This is likely the last pre-release build. I’ll primarily be working on graphical materials to support the launch from now on.

Updates

• Updated fflate 0.7.1 to 0.7.2
• Updated PixiJs from 6.1.1 to 6.1.3
• Created a custom build of PixiJs that excludes some modules for a smaller build size
• Created a custom build of PixiJs Filters, excluding unused filters
  • Added enhanced scanline mode, featuring the PixiJs scanline filter
• Revamped saving and loading files completely
  • Save files are now compressed and saved (and decompressed and loaded) in a web worker, so as to not bog down regular gameplay
  • In nwjs installs, the files are written to disk using node.js modules in a worker
  • In the browser, files are stored in indexdb using idb-keyval
• Added additional sounds and map-zoom when talking with NPCs
• Added a unique description to each object on the map
• Prevented NPCs from using emotes randomly while talking to you, to avoid confusion
  • They still randomly emote while not interacting with the player
  • Adjusted position of emotes so they’re not as high
• Added custom mouse cursor

Lots of back-end changes to set the stage for future development.

But we’ve also got a new title screen!

And I’ve added a new window where players are offered 3 possible choices for an item award. This seems to be a better way of managing loot awards than getting completely random stuff with no choice.

Updates

• New Title Screen
• Updated PixiJs from 5.3.3 to 6.1.1
• Switched from Pako to fflate (smaller file size, faster performance)
• Fixed issue with tooltips where they could not contain multiple lines
• Refactored plugins I’ve authored so I have a core set I can share between projects
• Created new “award choice” plugin
• Various tweaks to attempt to get better performance
• Fixed issues that popped up with Ogg sound files on Safari
• Fixed issues with running as a Progressive Web App (PWA)

Known Issues

• If you start a new game, then quit before changing maps or opening the menu, then attempt to load your save game, the save game will be corrupted – To bypass this bug, just choose New Game instead of Continue.

More technical updates. I’m chasing better performance on lower powered devices.

Updates

• Updated PixiJs from 5.3.3 to 6.1.1
• Switched from Pako to fflate (smaller file size, faster performance)
• Fixed issue with tooltips where they could not contain multiple lines
• Refactored plugins I’ve authored so I have a core set I can share between projects
• Switched from pixel movement to half-tile movement in an attempt to get better performance in the map scene
• Various code tweaks to attempt to get better performance
• Fixed issues that popped up with Ogg sound files on Safari
• Fixed issues with running as a Progressive Web App (PWA)

Known Issues

• If you start a new game, then quit before the first cutscene ends, then attempt to load your save game, the save game will be corrupted – To bypass this bug, just choose New Game instead of Continue.

Not much fun to play yet. But plenty of the technical underpinnings are complete.

• Randomly shuffling maps. 36 maps are created for each area, but only 6 will be chosen per run.
• 3 initial character classes: knight, archer, mage
• You can walk through the game and get to the end (but only the bad ending is available since the goal item isn’t obtainable)

The major thing to work on now is content: giving you something to do on the maps. Enemy encounters, treasure, events to interact with that could give positive or negative outcomes depending on your stats, possibly traps that could either damage you or give you an advantage if you lead enemies into them.

A few other technical points:

• The resolution is now 960 (20 tiles wide) x 528 (11 tiles high) – similar to modern indie games like Binding of Isaac Rebirth
• For the web version, I’ve added a preloader service worker. It will download and cache all of the assets for the game in the background.
• The engine is now my custom fork of the MV core scripts
  • Working on changes to text and gauges, which is why they currently look worse than the Battle Test

Play the Game

This update is largely focused on the behind-the-scenes part of the game. I spent some time fiddling with the engine for other projects, so The Club gets a backport of that progress.

Play the Game

Content changes since 0.9.3

• New title art
• Some menus now have rotation applied – so swanky!
• Incidental dialog added when you check background objects
• New gradient-based transition between scenes
• Now using a separate font for displaying numbers in “combat”
• Volume lowered for most GUI sounds

Technical changes since 0.9.3

• Added skip cutscene plugin
• Now using WOFF-based fonts instead of TTF (smaller file size)
• Added a toggle-able fullscreen button to the title scene
• Title music now loops at the appropriate point
• On-screen buttons can now be enabled or disabled in the menu
  • Enabled by default on mobile devices
• Mouse mode can now be enabled or disabled in the menu
  • Enabled by default on desktop devices
• The synchronize monitor FPS setting now attempts to guess if you have a monitor refresh rate over 60hz
• There is now a preloader that shows progress as the game’s main engine files load
• Switched from lz-string to pako (deflate) save game compression (faster and smaller)
• Saving the game is now done on its own thread using a web worker
• Text colours are now chosen from a list of static values instead of looking up colours in an image file – this fixes a Firefox bug that would scramble text colours
• Using a new preloader script that attempts to download necessary files in advance
• Upgrade PixiJS from 4.8.9 to 5.3.3
  

My goal was to create a system with a little added tactical depth, without too much unnecessary complexity.

• This combat system uses a 1-dimensional row system. You can be in the bottom row, the middle row, or the top row.
• You have 4 action points per turn that you can use for movement (to transfer between the 3 rows) or battle skills.
• Sword-users can only hit targets on the same row as them, but they’ve got the muscle to push targets into other rows, or pin them in place.
• Bow-users benefit from the high ground, gaining a significant bonus to damage and accuracy from being above their targets.
• Staff-users are your crowd-control specialists–their skills can hit entire rows. But watch out for friendly fire.

The demo takes around 5-10 minutes to experience. There’s 1 map with a tutorial battle. Then you exit to a field that has 4 battles with random opponents.

Graphics, music, sounds, animations, etc. are placeholders that will not be used in the final game. The only thing I’ll probably keep are the enemy battle sprites (courtesy of Vibrato).

Play the Game

Testing this game on my phone made me realize the default UI needs a lot of work. So the last few days of work was primarily spent on that.

Play the Game

Changes since 0.9.1

• Much improved the mobile UI, with bigger line heights and a persistent menu/back button at the top-right
• Added rotation to the menu animations – this sounds like a small change, but the personality it adds is huge
• More fun version of the loading graphic
• Added voice-like sound clip when you introduce a topic to an NPC; and to their response
• “Quit game” command on the title screen is now hidden from the web version of the game
• Gamepad options can now be configured on mobile devices (if the game detects a gamepad input)
• You can swipe vertically to move up and down most lists
• You can swipe horizontally on the equipment/skills menus to swap between characters
• Followers are gathered up when you talk to NPCs much more quickly
• Fixed incorrect map name showing up

I’m almost ready to launch the Club game. It still needs a final name and another pass at the title art, but it’s really close! Check it out:

Play the Game