Game Update
This week I returned to something that I might have been avoiding for some time. Back when I thought I was ready to release the game on Steam for early access and I was pushing really hard for that I knew that I had to get the spell particle effects functioning. That said after assessing that pipeline there was something like 27 steps in the process to go from concept to fully implemented spell. Pretty daunting when I think about creating 2-3 spells per character and I have around 40 characters. The one saving grace is that I can re-use some spells once they have been created.
After working through it with my mentor Chris last Tuesday it looks like I might have been more scared than I needed to be. For one thing I can batch some steps together which I had done and then refine them. This week we focused on 2 spells in particular. 2 ice spells which we’re calling Ice Blast and Snow Ball. I had already made a lot of updates to the spreadsheet that handles all the spells in the game. Most of the additions are related to changing the “Single Target” spells to one of our multi targeting modes. The modes range from randomly attacking enemies, to targeting specific rows or columns.
When we use an “Area of Effect” (AOE) spell mode it centers the graphic on the target squad and we have to adjust it from there. Snow Ball used to be a single target spell that moved out from the caster to the target. The new mode centered it on the enemy unit and it looked bad. Also the spreadsheet had it tuned for single target. In order to fix this we just reverted it to its old single target mode.
The numbers for damage are pretty fuzzy right now but it seems that generally we want single target to be the highest damage, followed by row/column, followed by random whole squad, followed by whole squad damage. The reason for this should be pretty obvious but hitting 7 troops with the same damage that the player is dealing to 1 troop makes for less decisions in squad creation. We want real decisions not simple answers.
A general idea I’m thinking right now is a comparison of damage. For every 7 damage we do to a single target we should have 1 damage for whole squad AOE.
Single Target - 7 damage
Row/Column - 4-6 damage (depending on how many rows/columns)
Random Whole Squad - 2-3 damage
Whole Squad - 1 damage
This should have some deviations to make some classes notably stronger. Things like typically Whole squad is around 1 damage for every 7 single target, but on a class we might increase it to 1.5 or even 2. This would mean that a single target spell might do 70 damage with an AOE vs a 7 member enemy squad typically doing 10 per troop for around 70 damage. A more powerful version of the AOE might do 15 per troop which would raise its damage considerably to 105. The drawback is when the enemy squad does not contain a full 7 enemies. Later we plan to make larger troops that will count as 2 or even 3 troop spaces in squads and that should change this dynamic a bit creating more choice.
The Ice blast spell hits the front row of the enemy squad. Originally I thought that it might blast out from the caster squad but we settled on an Ice strafing run which looks pretty good. I’m also really happy with the notification message the player gets in the combat log. The drawback to this spell is pretty obvious as it only hits the front row meaning if there are no troops in that row it does nothing. This drawback justifies higher damage which means that if it is hitting 5 troops compared to the 7 troops from a whole squad AOE.
These things aren’t difficult to do nor are they completely ground breaking but they are a big win for player choice and keeping the game interesting and engaging. As I keep working on the spells I can only increase in my speed to get them completed. This will create a better video and better screen shots for Steam. I still have the capsule art on my radar but I need to move my business licence over before I consider releasing on steam and so it’s become less of a priority for now.
Personal Update
Getting back on my feet with meeting new people you never know what’s going to happen really. Things can progress pretty quickly and a person can go from having no plans to suddenly having all the interest. Sometimes all it takes is focusing on the things that are important like family and work while staying open to meeting new people.
I think this is what people say when they say, “don’t look for it, it will happen.” Always a ridiculous phrase to me because it assumes that things are going to magically just fall in your lap without work. I’d prefer to have a little bit more control and be active. Not to say that the strategy of “just sit back and it will happen” can’t work but more often than not it takes work. Looking forward to see how my newest flame works out.
We’re getting to the end of the school year and I’m looking forward to some summertime down time. At the same time I do have some quality of life things that I need to do around the house still. It’s so good to be back in an environment that I love to come home to. I think that it’s helped with stress levels as well as I’ve lost some weight. I look forward to more health and wellness opportunities like running, and working out.
I need to bring more balance to my life with a schedule however. Right now I’m not spending enough time working on my video game, and that is my passion. I’m chasing some things to hard and playing to many phone games. It’s time to bring balance back for a higher quality lifestyle. Instead of playing 10 20 minute games a day, maybe just 2 or 4. Maybe cut it out completely if it doesn’t serve me. At least the phone game side of things will naturally curtail itself in 2 months.
Answered Questions for an Aspiring Game Developer
5. Do you need to know how to code to design video games?
You don't need to know how to code to make games, however you are limiting what you are able to do. Making levels in Mario Maker is game development. That's level design and there are plenty of people that specialize in that. But could you make a new kind of brick with a new graphic and add it to Mario Maker? No you can't because it's locked down but if you had access to the source code and know how to code you could add a new feature or function that's not there. This is modifying the game, and for a lot of young developers it's how they start out. I mentioned this earlier. Additionally, think about how replaceable you are in the job market. Ask yourself "how many good level designers, artists, sound engineers, network engineers, security, and programmers are out there?" How easy would it be to replace them? If you follow this path it's likely that you will need to supplement your income for a while or find roommates with a dream. As an example I've heard of developers that live in California sharing a 2 room apartment between 3 people and hot bunking because of the cost of living there. That said there's a lot of changes coming down the pipe for developers. For me I work on my games in my free time and have a day job to supplement my income to make sure my boys can eat every day. This isn't an easy road and it's not for everyone. Also think about how soon you want a family as that will also effect the amount of money you will need to survive.