With most of the team back after the flu season, we are moving forward with work in all departments.
Backend
Most of the work focuses on multiplayer matchmaking. This includes finding the most suitable players, prioritizing diversity between classes, and merging different lobbies with similar settings.
We are not able to actually play together (yet) but we can create lobbies, find matching games and invite friends. With all this in place, we only need to implement the kick option and we are good to go ːarchduckː
Gameplay
As you know, since October you can draw, shuffle, and discard cards. And now you can also aim them at monsters (and players) using different targeting modes. These were present in the prototype, but for the real thing, we had to code them from scratch in order for them to be extensible and (eventually) look good. Here are examples of different targeting modes:
Single target - rather self-explanatory, can be used to target enemies or allies (but only with best intentions at heart!).
Cone - for targeting a group of monsters using a conical shape originating from the player.
Range - for AOE attacks and effects cast anywhere on the arena.
Please note that the cards shown are our internal placeholders and won’t make it to the final game. Unless we grow to love them over time. Who knows.
Design
Besides further work on mock-ups for windows and screens, we are now focusing on how the battle arenas should look. Below you can see a concept for the catacomb arena.
In Book of Demons, maps were generated from smaller tiles that had to fit together. This allowed for a great variety of maps. The downside was that they did tend to look similar. In Hellcard we are free to create more custom and unique looking arenas. There will be a few of them but they will stand out and be more memorable. As you can see above we are also experimenting with adding objects in the foreground. This should create a better illusion of depth in the scenes.
As always,
Stay safe in the paper dungeons
Filip