We thought we would make a follow-up post to explain some of the gameplay as a whole and some of the specific deployables in the previous videos!
Having known and worked with deployables for the last couple months we forgot to explain what was going on to you guys, so hopefully this will give it all a bit of context.
We'd like to note that this is an explanation of the deployable buildings in specific but using the deployables in Odonata will actually be
entirely optional, it would be up to you if you want to use them based on your personal preference and play style. Nothing wrong with going at it one-man-army!
Let's first explain how the resource system works in Odonata.
The main currency in Odonata is scrap metal, everything in the game is worth an amount of metal. Shooting a gun, throwing a knife or deploying a turret would cost a certain amount of metal directly proportional to its practicality and purpose. For example, the cost of throwing a grenade is relative to the size of the explosion or the amount of damage it does.
A notable resource building would be the crusher deployable as it is the main method to "liquidise" your assets. Tossing a gun with a value of 200 metal into a crusher would result in 200 metal being dispensed out of it. This would also apply to any pickup item, essentially serving as an efficient 'quick sell' to be immediately used as currency.
In terms of deployables, deploying a spike plate at a cost of 200 metal per deployment would mean it would be worth that exact amount if it were to be disassembled (at full HP) and at a heavily discounted return if it was destroyed instead.
In the future, not only will scrap metal be used to pay for general battle and upkeep costs but it will also be used to upgrade your weapons and items, allowing you to improve something you already own or to be used to obtain an entirely new item.
Economy system and the importance of mover buildings.
Mover buildings are simply used to move scrap and item pickups from one place to another. This is important because in order for you to obtain scrap metal and items you must either collect it manually or ferry it from where it was to where you are, in a similiar fashion to resource harvesters in an RTS.
Killing an enemy will cause them to drop metal and any items in their inventory. However, if you were to kill an enemy at a remote location, say with a turret or a trap, you won't be able to benefit unless you collect it or move it.
This concept raises the necessity of mover buildings as it would enable you to make an automatic system that could essentially pay for itself, allowing you to efficiently project your battle advantage across the field.
That's it for now, we'll discuss more about the triggers and logic buildings in the next post!
