Character relationships were something I was on the fence about when it came to implementing for Singularity: Tactics Arena. After all, in many ways Tactics Arena is a proof of concept game. It’s a neat little playground for me to play around with my combat and class system – but I never intended for it to be a fully-fledged RPG, which in many ways it is becoming. I have a horrible problem with scope creep, but I think for this case, it’s beneficial.
I had always intended to build relationship mechanics for my mainline series, A Memory of Eternity, but I suppose I can start here as well. What I’m currently envisioning is pretty simple: certain actions the player does can raise or lower their trust level with characters. Since the story of Tactics Arena revolves around 4 (almost) strangers fighting for their lives against a murderous and vindictive AI, I imagine that being able to trust each other matters a lot. Having high trust with other characters is almost always a good thing. A high trust level will translate to new dialogue options, mutually beneficial experience boosts, the occasional gift and even having an effect on the end game. However, some decisions that gain you trust with one character may also lower it for another.
I personally think it opens a lot more reactivity in the game and helps with player immersion. Yes, it’s more work, but I’m looking forward to it.
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