Here is a summary of our development progress over the past month. Let's dive right into it!
Meta - Player Progression (Completed)
We have completed work on the player progression system, with a focus on making it enjoyable and fair for all players to progress through the game. This system will be included in the MVP release, and we are already planning for future updates to build upon this foundation.
Meta - Matchmaking (Completed)
The matchmaking logic for the MVP release is finalized and we are collaborating with our co-development studio on additional ELO calculations and formulas for future releases. As more players progress and new players join the game, we will continue to refine and improve the matchmaking system to maintain a fun and balanced experience for all players.
These are our Goals and Prerequisites for the Matchmaking system:
- Matchmaking should create an environment of fair play for players, connecting together players with comparable skill level. Fun and fair gaming experience plays an integral role in lowering players dissatisfaction and churn.
- Matchmaking should maintain a desirable difficulty curve that will be suitable for the audience, keeping interest at high levels.
- Also, matchmaking should be able to auto-correct strong deviations from expected difficulty curve
- Matchmaking should also work fast, minimizing long queue times
- Matchmaking should also take into account location, or rather server distribution of players, preventing high latencies
Meta - Screen Functionality & Navigation (In Progress)
The main screen and navigation for the MVP release are functional, although with some limitations. Our team is currently working on the visual design of the screens and will have updates to share soon. Additionally, we are already planning for future updates to the user interface flow after the MVP release.
These are our Goals and Prerequisites:
- Flow should be intuitive enough and allow player to get used to it even without tutorials
- Flow shouldn’t force a new behavior on players, but allow them to go along the path that enhances their user experience at any given time
- Screens, pop-ups and their components should follow the same logic everywhere in the game as much as possible, to avoid players confusion
Meta - Analytics (In Progress)
The analytic system will use various metrics and tools to track events that occur over the course of the game. The primary goal is to use the data for statistical analysis, that will help with:
- Tracking the key game performance metrics
- Understand the players' behavior
- Adjust game parameters
Art/Visual Updates
Over the past month, we have been working on enhancing the visual elements of the game, including creating new designs and fine-tuning existing ones.
- Polishing animations of Watcher, Zero and Tank units
- Overall improvement of the Map-environment
- Addition of the pine trees
- Overhaul of the foliage shaders
- Improved forest VFX & particles
- Further refinements of the forest’s volumetric atmoshere
- Improvements of the Ambush event visuals
- Polishing & shader iterations of the Crystal Core design
- Better animation and VFX of the Crystal Core attack
- Iterations of the Cyrstal Core Death Animations
- Improvements of the spawn and delivery animations of the Turret
- Mine VFX exploration
Animation Updates
Please find attached some updated animations demonstrating the interaction between FOW and the Ambush event, as well as the spawning or delivery of a Turret on the battlefield.
VFX Updates
Here are some examples of optimized VFX animations.
Neutral Units
Take a closer look at these neutral units.
Tech Updates
As we continue to develop the game, we are focusing on ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience for all players. To achieve this, we are actively working on a variety of technical features and refinements. This includes conducting stress tests to ensure the game can handle high levels of usage, as well as identifying and addressing any issues that have arisen during development. We are committed to delivering the best possible product for our players, and are excited to share more updates as we make progress.
During the last month, we have accomplished the following items:
- Neutral units art and logic working properly
- Automatic spawning of neutral units
- Fog of war was refined and improved
- Elevation system has been implemented
- Energy system is being optimized to achieves the best gameplay experience
- All map features have been implemented
- Multiple conflicts and bugs have been identified and fixed
- Developing the foundation for the RTS audio system
- Creation of a analytics system
Realization of a optimized unit pooling system to reduce memory load
If you’ve scrolled down this far - well done champ! We’ve reached the end of another game development update and we’re happy with the progress we have made so far, hope you’re enjoying what you’ve read and seen so far as well!
As a little bonus: Get ready for a sneak peek of the two mysterious projects we've been secretly crafting just for you! Trust us, you won't want to miss what we have in store. Stay tuned for more information at the appropriate time.
Teaser 01
Teaser 02
Meta - Unit Upgrade System (Completed)
We've successfully implemented a new Unit Upgrade System that allows for seamless regulation of the unlock, progression, customization, and management of Blocks and Units within the game. Players can now enjoy the added depth and strategy provided by the 3 distinct types of blocks available in the game:
- Unit Block - Block that allows you to summon a unit in a match. Units can differin in their Energy cost, stats and abilities;
- Flash Block - Block that allows you to use an instant skill in a match. Skills can differ in their effect, targets, energy cost, duration, etc.;
- Glitch Block - Special skill that has limited uses in a match and can be unlocked only after defeating an ISSA boss. Their behavior is similar to Flash Blocks, but these are much more powerful.
There are several gameplay aspects related to blocks:
- Unlock
- Progression - Meta
- Progression - Action Phase
- Customization
- Management
These are related to all kind of Blocks, not only Unit ones:
- Blocks progression should create a meaningful way to evolve the gameplay over time
- Units, Flash and Glitch blocks can have a distinctive approach from players perspective, while having the same system at their core
- Blocks can be sold and unlocked as NFTs, they can also have several tiers that aren’t morphed into each other
Tech - Cheat console implementation (Completed)
The implementation of a development cheat console has been successfully concluded. The capability to spawn free, neutral, and invincible units shall enhance the testing and development experience, allowing for expedited iteration of gameplay modifications and balance adjustments.
Art - Additional Units have been added
The following game character skins have been added to the game:
- Assault Viking
- Assault Spartan
- Assault Knight
Here is some sneak peak on the LODs and the artworks of the Gold and Silver versions.
Tech - Gamplay Replays (Completed)
With this feature the Game data is saved to recreate the simulation. The developer can watch last QA steps to reproduce bugs and also watch his action to check if it properly resolves the bug.
Art - Additional Units have been added
The following character skins have been added to the game:
- Assault Earth
- Assault Silver
- Assault Gold
- Assault Black
- Assault White
- Assault Silver Samurai
- Assault Tank
- Assault Zero S
Here is a sneak peak on the LODs :
VFX Updates
Here are some recent updates on VFX animations:
That's all Folks!
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