and programming its UI. This required making item slots that would display a tooltip when hovered over, listing all item stats and the item description.

From here I began populating the data tables for the full shop inventory, deciding how many weapons and armour pieces there would be. This step also included deciding on individual values for each, including their attributes, cost to purchase, their descriptions, and UI icons.

Once this was done I moved onto the most time-consuming phase, which was programming the arena fights. Broadly I divided this into three separate steps:

• Scripting turn-based combat, with the logic for separate player and opponent turns.

• Constructing a flow chart of combat steps (type of action taken, check for success/failure).

• Implementing logic for all potential scenarios and updating stats and UI accordingly.

Next I began writing the description text for the arena fights, which required writing separate versions for each boss due to their different weapons and armour. These were then implemented into the arena fights using data tables.

Final steps involved adding the world map of Rome and integrating the UI, with buttons overlaid on top to act as the main system of navigation.

In response to player feedback, I also implemented the Tarentum system, which allowed players to retrieve lost weapons and armour from previous playthroughs by sacrificing part of their current HP. This was done to address complaints over lost progress and introduce an element of permanent player progress to the game.