Hey folks!
Just dropping a chunky update for where MORSE is at, thanks for your patience. It's been just over a month since I last posted but wanted to give reassurance that I am still beavering away at the project, here's some of the recent updates:
+ MEGACON and Sheffield Games Market: Had such a wonderful time showing off the game at these events, the installation was very well received by the public and got lots of useful feedback. Here's some photos from the events!
We had quite a few people play cooperative on the game which I love, one person operates the telegraph, the other the launch button.
My highlight was getting to see a young boy who was partially sighted and partially deaf play the game and absolutely smash the game, his father mentioned the fact the game was high contrast helped him play. Was very sweet to see, I think the youngest we had playing was 4!
Here's some footage of the demo being beaten at Megacon:
+ Submarines: The latest enemy type, I've been trying to figure out for a while to implement them and finally found a satisfying manner of doing so. Submarines are permanently hidden, even shooting them directly will not reveal them as they're beneath the water. They are effectively jammers, scrambling your letter selection as they move. They're really hard to spot but because they're scrambling letters on the X and Y axis local to them, you can zero in on their location as they scramble more of the letters and numbers around them. They add a fresh spin on gameplay whilst still being cohesive. Here's some extended gameplay showing the submarines in action:
View game page+ Expanded Manual: This bit I'm particularly proud of, I've expanded the manual to have a tonne of information about Morse Code. It discusses the different activities available, how to get started with ham radio, common terms/shorthand and national organisations that folks can join if they want to find their local clubs or national events. I'm planning to expand this as the game develops and I come across more events, groups and activities. I have very fond memories from Age of Empires 2 of vast collections of information and history about the different factions/historical events of the time and I'd like MORSE to be a launch point for people to discover the hobby of ham radio rather than an end point.
+ Receiving Morse Code: Speaking of giving people an entry point into ham radio, this is a small update but with a significant change to the game! A common critique from folks learning Morse Code (and hams more generally) is the dominance of visual Morse Code in my game. So, I've added the ability to receive Morse Code through sound, specifically the coordinates of ships! When you fire, you receive the position of the first ship hidden in the dark on that row audio. You can see this in the video below.
I'm undecided on whether this will be an ability or something just available for players throughout, but it it's fun mimicking the audio and seeing the crosshair reach the corresponding letter. Means you build an association between the letter and the sound in a way that it wasn't before (if you can copy the sound and rhythm of the sound, you can create the letter). Any suggestions for implementation would be appreciated! I've also added a blinking light for those hard of hearing to use as reference.
Here's a video demonstrating the receiver:
Morse Transmissions now added to my WW1 telegraphy game!
+ Key binding for Iambic/Sideswiper: This was a huge faff, but getting key binding sorted for the multi-paddle keys has been sorted! Means that folks can wire up their telegraphs proper to play the game with like their straight keys.
+ Detail and polish: I've been adding as much polish to the project and detail to the project as possible, things like a backing for the deck cards with dots and dashes, adding a subtle bit of red to the mines when placed, tweaking the probability of ships exploding, fixing issues with mine spawning and softening the penalty for missing a shell on your accuracy scale.
The launch is coming relatively soon (to be announced soon!) so I'm trying to limit new features/additions so close to launch. Having said that, here's what I have left to do:
- Save system: This is going to be a real messy element to integrate for mid-run saves, so to begin with I'm going to get the baseline working for saving base game data (E.g. Achievements and unlocks) then expand from there.
- Refinement of the accuracy scale: I'm not happy with it currently, it does enhance the gameplay but is too punitive and lacks a defined purpose.
- Tutorial implementation: Whilst I do have a functional tutorial, I have LOADS of lovely visuals in the manual that aren't being properly utilised.
- Implement the Cruiser: This enemy is designed but hasn't been properly added to the game yet,
- Refinement of Iambic/Semi-Auto: Whilst I'm happy with the Iambic key mapping function, both Iambic and Semi auto need further refinement.