I've been modding Flare recently, and I've even managed to make 0.18 reasonably playable without dying ridiculously (I can list the changes if anyone is interested). It's quite fun, and I want more. I've been encountering a wall when it comes to attributes. I have some suggestions:
1) Powers, Items, Classes, and Stats should have the same collection of selectable attributes. This is to make a warrior have more damage absorption (through a passive power or because of class) because he has to take all hits directly, and a weapon or item that increases lifesteal, or a power that temporarily increases attack damage in case there are too many enemies.
2) Customizable Stats, with attributes, so that 1 point of Strength can cause any number of customizable attributes to increase (Str increases carrying capacity, attack damage, health points slightly, etc.). Or maybe adding as many custom stats as needed, like separating out Health Points, Strength, Dodging ability, Movement Speed, etc.
3) Powers that have item-specific and class-specific attributes, so that you need a hammer to cause an earthquake-like effect, not an ax. And so a mage can't become much tougher and much more powerful than a warrior.
4) Can scrollbars be added to a lot of listings, like skills, inventories, etc., expanding to whatever level is needed? This is because, first of all, I sometimes find too many items, expanding power lists becomes a problem, and so on.
More powers, more items, more classes, more stats, more attributes!
Essentially, I'm suggesting de-hardcoding much of the variables of the game, making them more customizable. I think it could help in balancing things a little better. But I suppose I'm just trying to make the engine super-customizable, and I don't think that's the overall intent of Flare. ;)
I'll eventually (long long time from now) probably try to fork it for some of this stuff, but I'm worried things like extra scrollbars everywhere may be beyond my ability. :/
We have begun some refactoring to allow modders to set the benefits for different attributes. See this recent change: https://github.com/clintbellanger/flare-engine/pull/675
Our goal really isn't to implement everything (e.g. I'd never add a carrying capacity) but to make it a bit easier for people to want to add that. I want there to be some good customizability of the core action elements (e.g. attack, hit, crit, damage) at least, because those are going to be common for most games of the genre.
As far as just adding more stuff (powers, items) that's just editing data for the most part. I add more as I get inspiration.
Very nice! Thank you! I have to keep an eye on those issues much more from now on, and probably start using the latest versions from git.
I'll try to come up with some interesting powers and items with the attributes available.
Would it be challenging for a modder to add more role-playing elements, specifically non-combat, for example things like speechcraft and lockpicking skill?
Sorry if this was asked before, I tried poking around the forums and didn't see anything.
that would be nice to have the speechcraft and lock-picking skills. Look forward to have those being used in-game.