The Devlog

The Bloodmark - Version 3!

Wow, it's been a bit.

Okay, what have I been working on?

What was good: The Bloodmark was in a pretty good spot already, but I wasn't satisfied with how the gameplay of the Territory Conquest felt. It came about in a way I like: Takeover sections, mine out resources, send armies, but it didn't provide a solid option for integration with the Dungeon. Similarly, I couldn't really figure out what to do with the heroes either. So a fun mini game, but ultimately not super useful for the game overall.

So I went on a series of investigations. That led me to Boids, as nearly all fun steering code does. That was a huge rabbit hole, and a big time sink - if I'm being honest. It helped me come up with some fun ways to have units fight each other, but the performance issues that come with Boids were unavoidable. Despite some interesting mini games, I couldn't get the performance where I wanted it, AND it also felt more like watching than playing. I thought I was going to build an idle game, but turns out I don't want to. Nothing against them, but I want to make decisions, not just watch game TV.

Boid Watching: So eventually I moved away from Boids, despite how much I love it. And instead I wanted to find a strong way to fit the Dungeon, the Town, and the Kingdom into a feel of a real Kingdom conquest. The town was too basic, and kept competing with how the region wanted to run. So that brought me eventually back to Warcraft and Starcraft. Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games have a great feel for trying to take over a region, and the single player campaign of Warcraft did often feel like you were slowly conquering a whole continent. So I wanted that, but with the distinct Bloodmark feel.

Empire Building: When you're in Bloodmark, I want you to feel like you're building up, conquering, and making the world yours. So to that end, I've added a new system: Empire Domination. It's got the RTS elements I felt were important, while still connecting to Heroes. Those Heroes come from the Dungeon, and gain experience there to eventually be better on the battlefield. Win win. So the loop is getting more clear: Delve the Dungeon, grow your Heroes, use those Heroes to help conquer the nearby Regions, and eventually make an Empire of your own! That's what I wanted.

RTS Section: So the RTS section. It's squad based, with a Hero as the centerpiece of each squad. We're not talking Warcraft III heroes, but rather leaders of the squads. Higher damage, more health, and as they grown in power: more leadership (read as more squad members). Get that power from the Dungeon, use it to help conquer your Empire. Still maintains a link to the system in the Dungeon too: There is Soldiers, Rogues, Archers, Mages, and Guardians. Each defeats the two to their right (S beats R beats A, etc). Same applies on the bigger battlefields too. The current system is low squad count, but that might change as the playtesting goes along.

What's that mean for you? Two Arcades now: Dungeon Crawl and Empire Domination. Dungeon Crawl has received significant changes, so check it out. More events, deeper dungeons, and better crafted so less annoying things happen (like spikes in front of doors). Empire Domination is brand new, so all new experience there.

So go! Fight! Win!

And tell me how it went.

The Bloodmark - State of the Game

Demo's live. Before I go charging into the next phase, figured I'd stop and take stock of where everything actually sits.

Combat: This is the part I'm happiest with. Five classes in a circle - Soldier, Archer, Mage, Guardian, Rogue - and each one beats the two to its right. Get the matchup right and you hit for 1.5x, get it wrong and it's 0.5x. Fights play out across lanes, so picking where each fighter goes is the real decision. Health bars animate, every card tells you the matchup, and there's auto-assign, retreat, and number keys for when you want to move fast. It feels good to play, which is the bar.

The Dungeon: Also in a good spot. Floors are BSP-generated and seeded per run, so a run is a run. Somewhere around 23 different things you can walk into - shrines, cursed shrines, statues, gambling dens, gambits, merchants, recruitment cages, trapped chests - and they all actually matter, they're not set dressing. Fog of war, a full event log with Jerad talking over your shoulder. Boss floor every ten, elite floor every five.

The Town: There's more going on here than you'd guess from looking at it. Fifteen buildings across three tiers - Barracks, Smithy, Scout's Tent, Infirmary, Sawmill, Quarry, Marketplace, Archery Range, Mage Sanctum, The Bastion, Shadow Lodge, Alchemist Lab, Hero's Guild, Great Forge, and the Command Spire sitting in the middle of it. Wood, stone, iron, gold - all four have a job. The Tier 2 buildings are locked behind blueprints you only find down in the Dungeon, so delving isn't optional if you want to grow.

The Overworld: Built, but not plugged into the loop yet. The map's there - generators, keeps, nodes, a camera that works. Keep conquest, the two-phase army-then-delve thing, is the next big piece I'm pushing on.

Not there yet: Crafting, equipment, spells, anything that carries between runs, and a leaderboard that actually works. All on the board.

So, that's it! Play, let me know how it is.