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[flame99]

So, things I found out about myself tonight while playing Warden:
-I cannot play a Tank well.
-I cannot play a DPS well.
-I cannot play a Seer well.
-I cannot play a monster well.

Still fun, though.

[Araph]

Don't worry. I made the damn thing and I can't play them well either.

Also, things I noticed from the game: there are few enough bugs that Warden is starting to feel like an actual game. I mean, there are still bugs, but enough of the core features are in place that it actually feels like a game as opposed to, I don't know, an obstacle course or something. Nothing I've worked on before has gotten anywhere near this stage. I'm happy about how this is going.

Problems: everything is too floaty and burst-of-speed-y. Next item on the agenda (aside from continuing bugfixing and optimizing) will be making the controls feel good and making the interactions between the players and monster feel less random.

[Araph]

Updates and changes and progress, oh my:

The website is back up!

There's a gameplay video of the new version! I recorded it from the perspective of the Tank. Sadly, my internet was being shite. Alas.

The problem of Wardens movement being too filled with unexpected bursts of speed has been mostly fixed. The monster is now easier to hit, especially when the Tank ropes it in (assuming the Tank's internet isn't crap).

Wards are back in! The Tank no longer has the shield ward; that's going to the DPS, who is soon to be renamed the Abjurer. The Seer has both the slow and blind wards. The main roles are now 'keep your teammates alive by keeping the monster away from them' (Tank), 'keep your teammates alive with overwhelming force' (Abjurer), and 'keep your teammates alive by heckling the monster until his player is frothing at the mouth with rage' (Seer). So far each of them seems to be working fairly effectively, but the DPS needs some more gratifying effects to make it more appealing.

Monster can no longer be pummeled down into a ghost form. Instead, each monster has a cycle of attack/wait that lasts about two and a half minutes total. When the monster is attacking, the Wardens' attacks reduce the amount of time it has left to attack in that particular interval, forcing it back into an incorporeal form more quickly. I'm planning on giving the demon 'wards' of sorts that let them try to trick, split up, or otherwise hinder the Wardens before it springs out of the shadows at them, but that's not in the game yet.

In addition, the Prop Hunt monster is temporarily removed because it doesn't fit very well with the new dynamic between the demon and Wardens. Adding in new types of monster is coming up soon on the list, just after streamlining and finishing up Warden abilities and the core gameplay of the demon's wards. Demon wards are being added because the down-time when the monster is unable to attack makes the monster's gameplay not as fun as could be.

EDIT: Also, Specter gameplay video too.

[Aseaheru]

Just a note for people who like watching footage from these test things, I often upload a video or two after each session.

[flame99]

The specter looks amazingly fun to play. The new attack/defense mode looks interesting, though it seems like it may cause the game to feel slow at times.

[Araph]

The specter looks amazingly fun to play. The new attack/defense mode looks interesting, though it seems like it may cause the game to feel slow at times.

Ideally it'll let me make the game more horror-y. Having the game's pace ebb and flow lets it more reliably build up suspense, which makes it feel less like 'oh, the demon is constantly there' and more 'shit guys the demon is here again everybody panic'. It needs work, but that's the general idea.

Also, both PC and Mac versions of the game are available for download here if any of you want to try the new version! Public demos, yay.

[Aseaheru]

So, when is the next testing thing?

[Araph]

So, when is the next testing thing?

I have no idea.

The level editor is coming along well, though. You can now place, move, and scale props, place player, monster, and altar spawn points, load heightmaps from external sources, raise, lower, flatten, and smooth the terrain, save all of that, and load it up on an actual server. Next up is painting terrain textures and making sure network synchronization is working properly for custom maps, followed by another demo release.

Creating a terrain editor was weird. I understood the concept of how it would work, but an 8-bit heightmap wasn't high enough of a resolution to realistically save the terrain, so I had to delve into the wide world of bitwise operations to create a system to save and load 16-bit heightmaps.

[Araph]

The level editor is functional and a new version of Warden has been released that includes it.

Introduction video to the editor
Complete video of the level editor in action
Download link for the new version

[flame99]

Awesome! When/if I get a chance, I'll try to make a decent map for it.

[Araph]

Awesome! When/if I get a chance, I'll try to make a decent map for it.

If you try your hand at it, be sure to post the save files! I'd love to see how it turns out.

Also, fairly major thing: Warden is on Kickstarter. That page is better written than anything I would be able to post here within a reasonable span of time, so check it out!

Finally, I'll be running another game sometime this week so everyone can see the actual state of the game (it's been a while), so let me know what times work for you if you want to play!

[My Name is Immaterial]

Well, you've convinced me to throw money at you. Well done. Have $10.

[Araph]

Well, you've convinced me to throw money at you. Well done. Have $10.

Thank you! I'll do my best to not disappoint.

[flame99]

I'd love to back the kickstarter, but unfortunately, I'm broke. I'll also try to join the game, when it comes time.

Good luck with the kickstarter, by the way.

[Aseaheru]

Im good for almost any day this week, at the more-or-less normal times.

Also, no way for me to upvote this on kickstarter, and no imgur account.