Game Update
Fixing more problems this week that are minor ones with simple fixes. I also think that I might be able to add some simple items or something to allow players a little more agency with their team. You’re always balancing the scales between giving the player a lot of choice to make things interesting and keeping things simple and accessible. The troop duplication feature might also make my item idea a little problematic.
The problem that I fixed was that at the end of levels there are a set of conditions to send the player to different follow on screens. I thought that I had all the possibilities covered but the level was soft locking at the end. Luckily I had placed a debug statement if all the conditions failed. I added a new condition and that fixed the problem. I was happy that I could parse it out quickly.
Chris and I are still working through some of the issues with the tactics on the Force Organization screen. I feel like it’s 90% where it needs to be. It’s good enough for early access.
For a long time I thought that I couldn’t add any items to the game until the second iteration of the game. I woke up today and thought to myself, “I have a system during stages that’s increasing and decreasing stats on troops when we take over towns and so I should be able to take that machinery and leverage it for single use items.” It might be pretty simple, and I might even be able to use it for consumable. With a little work I might be able to make equipable items as well. The only question is how simple will it be, and how much value will it add to the game. I like the idea of having other things for the player to spend money on as well as adding something random to the stages that the player can earn.
Personal Update
I’m still going through the house purchasing process as well as figuring out the time table for the transition. I realized that the holiday events might be a little difficult this year and so I’ve done some preparing ahead.
I took some time with my boys last weekend to do something special as I know things will be hectic later. I’m sure that I will miss my hometown when I’m gone, but I’m ready for the next adventure. It’s been about 3 years since I’ve had a place that wasn’t something that was transitional. I’m happy for the time I’ve had while I was at home and I took a lot of chances on some possibilities while I was here as well. I had the chance to see places I hadn’t been too, meet really cool girls, and even DJ at a local bar which paid me. I’m glad that I had this time here and I feel like the things that happened over the last couple months will have an impact on me that I’ll carry with for some time to come (possibly even longer than expected).