v0.9 (2022-12-13) — everybody rotates! (+ dev plans)

hello friends, happy release note wednesday. this time around i’ve made some significant gameplay changes — and some decisions about what exactly i want to do with this little prototype.

update

one of the most frustrating elements of autobattlers in my experience is when your units take actions that are unexpected, or when the rules that govern the order of operations are too unclear or convoluted or inconsistent to formulate an effective plan. don’t get me wrong, sometimes it can be fun to realize you’ve accidentally screwed yourself over by mussing up some synergy or another, as long as you can understand the “why” of it and learn from the experience.

at the same time as i’ve been thinking about this, i’ve also been trying to make the boss battles here a bit more “epic”, where the outcome is less obvious and the challenges more daunting.

i believe i’ve improved both situations somewhat by implementing a simple rule: units rotate to the end of their squad when they are attacked. i didn’t say “player units” because now enemy units rotate too. in battles with low-health grunts you may not even notice this change, but as the game progresses, the higher-health knights will be able to get off a few more attacks, and against bosses it becomes much more important that you have the firepower to finish them off quickly.

besides this, i’ve added a few new effects of the sort commonly found in games like this such as “spiky” and “tough”. i’ve also added a weighting system to preparation-phase options so that you aren’t constantly being offered abilities you have no interest in and should be able to reliably snag many more stat bonuses than you have in the past.

• added enemy healers to some boss fights (gulp)
• player and enemy units rotate to back of squad when they are struck
• new “spiky” ability (deal damage back to attacker when struck) — don’t worry, no bosses have this ability… yet
• new “tough” ability (take 1/2 damage from attacks) and gave it to a boss (double gulp)
• new “trapper” ability to prevent your attack’s target from rotating on hit — pairs beautifully with an archer friend
• confirmation dialogue when clicking the reset button (thanks Bel)
• rebalanced preparation round effects to emphasize stats upgrade and de-emphasize abilities

dev plans

i’ve been unsure how much longer i wanted to continue developing this project. this is my first released game and i’ve heard that releasing a large amount of tiny games is a great way to learn, and for a while i’ve felt like this prototype was nearing its end and that i should move on to something new.

but i was stricken with a new bout of inspiration recently when thinking about this game while walking my dog this week. the vision i have for this game now has grown significantly – it’s still small, this is my first game after all and i’m just one person, but the ambition and inspiration level has notched up slightly.

without going into too much detail, i see gulch guardians becoming a proper 1-hour-run roguelike with the addition of two core mechanics: an experience/evolution/class system and a (teeny-tiny) card system. the main structure is:

• game
  • X number of “nights”
    • battle (this is the current game)
      • preparation – draw 4 cards, play 2
      • combat – observe autobattle
    • regroup (team management)
      • select a unit to promote – Fire Emblem-style class system with iterative class upgrades
        • each class has cards associated with it, these comprise your deck
      • rearrange team (!!)

i’m really excited to give this structure a shot. it makes sense in my head, but now i need to see if it makes sense in the world. in order to make this a reality, i have to make a couple of tricky decisions:

• this will likely be my last update in 2022. practically speaking i don’t think i’ll be able to get even a prototype-level strategy layer done for this game within my usual one week cadence. that said the weekly update has been deeply motivating for me and i will pick these back up once the strategy layer is passable (even if imbalanced or not yet fun).
• i will mostly likely simplify the art style all around, perhaps very drastically. i know, i know, it’s already simple. this is something i’m actively working on every day but i think if you drew out my gamedev skill chart, visual art and style would be by far the tiniest piece of my pie. that is kind of the basis for this — i’m not a standout artist, so the difference between “my best” and “making something passable” is pretty small for the time being. in recognition of that fact and the limited time we all have here on planet earth, i might make a swerve toward “passable”.
• perhaps the most exciting/scary of all: depending on how the strategy layer works out, i may make this a commercial game. i don’t know what i’m talking about but i have a feeling there is a compelling game in here that with a little extra effort could be the kind of thing i release on steam or app stores in the $5–10 range. it’s not something i’ve ever done before but it’s something i want to do, the only question is whether this is the right game to try it. once i’ve added the strategy layer and put it through its paces, hopefully i’ll have a good answer for that.

if you’ve made it this far, you are a true friend. thanks for reading and for supporting me!