These past couple weeks I've spent some time working on a very early version of the quest system, which I expect will be fairly simple (think more JRPG than CRPG, focused on short narrative slices rather than choice-heavy complexity), we're continuing to work on art, and I've been polishing out some of the nagging bugs that I've been ignoring since the start. Most importantly, though, is a followup to the last devlog's preview, because now we've got:

WORKING SHOPS

This is still an early version and will change in various ways, and there are placeholders here, so don't take the all the specifics to heart, but it should give a good idea of where it's going. The plan is to have three different types of shops in both South of the March and the not-yet-announced future game, all visually and structurally similar, but with different functions:

• ITEM SHOPS: That's what's pictured above. You'll be able to buy items of various types -- consumables, equipment, upgrade materials, and valuables without a specific purpose -- which you can then find in your inventory and use later on, or even sell.
• FOOD SELLERS: Instead of buying items for later use, you'll be able to pay for meals to eat on the spot. Meals will vary in price, and most will provide a basic bonus of healing HP and reducing Stress. Each meal will also provide a different long-term bonus that stays in place until a new meal is eaten.
• BLACKSMITHS: Rather than selling equipment, the blacksmith will be focused on upgrading the equipment you already own, as well as disassembling both unwanted equipment and junk items for upgrade materials. Upgrading will be a key avenue for character progression.

As of now, both item shops and food sellers are generally functional. Blacksmiths, on the other hand, are still in progress, as most of what they actually do is tied up in other systems that are also still getting fleshed out. Sometime down the line, I'll do a longer post detailing the item economy of the game and how all this stuff fits together, so we'll definitely be coming back here again.

Keep an eye out for more details next week!