CLA: Mission Select

The mission selection screen 1st pass is completed. I'll work on backgrounds and changing the mission icons into something other than colored boxes at some point.

If you select a mission a title and brief description will pop up. Currently (as of this post) every level is the same but they each keep track of your 'best run' of that level. That is currently dictated by the number of party members that go down in the battle. Eventually I'll have it keep multiple records like fewest casualties and fastest completion time.

Current Build:

Windows Executable

Android APK

CLA: Report Card

Upon completing a mission I'd like there to be a report showing how you did. The first thing I wanted to complete was something that showed how many party members were taken out during the fight. The "first pass" of the battle report is complete.

Currently the different types of party members are represented by different colors. The report shows how many of which type and the total number of party members lost during the fight.

As a side note I also updated that cloud effect I mentioned last post. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Both the old and new versions are in the effect previewer if you'd like to check them out.

Instead of creating a separate link for each version of the game I'll just provide a link to the most current published build. For big moments like Alpha and Beta versions of the game I will provide a link for those specific versions.

Current Build - Links Below:

Android APK

Windows Executable

CLA: Entertaining Tools

I created a simple in game tool to view visual effects. The main reason I did this is so that I could see how the effects look on the device. It can be quite mesmerizing to watch. In the final game it might be fun to have each effect unlocked by completing small goals, like achievements. It's so fun to watch I think I'll try to make sure each effect isn't too difficult to unlock.

I'm very pleased with the first batch of effects I've created even though they were intended as placeholders to test my effect system. The blue cloud effect is a frame based animation whereas the star effect uses interpolation of scale and position over time. The star effect looks a little better to me and I think the edge it has over the blue cloud effect is that smooth movement. The next time I experiment with visual effects I think I'll try a splice between both effects.

This is the blue cloud effect's current frame based sprites:

For the sake of experimentation I'll take either the 1st or 2nd frame and use linear interpolation of scale for the duration of the 1st two frames. When it scales to maximum size I'll have have 5 circles pop in and scale down over time. This will essentially be an attempt to use linear interpolation for tweening the frames of the original animation. 

I realize I've begun to sling around a fair bit of jargon in this post. I originally planned on this just being an unfiltered brain dump while I work on the project. I would like to try to write in a way that is more inclusive for a broader audience but translating to plain English takes time and effort from the primary goal of the project. For now Google can probably answer any terminology questions you have more reliably than I can.

Try the build with a 1st pass on the effect viewer in the links below

Get the Android .apk here

And here's the Windows executable

Screenshots of the effect viewer in action below

CLA: 1st Playable

And here we have the 1st playable. This is essentially the most rudimentary version of what the core gameplay is. Essentially tap the screen on guys to damage the boss and see some pretty colors flash on screen. Pretty simple. Anything beyond this is expanding upon that to make it more fun and interesting. And of course art 99% just placeholder. I do like how the expanding star shape effect and the cloud puff looks though.

I added some "cheat" buttons for additional experimentation and to expedite testing. One button sets the boss hitpoints to 1. This was a quick temporary addition so that I can check out the way the particle effects are used during the death sequence. The other "cheats" apply the Haste and Enrage effects to the party members.

Haste makes currently deployed units update their charge and move forward 2x as fast. Enrage makes them deal 2x damage when they attack. The primary purpose of this addition is for experimentation with creating visuals to distinguish status effects on party members. I think this could be improved.

Input: Tap the party members when they are highlighted to damage the boss.
Win Condition: Boss hitpoints reach zero.
Lose Condition: All party members are destroyed.

Download Links:

Android .apk file

Windows Executable


Screenshots from this build below:

Cluster Luck Assault: Initial Design

I was inspired by Final Fantasy: All The Bravest. I took a glance at gameplay and heard snippets of what the game was about. The game I had first pictured in my mind was rather different from FF:ATB. I decided to refine that idea into my own mobile game.

There will be three major components to the game:

1. Building an Army
2. Selecting units for a battle
3. Battling bosses

I'll be covering the boss battles in this post. The first two components to the game simply supplement the 3rd so I consider getting 3rd section to a pre-alpha state most important.

Boss:
There will be a boss on the left hand side of the screen. It will periodically attack the player's party. When a party member is attacked they are destroyed. I plan on creating unique visual effects to show how and which party member is attacked. The top left of the screen will display the boss's remaining health.

Player Party
Before the battle (2nd component) the player will select a number of party members to fight with. The selected party members will be randomly queued up to show up to battle. A looping timer will trigger an individual party member to be deployed.

Party Grid
The grid width and height may be different between bosses. Currently experimenting with 4 by 6. When a party member is deployed they will be assigned a grid lane to occupy based on which has the front-most vacancy. If there is no vacant grid-space available in the back-most row they will wait until there is one. They will continue down the grid one grid-space a time until there is not a vacant space directly in front of them. If they aren't moving they will be charging their attack, the charge will be displayed in a bar below their feet. When fully charged they will be highlighted to signify that they are ready. When clicked while ready they will deal damage to the boss.

Victory Condition:
Boss health reaches zero.

Defeat Condition:
All player party members are destroyed.

Battle Screen Overview

A: Boss Location - displays boss
B: Party Grid - displays deployed units
C: Boss health bar location

If you'd like the base phone image for your own purposes you can access a rendered png file here or the vector graphic svg file here. This image was created with the incredibly useful program Inkscape.












Expanding Unit Types
I plan on eventually making different types of party members. Some situations would be that when they use their attack instead of dealing damage to the boss they apply buffs to surrounding allies or  some that never attack but deal damage when destroyed. Maybe a type that will not move on their own but will jump forward a space when they attack. There's many permutations this can take and it will be fun to try creating different types of party members so players can try using different unit compositions for each boss battle.

Expanding Boss Behavior
I plan on making multiple bosses which have different behaviors. Some random ideas: When boss takes damage their attack is delayed/sped up, boss applies debuffs with special attacks, boss uses different kinds of logic to decide which grid-space to attack.

Check out next post for the first-playable pre-alpha version of the game.

Cluster Luck Assault: Why make this game?

I worked a year contract creating a game in Unity and became pretty comfortable with the engine. I've decided to use what I've learned to create an android game. I will create posts to chronicle development of the game.

Technical Considerations 

Why Unity?
It's extremely easy to create modular functionality and development tools in Unity. It's crazy just how easy it is to make interesting things with it especially if you have a comfortable working knowledge of coding and linear algebra. At some point in my life I'd like to put together tutorials for each of those things and I'll probably use Unity to create them. For now though I'll just be creating a game.

Why Android?
As a dude in his late 20s with the disposition of a 70 year old curmudgeon I held out on upgrading to a smart phone until this year. Since I've finally upgraded I noticed an opportunity. A game that can run on a smart phone is extremely easy to share with people and show off some of the things I've learned. I chose Android because it seems more development friendly than the Iphone. Also I just don't want an Iphone.

Design Considerations

Why pursue this concept over others I want to create?
 There's many other games I'd like to create but there's a few factors that put this game concept above the others. The primary reasons for me are the platform, scope, and scaleability of the project. Also because of that I'm alright with implementing my non-professional artistic "talents" to create assets.

The Platform
I want to create something for Android phones and my other ideas do not fir the platform as well as this concept.

Narrow Scope
Other games I want to create are much more ambitious, and as a solo developer I would have to make concessions I'd rather not make to their designs in order to create something in a timely manner.

Scaleability
This game is also significantly more scaleable than other game concepts I've come up with. The game can be considered complete if I complete 4 or 400 different characters, effects, and bosses. What needs to be completed to be considered a minimum viable product for this game is considerably easier to achieve than my other potential game projects. It will also be much easier to expand upon from a design and technical perspective.

Art Assets
Since I'm less invested in the project looking perfect I'm alright with creating art assets myself. Despite being a programmer I quite enjoy drawing doodles and creating visual effects. By doing the artwork myself I get to tickle the creative side of my brain which can be a pleasant break from programming tasks.

Check the following post for an overview of the initial design for my game Cluster Luck Assault.