Sunday, April 21, 2019

A Fork in the Road

For the first time I have simply taken a snapshot of an existing project (a copy) as a foundation for my next game. There are so many design changes that it deserves to be its own game, rather than an updated version of Match 3 Fantasy.



An analogy is finishing production of a movie, and immediately reusing all the actors, crew, scenery, and only changing the script.

Skills


Using hero skills in Match 3 Fantasy is done by collecting elemental resources and then applying the pattern onto the board. The pattern could only be placed on cells that are highlighted, and highlights are made by destroying gems through matches or tapping special gems that explode others.

The change: creatures will collect elements to charge-up just one equipped special skill. Once charged, the skill can be used immediately on any enemy. No more highlights.

Hero and Enemy Placement


I was inspired by Darkest Dungeon. I wanted to provide skills and attacks that are targeted using a similar system. Given three enemies arranged horizontally, skills can target first, second, third, first-two, last-two, or all. But the game is too casual and simply going for damage is an optimal strategy over abilities that manipulate the order of enemies.

The change: all heroes and enemies will be arranged in random order, because it will not matter. I will introduce a threat feature, so enemies are more likely to attack certain heroes.

The Enemy's Turn


In Match 3 Fantasy all enemies have their turn after the player, but each only attacks by successfully rolling a percentage chance.

The change: Each enemy has a countdown to attack, decremented each player turn (a hero uses a special skill, or when cells are swapped for a match).

Progression


Match 3 Fantasy just has too many variables for progression and difficulty. Enemy strength is determined by the strongest hero and difficulty level for additional rewards. It kinda works, but feels rather clumsy.

The change: Enemy difficulty will be fixed, and hard-coded for each area. There will be many more areas to unlock, despite reusing the same map.

The First Build


I uploaded a build of the new game here. It plays in a browser, thanks to the Unity engine for the WebGL exporter.


The bird is the first of many pets; this one attacks after red gems are matched. The fox also uses red gems, so the element is given randomly to the bird or fox. Therefore, good team composition will include heroes that use a large variety of elements. A pet that uses blue would be more optimal in this arrangement, because no other heroes use this element.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Sky Words

Sky Words (pun of the word skywards) has been made public on Google Play!


A word puzzle game, containing over 150 generated puzzles and as much graphical and audio polish that I could apply.



This game took only about three months from start to finish, while jaunting around Malaysia, India, and to an extent, Kenya and Egypt with family. I set out to create something in mind, and achieved it while also immersing myself in new cultures.

I see no reason to stop traveling and developing games. I'll be heading off solo to eastern Europe soon, to max out an eligible stay in the Schengen area. There are more projects to be created and things to learn.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

A quick reflection of Paladin vs Demons

I want to take a moment to reflect on a previous game called Paladin vs Demons. Looking back, this app had a lot of potential. The flaw was not going "all-in" and investing the extra time to offer a longer and better experience. The reviews are surprisingly positive, all things considered.

Paladin vs Demons on Google Play
I was so focused on just "getting it done quickly". Which for creative work can be a double-edged sword. Investing extra time is risky, but there is similar risk in cutting a project short of its potential. This one was hindered by the latter. It unexpectedly became more popular years later, dire for more features.

A small potato, and I have bigger fish to fry...