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[JasonPickering]

I dont know if I will actually use Statuses but it would be nice to have that option.



I was thinking maybe I could do something like the fade, but have it fade in and out in a loop. its hard to read if there is something behind it, but I think that way would mean you can see what's behind it, and what the status in.

[Hangedman]

I like the speech bubbles, but when space is at a premium it can be problematic.

I would suggest adding a colour filter to the sprites, as some tactics games do. Since your sprites never overlap and have uniform colour, it would be clear when one was bright green or dark gray toned.

[JasonPickering]

Yeah I thought about that. I guess the main status I will have will be freeze. that will put them in blue. I haven;t thought of anything else yet. I will have player statuses though and a lot of them can be switched over. Like one skill was the Shout. it scared enemies and they wouldn't hurt you for 3 turns. well I switched that to the booze so now your guys just gets drunk and doesn't take damage for 3 turns. its mechanically the same.

[JasonPickering]

Well here comes the big post about combat with visual aides.

1.So we have the start of the Game. looks like we are up against 2 Mice and a goblin.


2. So we take our first move and then so do the monsters. Monsters no longer come running at you. they wander randomly and attack if next to you. this serves two points. you dont know how a monster will move, and this adds the choice of the player running away now and the monsters might not give chase.


3. Now my next move I am going to use a skill. Kogan the Dwarf has 2 moves The First is Throw Axe. you throw a projectile in a cardinal direction and kill that monster. Now a Goblin has 2 health so there is no way I can kill it with a normal attack without taking Damage. the second skill is Stiff Drink which means he takes no damage for 3 turns. but I am not that close, so that would be a waste.


4. NOOOO!!!. that wasn't even a goblin. it was a mimic. a creature that is incapable of doing damage. I just wasted my skill. All skills are one time use until they recharge.


5. Okay Now lets kick some monster butt. so Skip ahead for the monsters dead.


Okay so I lucked out cause I got through unscathed, but the next level will have more monsters and I am one skill short. Good news though. the Kill counter up top has 3 kills in it. once you get 4 kills. you get a choice. you can gain 1 heart or recharge one skill. I am Okay now so I wont be needing any health, but it would be nice to get the throw skill back.

So that's about it for now. I didn't have any special enemies to deal with but that was only the first level and normally it would have had more enemies in it. Also all the numbers are not set in stone, or any of the skills really. so there may be some tweaking down the line, but I have been paper prototyping out the combat and its been going pretty good.

[laxwolf]

Looks awesome and sounds awesome to play.

Only thing I noticed that I didn't like was how the skulls parted and faced opposite directions. I think it would be better if they all faced left.

[happymonster]

Sounds and looks great Jason!

[Franklin's Ghost]

Interested to see how the new mechanics play out. Sound good so far

[JasonPickering]

thanks guys.

Laxwolf: I did turn all the skulls to face the same way. It does look better.

So just doing a lot of engine stuff getting the skills in and working with the touchscreen as opposed to keyboard keys i test with.

After that I want to add a few more enemies and start balancing.

[JasonPickering]

Adding in the Skills now. the first one is in. Its called Stiff Drink and the layer takes no damage for 3 turns. I am trying something where the player will actually have animations for each skill, so I am seeing how this turns out. What do you think?



Not sure If I like it.

[laxwolf]

It's recognizable so I'm perfectly fine with it. Looks good.

[Franklin's Ghost]

I like it and think it works for what it's supposed to. But think maybe having a little bit of head movement or body movement would really help bring it together.

[♒ben]

Looks good, i don't understand what's going on with the black line before/after the drink though.

edit: Oh i guess it's his sword.

[st33d]

Maybe some head bob would help, overemphasising each action would give it more personality.

[JasonPickering]

So I am putting in the skill system and I just wanted some opinions. would it be better to give a specific type of player 2 specific moves. or give the player one time use items that are basically the same thing. Mechanically they work the same, except the player would have randomly generated skills. I think this might be better as it means I can add more items to the game and not limit myself design wise. basically whenever you filled the meter you would get a choice of 3 items, but one of those items will always be a heart that heals you one. the other 2 could be buffs, spells, or potions. I think this might work a little but better, and it means each floor you could have wildly different skills.

[Dakota.s]

I tried the latest build, I really enjoyed it. Great job Jason, Can't wait to see what else you add to the game. 

[08--n7.r6-79.84]

OMG THIS IS THE BEST PIXEL-ART I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE SO FAR!!!

[JasonPickering]

Thanks guys. the main problem now is getting gameplay to match. the biggest thing I am struggling with is getting information to the player. I don't want a player to ever be confused so I am trying to figure out how to do this. I wonder if its better to give the player a base set of skills. or allow the player to find new skills, or if experimentation is the way to go. perhaps a book in the menu that explains all skills and monsters the player can refer to at anytime?

[JasonPickering]

Hey Guys, Should have a new build up tonight or tomorrow. right now I have added in critical hits and misses (Player gets Criticals. Monsters can Miss). Next is adding in the Items and then maybe some crates to break to get them. games working well though. and moving along nicely. the largest problem is the player has a lot of specific code and it needs a good scrub down to get rid of all the redundant code.

and just for fun here is a menu Mockup. underneath will be the item selection, trying to figure out how to do it.

[happymonster]

When you collect a skill or an item, could it show a looping animation showing how to use it? I.e. fireball hiting a monster, freezing working, etc.?

[JasonPickering]

Possible I was also thinking of maybe doing symbols. This is a buff. This does fire damage in a cross formation x spaces. I have been looking at a lot of board game to see how spell cards convey all the needed information.