WebGL v13 Build Feature - Boss Mode Pt.2 , Milestone Build!

WebGL v13 Build, The Milestone build for 2023.

Finally Battle Bridge has reach a Milestone! Most if not all the feature that i need to develop is all in. There are 1 more feature that i want to sneak in but that requires some though as there was a lot of extra feature that was added during the development.

The key question will always be, is the game fun? and secondly because i wanted to to a "roguelite" ( thats the correct word rather then roguelike) there suppose to be a "random" ness towards so lets check what feature this game has to offer

The Roguelite Element :

- Random Map, this is a little vague as in space there is not really a "dungeon" style of map design, However there is a randomness in encounter so the build is there if i need to add more.

- Random enemies, Due to the asset at hand, there is only 1 enemy design for this build, but, there is a total of 3 enemy types of attack available. i will admit that this could be the weakest feature compare to what i have on the list.

- Boss Fight, a Special Enemy that you will meet and will serve as a gate to progress to the next set, in this revision build lots of script clean up. some recalculation for the enemy stats is needed. Its good but could be better. Will improve along side with the normal enemies.

- Shops and loots! slight overhaul from the early builds and now only you can repair at these point of interest to keep it interesting, previously i added theability to repair on battle but decided not to. Also you can buy weapons which are also randomly generated. You can also Level Up and "refit" your ship as well, which serve as critical choice for the player, i call this a success

-Weapon and Skill, there are a total of 3 main weapon type with 2 possible mods ( plan to add more as i play test the game ). Total of 8 Skills, 2 "status" attack skill, 1 "charging" attack, 2 "Projectile" attack that uses ammo and 3 "Buff" passive skills. These weapon and skills are the most basic form of action and function in most games and they do drop randomly in the game.

Weapons:

• fast attack, Low damage
• normal/Default attack, which usually serve as a "Baseline"
• Slow attack, High damage

Skills:

• Stun
• Damage over Time
• "Charging Attack" 
• Attack that uses ammo
• Self buff include auto attack, attack speed, and damage

These are the Roguelite elements that is in the game, as the main key is the "randomness" and some choice for the player to make. But there is more. I have also added a simple "RPG" element in this game so, no Roguelike game is complete with a little Leveling mechanic.  

The RPG Element :

- Player have 3 stats to level up, instead of the traditional way of leveling up i have taken the inspiration from the Souls game where the player can decide which stats to gain and anytime. The stats are

• Reactor Core, Ships Damage Output
• Engine Core, Ships Dodge %
• Shield Battery, How many hits can a ship take before the Shield Breaks

Armor in this game is called Shield Strength, the shield will absorbed a set amount of damage and when the shield breaks/0 charge, the player will receive full damage.

To increase the Shield Strength (absorption) and HP, the player needs to upgrade  after defeating a sector boss. 

Presentation! 

So i have started to use some assets to build the visual part of the game and its from Synty. Now its much nicer looking. I would always love to try to get my own assets in but i do not have the time, which is now crucial as i would like to wrap up this project.

Final Thought

So there you have it! I have to lock down most of the feature and game mechanics in order to meet my own internal dateline. The main reason is that Battle Bridge was made to be a research and development for the combat part for Voyager https://irgamer.itch.io/voyager and decided why not just make a standalone game instead and so 2 years has pass and this is it.

Another reason is that this game has serve its primary objective, a combat system that my other games can use, learn the basics of an Active Combat System ( something that i want to experiment on since playing JRPG's ), and getting my game idea out( with lots of extra feature). 

Could it be Better, yes! there are 2 more "Feature" that i would like to add it, and that would be "Strength and Weakness Elements" and "Random Buff for enemies" however, this might take a longer time as they require some game balancing later on and i would like to reserve them for future projects ( also another reason is that Battle Bridge scripts is messy and require rewrites to add these feature in )

I would like to polish up the game visually before i want to implement those feature. Maybe Battle Bridge 2? So with this i will unofficially call this build Feature Complete! those 2 feature is on the maybe list. 

What's Next?

Visual Updates and Development

This would be my highest priority to make Battle Bridge goes gold, and also *queue drum roll* I have set to release in 2024! the question is which quarter for 2024

Task left :

• UI defiantly needs some more clean up 
• Visual Effects / Weapon FX
• Weapon model
• Misc model details on existing models ( Will be kit bashing with the assets from synty
• More enemy variety
• And lastly game balancing 

Lots of task left to polish. So stay tune for the next update