Hey everyone! It's been a while since the last dev diary, but I will try to be more consistent from now on.Current main menu design.SkillsSkill system in Lootlands is a very tricky topic, and frankly, it's the system we've reworked the most since we started working on the game. Afterall, this is where most of the "Action" in an ARPG comes from. So how do we keep that action in an idle game? Well, it needs to adapt to the idle genre for sure, and the way to do it is not crystal clear.Initially, we decided skills should be part of items. So if you wanted a "Fireball" skill, you'd need to drop a staff that casts it. This sounded fun in our heads but turned out to be really tedious and grindy. Not only would you need to drop items with the affixes you need, but you'd also need to make sure it has the skill you want. It also made it difficult to build deeper systems around these skills, so we scrapped this idea.Next iteration was very similar to what PoE did in the first game; skills as socketable items. With this, skills would still spawn on items, but you could remove or swap them with others later in the game. This was a bit of an improvement, but again, it made it very hard to build other systems around them. As you probably know, PoE creates depth by allowing players to socket "support gems" into items that alter skills. But for an idle game that was a little overkill and still didn't allow us to build the automation features that we wanted for skills.So we were a bit lost for a while as if we were not really sure what we wanted this game to be. Which made us think about that, and come up with 2 core principles our skill system:Ease of use: We know that many people will play this game as just another idle game. And that is totally fine - it's in the game's title afterall. So our skill system needs to be very understandable, with some sort of progression always happening even if the player is not actively optimising their build...Depth: ...aand we know that many othe...
Hello again.In the first dev diary I talked about the basic loop of Lootlands and why an idle ARPG makes sense in the first place. This time we zoom in on three systems that quietly run the whole game: storage, shops, and itemization.These are the parts that decide whether loot is something you think about, or something you fight against.StorageStorage in Lootlands is quite simple.You start with a simple, readable stash. From there you can upgrade it in two ways:Add more tabsAdd more rows inside existing tabsSo if you like tidy, themed tabs, you can just keep buying new ones. If you like one giant dump tab that grows with you, you can just keep stretching a few tabs vertically. Both upgrades cost gold, which gives you a steady money sink that is always useful but never mandatory.A few key points:Storage is shared between all charactersYou never need mule charactersMoving gear between builds is trivialStorage panel on the left side. Please ignore the temporary UI.ShopsTowns are where you stop, breathe, and make choices. Shops are being designed to be one of the first places you visit.Once again, please ignore the temporary UI.Each shop has a clear identity:Weapon vendor sells weaponsArmor vendor sells armorMagic or oddity shops sell things like orbs, scrolls, special consumablesWhat they offer is affected by your character level. A level 30 character will not see level 5 trash clogging the store. The item level range scales with you, so that shops can always stay relevant.Refresh logic:Shops refresh on a real time timer, even while you are offlineYou can pay gold to force an instant refresh if you are hunting for upgrades or specific basesOn top of standard stock, shops can sell:Identified items, where you see exactly what you getUnidentified items, cheaper but riskyConsumables and crafting materialsThe unidentified items are there for players who enjoy a small gamble. Buy something that only shows the base, rarity, and level, then pray that the affixes do not roll c...
Hello hello!This is our first Steam post and our first dev diary. I’ll try to keep these coming regularly and give you insight into what we’re working on. I’ll keep the tone casual so anyone can read it without falling asleep. Alright, here goes nothing.Basics of an Idle ARPGIntroductionAs you probably know by now, Lootlands is an idle ARPG. Making an idle game out of a genre that literally has the word action in it is a strange challenge, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.Like a lot of people, my ARPG journey started with Diablo. I am also a big Path of Exile fan. I discovered PoE during a hectic period of life and have been busy ever since, so my playtime sits at just above 600 hours. Every season I pushed to reach that moment when my build could one-shot things, or at least idle through some league mechanics. That contrast between the exhausting grind and the sweet idling moment sparked a tiny idea in my head.What if we skip to the idle part? What if busy people can enjoy the loot, builds, and powerful moments without the constant active grind? That idea became Lootlands.First StepsI started the project by making the character stand still while skills auto-cast and enemies spawn from the sides. It was intentionally simple. Add an inventory and loot and suddenly the screen looked like a coin tornado.After a quick break I came back to find the ground flooded with items. I could have simply cut drop rates, but that would make active play boring for people who want to mess with the game. So I implemented a ground loot limit: only a set amount of items and coins can exist on the ground at once. You can upgrade that limit through perks later on.I also added a tiny cooldown reduction every time you click. It gives players something to do in harder zones while still keeping the idle core. Click spam feels satisfying and actually helps your build push through a tough wave.The Affix HellNow that we have items, we need to make them interesting. In many...
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