GEKOKUJO: Vagrant Crown is a Living World RPG about living as one person within a changing world, rather than becoming the center of it.
This post summarizes the major features that have been implemented so far.
■ Strategic Map
- Implemented the Northern Forest Region as the main strategic map
- Added a large regional map presentation based on high-resolution background artwork
- Implemented player, NPC, animal, and enemy movement on the strategic map
- Added adjacent regions that appear visually connected to the current area
- The demo currently focuses on the central region, while surrounding areas remain visible as part of the world
- Implemented terrain rules for roads, forests, rivers, mountains, and bridges
- Roads increase movement speed
- Forests reduce movement speed
- Rivers and mountains are impassable
- Bridges allow crossing rivers
- Added notifications for blocked terrain
- Added visual support for terrain depth, forests, and mountain relief
- Added travel dots to show movement direction
- Implemented HUD elements such as minimap, event log, rumor information, and faction information
■ Player and Movement
- Implemented the player character on the strategic map
- Adjusted character size so the player can be recognized clearly as a game piece
- Implemented walking, running, camera follow, and zoom controls
- Added terrain-based movement speed modifiers
- Added terrain-based footstep sounds
- Footsteps now change depending on roads, forests, grass, rocky ground, bridges, and wet areas
- Implemented the foundation for auto-travel
- Added arrival logs when reaching destinations
■ Pseudo-Player NPCs
- Implemented pseudo-player NPC spawning and placement
- Merchants, travelers, and hostile NPCs can appear on the strategic map
- Implemented destination-based NPC movement
- Added contact logs and notifications when NPCs come near the player
- Implemented basic data for NPC names, personalities, memories, rumors, and behavior tendencies
- Added the foundation for pseudo-player NPCs to participate in world events
- Adjusted NPC display size so they are easier to recognize on the map
■ Animals and Enemies
- Implemented deer herds
- Implemented wolves
- Implemented bears
- Implemented bandits
- Added basic hostile detection, pursuit, and battle initiation
- Added 3D model and animation playback for animals and enemies
- Added logs and audio feedback when animals or enemies are nearby
■ Seamless-Style Battle
- Implemented a pseudo-seamless battle system on the strategic map
- Shifted from a fully separate battle screen toward a field-based battle HUD
- Implemented HP display for the player, companion, and enemies
- Added basic attack, damage, defeat, victory, and defeat handling
- Battles currently support enemies such as wolves, bandits, and bears
- Implemented battle victory, defeat, and flee handling
- Added the flow for returning to the strategic map after battle
- Added dedicated music cues for battle victory and defeat
■ Quests and Guild
- Implemented the foundation for village guild and quest board systems
- Added quest acceptance, progress, completion, and reward handling
- Added dedicated music cues for quest success and quest failure
- Added notifications and logs for quest completion
- Implemented basic guild rank, reward, and companion-related handling
- Added the foundation for quests issued by pseudo-player NPCs
■ Village and Menus
- Implemented the Glen Village menu
- Added UI for conversation, rumors, shop, inn, information, guild, and quest board
- Implemented conversations and rumor gathering from villagers
- Added quest acceptance and completion reporting inside the village
- Implemented the in-game menu
- Added tabs for character, party, items, quests, rumors, relationships, chronicle, factions, bestiary, world map, and settings
- Added sound effects for menu open/close, tab switching, saving, and village menu interactions
■ Rumors, News, and World Records
- Implemented the rumor system
- Rumors heard from NPCs are recorded in the player’s rumor log
- Implemented world event logs
- Added the foundation for recording information about NPCs, factions, and events
- Implemented the foundation for world news, notifications, and event logs
- Added audio feedback for contact, rumor acquisition, and danger detection
■ Time and World Simulation
- Implemented in-game time progression
- Added morning, noon, evening, and night time display
- Added time-based ambience changes
- Added the foundation for a world that continues moving even when the player waits
- Implemented the basis for NPCs, animals, enemies, rumors, and events to move through the world
■ Audio Feedback
- Separated BGM, sound effects, and ambience into different audio buses
- Added ambience for forests, rivers, villages, night, and danger states
- Added terrain-based footstep sounds
- Added sound effects for NPC contact, rumor acquisition, log updates, danger detection, and battle initiation
- Added dedicated music cues for battle victory, battle defeat, quest success, and quest failure
- Added UI sounds, village menu sounds, save sounds, and quest acceptance sounds
- Audio balance is being tuned to fit a grounded medieval fantasy atmosphere
■ Save, Load, and Localization
- Implemented the foundation for save and load systems
- Added basic manual save, autosave, and post-battle save handling
- Implemented the foundation for Japanese, English, and Chinese localization
- Added localization support for UI, quests, logs, rumors, and related text
- The system is designed so additional languages can be added in future updates
■ Development and Quality Improvements
- Added debugging tools for FPS, memory, node count, and freeze monitoring
- Added test systems for longer runtime checks
- Continued tuning strategic map visibility, character size, terrain readability, and audio balance
- Current development is focused on increasing the density and quality of the Northern Forest Region for the demo
The current focus is to make the core loop work on the strategic map: traveling, encountering NPCs, hearing rumors, fighting enemies, and seeing the world change over time.
There is still a lot of work ahead, but the foundation of the Living World RPG experience in GEKOKUJO: Vagrant Crown is gradually taking shape.