Dancing in design land

Well, I must have changed the genre of the game at least half a dozen times, over the past few weeks. It has been a very rewarding experience, to say the least.

This game started under the beat 'em up genre, where the player has complete control of just one character. It was functional, but I had so much trouble getting the game to feel compelling, intuitive, and less repetitive. Plus, balancing the game was a serious issue, so I allowed the game to evolve into a different genre.

I realized that with my 18 characters, I was able to group them into three teams based on appearance: humans, undead, and the cursed. It was entirely coincidental. There are over 20 weapons, so each character gets their own. The game is now turn based, and the following screenshot should give insight as to how it will play:

I'll hold off on explaining any of the rules, because as usual, a lot of this is subject to change. But to get an idea, just watch some videos of Disciples II.

Probably the free-to-play web version will only feature one race to choose from, and the mobile app will have the other two. Plus I can create some ridiculous weapons as additional content - a large trout anyone? How about a rolling pin or an oversized teddy bear?

By the way, the previous tower-defense game is going to be available in the next couple months. It is 100% finished, but my Apple developer account is undergoing an upgrade so I cannot submit anything until it is ready.

Art update

Progress on the new project is going very well. I am cranking out characters and environments while planning the story. I want at least six more characters. Currently there are 18 weapons, but that will go up to 30 once I begin to paint the crossbows. It sounds like a lot, but each weapon is categorized for a particular animation set, so no additional work needs to be done. The backgrounds are overlayed with a dirty texture. There is a visible seam down the center of each environment, but it will be fixed.

The two unarmed characters and the jester are friendly townsfolk.

Next comes the fun frame-by-frame special effects for spells, such as fireballs and explosions. I found this inspirational article that describes the basics.