Whew. The change log is rather short this week, but the with the addition of the card system and some plans that I have finally made, I feel that it is a bit forgivable. Up first, the change log.

Change log, 1.30

-Cards have been implemented

-They still require testing, as does everything

-There are currently 6 cards available

-Pruned out-dated code

-Made a few larger changes to the map

-Dealt with the vast majority of ground tears

-Updated grass texture

-Implemented the first random encounter and the spawning logic for future such encounters

-Updated the base hut mesh a bit

-Changed resources and weapon types to enumerators to make future additions easier

-Updated the town upgrading system to make future iteration simpler

Items Added:

-Pellervoisen Lahja, a small, rare seed that permanently increases player health (either by a percentage or a flat amount, I have yet to decide)

Cards Added:

-Thunder Egg, a basic spell card, moves in random directions and does damage

-Wall of Ice, deals slow DoT and blocks movement

-Myrskyn Purema, an intermediate spell, dashes quickly in a line, damaging everything hit, one of the evolutions for the Thunder Egg card

-Fennoc Fire, a basic fire spell, burns quickly and intensely

-Healing Well, a aoe spell that heals allies within

-Hummingbird Sprite, the first summons spell, a small sprite follows the player and heals them periodically, currently not actually a hummingbird (and now it is!) :p

Enemies Added:

-Hummingbird Sprite, heals enemies in it's immediate vicinity

-capturable

Now that that is out of the way, I'd like to talk a bit about cards and my goals involving that. Currently, I have about seven card trees entirely planned out; the first six that I think I mentioned in the change log, and another that has yet to be made. My intention is that every single card in the game, baring fully upgraded cards, will be able to upgrade into at least two options. For example, the simple Wall of Ice card, available from near the start:

Wall of Ice

Bastion of Ice or Ice Nova

JääSilmä or Crown of Ice or Frozen Standard....................Flash Freeze or Frigid Guard

The simple Wall of Ice itself, can produce five separate cards once fully evolved from a: transform, to a buff, to a normal spell, to a summon. 

To me, magic has always been a huge part of any kind of fantasy game, and as such, I plan to have my magic as huge and intriguing and diverse as possible. From the JääSilmä, a transformation card that has the player morph into a massive, golem of solid ice to the cloak of scales buff that grants the player a flowing trail of iridescent scales, used in teleportation magic and distraction, to the Circle of Immortality AoE, which literally grants immortality to all those (friend and foe) within for the duration... Magic, to me, is magical and that's how I plan to implement it. 

That was part of how I wanted to improve upon the great design set forth by the Lost Kingdoms pair, ultimately, the pair fell short on making the player FEEL powerful, whether they were or not. The other big problem, one that my play tester bemused, often at length, was that the player was not directly involved in the game play. Sure, they played the cards, they summoned the monsters, but ultimately it was all the cards that did all the work - and that was something that I wanted changed. 

There are few that I've fleshed out enough to feel good about sharing them, but an example, in card form, is the Rockdancer's Descent card. The card is simple enough, the player leaps into the air, and drops down to the ground some distance ahead, but it scales itself based on the weapon that the player has equipped, dealing more damage if a spear is held. The card is designed to approach the enemy, to enter the fray so you can personally deal with them. It is also why I decided to make the capture mechanic come straight from melee damage - this way, if the player wishes to expand their deck simply and cheaply, they must risk themselves, enter melee range, and attack the enemies themselves. 

There is no wrong way to play the game, however, there will be options to play either as almost full caster or full melee/ ranged attacker. There will, and already are, cards that support multiple play styles. 

Enough blabbing for now, here's a couple screenshots for the end, as always.

The Hummingbird Sprite as it appears in the editor... I tried to take a proper screenshot of it in game, but it is rather small. I need to learn how to make gifs here soon, so I can show you all what the animations actually look like. 

I changed the intensity of the sun and thought that the horizon actually looked almost pretty. I like it quite a bit better now. A bit of side info: if you're curious why the character model is always of the female vulpine, it is because that is the only model that is currently good enough to be shown. The male vulpine and the lizards are all iterated from older models, with the female vulpine being the "parent"so to speak. 

Until next time, probably something sometime this week as I feel I will be adding things that are too exciting to wait on again. 

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Edit: I have begun searching for a file hosting site through which to host the games... files? Yes. I am currently considering filedropper.com. Gotta do a bit of research, but that should be relatively soon.