As discussed in the previous post, the subject of this latest version is improving controls.
Player selection
Clicking or dragging a player character now causes selection, meaning their skill bar will appear.
In addition, many players tried right-clicking the ground as a means of commanding a move, just as expected in almost every RTS, so I also added a much expected right-click move command.
Ability range indication
Trying to use a range limited ability now shows the player’s required proximity.
Issuing an out-of-range action will result in the character first, reaching required proximity, and only then, executing the cast.
Auto panning
Although simple and not entirely tested, I’ve added automatic panning so the camera follows the average point between all player characters.
I feel it is a net positive that needs further tweaks, that’s overall better than the manual way. It still leaves an unsolved problem of sometimes requiring a manual way of controlling the viewport, but, I guess that’ll have to be fixed later when I have more feedback and better solutions.
The “Book of Kek” was acquired!
As introduced in the last version, enemies now drop items. And I am proud to announce that the rarest, among the ones released, has been acquired, courtesy of Taiwan!
I didn’t intend on this item being a rarity, but, since most testers don’t manage past the first group of enemies, reaching the “Old Yeller” and getting the book was a happy moment for me.
This accomplishment as well as all recently played matches and their results are available for browsing on the match board.
Hopefully this new version will get new player past the hump of needing to pan the viewport.
Coming Next, Balancing, Survival Mode
Now that the major control issues are addressed I can showcase the game to less forgiving players (without them tripping on the minor control problems).
So, unless some major issues arise from feedback, I’ll be focusing on gameplay.
Balancing - Although I’m still unsure how to approach it, the skills and open variables in the game are still unbalanced. A great example of this is the fireball skill of the wizard, easily taking down enemies from afar without risking too much.
Hopefully implementing a survival mode will make it easier to prototype balancing those variables.
Survival Mode - As mentioned in the last post, and for the sake of more easily testing and balancing gameplay, I’ll be implementing a survival type map where waves of enemies approach the characters in the middle, with the end goal of surviving as long as possible.
As mentioned before, I would gladly appreciate any kind of feedback, either here or on itch.io.