Updates and news on the best upcoming strategy and tactical games for iOS and Mac

Monthly archives for May, 2009

Turn Based Mechanisms and Teams

May28
2009 3 Comments JSeuss Written by JSeuss

Up until now it was a bit of a lie to call the game a Turn Based game for the simple reason that there were no turns (or teams for that matter..). So after a very exciting morning teams and turns were added to the game.

In the video you’ll notice a few things:

End of turn now works. A screen hiding window is shown and a button for the next player to start their turn. Perfect for hotseat multiplayer…

Shadow maps and sight maps are local to each team. Sight now works better (but tweaks are needed) by only giving 90 degrees field of view instead of 360. Camera position is also retained for each team.

The things that still need work are:

  • Time Units: Currently you can just do whatever you want forever with no need for another turn
  • Replaying actions: When it’s your turn again you’ll soon be able to see a replay of anything that happened in your field of view.
  • and a whole heap of other things..

Remember to comment if you like what you see and want to see more!

Thanks!

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Revealable Map and another Ballistics Demo

May27
2009 Leave a Comment JSeuss Written by JSeuss

Well, because of all the extra comments and support I’ve been getting, I thought I’d use my 20 mins free time today implementing revealable maps so parts of the game only become visible once units go and look at them.

It’s only the first cut and isn’t perfect. I’d like it to only reveal the direction the unit is looking rather than revealing a whole 360 degrees. I’ve built that functionality into the backend, but it’s a little more than 15 mins work to hook it in.

So here’s another video to keep everyone happy! :)

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Destructible Walls And Firing System Demo

May26
2009 3 Comments JSeuss Written by JSeuss

One of the things I liked best about the X-Com games was sneaking up on a fortified team of aliens and ruining all their plans by blasting a hole in a wall and charging in. For this and other reasons, I’ve made the environment interactive with the addition of destructible walls.

And of course, for destructible walls to be of any use, I’ve put in a system of destruction – the firing and ballistics system. Much like X-Com, each bullet travels along a slightly randomized path and hits whatever it hits – friend, foe or scenery. I had planned to do all the combat based on a dice roll system but the way I’ve actually done it makes friendly fire and tactical use of destruction so much easier.

The final thing that’s added is a new aspect ratio and tile size. The new set is still made up of only very simple walls and floors so you’ll have to excuse the ‘clinical’ look. The new size lets you see more floor and contents of rooms and feels less cramped.

So I hope you enjoy the video!

Cheers!

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Unit Placement Video and Animation Tweaks

May21
2009 Leave a Comment JSeuss Written by JSeuss

Hey!

Since the last update I’ve redone the game mechanism to use a state machine framework and now I can quickly add actions and events.

The most obvious new event is the unit placement. At the start of every turn, reserves can be placed on the entry markers. Once that stage is over, the level plays as normal.

Here’s the video:

To those keeping track of the progress, you’ll also note I’ve tweaked the animations somewhat to be more fluid and now the characters ‘bob’ a little which looks much better.

From here, I’ll be completing the turn based system and setting up a ‘hot seat’ multiplayer mode so one device can be handed around to multiple players. I’m still getting good ideas for the tactics and gameplay, so I’ll be concentrating on the core engine functionality until I’ve made some hard decisions on what will be in the game. Thanks again for all the input!

Until next time..

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Unit Placement

May19
2009 Leave a Comment JSeuss Written by JSeuss

Hey everyone.

Although I don’t have much to show for the last few days, I thought I’d give a screenshot of where I’m up to.

95% of my time was spent optimising the drawing engine to squeeze a few more frames per second out so it feels smoother. With a lot of tiles on the screen (especially when zooming) the device can feel a bit sluggish.

The other 5% was spent tweaking the animations so the soldiers legs don’t move quite so fast and they bob a bit for realism, and adding the framework for turn based games and unit placement. So here’s a not-very-interesting screenshot of unit placement before a unit is placed:

Unit Placement Screenshot

So the idea is that at the start of the game you have a number of ‘reserves’. You can place some or all of these at the start of each turn at any empty entry point. As the level progresses, more entry points will be revealed and more units may become available to your reserves.  This will allow you to deploy scouts early on and let them move forward quickly to open locked entry points deeper in the level for your heavies to come in.  

If all goes according to plan, I should have a ‘turn’ happening very soon, and when that’s done I’ll post a video – so keep posted!

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