Working on the battle system

With the release of the 0.6 version of Winds of Trade, most of the business simulation and economic models of the game were pretty much finished. So I decided it was time to start working on a whole different aspect of the game: combat. I knew I wanted it to be turn-based instead of real-time, in order to provide two completely different gameplay experiences to the player. I also knew I wanted it to be based in an hexagonal grid. So the end result turned up to be something quite similar to the battle system of games such as Heroes of Might and Magic III.

This is what a very early version of the combat screen looked like

After doing all of the basic stuff, like implementing the hex grid itself, an incredibly simple AI and allowing the player to move their own ships I started working with a good friend of mine on some visual improvements and UI stuff. The main objective was to make it look like a game that was not released in the 90s.

A lot better! :)

Then, I started to focus on adding more UI elements in order to make it playable. I added a status bar in the bottom and tooltips to see ships' details. I also improved the particle effects and added a few sound effects as well.


There is still a lot to do, especially in the AI front, but I'm really happy with the progress I've been making in the past two weeks. Here is a very short video summing up some of the most important things I've achieved in the battle system so far: