September 1st, 2016

Happy September, everyone!

Remember to sign up for the closed beta if you haven’t already. We’re limiting the number of people in the closed beta and also raffling out prizes to those that sign up, so earlier is better! Expected launch date is at the end of this year.

The Forsaken legion is now complete!

The Forsaken forest is a haunted forest with a thick black mist that blots out the sun. Day or night, it is dark, cold, and scarcely inhabited. The floor is layered with dead, decaying leaves and the shadows hide the few creatures that live there. It’s impossible to say for sure, but it is fabled that the forest hosts undead skeletons, sorcerers, ogres, and other terrifying beasts.

“I am forsaken. We are forsaken. The forsaken do not sleep.”

The Forsaken legion is one of four legions (races) that will be available when the game launches, and more will be designed over time.

Nightmare and Dark Mage from the Forsaken legion

Sneak peek of the new in-game HUD!

Our philosophy is that good user interface is essential to a good game. The HUD is one aspect of user interface. When designing a good HUD, we believe in (1) making interactions intuitive, (2) displaying information efficiently, and (3) allowing for user customization.

The HUD you may have seen in the demo didn’t quite cut it, so we’re making major improvements. Below is a comparison of the HUD in the demo and a mock-up of the new HUD.

Old HUD:

New HUD:

Notable Improvements:

• Bottom menu now streamlines all actions
  • Removed the top-left menu entirely
  • No need to select builder to deploy fighters
  • No need to select the Town to train workers
  • No need to select the Barracks to hire mercenaries
• Moved selected unit information from bottom-left to top-left
• Moved minimap from bottom-right to top-right
• Changed wave timer from dial to standard display
• Players can now change the location/size of the HUD to meet their needs

We’re excited for you to try the new HUD in the closed beta!

Recent Highlights

August was a busy month! Here’s what Lisk and I were up to:

• Released the Forsaken legion
• Working on 3D models and animations for the Forsaken legion
• Working on 2D concept art for the Mech legion
• Designing a new HUD and implementing a new HUD framework
• Converting gameplay systems from singleplayer to server-client multiplayer (continued) (this month we completed fog of war, hiring/training units, and UI)
• Streamlining build systems, so that without touching any server or client code, you can preplace units, define regions, and write triggers.
• Starting the groundwork for game data API for community developers