MVP (prototype) concept

MVP overview

Scope

• 1 small camp.
• 1 small dungeon (5–7 rooms, linear or slightly branching).

Playtime

One full run takes about 5–10 minutes for a fresh player.

Goal

Accept a quest in the camp → enter dungeon → kill enemies and get loot → defeat mini‑boss → return/finish quest.

Core gameplay loop

Moment‑to‑moment loop for the MVP:

1. Spawn in camp, see your character and a single quest‑giver NPC.
2. Click on NPC → accept “Clear the Crypt” quest.
3. Enter dungeon from a portal/door.
4. Click‑to‑move through rooms, fight 2 types of enemies, pick up loot.
5. Reach final room, defeat a mini‑boss.
6. Return to camp (auto‑teleport or exit door) and turn in quest → gain XP and level up once.

Systems included in the MVP

These are the must‑have systems I implement for the MVP (everything else goes to “later”).

Character & stats (minimal)

• One generic “Adventurer” character, no classes.
• Stats: max_hp, hp, attack_power, defense, move_speed, xp, level
• Progression: max level 2 or 3; each level up just increases max_hp and attack_power by a fixed amount (no talent trees yet).

Movement & navigation

• Click‑to‑move top‑down/isometric control using NavigationRegion2D + NavigationAgent2D on the player.
• Simple camera following the player with a small smoothing.

Combat

• One main attack input: right‑click.
• Auto‑target: attack the closest enemy in a small radius around the click or the player.
• Damage formula: damage = attack_power minus enemy armor, clamped to at least 1.
• One active skill:
  • Example: a short‑range cone slash that does increased damage, with a 3–5s cooldown.

Inventory & loot

• Inventory as small 2×4 grid.
• Item types for MVP: one weapon, one armor, health potion.
• Equipment: weapon slot, armor slot.
• Loot: enemies drop gold and a chance to drop weapon/armor or potions.

AI (enemies & NPCs)

• Enemies:
  • Melee skeleton: chases player when in vision range, basic attack.
  • Ranged cultist: keeps distance, shoots simple projectile.
• Behaviors can be implemented with a tiny state machine: Idle → Chase → Attack → Dead.
• NPC: one quest giver in the camp with a simple dialog box (no branching).

Quest & progression

• One main quest: “Clear the Crypt”:
  • Objective: kill N enemies and kill the mini‑boss.
• Optional side quest: “Bring me 3 Bones” (collect a specific item from enemies).
• Simple quest log UI: a panel listing current quest and objectives, no fancy journal.
• On completion: give XP, a better weapon and gold.

UI / UX

• Health bar for player.
• For enemies: a small health bar above their head.
• Minimal menus:
  • Pause menu (Resume / Quit).
  • Simple options (master volume).

Saving (for MVP)

Save only player level, inventory, and gold in a single slot.

Systems explicitly not in this MVP

Pushing these to “post‑MVP”:

• No talent trees or complex stat allocation.
• No crafting, enchanting, or item upgrading.
• No multiple camps or acts.
• No complex dialogue choices, branching narratives, or factions.
• No procedural dungeon generation (hand‑built small map only).
• No advanced AI behaviors like flanking, formations, etc.

Concrete content list

A precise “checklist” of content to implement.

World & maps

Camp map:

• 1 small open area with:

  • Player spawn point.
  • 1 quest‑giver NPC.
  • 1 dungeon entrance (door/portal).

• Dungeon map:

• 5–7 rooms linked linearly or lightly branching.

• Rooms include:

  • 2 small combat rooms.
  • 1 larger mid‑room with mixed enemies.
  • 1 final room or mini-boss.

Enemies

• Skeleton Grunt (melee): medium HP, slow chase, melee attack.
• Cultist (ranged): lower HP, stays at medium distance, shoots projectile at intervals.
• Mini‑boss: higher HP, same logic as melee skeleton but more damage and maybe occasional charge attack.

Player

“Adventurer” with:

• 1 basic attack.
• 1 active skill (cone slash).

Items

• Weapon: Staff
• Armor: Tattered Armor (starting) → Cloth Armor (dungeon chest or drop).
• Consumables: health potion (drops and maybe 1–2 in dungeon chests).
• Currency: gold (just a number; can be used later for shop NPC).

Quests

• Main quest: “Clear the Crypt”: kill N enemies (e.g. 10) + defeat Bone Knight (mini-boss).
• Optional side quest: “Bring me 3 Bones” (collect item drops, turn in for extra XP/potion).

Implementation order for the MVP

Logic first, visuals later approach.

1. Core skeleton

   • Set up camp and dungeon scenes with placeholder tiles and colliders.
   • Implement player spawn, scene transitions camp ↔ dungeon.

2. Movement & camera

   • Click‑to‑move using NavigationAgent2D.
   • Camera follow + basic smoothing.

3. Combat prototype

   • Basic player attack that damages a dummy enemy.
   • Health/damage model for player and enemies.
   • Active skill with cooldown, no fancy VFX yet.

4. Enemy AI

   • Implement melee skeleton AI with simple states (Idle/Chase/Attack).
   • Duplicate/extend for ranged cultist and mini‑boss.

5. Inventory & loot

   • Inventory backend + equipment slots.
   • Simple UI to equip weapon/armor and see stats update.
   • Loot drops from enemies → add to inventory.

6. Quest system

   • Quest data + manager listening to kill events and boss death.
   • Quest giver NPC starting and turning in the main quest.

7. Minimal UI & UX

   • Health bar, XP/level display, basic quest panel.
   • Hit feedback (simple flashes or numbers).

8. Short content pass

   • Place enemies and loot through the dungeon.
   • Tune HP/damage so a full clear is ~5–10 minutes.

9. Polish pass (still placeholders)

   • Fix obvious bugs.
   • Make sure the entire loop (camp → quest → dungeon run → boss → turn in) works cleanly.