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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsVIRTUEROR - Sci-Fi RTS with 4x and RPG elements - Jan dev update
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Author Topic: VIRTUEROR - Sci-Fi RTS with 4x and RPG elements - Jan dev update  (Read 17212 times)
vivaladav
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« on: March 01, 2021, 12:38:14 PM »


Virtueror, the virtual conqueror is a real time strategy game with isometric graphics currently in early stage of development.
The game will feature 4x (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) and RPG elements, but I am going to write more about those in the future, when at least a few of them are implemented.

I am working on it as solo developer in my spare time, so the progress is not as fast I would like it to be (of course), but after a few months of work I am starting to see things improving over time.
Because of that I thought it would be interesting to track my progress even further with this dev blog and here I am! From now on I will try to post here regular updates.

If you have any question about this game just reply to my post and I will be happy to answer you.

In the meantime you can wishlist & follow it on Steam:


RECENT SCREENSHOTS







LINKS
  • Steam - where you can wishlist & follow
  • Newsletter - sign up to get major updates by mail
  • Youtube - where I publish video dev logs every 2-3 weeks
  • Twitter - where I publish dev screenshots and short videos more often
  • LinkedIn - same as Twitter, but more professional
  • GitHub - source code of the game

MAIN UPDATES

MINOR UPDATES
« Last Edit: February 09, 2023, 09:47:55 AM by vivaladav » Logged

Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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Ramos
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« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2021, 11:27:01 AM »

You got my interest, sir!
Keep us posted with your updates
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vivaladav
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« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2021, 01:37:25 PM »

You got my interest, sir!
Keep us posted with your updates

Thanks, I will! Next update is probably going to be tomorrow...  Wink

I have been following your posts as well as I am a big fan of X-COM and it's interesting to see something similar revisited with RT mechanics.
I am more inspired by other old classics like Dune II, but I hope I can create something original like you are doing!
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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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Ramos
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« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2021, 05:02:49 AM »


Thanks, I will! Next update is probably going to be tomorrow...  Wink

I have been following your posts as well as I am a big fan of X-COM and it's interesting to see something similar revisited with RT mechanics.
I am more inspired by other old classics like Dune II, but I hope I can create something original like you are doing!

Looking forward to your update.

Also thank you for the kind words regarding my own creation, I did not expect that.
And about Dune II I am also a fan of that although my personal favorite was the Dune 2000 version.
To be totally honest if your project was top-down I would have totally applied for artist pozition because I too want to make a classic RTS take for a while.

I also saw some of your videos, if I heard good we also have in common the C++ engine for our games.

Do you plan to start a coming soon page on Steam ?
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vivaladav
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« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2021, 07:05:48 AM »

And about Dune II I am also a fan of that although my personal favorite was the Dune 2000 version.
Yeah, that definitely feels more modern, but I am attached to Dune II and I still have the original box back at my parents home...  Smiley

To be totally honest if your project was top-down I would have totally applied for artist pozition because I too want to make a classic RTS take for a while.
Hehe, maybe I'll let you know when I start to work on a 2D top-down spin-off.  Wink

I also saw some of your videos, if I heard good we also have in common the C++ engine for our games.
Yes, I am creating pretty much everything from scratch using only SDL 2 for rendering and input.

Do you plan to start a coming soon page on Steam ?
Not until I have an alpha build... the game is far from being playable and I don't want to announce or promise anything officially too soon.
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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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vivaladav
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« Reply #5 on: March 05, 2021, 06:39:22 AM »

It's time for a first update and to show a bit more about the game!

In the last 2 weeks most of the work went into 3 new features:

Destination indicator
Now, when moving a unit, there is an indicator that shows you when a destination is walkable and how much energy it will cost you to get there, if the cell is visible at least.

Conquest indicator
Another new visual feedback is the one showing the cells that are going to be conquered by a unit when you schedule a multiple cell conquest.

A difference with the previous indicator is that this one stays active until the conquest is completed, so you can keep track of the progress while your unit is still working on it.

New material: diamonds
I have introduced a new material, diamonds, that will be used to create units and structures.
But unlike the other resources, they can’t be mined. You need to find and collect them with your units.
This is also the first element that can be collected by units, but expect to see more in the near future!

Video
This is the video log you can watch to see the new features in action:




Planning what’s next
I need to decide what to focus on next and at the moment the 2 options are:
  • Construction of defensive structures like walls and towers.
  • Energy mechanics for the units and maybe also on some RPG elements like experience points and upgrades

Which one would you choose?
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vivaladav
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« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2021, 12:32:43 PM »

I wanted to show you a bit of "behind the scenes" stuff today.

This is a screenshot that shows how I experiment and test the graphics of Virtueror in Inkscape, a free and open-source software for vector graphics.


click on this image to see a larger version

This file is currently 8K x 4K pixels and I have 3 more like that for different things, plus one that I am using to collect all the graphics that are currently in the actual game.

I know things look quite messy in this screen, but I can still find my way around them for now and usually I tend to not constrain my creativity for anything which is WIP (unlike the file which collects the finished graphics, which is very well organized).

I hope I am not the only one doing something like that...  Roll Eyes



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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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Alain
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« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2021, 01:14:14 AM »

Thanks for the behind the scenes view, I love looking at these atlas-style collections of visual assets. I don't have anything like it and tend to forget about things I already made.
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Ramos
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« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2021, 10:41:51 AM »



I hope I am not the only one doing something like that...  Roll Eyes



Y.A.N.A.
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vivaladav
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« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2021, 12:18:02 PM »

Thanks for the behind the scenes view, I love looking at these atlas-style collections of visual assets. I don't have anything like it and tend to forget about things I already made.
No worries!

I had to go that way because I am already expecting to have hundreds and maybe thousands of sprites to deal with...

I promise I will post a screenshot of the file with the finished graphics soon. Maybe you will feel motivated to create something similar! Smiley

BTW, it might seem a minor thing, but Inkscape gives a huge help in creating something like that for the simple reason it offers several functions to align and space things equally.
If I had to do everything manually, maybe only using guides, it would be very cumbersome and I would probably give up soon.
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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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vivaladav
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« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2021, 12:19:04 PM »

Y.A.N.A.
Thanks, I feel better now! Cheesy
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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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Alain
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« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2021, 11:50:49 PM »

I promise I will post a screenshot of the file with the finished graphics soon.

That's cool, I'm looking forward to it!
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vivaladav
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« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2021, 09:20:57 AM »

In this update I am going to introduce a key aspect of Virtueror: conquering and mining resources.

The basic concept is that you need to conquer resource generators and you have to connect them to your base in order to mine their resources.
This GIF shows the final part of the conquest in action:



but let me explain you how things work in detail...

The first thing you need to do is to explore with your units to find structures that generate resources.
In this case you can see a big gray spiky element on the right. That's an energy generator. Energy is probably the most important resource in this game as I will show you in my future updates.



The second step is to conquer the structure with your unit. Once you do that it will take your color.



Now that you took control of the generator you need to connect it to your base to start to mine its energy.
To do that you need to conquer enough cells to create a path between your base and the structure you want to mine.
In the following image you can see the planned conquest and the energy cost your unit will spend for the whole operation.



As your unit goes on with the conquest, the cells along its path start to show your color (darker red cells on the right).
These cells are under your control, but they won't bring much benefits to you until they are connected to your base.



Now that the conquest is complete the energy generator is connected to your base and you finally start to receive its energy!



The conquered cells that are connected to your base are fully functional and have an influence area surrounding them (the less color saturated red cells). I am going to explain what they do and the difference between the different types of cells in one of my next updates.


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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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Alain
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« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2021, 10:55:24 PM »

I like the way you explain two core mechanics in an easy to digest way with a few images and concise text. Great update, can't wait to find out more Smiley
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Ramos
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« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2021, 02:26:13 AM »

This seems like a very easy to learn/user-friendly mechanic.
I am curious how will the combat aspect affect it, also will the player be able to establish some sort of defense perimeter around it?
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« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2021, 03:42:00 AM »

I like your conception of mining resources, just connect it to the base and...voila
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vivaladav
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« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2021, 09:41:58 PM »

I like the way you explain two core mechanics in an easy to digest way with a few images and concise text. Great update, can't wait to find out more Smiley
Thanks Alain, I am glad you liked it!
 
Before posting I was afraid all these images were too many, but then I thought that what's obvious for me might not be so obvious for someone who sees them for the first time and I went for the full set.
Hopefully others will appreciate them as well!

I was also thinking I could use images in my tutorial, even if that will require a bit of testing.  Roll Eyes
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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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vivaladav
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« Reply #17 on: March 19, 2021, 09:45:19 PM »

This seems like a very easy to learn/user-friendly mechanic.
Thanks, I tried to come up with something very simple to start with, so that I could build on top of it.

I am curious how will the combat aspect affect it, also will the player be able to establish some sort of defense perimeter around it?
All this will definitely be connected to combat, for example enemies will try to conquer your cells as that might result in disconnecting a generator from your base.
Defending them (and your territories) will be a crucial aspect of the game and yes, there will be defenses, I am working on them right now.  Wink
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Creating "Virtueror, the virtual conqueror" (RTS + 4x + RPG)

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vivaladav
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« Reply #18 on: March 19, 2021, 09:47:20 PM »

I like your conception of mining resources, just connect it to the base and...voila
Thanks, it's a first block of a something more complex.
I am trying to go for a modular design, where multiple simple things allow to create complex mechanics.
Time will tell if they work together, but I hope so!
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logophil
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« Reply #19 on: March 23, 2021, 04:20:35 AM »

Really like the concept and visual design of this, look forward to seeing how it develops! Interested to read about how you're using vector graphics and inkscape, that's something I looked into for the UI in Relic Space though eventually opted for a different solution. Are you using Unity, and if so how do you find the process of using vector graphics with that?
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