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[barneycumming]

the look is so tight and clean, some serious graphic-design sensibilities at work

can't wait to see more

[Reilly]

Thanks guys!

Barney, congrats on the greenlight!

Made some transition effects for captured structures last night.

Sketch


Refined Sketch


Final

[Reilly]

New capture animations in action!


Compared to the old dumb boring ones

[PeteDevlin]

Just to point something out, and lovely as it looks, Advance Wars (1) worked so well because levels were very specifically well thought out, instatized, purposeful battles - It worked in a way that number 2 and then the DS editions didn't really live up to - Just putting together a loads of maps won't make this great - Please really, really work on the design of the structure and flow and share some information on how that's going.

[rek]

Just to point something out, and lovely as it looks, Advance Wars (1) worked so well because levels were very specifically well thought out, instatized, purposeful battles - It worked in a way that number 2 and then the DS editions didn't really live up to - Just putting together a loads of maps won't make this great - Please really, really work on the design of the structure and flow and share some information on how that's going.

Maybe you could start a thread in the Design subforum giving examples of what you mean.

[PeteDevlin]

Just to point something out, and lovely as it looks, Advance Wars (1) worked so well because levels were very specifically well thought out, instatized, purposeful battles - It worked in a way that number 2 and then the DS editions didn't really live up to - Just putting together a loads of maps won't make this great - Please really, really work on the design of the structure and flow and share some information on how that's going.

Maybe you could start a thread in the Design subforum giving examples of what you mean.

I'd certainly have a crack at it - Is this something other people would be interested reading?

[Vanhail]

@GameTheory I hear what you're saying. We definitely want to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to the campaign. Map design for this game is a real art. We've had a lot of community contributions and it's funny how some maps that look like a blast turn out terribly unbalanced and awkward to play on, while others present an interesting strategic context.

[SundownKid]

As a long time Advance Wars addict, this looks like an epic game and I am totally getting this. It's crazily polished, looks like the game I always wanted for mobile.

Though, I second the idea that you guys should definitely consider a PC port/expanded campaign version with a story at some point since it would be a shame to just stop at local multiplayer.

The one thing that I am slightly disappointed by is that it doesn't have an option for the eye candy massive battle scenes like Advance Wars where 10 infantry duked it out. Shooting stuff on the map is a bit less exciting and doesn't have the same whiz-bang feel to it. It's not necessary for a minimum viable product but I love having the eye candy in tactics games where enemies will go at it.

[Vanhail]

We went back and forth for a while about whether or not we wanted to include a campaign, but we’ve absolutely settled on YES. Some rather extravagant multiplayer plans were reined in to free up time for it. The experience feels a lot more balanced when you can jump right into a campaign and alternate between that and some multiplayer matches.

Finding a voice and a story for these dudes was a challenge, but I’m really excited about what we’ve stumbled on. I think we’ve found a story that fits the personality of the game really well. I’d like to keep the thread spoiler free, but we will have something to share soon.

In terms of the campaign, would anyone like to expand on what they feel makes for a good level/mission? How important is the narrative?  Would you like to be challenged in different ways each time? Forced to take advantage of certain units and employ a variety of strategies? Just throwing ideas out there, as I’m still working on the AI and haven’t quite gotten to level design yet.

Here's a map I'd consider to be more of a skirmish than part of the campaign. We'd like to include these kinds of preset battles in addition to the campaign. I like that it forces you to decide where you want to allocate your troops as there are multiple threats and strategic locations.

[Reilly]

tl;dr

[Vanhail]

words, how do they work?!

[SundownKid]

Personally I do think you made the right choice, since online multiplayer indie games tend to have a hard time getting the amount of people necessary to sustain an online community. Having a Campaign mode and AI is less of a gamble and it will last pretty much forever.

I think that the AW games set a good example, where you gradually ramp up the type of units and introduce them individually for each subsequent level with a new challenge centered around them. Then you can mix it up a little, just as an example, maybe the enemy has tons of units and you have barely any units but a lot of factories.

I would recommend, for the story, that you have some characters you can follow through the storyline even if they have a similar appearance. I mean, Red vs. Blue did pretty well and all the characters literally looked just like your average soldier Master Chief.

[ARRD-ART]

Ha, those little fighter guys look like they're ready to break into dance at any moment, love it!

[Reilly]

Thanks, ARRD-ART!
Thanks for the feedback, SundownKid. We agree entirely.

Unfortunately we lost a lot of time pivoting from multiplayer only to including a single player aspect. How do you guys feel about a campaign that's released in chapters over time?

We want to include both story a driven campaign as well as challenge missions that can be completed for a high score.
Maybe 10 of each to start with? Both of which would be expanded on with updates.

In other news, my new best friend surprised me with this awesome little render of the infantry. Now I want to make toys.


You can check out his tumblr here
http://slid3.tumblr.com/

[PeteDevlin]

Unfortunately we lost a lot of time pivoting from multiplayer only to including a single player aspect. How do you guys feel about a campaign that's released in chapters over time?

Chapters are absolutely fine as long as they each are distinctive and offer something new rather than just some more maps - Planning out the long term release strategy to a high detail from the start would be the way to go.

[Reilly]

Thats the plan!

So I randomly wanted to start working on some lighting effects to push the visuals just a little more.

Made a mockup last week using some gradients and color dodging


Got it into the game last night, and I was excited how close we were able to get.

The rays slowly wander around the screen, so there's movement but it's not distracting or anything.

[knifeySpoonie]

Wow this game looks awesome great work on the graphics Reilly, Anything that reminds me of advanced wars with style is a win in my book :D

[Skydsgaard]

Now I want to make toys.

I'm going to need 50, for my personal guard. Let me know when the pre-orders are ready :D
Awesome friend that you have...

[gambrinous]

Looking great!

[Ouren]

So pretty!!!