Development Log #073

Battlefield Destruction & Projectiles – March 6th 2023

A major feature found in some of the classic tactics series were things that caused the battlefield to change. It could be a box that was blocking a pathway being blown up, or a bunch of bushes being burned to the ground. I definitely want Dusk Tactics to expand on this and take it a step further.

In the blink of an eye the terrain can change, opening up new ways to assault the enemy. Fire now burns grass away and blows up shrubbery.

Yes, bushes explode. That’s just nature.

Projectiles, which are one of the more complex components of a 2D isometric game, have been updated once again to feature a more ‘realistic’ look.

What you’re seeing above is actually the basic wand attack for each element. They fizzle when they miss, or hit an obstacle, so the player knows it wasn’t successful. When they actually hit, there will be a distinct animation!

Wands are a weapon type that shoot a small charged blast at the target. If the wand has an elemental nature, the projectile will change to become that nature. Choosing which wand to use might not always be ‘which is the strongest’ and sometimes might require you to take elemental affinities into account!

The Tera(Ground) & Noxa(Dark) elemental wands are super weird looking in the gif, especially the latter. In-game they’re much smoother. There will also, of course, be wands with special unique projectiles and most likely different styles, like with all weapon types.

Note: Remember, some of the images and gameplay depicted here may be outdated and does not represent the current state of the game!