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[bryku]

I am aiming to have ten playable character types in Shardpunk, plus three different automaton types. I am proud to announce that another - the ninth one - has been added to the game.



This is Hector, and he is skilled in revolver shooting as well as in melee combat, using his blade.



Lore-wise, he is an Imperial political officer who has been caught in the middle of rat attack on the Capitol. Now he is helping to get the automaton to safety.



This character is the only one who has the "melee overwatch" skill, which allows him to attack enemies when they move through adjacent tiles. This might become useful when guarding narrow passes.



As you can see, the blade overwatch skill has multiple charges - so same as regular overwatch shots (which is related to the overwatch changes I wrote about in my previous entry). The more rat kills, the better the game gets, right?

Other than that, Hector can use his revolver and blade for regular attack, which makes him a pretty versatile warrior.

The fun thing about all these character classes, skills and enemy types is that I don't even know how many fun strategies/meta concepts will emerge in Shardpunk, and I love it. A game where the player tells their own story and which is replayable is something I would definitely like to play! I guess that's why I am still not bored when playing Shardpunk for a thousand time

Take care!

[Alain]

Wow, I did not expect 10 playable classes in the final game, that is quite a lot. And Hector looks like a solid addition to the roster!

[bryku]

Wow, I did not expect 10 playable classes in the final game, that is quite a lot. And Hector looks like a solid addition to the roster!

It was already a scope decrease for me, as initially I was aiming for, I believe, sixteen of them

So yeah, I am definitely guilty of creating a big first game (and we all remember the "start small" advice, right?)

[Alain]

Wow, I did not expect 10 playable classes in the final game, that is quite a lot. And Hector looks like a solid addition to the roster!

It was already a scope decrease for me, as initially I was aiming for, I believe, sixteen of them

So yeah, I am definitely guilty of creating a big first game (and we all remember the "start small" advice, right?)

Same problem on my end :D But well, you have to make what you know and love. If that means making a big game, you have to make a big game, I guess.

[bryku]

Same problem on my end :D But well, you have to make what you know and love. If that means making a big game, you have to make a big game, I guess.

The only issue is that it might turn out that it's not working from a business perspective, and you're left with no means to start working on the second game afterward.

On the other hand, we should dream big, shouldn't we?

[bryku]

Howdy!

I'm gonna keep it short this time. I am sticking to the grind and working towards making the game complete. Working on new level types, new skills and characters.

I like how the game is shaping up. I am already able to play through the first chapter, right to the end of the second one. Shardpunk is really starting to turn into a tangible product - I'm very excited!

Due to lack of time, I won't be going into details, but here's a bunch of screenshots from one of my playthroughs:



Mycroft getting happy about all the loot, then pretty angry at spotting the vermin


New visuals for the charging station for automatons


Rescuing a downed ally


Medical bot stunning the enemies

Take care!

[a-k-]

It has just occurred to me how beautiful this game is when viewed from the right distance! I'm hoping that it stands the test of time as players get ever-bigger screens.

[Alain]

One of my favorite moments (also when I played the demo) is when the camera pans to a group of rats that just spotted you and then they scatter to take cover and the whole scene comes to live. Nice to hear you are making good progress, keep pushing! 

[bryku]

It has just occurred to me how beautiful this game is when viewed from the right distance! I'm hoping that it stands the test of time as players get ever-bigger screens.

Thanks! What is the "right distance" to you though? I've heard different things from different people. Some like the pixels very big, others prefer smaller screens. I assume that you're appreciating the graphics when viewed on a smaller screen.

The good thing is that I was working on introducing an improved zoom-out system recently. Oh, and with Steam Deck available, players liking smaller pixels should be able to appreciate it more.

One of my favorite moments (also when I played the demo) is when the camera pans to a group of rats that just spotted you and then they scatter to take cover and the whole scene comes to live. Nice to hear you are making good progress, keep pushing! 

Thanks! Yes, I do like how the action and tension rise the more you are into combat. That was one of the design pillars of Shardpunk.

[bryku]

These were some crazy two weeks.

It turned out that Shardpunk has made it to Digital Dragons (a Polish gamedev conference), as one of the most promising indie games of the season.

This resulted in the game being part of an online Steam event. What is more, I was able to present my game during the physical event that took place on 16-17th of May in Krakow.

In short: it was pretty awesome.

I managed to gather lots of valuable feedback from the players. In general, people who are into strategy games - which, obviously, are my main audience - had no issues with playing and feeling the game. It was a great experience just seeing how the players react to Shardpunk.


Laptop with the latest playable build on the left, and one playing the gameplay video on the right.


Me (on the right) observing the player.

Most of the issues I got from the feedback were related to smaller usability things: lack of tooltips, and the possibility to execute a melee attack action even if the mouse cursor was not hovering over a valid tile.

Aside from all the feedback, I was able to meet fellow indie game developers! It was an awesome experience, talking to other people who are in the industry and are creating all these great games.

Less than two years ago, I was a software developer dreaming of becoming an indie game creator; currently I'm attending conferences and showcasing my own game. The feeling is great.

Tune in two weeks from now to see more updates on Shardpunk's devlog. And do remember about the  Discord channel!

Take care!

[Alain]

Digital Dragons seems to have been a fun and valuable experience. Congratulation to making it to the list of most promising indie games of the season, you definitely earned that!

[bryku]

I am getting there. I am slowly making my way to the end content. It is indeed true that the most difficult thing is actually finishing the game.

Obviously, alongside creating new content, some old stuff gets revamped from time to time. Recently I've reapproached how status effects are displayed on characters. By status effect I mean things like "stunned" or "poisoned".

There's now a dynamic list of icons present above HP bars of characters.





What is more, I've introduced a "marked" status that makes characters easier to hit. Some of the existing actions (support bot's "intimidate" action) are able to apply these effects. A new character - one wielding a chainsaw, which I haven't talked about yet - can taunt enemies that will mark/stun them.



Also, on higher levels taunting can apply the "ruptured" status effect, which increases the damage dealt to enemies.

Additionally, rat snipers have the ability to mark a target. This will make them even more formidable.



And as for the chainsaw-wielding character, I will write more about it next time. And right now I'm back to grinding!

Take care! And do remember about the  Discord channel!

[Alain]

Sounds great! The status effects seem to be communicated very clearly to me. Keep on grinding

[Ramos]

You have done a great job so far,

Must have been awesome to be at that gamedev conference and see first hand how people play your creation

[bryku]

OK, so here's some info about another playable character - a combination of melee and heavy.



This guy - Julius - has a chainsaw attached to his heavy gun. Meaning that he is capable of using it for close combat.


Yeah, I know that he shouts the same text in both gifs. That stuff is random and is meant not to be repeated twice in a row, but these gifs come from different playthroughs.

To make this attack different from katana-based attacks of other characters, I made some changes to it. The first thing is that the chainsaw attack consumes weapon heat just like a regular shot - meaning that a weapon might need to be reloaded after such an attack.

The good thing however is that there's a 100% chance to hit your target. Period. Also, this attack can be expanded in two ways: first, by leveling up a correct skill, which gives you a chance that an attack will refund all your Action Points (that can actually be observed in the above gif). Additionally, the player can upgrade the weapon itself, which increases the damage and critical chance. Here are some combinations of upgrades for the "Shredder" gun that Julius is wielding:



I'm finishing earlier tonight, so I'm wrapping this entry up. Still lots of stuff needs my attention, but the finish line is closer than ever!

We'll see each other on the Discord channel! Take care!

[Alain]

I'm getting a little bit of a 40k vibe from Julius :D

[bryku]

I'm getting a little bit of a 40k vibe from Julius :D

It was more inspired by Gears of War, but yeah - you got a point!

[bryku]

Let's talk about the new enemy type that I've been working on recently - the rats that actually explode.

The idea was to introduce a suicidal enemy type to the game. You know, to spice things up a bit, force the player to change their strategy.

Technically, the challenge did not appear tough - I simply had to make sure that the enemy can perform an AOE attack, which destroys them in the process. However, the enemy was also supposed to explode after being killed by the player.

Here are the early prototyping gifs (I was using a regular rat model, colored red):





And then of course, chain reactions should be possible:



Stuff worked correctly. Well, most of the time:



In the end though, I made it work:



The next step was to add graphics. My main pixel artist did a great job at creating the explosive-packed rat model.

Here are some final gifs. Enjoy!





That's all for this entry. Have a great day! Don't forget about the Discord channel!

[Alain]

I saw you tweet about the exploding rats and think it can make for some interesting tactical situations.

And then of course, chain reactions should be possible:

Makes me think of the fun I had with Cyberdisks in terror missions in the classic X-Com

[bryku]

Gonna make this one quick as I'm on my way to a holiday break. I did want to showcase some gifs from the new tutorial/introduction level that I am working on though, so here they are:

Teaching the player about pickups:


Meeting the rest of the team:


Fighting some rats:


Spotting an injured technician:


Meeting the automaton:


Playing the tutorial level will be optional, but recommended in the first playthrough.

Anyway, that's it for this entry. However, do stick around the Discord channel, as a round of playtests for the latest version of Shardpunk will start soon! and you can opt-in via Discord.

Take care!