What's happening?
Good news and slightly worse news!
Good news:
I've been working hard on the development, advancing on a couple fronts. The changes are so meaningful that this upcoming update is basically Winter Falling 2.0.
Striking a couple milestones at once:
-Leaders
-Unit Evolution
-Modding (pictured below in tiny resolution, will adjust to your screen)
In detail:
Modding works. Change all parameters, create your own units, messengers and other objects with your own art. No campaign creator yet, but everything else in the battles is editable. Including skills and their mechanics.
Steam Workshop implementation with a simple to use load order system.
In-game game editor that allows you to play around with the game elements without messing around with code or text files.
Leaders play a role on the battlefield, no longer just a prototype element.
Weather in battle with its own effects
Unit Equipment in addition to weapons. Mechanics for Weapons and Equipment expanded, so equipment management will come as soon as I'm done with an interface for it.
Unit Bravery as a parameter for a retreat condition.
Unit Prestige expanded to impact units that retreated from the battlefield with negative effects in future battles. (can be regained)
Moving bodies of units is easier with commanders for their respective regiments.
Units evolve with experience into other units. Additional units are included.
Expanding Daily Arena (draft) to be more like a randomly generated text-less simple short scenario.
I have to be honest here, I don't really remember all the accumulated upgrades, only the big systems.
Worse news:
You might've noticed the roadmap hasn't been updated for a while. That's because all of that work takes a long time and ultimately results in delays and more delays!
I'm working on different systems at the same time. Instead of making smaller updates with a single milestone, here comes a bigger update with 3 milestones. That's bad project management, but the reality is that the systems I work on are interconnected, When I'm working on Unit Evolution I might as well include Unit Equipment, to avoid making temporary solutions/interfaces/graphics.
When I'm finishing up Leaders I can fix the advance order system, it's just another 2 weeks of work so why not? It all adds up!
Fixing bugs isn't interesting, but I've got a couple of big ones to take care of. Like my nemesis- the shop running out of supplies because sometimes it doesn't restock on the proper day. Most pressing bugs have been taken care of already, a breath of fresh air there!
Ambition is a small problem, ambition to create a great update. Not just a simple upgrade of a single system or random content. Same with the modding system. Usually developers would grab a unity store asset to quickly implement scripting or basic modding and bam, done. I feel like a simple game like Winter Falling can be a fun sandbox for people to play around, but it needs to be made carefully.
At the end of the day, this is most likely the only time in my life that I will create a game worthy of modding so I might as well make a good modding system.
The modding system itself has been the most difficult element of the entire development (7 years now total since the first prototype based on Game of Thrones Winterfell battle). Fortunately, I've prepared game systems for modding in the earlier versions. Inside the StreamingAssets folder of your current game version is the entire game. You can literally create your own units, weapons etc. Even if it's a bit limited. Well, now I've expanded it to its full potential and I'm happy to say that the coding part is over. It's time for the polish.
What's next:
Winter Falling 2.0 is coming in the fall.
Before that, I'm going to post another Development Report about the Leaders. Because I've received feedback that I should be a bit more public with my work. And I get it, it's Early Access, doesn't look good when I'm just working silently for months without any sign of life. I'm sorry for that.
For the longtime fans that have read my previous updates I must add that this silent life has never been this good and pain-free, even if the money isn't here. ːsteamhappyː
Truly great feeling to work on the game I love and have peace at home ( although it is more difficult to concentrate nowːsteamhappyː) . So thank you for your support over the years, here's hoping the finish line is early next year.
See you again,
Arek