After some testing, I noticed players were spending too much time managing their inventory. And I wanted to fix it with a simple idea - team based inventory. It was a lot more complicated than expected, but few more things have been improved.
Features added last month: - Team based inventory allows you to move items without switching between your characters. - Inventory is now more flexible by allowing characters to have different inventory sizes. - Battle loot appears once you win an encounter. - Interaction with objects can be done through your team. - Increased range of interaction for pick up objects. - "Take Everything" button allows you to pick up everything from the ground with a single click. - Switching characters in inventory doesn't select them any more. - Inventory UI received few minor polishing touches. - A number of inventory related bugs have been fixed.
October Update
Finally a new trailer has been created. It's better then previous one, but I'm not too happy about it. This month I'll be polishing experience based on recent feedback. Also I'll keep promoting the game by showing the game more often with smaller and more casual videos.
Features added last month: - A lot of testing and bug fixing took place. 3 game breakers has been patched with some minor ones. - It's not a game feature, but Kingdom Chess appeared on Indie DB: Indie DB and YouTube
September Update
A lot of effort has been dedicated to improved online features. Hopefully there will be some players available to play against. Now It's time to promote the demo.
Features added last month: - Demo has been released with a new load up screen. - Beta keys have been banned. Unfortunately, it was required for the demo to be accessible. Also, all playtest users should switch to the demo otherwise they won't be able to connect with the demo players in online games. - Online connectivity has been redesigned. Instead of hosting or searching now both actions are taking place at the same time. - Friends lobby has been recreated. Only someone from friends list can join the game. It allows more flexibility, especially with time options and it won't affect their ranking. Friend invites are not available yet, so all the players are required to create a lobby. - Ping system stops the game when a player gets disconnected and determines the winner. - Player online ranking system. Just a basic one and not even showed in the game, but heavily used in testing online connections. - 5 achievements added to the campaign. - 5 leaderboards have been created: 3x puzzle and 2x campaign. Currently it can be accessed only through the steam community page. - Fog of war has been improved. Hopefully it won't cause any more glitches or crashes. - Hints have been used in the campaign to provide more information about mechanics not covered in the tutorial. - Another improvements and bug fixes for the quest system.
September Update
A lot of effort has been dedicated to improved online features. Hopefully there will be some players available to play against. Now It's time to promote the demo.
Features added last month: - Demo has been released with a new load up screen. - Beta keys have been banned. Unfortunately, it was required for the demo to be accessible. Also, all playtest users should switch to the demo otherwise they won't be able to connect with the demo players in online games. - Online connectivity has been redesigned. Instead of hosting or searching now both actions are taking place at the same time. - Friends lobby has been recreated. Only someone from friends list can join the game. It allows more flexibility, especially with time options and it won't affect their ranking. Friend invites are not available yet, so all the players are required to create a lobby. - Ping system stops the game when a player gets disconnected and determines the winner. - Player online ranking system. Just a basic one and not even showed in the game, but heavily used in testing online connections. - 5 achievements added to the campaign. - 5 leaderboards have been created: 3x puzzle and 2x campaign. Currently it can be accessed only through the steam community page. - Fog of war has been improved. Hopefully it won't cause any more glitches or crashes. - Hints have been used in the campaign to provide more information about mechanics not covered in the tutorial. - Another improvements and bug fixes for the quest system.
August Update
Unexpectedly a holiday break has sneaked in and all the work suddenly came to pause. Unfortunately, not much has been added last month. It will be easier to include it in the next update, so let's get back to work.
August Update
Unexpectedly a holiday break has sneaked in and all the work suddenly came to pause. Unfortunately, not much has been added last month. It will be easier to include it in the next update, so let's get back to work.
July Update
Minimap being the biggest feature of the last month? It sound's like a joke... A lot of effort has gone into testing and fixing which are very important, but not exciting at all. Unfortunately, there is a lot more work to be done before pushing out the new trailer, so keep your fingers crossed for this month.
Features added last month: - Quest system has been upgraded to work with the minimap. It might not work properly with a quests loaded from a saved game. Resetting the quest or starting a new game might be required. - Minimap has been added and tutorial has received minor improvements. - Mouse sensitivity now can be adjusted in the settings menu. - Low level fatal error, quest bug and free camera have been fixed. - Promotional materials have been updated. Screen shots retaken, information rewritten and initial roadmap laid out.
July Update
Minimap being the biggest feature of the last month? It sound's like a joke... A lot of effort has gone into testing and fixing which are very important, but not exciting at all. Unfortunately, there is a lot more work to be done before pushing out the new trailer, so keep your fingers crossed for this month.
Features added last month: - Quest system has been upgraded to work with the minimap. It might not work properly with a quests loaded from a saved game. Resetting the quest or starting a new game might be required. - Minimap has been added and tutorial has received minor improvements. - Mouse sensitivity now can be adjusted in the settings menu. - Low level fatal error, quest bug and free camera have been fixed. - Promotional materials have been updated. Screen shots retaken, information rewritten and initial roadmap laid out.
June Update
First boss in Kingdom Chess! It's a small addition as there are plans for much more spectacular boss fights. A lot of polishing took place on both mechanical and visual levels. This month will be focused on promoting the game, so expect a new trailer to come out. Hopefully it will bring some newcomers along with valuable feedback.
Features added last month: - Boss battle! Oh yes, the first boss has been added to the campaign as quest 4. New enemy type has been introduced - ghost. - Cinematic depth of field, automatic screen aspect ratio adjustment and benchmark settings recommendation. - Camera management improvements. Mostly under the hood staff but it was required for the depth of field to work properly. - Automatic interactions and improved checkpoints - another polishing touches to smooth out experience in single player campaign. - Inventory double click has been added. I just got tired of dragging everything around. - Material improvements. Metallic surfaces got their values set up. Also non-metallic materials have been touched with specular properties. - Minor improvements and fixes have been applied to tutorials and setting screens. - Outline (post-process effect) have been improved to work better with translucent materials. It also allows inclusion of volumetric light effects, but I wasn't satisfied with the results as it required to blow up the sun or make everything foggy. - Graphical assets have been updated on the steam store page.
June Update
First boss in Kingdom Chess! It's a small addition as there are plans for much more spectacular boss fights. A lot of polishing took place on both mechanical and visual levels. This month will be focused on promoting the game, so expect a new trailer to come out. Hopefully it will bring some newcomers along with valuable feedback.
Features added last month: - Boss battle! Oh yes, the first boss has been added to the campaign as quest 4. New enemy type has been introduced - ghost. - Cinematic depth of field, automatic screen aspect ratio adjustment and benchmark settings recommendation. - Camera management improvements. Mostly under the hood staff but it was required for the depth of field to work properly. - Automatic interactions and improved checkpoints - another polishing touches to smooth out experience in single player campaign. - Inventory double click has been added. I just got tired of dragging everything around. - Material improvements. Metallic surfaces got their values set up. Also non-metallic materials have been touched with specular properties. - Minor improvements and fixes have been applied to tutorials and setting screens. - Outline (post-process effect) have been improved to work better with translucent materials. It also allows inclusion of volumetric light effects, but I wasn't satisfied with the results as it required to blow up the sun or make everything foggy. - Graphical assets have been updated on the steam store page.
