Necromage: Inexperienced designer seeks advice for new project

So I want to make a game where you play a necromancer, sneaking around in a fashion similar to Thief and stealth killing like in Assassin's Creed or Dishonored. The unique part will be what you do with the dead bodies, rather than just hiding them you, as the name suggests, modify and raise the dead NPC's and more or less control their actions and behaviors.

Two major components of the magic itself would be the primary cast, which is basically a ray or perhaps bolt which upon contact will raise corpses whether modified or no. Basic cast produces a zombie, modifying before casting produces different undead with different stats and powers. I need to be able to move dead bodies out of sight, I need NPC's to react to seeing a dead body or seeing a murder in progress. I need to make an inventory gui, a map gui, a sigil gui (to select modifications to corpses). Before I go any further I should mention that it will be a 3D open world, possibly a sandbox depending on how you define sandbox. It's basically a necromancer sim.

Anyway, I'll also need an equip gui, possibly part of the inventory gui, equipment will modify the effects of the basic death magic spell. Also I need to know how to modify hitboxes, and how to design combat in general. Also it should be said that I'm not much of an artist myself, not that I've even reached that point but the texturing will be difficult for me, skins too.

 

Sounds like a fine idea. Start by making something small though. Don't try to dive in on your big love project and learn on the go. You're going to at least need some foundations first.

 

So maybe a test sandbox, just a basic model in a basic world with some water and some houses just to figure out how to make a sandbox?

 

That's perfect. Make something that you never intend to put out into the world. It takes all the pressure off you. Just use that to experiment and learn all of the things that you're going to need to create your "real" project.