To avoid getting caught up in aesthetic details and visual flair this early in the design process, it is common to create rough sketches known as wireframes. Wireframes are quick to make, and their throw-away quality lets us iterate fast while focusing on essentials like navigation (things are where you expect them to be), and semantic meaning (buttons do what you expect them to do).
Wireframe of the character overview screen, and a selection of dialogue concepts.
Neutral or ugly typography is often used for wireframing to discourage fixating on form over content. However, since text is such a key element—it carries the many dialogue lines of the game—we are experimenting with making a serif typeface work for UI, while still supporting a Renaissance-inspired fantasy world (also Jonas is a typography nerd who just couldn't help himself…).
Akos and Jonas are working closely together to unify the artwork and the design of the interface. And when we get to the aesthetic part of the design process, this collaboration will become even more significant. We look forward to sharing what we come up with, sometime in the future.
Free Movement in a Turn-Based World
“Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.”
—Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519
Free will is an essential part of the human experience, and this basic idea ought to be reflected in our very much anthropocentric game setting, too. There are of course constraints that no one can escape, but by and large, the men and women of Corsano must be able to move and act without restrictions to make their mark on the world, for good or ill. Even if it sometimes means they are going to run in circles, going nowhere.
With that in mind we have now implemented free movement in Scarlet Republics. What it means is simply that when you are not in combat and there are no enemies nearby, you can breeze your way through the streets of Corsano with ease, take care of the wounded and possibly even gather loot. You know that feeling when you are walking with your little brother and you constantly have to pause for every 5 steps in order for him to catch up while he screams out of his breath “Wa-wait for me, don't walk so fast” while you sigh impatiently? Yep, that's a thing of the past now.
Olmo is also fixing lots of other stuff running in the background of our game engine. For instance, we are smoothing our ability testing and level-building process, so it's easy to test if the quick, spear-stabbing animation fits the whooshing sound effect that Nikolaj made. It also allows us to quickly test abilities down to the last detail. We now have an easy process to test everyday situations like how hard-hitting Brunella's hammer feels when faced the metal shield of an enemy brute while his pattern is destabilized by 7, because he didn't finish his breakfast bagel and he can't pay for his children's college degree.
Furthermore the level-building process has been simplified, enabling us to create levels in much less time, so we started building. Next let's take a look at our newest level: The Polomini Connection.
Building the Polomini Village
Close to the eastern edge of the Cerulean Highs, a small hamlet called Polomini lies between forests and rural nothingness. The village is usually considered a small and unimportant dot on the grand map of Corsano but readers from
our previous Kickstarter update might associate it with the village where both Matteo and Lino were born.
This time Cetonian guards are patrolling the streets, guarding the prison in the middle of the village. Your mission is to free the prisoner and gather important intel that leads you to your next mission goals. Your mercenary squad can either choose a stealthy approach and sneak into the village by night, or a more… direct method of achieving your goals. But be careful that the Cetonian courier doesn't reach the outpost to alarm the garrison that will trigger a merciless countdown timer. You can't possibly defeat a whole army at once. Can you?
This level is currently our main focus. And lets us further refine the foundation of the game; visuals, audio, story, game design. All coming together in a beautiful symphony. While our programmer Olmo figures out how to implement the countdown mechanics, Vili is writing branching dialogue which also includes several side quests. Akos and Daniel bring the village to life with grimdark art complimented with tactical music that might reacts to even your smallest choices.
The aim of this and upcoming levels is to showcase a slice of the game with all of its features. Your choice of dialogue will influence your skillsets on the battle map and even cause changes in the ever-adapting soundtrack. So even for a small level like this, you will be able to get a sense of the replayability of the game and how your choices have consequences in the short and long run.
Vili's 2D sketch of Polomini
A rough level design in Unity
Tactical Adaptive Music
Our composer Daniel has a clear goal for the audio direction on the tactical battle maps: No matter how you choose to play the map, the music should be a perfect reflection of your actions. While being dynamic, the soundtrack also shouldn't steal the spotlight. It's a fine balance that can be hard to achieve, but Daniel has been working hard on creating fluent transitions, where you don't notice the music changing in intensity from “This level is too easy…” to “Oh damn, I'm down to my last unit and Gaspar only has a rusty dagger left”, for example.
Playing style, health bars, pattern stability, choices of dialogue and the number of turns taken all influence the music being heard. All of these variables are passed to an algorithm running under the hood. Below is a simulation of 2 minutes of tactical music from our audio engine. In the video our composer Daniel showcases his system by adjusting the combat intensity parameter, and simulating the use of abilities and how they might affect the music. There's also a tense build-up melody that could be used for an upcoming boss battle, or maybe as the reinforcement timer? We know that all this audio-engine stuff can look technical and complicated, but try to let your fantasy wander and imagine yourself fighting against a small Cetonian army and plotting an ingenious, tactical plan.
If the music has evoked strong emotions, you have opinions on character sheet design, or you have something else you feel like sharing don't hesitate to get in touch. We would love to have as direct a dialogue with you as possible. You can find us on the platforms linked below.
Thank you for reading! We'll return with another update in a month. Stay tuned.
