61 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
# Light & Dark — Roadmap
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Destination: **polished vertical slice** — Regions 1–2, save system, skill upgrades.
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Proves the core loop is fun before scaling to the full vision.
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## Design decisions (locked)
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- **Death penalty**: on death, drop light/dark coins at the death spot; reclaim them or lose them permanently on a second death. The fairy hovers over the spot as the marker.
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- **Skill upgrades**:
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- **Vendor** (smith/trainer) gives direct linear power upgrades. Upgrades one selected spell; changing selection costs coins.
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- **Gems / rings** give alternate behaviors / sidegrades.
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- **Ranged identity**: keep the bolt, add upgrades (no charge-up / homing rework).
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- **Fairy (in slice)**: guide + ambient light source (bonus flow regen near player). Scout mode, teleport, fairy holes deferred to regions 3+.
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- **Ascended armor**: cut for now. Awakened is good enough at the start; less balancing needed.
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## Milestones
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### M0 — Foundation (the game remembers)
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| Item | Effort | Notes |
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| ~~Save/persistence system~~ | L | **DONE (2026-09-28)**: JSON save to `saves/`, save via pause menu. Stores player state, room, coins, equipment, inventory, quests, tokens, boss diary, defeated bosses, broken doors. |
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| Charge -> Flow rename | S | Code + UI + configs. |
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| ~~Main menu~~ | M | **DONE (2026-09-28)**: Select Game (greyed with no saves), New Game (name entry), Settings (rebinding), Quit. Wipe-all-saves button (bottom right) with confirmation dialog. |
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### M1 — Region 1 complete loop
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| Item | Effort | Notes |
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| Death penalty (drop coins, reclaim at death spot; fairy marks it; lose on 2nd death) | M | Save system exists now; drop-position data needed. Ties into fairy. |
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| Fairy companion (guide + ambient light source -> bonus flow regen) | M | Wakes player at start, tutorial dialogue. |
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| More quests (repeatable + one-time; system exists) | S | Just content. |
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| Lore dialogue for fairy / NPCs | S | Needs written copy. |
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### M2 — Skill upgrades
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| Item | Effort | Notes |
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| Vendor (smith/trainer) NPC | M | Reuses NPC + coin systems. |
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| Vendor upgrades (linear): Dash = lower cooldown, Ranged = more damage, Tether = longer bind/fear | S | Data + UI. |
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| Ring slot + gems (sidegrades): Dash = speed-stacks / refund-on-kill / afterimage taunt; Ranged = pierce (light) / aoe (shade) / kill-stacks; Tether = boss effects / higher threshold | L | New slot, new item type, build UI. |
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### M3 — Region 2: shade matters
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| Item | Effort | Notes |
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| Shade-gated interactions (doors, an NPC, an area) | S-M | Room JSON + existing toggle. |
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| New enemy behaviors (patrol, dodge-and-leap, burrow-shooter) | M | Enemy system supports it. |
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| Quick recharge pickup | S | Mid-battle refill. |
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| Ability tweaks: ranged upgrades, ground-slam knockback/iframe, light-step buffs | M | Picks up remaining notes ideas. |
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| Region-2 boss + ability pacing | M | Re-align pacing (Ranged already exists). |
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### Stretch / core (post-slice, in order)
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- Fast travel (rune stones)
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- Fairy scout + bond teleport + fairy holes
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- Regions 3-5 per pacing notes
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- World-change weapon (stretch-end, decide variant)
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### Cut
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- Ascended armor (removed).
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## Dependencies
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- Save is the keystone: death penalty, main menu, and any progress feature hang off it.
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- Fairy and Flow rename can run in parallel with M0. |