afuriousengine

A Sea of Stars is a massively-multiplayer wargame. Lead your country to greatness and vanquish your enemies. Establish vast cities, direct research to unlock the secrets of the universe, design and build unstoppable military units, and marshal your allies against those who wage war to stop you. Play at: http://www.afuriousengine.com

[afuriousengine]

I put a hex on [terrain generation]: code review part 2

I put a hex on [terrain generation]: code review part 2 #indiedev #gamedev

Welcome to part two of our code review – in which we start to tackle the substantive problems of implementing hex-based combat. We’ll do this in two steps: firstly, we’ll take stock of what currently exists by examining how the code-base currently generates terrain and going over how it’s stored in the database. Secondly, we’ll begin implementation – by developing a new database architecture.

Par…

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Better combat through code review (A journey through the back-end code of Let Thrones Beware)

Better combat through code review (A journey through the back-end code of Let Thrones Beware) #indiedev #gamedev

I’m taking a different approach for the next series of blog updates; rather than just post updates completed features and previewing updates at a high level, I will be putting up a really detailed examination of what’s changing, why it’s changing, and how it’s been coded!

Without further ado…

Problem

Right now, combat is functioning, but it’s a mess of procedural functions and linear code.…

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Public Alpha 10: Phase 1: New graphical interface; Phase 2: ???; Phase 3: Profit!

Public Alpha 10: Phase 1: New graphical interface; Phase 2: ???; Phase 3: Profit! #gamedev #indiedev

What’s better than a fixed-size map with little red dots? A fullscreen, touch-enabled game map with animation!

Alpha 10 brings huge interface updates! Let Thrones Beware is now much more compatible with touch enabled laptops and tablets. You’ll be amazed by just how much easier it is to get into the game.

Pretty cool new map, right? There’s more going on than just a bunch of fire; the map has…

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So much extra space [...] to do activities!

So much extra space [...] to do activities! #gamedev #indiedev

Hello tyrants, thanks for stopping by!

Frenetic work continues apace; our next upgrade will be an overhaul of the user interface. Like you, I am tired of tiny windows containing far too much information all at once, and consequently we’ll be throwing out the old limited window in favour of a much more powerful, way more capable webgl interface powered by phaser.io!

    It’s not done yet, but…

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Makin Armies!

Makin Armies! #indiedev #gamedev

Look, there’s no need to be shy. It’s happened to all of us before, once or twice. You get a nice little country humming along in the top corner of North America, you want to expand southward, but you really also want to go and conquer Europe.

What’s a marauding warlord to do?

The best approach is to create a second army, which will let you rampage all over the planet in two directions at once!

“…

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Public Alpha Nine Released! Come and play now!

Public Alpha Nine! Come and play now! #indiedev #gamedev

Awwwww yea! It’s back, and better than ever! Public Alpha Nine is here and ready to occupy your entire day!

We’ve looked at the charts, we’ve surveyed the players, and we’ve done the only thing a text-based 4X can do to be even that much more fun:

We went graphical!

That’s right; Let Thrones Beware now features a dynamic, real-time graphic world map. No more nebulous cities floating in the ether.…

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Public Alpha Nine Preview: You can't handle these scores!

Public Alpha Nine Preview: You can't handle these scores! #indiedev #gamedev #graphsandchartsandgraphs

While you probably can handle these scores, the new highcharts drop-in makes reviewing how badly you’re creaming the opposition a much more enjoyable experience. Another new feature, coming to a Public Alpha Nine game near you!

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Public Alpha Nine Preview: Update status and new players

Public Alpha Nine Preview: Update status and new players #indiedev #gamedev

Hello Conquerors!

We’re down to the wire for Public Alpha Nine!  As you can see from the fancy image above, the game map has been defined and implemented, and is operating beautifully.

What’s left on the improvement agenda?  

Awesome question, you’re really quite insightful!

Because we’re changing the nature of the game, from one big free-for-all to smaller, player-defined games, we need to give…

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Public Alpha Nine Preview: "War. War never changes..."

Public Alpha Nine Preview: "War. War never changes..." #indiedev #gamedev

It is Wednesday, which means it’s time for another infodump on the upcoming Public Alpha Nine of Let Thrones Beware! In today’s update, we’ll be examining changes to how the new army and war systems function.

Armies

You know them, you love them, here they are again. With a brand-new, physical map for your game-world, armies now have a physical permanence in the world. This means that instead of…

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Public Alpha Nine Preview: Nodes and Cities

Public Alpha Nine Preview: Nodes and Cities #indiedev #gamedev

A happy Monday to you all! Today we’re examining how Alpha Nine changes some of the core game concepts of Let Thrones Beware.

Nodes

Nodes are the biggest change in Public Alpha Nine; nodes are the only places where cities may be built, and armies must travel between nodes on pre-defined links. Armies cannot move through positions occupied by hostile forces. Nodes, therefore, are of extremely…

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Public Alpha Nine - So close, so exciting!

Public Alpha Nine - So close, so exciting! #gamedev #indiedev

Hello again!

Bet you thought we were dead, eh? Not this time, bucko! Instead of announcing that this game has been discontinued, I’m here to tell you about a bunch of awesome changes that are coming down the pipe in short order!

First up! CREATING YOUR OWN GAME

Once upon a time, everyone and their mother (hi, moms) was lumped into the same game at the same time. Even if the game was halfway…

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Public Alpha Nine Preview: Revised Interface! #LetThronesBeware #indiedev #gaming This is a very quick update to provide a glimpse of how the interface of Let Thrones Beware is being revised to integrate the map.

[afuriousengine]

Welcome, noble conqueror,  to another edition of “what’s coming next?”

With 2D graphical combat implemented and humming along nicely, we now turn to the next feature addition for Let Thrones Beware, which is: maps!

As you can see from above, Alpha Nine will include zoomable, pannable, world-maps for your gaming pleasure! How will this work, you ask? Excellent question!

As you can see from above, the map is filled with nodes and links. Players will begin located at one node, and will have to explore the game world with their armies. Empty nodes will be colonizable, which is how you will expand your empire peaceably, whilst occupied nodes must be captured from the enemy.

This will significantly change the growth and combat dynamics of Let Thrones Beware – no longer can you immediately attack the best and largest cities of your enemies – you will have to gobble up the border regions first.

Armies will now be centred on nodes as well, so you will now have to carefully expand so that you are able to protect yourself at chokepoints.

The functionality of the interface is almost complete, but it is not yet attached to the game engine – we’ll therefore be looking at an intermediary Alpha Eight(b) without the map once the current game round is done – this is also good, because it will all us to keep fine-tuning the combat engine!

See you on the battlefield!

      Public Alpha Nine Preview: Maps maps maps maps errrybody maps! #indiedev #gaming Welcome, noble conqueror,  to another edition of "what's coming next?" With 2D graphical combat implemented and humming along nicely, we now turn to the next feature addition for Let Thrones Beware, which is: …

[afuriousengine]

Public Alpha Eight Preview: Wargame enhancements!

Public Alpha Eight Preview: Wargame enhancements! #indiedev #gamedev

It’s been a few days since the last post, so you’re obviously very curious to know what else is new. Glad you asked! The combat engine has been upgraded with a number of features:

First, the page is now dynamic – leave it on the latest round, and as new rounds are computed by the combat engine, the map will update with the latest results. Divisions will animate their way to new positions, morale…

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Is something missing from your life? Do you find yourself abstaining from conquering the known world because you just can’t muster up the energy to slog through logistics and casualty reports after the battle?

If this sounds like you (or doesn’t, but you’re interested in knowing where I’m going with this), you will be very interested to see what’s coming down the pipe next!

Selecting priority

Targeting priorities, eh? Whatever could that be all about….

Holy crap!  

That’s right, Let Thrones Beware has been revamped to include turn-based, visual combat that takes place ON AN ACTUAL MAP.

By selecting a combination of orders and priorities, you are now able to set battle commands for your armies. When you engage in combat with a hapless victim, you will see your divisions carry out your instructions. Winning or losing is now entirely up to your skill as a commander. Will your strategy and tactics lead to world domination, or will your forces be relegated to the trash-bin of history?

Hopefully it’s the former!

This new combat engine is still undergoing tweaks and improvements, but it will be ready for your consumption very soon!

Public Alpha Eight Preview: Graphical Wargame Combat! #gamedev #LetThronesBeware Is something missing from your life? Do you find yourself abstaining from conquering the known world because you just can't muster up the energy to slog through logistics and casualty reports after the battle?

[afuriousengine]

Public Alpha 7(B) of Let Thrones Beware has launched: Better scoring, more guns!

Public Alpha 7(B) of Let Thrones Beware has launched: Better scoring, more guns! #indiedev #gamdev

Round 7a has ended, and our winners are Tear (1st), Perynaen Horde (2nd), and Naya (3rd).

You know what that means! LOOOOOOOOT! Guns! Ammo! Armour! Your military forces can now be equipped with a multitude of new equipment that will make their job of dealing death that much easier!

This functions in almost the exact same way as the city loot system, but with one important caveat – unlike cities,…

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Public Alpha 7: Equippable city loot and conquering cities

Public Alpha 7: Equippable city loot and conquering cities #indiedev #gamedev #LetThronesBeware

Hello, and welcome to Public Alpha 7(a)! Round 6 has ended, and our winners are Canuckistan (1st), Inds (2nd), and Akkadd (3rd).

Two major revisions for this update – the first is that your exploring armies now have a chance to uncover loot. This loot can be assigned to your cities to boost production, population growth,   research, and training. Your country has an initial inventory capacity of…

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