Got started with the fourth chapter, giving us a cutscene or two with a new level. Admittedly using placeholder music...for now.
I've fully implemented campaign levels having multiple destinations, basically allowing for branching paths. Although there aren't any levels which use this feature yet, I thought it'd be a neat thing to have bonus extra levels in the campaign should certain criteria be met. As such, campaign levels will be marked with silver or gold ticks indicating whether the level was simply completed, or if every potential branch in the level was discovered. That said, the ticks won't show up if you completed them before records were implemented (ie last December's update).
Finally, the AI's gotten an improvement as well: no longer should it waste turns trying to heal opposing units, and it should take status effects into more consideration just as much as raw damage.
More progress should be made on the fourth chapter over the coming months.
Neat stuff:
Level 16 and chapter 3-4 interlude added.
Campaigns now support branching paths.
Campaign select now indicates if a level has been beaten before, and if it has any undiscovered paths left.
Bugfixes and tweaks:
Fixed berserk status effect using the wrong icon.
Fixed an instance of "why was that animation even missing?"
AI doesn't waste time turning units before deploying them unless it has to.
AI should no longer try to heal enemies. Better consideration about status effects.
Minor aesthetic changes to the example addon squad's cursors.
Fixed exploit that allowed a unit to bypass the confusion status effect.
More noises made to various menus.
Bootcamp music revised.
Thanks for reading and take it easy!
April Update (210412)
G'day mates,
Once again we've got a few more units. Are they for the next chapter, or the challenge mode? Like before, they're immediately available for now, but as the levels they get introduced in are added, you'll have to beat them to unlock them again!
Neat Stuff
New units: Boombox, Ravestone, Party Zombie and Phone Zombie.
Added a tutorial lesson about adding units to challenge mode.
Bugfixes and tweaks
Fixed instances where animations would jump to the wrong frame when looping.
Fixed animations for special effects not properly rotating.
Removed some cases where sounds were spammed in the editors.
Thanks for reading and take it easy!
March Update (220307)
G'day mates,
Light update again! Chapter 4 is underway, with dialogue planned out and some of the maps prepared, but no units completed yet.
Changes
Unit editor shows point values of styles and techniques.
Squad prep screen now displays homepanels and dots as deployed units.
Cutscenes can now have Foregrounds, letting users impose one image in front of the other.
Some maps from the tutorial were added to skirmish mode.
Maps in skirmish now with icons showing where they come from (ie tutorial/challenge).
Some juicy life added to the menus.
Fear status effect now properly stops unit targeting the source, and not just targeting at all.
Take it easy!
January Update (220128)
G'day mates,
Minor update this time around. Just some better UI in the editors and miscellaneous fixes. There were attempts to add music to bring more variety around but nothing I've made so far I can consider serviceable.
Neat Stuff
Levels with unit limit set to zero now allow unlimited adding of units.
Two new skirmish maps: "Two to Plunder" and "The Watering hole"
Squads on the campaign preparation screen now display icons, colours and (most importantly) team colour.
Unit editor now updates more often (particularly the unit's perceived value) and displays more technique details.
Bugfixes and tweaks
Fixed defeat audio not playing when the AI wins matches.
Fixed instances of units added to enemy teams being added to player teams.
Popup window now relocates if it should go offscreen at all.
Patrol Bot victory animation revised.
Fixed instances of map editor being unable to scroll through the entire level.
Hope the new year is treating you all well. Take it easy!
December Update (211229)
G'day mates, hope you're having a wonderful holiday as the year comes to a close!
As hoped, the AI has been improved to stop attempting the more wasteful moves (especially ones that are simply impossible). While tweaking things I realised a core feature I meant to include wasn't there yet: High scores and unit values!
Now there are fun little records for every level: The squad and unit with the highest scores are retained based on the most recent completion, the highest score and the quickest completion. These scores can be seen on the campaign select screen.
Also new is the feature that every unit is given a numerical value based on their stats, techniques and size. This will never be a clear indicator of balance but it does help point out which units are getting the short end of the stick. More importantly, this unit value is taken into account in the challenge campaign levels (and any campaign level that will allow adding custom units): Now there is a (admittedly arbitrary) numerical limit to each level, but if you want to increase the limit, you can add units to enemy squads.
I plan to get started with chapter four, but there are some things that need modifying in the wake of the unit values being visible now.
Neat Stuff
Units now have a point cost tied to their stats and techniques.
Challenges now use this point cost to limit how many characters the player can add. It can be raised by adding units to enemy teams.
Can rename guest units on the level preview screen.
High scores for missions are kept - records of highest score, fastest clear and most recent success are displayed on the campaign select screen.
Buttons on the Battle screen now use icons rather than words.
It is now possible to rotate units as you're deploying them by right-clicking one of the flashing squares representing their shape.
Bugfixes and tweaks
Level music associated with campaign chapters now need to be unlocked through the campaign before being used in Skirmishes.
Fixed issue where units had shared IDs, causing the game to get mixed up.
AI should now no longer attempt to try to do moves that would place them in an obstructed spot.
AI medibots now no longer try to "repair themselves" by healing the spot where they were standing.
Swordsman damage was increased to make up for a lack of status effects.
Fixed some animations that were missing or warped.
May the next year be a good one. Thanks for reading and take it easy!
November Update (211127)
G'day folks!
With level fifteen complete, the third chapter is done and I can focus on either the next chapter or making the editors more intuitive to use. The AI is still a concern with wasting moves, and the editors are still far from robust, so perhaps I'll fix things up before jumping into the next chapter.
Neat Stuff
Level 15 added, bringing in another boss fight.
Additional levels added to challenge mode.
Thus, more maps to use in skirmish mode.
The first turn on a skirmish will focus the camera on the squad's first home panel, or failing that, their first unit. Or if none are deployed, to the middle of the map. This might cause some campaign missions to have janky starts as cutscenes and initial camera settings fight for control.
If the player is defeated in a campaign/challenge level, even if there are AI players, end the match.
Bugfixes and tweaks
Text on the objectives popup are now no longer overwhelmingly huge.
Fixed instances of techniques not actually healing status effects
Fixed cutscenes doubling up on skipping ahead when the user clicks to move on.
On that note, fade effects in the cutscenes now finish despite the user skipping past.
Events now immediately load one after another in the campaign.
DefeatUnit event now focuses on the unit being defeated.
Fixed instances where the player could add units to an
enemy* squad in challenge mode. (In retrospect, maybe letting people do this would be neat).
Fixed instances where the player could not actually add units to a challenge map.
Missing sounds added to RailTank
Fixed instances where a squad was defeated just before their turn came up would soft-lock the game.
