While my focus in 2022 was testing I identified some features that needed to be added for all of the Peasant Uprise ecosystem to make sense.
These new features strengthen the game's idea that there are different ways to face the enemy and different resources to protect your precious peasants.
Shields
During testing my peasants with a higher health pool were still dying fairly often and I wanted to emphasize the arc-type role of a "tank" while still staying true to the reality that a peasant can never be stronger than a trained armed soldier.
Another issue detected, was that some resources like wood or metal were only used for trading after you built all the facilities. So adding things that wear out such as shields would still deem these resources more useful!
The path forward was to allow peasants to wield a shield instead of a farm tool. This will give the peasant a defense value were some of the damage intake could be mitigated by the shield. Of course, the shield would need repairs and could break as well.
Armor
While Shields added a much needed damage mitigation for tanks, I wanted to give the player other options to further protect the peasants without compromising what weapon they can take. So I created a new item, a metal armor, that could be equipped under their clothes. This is an important defense upgrade but it's rather expensive to craft, which makes metal a more desired and required resource. Since iron is not available in all levels, planning your path to Swayne becomes increasingly important.
Crafting
I did not want to create new facilities to craft these items so I resorted to make the workbench a production facility where you can choose and queue what to craft. This system is the same as crafting potions so it's consistent with how other production options work.
What's Next
The game is still on a complete state, however testing, testing and more testing needs to be done. Yes, unfortunately, this is the less "exciting" part of game development but it's necessary not only for finding bugs but also for balancing the game and understanding if new functionality is need to fill certain gaps.
Aside from that, I will have to update the tutorial to match the changes added to the game as well as covering some of the new features added since I created the tutorial, specially combat tactics.
With that said, I expect great things for this project in 2023.
Happy journey!
Feasts & Stats
Hello dear peasants!
Peasant Stats
As a way to balance the game I had for a while been tracking stats on peasants; things such as who got the kill? How much damage did each peasant receive? How much work did each peasant produce? etc.
These were meant to be used as a way to balance the game but it became extremely important to catch a few inconsistencies and the need to adjust some values in order to balance the game.
But I also thought that this would be good data to show to the players. It validates the work that I put into ‘building’ some of my peasants. Seeing my tanks get the most damage and the dps to produce the most hurt!
The result was this extra view that showcases the stats that I’ve been tracking.
Feasts
On the same topic to balance the game and its features, wine was a resource that was undervalued. Sure it was a good money maker and it’s also used in donations but it didn’t excuse the high production cost.
The original idea was to be able to set up feasts as a way to improve the rebellion's morale drastically. But somehow I never found the right time to implement it until now. So there you have it, now the player will be able to arrange a feast using excess food and wine in order to handle the devastating impacts of low morale. Finally, during testing, I have not been able to resist the temptation to remedy those things that I found annoying. These are what I call Quality of Life improvements and there are plenty.
The goal is still to push through further testing and game balancing with the final objective to release a version 1.0 in the near future.
Stay tuned to upcoming release updates and follow Games In House in social media; YouTube | Reddit | Facebook | Instagram
Happy journey!
The Weapons of Peasant Uprise
Hello dear peasants!
With the feature set and game almost complete, I’ll take the time to introduce the tools and weapons at your disposal in the Peasant Uprise journey.
One point to make is that I interchangeably use tools and weapons because in the Peasant Uprise world your heroes are peasants and they’ll use the farming tools that they’re most comfortable with to engage in combat.
I’m very proud of the evolution of this feature because there is a lot of depth into tools yet the player can choose to pay more attention to it and manage the best tool for each peasant or it can be something automatic that you can assign.
So let’s jump right into it!
Tools are divided into three groups, light, normal and heavy. Yes, the bigger the weapon the more energy it will take for each swing and the slower to use. However, the heavier weapons do a lot more damage and have a higher chance to proc their abilities.
Each weapon has one special ability out of the three available that can proc with each swing.
Slash tools have the bleed ability which is a health debuff over time.
Pierce tools are capable of inflicting a critical hit, which greatly increases the damage output.
Blunt tools can stun the target, giving the peasants valuable seconds to take the enemy down.
[table] [tr] [th]T O O L • • • • • [/th] [th]G R O U P • • • • • [/th] [th]A B I L I T Y • • • • • [/th] [th]E F F E C T • • • • • [/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Sickle[/td] [td]Light[/td] [td]Slash[/td] [td]Bleed[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Dagger[/td] [td]Light[/td] [td]Pierce[/td] [td]Critical Hit[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Tongs[/td] [td]Light[/td] [td]Blunt[/td] [td]Stun[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Axe[/td] [td]Normal[/td] [td]Slash[/td] [td]Bleed[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Saw[/td] [td]Normal[/td] [td]Slash[/td] [td]Bleed[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Knife[/td] [td]Normal[/td] [td]Pierce[/td] [td]Critical Hit[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Pickaxe[/td] [td]Normal[/td] [td]Pierce[/td] [td]Critical Hit[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Hammer[/td] [td]Normal[/td] [td]Blunt[/td] [td]Stun[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Lute[/td] [td]Normal[/td] [td]Blunt[/td] [td]Stun[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Scythe[/td] [td]Heavy[/td] [td]Slash[/td] [td]Bleed[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Pitchfork[/td] [td]Heavy[/td] [td]Pierce[/td] [td]Critical Hit[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Shovel[/td] [td]Heavy[/td] [td]Blunt[/td] [td]Stun[/td] [/tr] [/table]
You’ll discover that each tool is unique in one way or another, they might not pour a lot of damage but they may have a higher chance to proc their abilities. The following panel as shown below will give the player a better indication of the best use for each tool.
While strength is important to hit your enemies hard, so is energy, as an exhausted peasant will not deal too much damage, regardless of the strength or weapon. The energy consumption is also related to the tool in use. So while heavy weapons will do a lot of damage at first, they’ll decay shortly after due to its higher energy ‘cost’. However there are some things at your disposal to counter exhaustion such as herbal tea and also just having an overall higher stamina. That’s an example of why matching each tool to the right peasant is important.
Tools also deteriorate with each use both in combat and at camp so it’s recommended to get an anvil and forge to repair your tools so you’re better prepared for the tough encounters ahead.
In game, using tools is rather simple and in most cases the player will not have to think too hard about it, but as the game progresses and you start facing bosses, a bit more planning will go a long way.
Stay tuned to upcoming release updates and follow Games In House in social media; YouTube | Reddit | Facebook | Instagram
Happy journey!
Factions & Bosses
Since the release of the first Alpha Test phase, I’ve spent a lot of time gathering information from the testers and making the necessary changes to tend to their feedback. While moving along with the rest of the levels, I’ve added two large features that are now core to the game.
The first one is the addition of factions. These are three special storylines that go in parallel to the main story. They are optional but completing faction specific quests will grant the player reputation with that faction. Each faction provides access to a special market where perks can be purchased depending on your reputation.
Factions
https://youtu.be/4A3Hk3-4nv8
Milton’s Alliance
https://youtu.be/fL4zswgEPhw
Miner’s Brotherhood
https://youtu.be/5Hr1ig39NL8
Sayon’s Cult
https://youtu.be/zxESBIOCQNM
Boss fights required quite a bit of work but it was well worth it. These are special fights where the bosses will perform special abilities that the player will have to conquer.
Boss Fights
https://youtu.be/7RWXtAkfLyg
Now each level in Peasant Uprise offers something truly special; whether it’s a town, the home base of a faction or a boss encounter.
With only a handful of levels left to complete, I’m getting really excited about disclosing a possible release date and I do plan to keep updates coming more frequently.
