Everpixel Tactics - Devblog: 1-13-2024

Devblog

I didn't meet my self-imposed Christmas deadline to get version 0.6.0 of Everpixel Tactics released...but I have made good progress. I am no longer going to make promises as to when updates come out, but I am hard at work on the next one, rest assured. I fully realize that this is very George RR Martin-esque...but it is, after all, something I do in my spare free time.

Anyway, I have been hard at work, and I hope to get the revamped game out soon. Rewriting much of the foundational perk code has been taking much longer than I had hoped, but now that it's in place, progress on re-implementing the perk trees is going smoothly.

I've completed most of the core code: AI behavior trees, battle control flow, and most of the User Interface stuff. In fact, all that remains now is to finish a few more perk trees, add the actual campaign logic, and 0.6.0 should be ready to launch. I'm excited to start pushing updates with some regularity now that the entire codebase has been rewritten.

Perk Trees

As before, one of the main ideas behind Everpixel Tactics is the ability for a player to build a party from a highly-customizable set of mercenaries. Mercenaries can choose perks from an assortment of perk trees. So far, I've implemented the following trees:

Implemented Perk Trees

• Arcanomancy

• Athletics

• Biomancy

• Heavy Armor

• Heavy Weaponry

Remaining Perk Trees for 0.6.0 Release

• Necromancy

• Knight

• Soldier

• Warrior

Some Future Perk Trees

• Gaiamancy

• Pyromancy

• Cryomancy

• Death Knight

• Paladin

• Berserker

• Skirmisher

• Archer

• Duelist

Once 0.6.0 is released, I'm hoping to push a new (minor) perk tree once every week or two. These are perk trees that are relatively-easy to implement and test. These are perk trees like "Knight" that are mostly comprised of passive perks. The magic perk trees--like Biomancy--take a lot more work and will likely be on a once-a-month frequency, if not a little bit longer.

Armory

In the previous versions of Everpixel Tactics, players had to purchase gear for their squad. In order to encourage experimentation with various builds, the 0.6.0 release will take a different approach: players will have access to an Armory which will provide players with free equipment. Every type of equipment available in the game can be found here - swords, armors, mage robes, etc. Of course, there are limits - the items available in the armory are not magical. Players will still be able to acquire magical equipment obviously, but these rarified items will typically come as rewards from completing missions.

Armory Screenshot

User Interface

Programming user interfaces (UI's) is tedious. It consumes a lot of time proportionate to the other kinds of programming, and it's been a slog to reimplement every UI in the game. But I think that the work speaks for itself - the game looks a lot sharper and more crisp than it did before. I hope players will find it less of an eye-sore.

Roster Screenshot