(Showcase of the current state of the game)
Hi and welcome to the 19th development blog post for Unleash!
In general, the past two weeks have been concentrated on art work, including new 3D models, new visual effects, new UI and more iterations on logo and menu backgrounds. Additionally, the work on improving AI has continued, a whole slew of bugs have been slain and we have started work on the first set of achievements.
Art Work
The art team has continued working towards achieving the more polished, consistent visual identity that we have been yearning for. To that end, one of the most central and important elements is naturally the logo, which has seen a few more iterations since the previous blog post. The latest iteration of the logo has been made in 3D and is shown in-game, responding to lights and shadows dynamically.
(The latest iteration on the logo: Now in 3D)
The in-game Heads Up Display (HUD) has also seen an overhaul, which makes it more consistent with the new menus and overall look and feel of the game. The functionality of the HUD is not meant to change considerably, merely the skinning of UI elements must match the rest of the game. We are in the process of implementing this new UI as I write this.
(The current design image for in-game HUD)
The repair workshop has received new visual effects to make it come more alive and it has a new ‘impact’ effect for when it is healing other structures.
(New ‘idle’ VFX shown for the workshops)
The ‘Lightning’ effects that we use for the Tesla Coil and Lightning Tower, as well as the Cracklecloud, are also in the process of being updated with new textures and more rendering options. Additionally, the Tesla Coil’s idle VFX can also be seen in the below gif.
(Updated lightning effects for the tesla coil)
The lighting for the game scene, as well as the ground texture and other related settings, have all been tweaked with the goal of making towers and monsters stand out more, and providing a more aesthetically pleasing backdrop for playing.
(The scene has seen its ground texture, lighting and ambient VFX updated)
Balancing
We are very often tweaking the balancing of monsters and towers that we find to be unbalanced through our internal play tests. Most recently, we have elected to increase the price on the Teleporter tower, as it has proven to be quite powerful. Also, since the addition of loadouts to the game, monsters such as the Gemjuggler - with a limited use-case - has seen no use at all. Therefore, we have decided to increase the income that it grants to match normal monsters, which hopefully increases the incentive to use it.
AI Improvements Continued
We have sunk more days into developing and tweaking the AIs, especially our “Mr. Think” (Very Hard) bot AI. Continuing from the work started a couple of weeks ago (see previous dev. blog), the AI bot is now even more sophisticated in its way of constructing defenses. It keeps lists of potential structures that it can built, split into damages types and across both main localities (ground and air), so that it can respond with exactly the needed type of structure depending on its circumstances. Additionally, the AI will pursue income leadership more aggressively and the AI schematics, which make up the layout for the AI’s defenses, have all been tweaked and refined upon.
Closing Remarks
We are working super hard, as fast as we can, in order to complete the visual improvements, along with a range of other features and improvements that we would like the game to have before release, these include: further AI improvements, continued balancing tweaks and general stability, along with Steam Achievements and much more that we have planned. Additionally, the past two weeks have seen a whole army of (technical) bugs slain in glorious battle.
Get in touch with us through Discord, or any of our other social media channels. You can find all of them through our website. Also, you can watch our internal gameplay sessions over at Twitch.
And remember… Monsters never come alone.