Final Devlog

Comparison to Concept Statement

Compared to my concept statement I was able to implement most of the features I set out to. The main difference was the lack of party customization as that was a feature too complex and time consuming to implement before the due date. The party’s skill list is also smaller than their concepts as I wanted to spend more time designing more features than filling out the skill list as most of the basic skill types and actions were accounted for. In my final submission I also changed from generic classes to named characters as if I am to further pursue this project, I would have named characters that would join the party for their own reasons compared to a group of plucky heroes motivated by the same reason.

Feedback

 Feedback received amounted to a majority of play-testers enjoying the core battle and exploration systems of the game. They also enjoyed the artstyle and level design. Main points of improvement stemmed from readability and information overload/underload. Most play-testers wanted more information about the skills to be displayed in battle or in the menus. Some play-testers also felt that the menus were confusing and unintuitive. These were factors I had not considered as someone who constantly plays RPGs and other games with similar amounts of menus, most menus seem like second nature to me. If I had more time I would include a skipable tutorial in a prologue chapter, something to explain and teach concepts to the new players, while also letting the veterans skip through to the gameplay.

Aside from that I was able to include more information by using the text box found at the bottom of most menus, as the usual control details are less necessary. As another point made by the play-testers, the lack of cohesion between controls in battle and in the field has been addressed with all controls and menus using the arrow keys or WASD instead of the indexed menu options that some of the battle commands used. I also implemented a return to menu function after a party-wipe to restart the game.

Asset List

Scenes

TitleScreen: The title screen.

SampleScene  (default name): The dungeon map. Switches to battle scene on contact with enemy.

BattleScene: The battle scene, returns to SampleScene or TitleScreen depending on win or lose respectively.

Scripts

GameController: Stores persistent global variables and handles menu navigation.

SceneSwitcher: Switches between scenes. Taken from Tutorials.

TitleScreen: Checks for input the transfers player to SampleScene.

Field

EightWayMovement: Handles player movement and animations. Taken from Tutorials.

Player: Handles player specific collisions.

Enemy: Handles enemy movement switches between Pursuit and Wander AI patterns. Taken from Tutorials.

ChestScript: Checks for player then presents the option to “open” the chest. Upon “opening” calls AddToInventory from GameController to add the item to the inventory.

StatusMenu: The “Status” section of the menu.

EquipPanel: The “Equip Item” section of the menu.

SkillMenu: The “Skill” section of the menu.

ItemMenu: The “Item” section of the menu.

ItemPanel: Container for displaying item information in menu.

UnitPlate: Container for displaying unit information in menu.

Battle

BattleSystem: Handles all battle interactions and menus. Adapted from Brackeys' Turn-Based Combat in Unity tutorial.

Unit: Contains unit stats and status. Adapted from Brackeys' Turn-Based Combat in Unity tutorial.

HUDManager: Manages HUD/UI elements in battle.

BattleHUD: Container for displayed party data.

SetSkillButton: Container for displaying skill information in battle.

SetItemButton: Container for displaying item information in battle.

SelectButton: Container for displaying selectable unit information in battle.

BattleAnimation: Handles the battle animations seen in battle.

DamagePopup: Shows damage dealt and statuses inflicted.

LevelUpWindow: Shows stats gained on level up.

Objects

• Skill: The statistics of a usable battle skill, for example name, MP cost, damage, element, accuracy, targeting option, inflicted status, etc.
• Status: A status inflicted by a skill, includes details about name, damage over time, stun chance, stat boosts, attack or defense boost/penalties, turn the status lasts, etc.
• Item: An item found in a chest and added to the party’s inventory.
  • Consumable: An item to be used in the dungeon or in battle.
  • Equipment: An item to be equipped on a unit, either a weapon, armour piece or accessory.

Images

Battle Sprites

Pixel art character sprites of all enemies and potential party members. Some sprites are unused but they’re still in the assets folder.

Weapon sprites for most pieces of basic equipment, displayed under the unit or above the unit depending on weapon or accessory respectively.

Tilesets/Backgrounds

Title Screen.

Tileset for the dungeon map, including walls, floor and decorations.

Battle background for the dungeon.

Icons

Basic Icons representing types of equippable weapons, armour pieces, accessories.

Icons for the various elements and their resistance.

Skill icons showing the target and type.

UI

Templates and framing for menu option and other UI components.