Swords and Sandals NG

You are Marcus, a nameless slave of the pens in a sun-baked Roman provincial town. Win your freedom on the sand.

The loop

1. Explore the town. Buy weapons from the blacksmith and armour from the armorer; heavier gear needs enough strength. Take side quests from Marcia at the taberna, and get to know Livia, the town healer.
2. Walk north through the arena arch to open the bout board, and pick an unlocked bout.
3. Fight with stamina-based light and heavy attacks, blocks and parries, dodge-rolls and lock-on.
4. Win gold, fame and XP. Level-ups give stat points for strength, agility, vitality, endurance and charisma.
5. Lose, and you are dragged back to town with no prize, minus a quarter of your gold. Then try again.

Seven bouts

First Blood (a gladiator duel) → The Chained Mob (a swarm of 20 slaves) → Jaws of Numidia (a lion) → The Murmillo → Pride of the Desert (two lions) → Revolt of the Pens → The Iron Minotaur, a three-phase Souls-style boss with telegraphed cleaves, charges and ground slams, a stagger meter, and an enraged final phase.

Romance

Raise Livia's affection by talking with her, bringing gifts, finishing her quest and winning in the arena. She goes from stranger to friend, confidant and finally beloved, and that last stage has its own ending.

Controls

State of the build

Every part of the loop is playable: town, shops, quests, romance, all seven bouts and the boss. Gameplay has been tested with real inputs. Visually it is stylised. The town and arena use generated textures and props, and the NPCs are generated rigged characters, but the player's armour, the arena enemies, the lion and the Minotaur are built from modelled shapes and animated in code. Generated character models and animation clips are the next step.