An overhaul under the hood, plus some polish and bug fixes

Code rewrite

But the bulk of the work has gone into a complete overhaul of some systems that control just about every action in the game. The truth is I wrote all the game's code over 2 years ago and I was still fairly new to programming at the time. I've made two more games in that time, and I've learned a lot about how to write better code. Code that's not spaghetti. Code that won't leave me stumped when I'm trying to add new things. Code that's won't baffle me when I'm debugging problems.

So while this update isn't jam packed with new features, it does bring some important changes that will make it much easier for me to add new stuff in the future.

One thing to note is that the major code changes here have resulted in some timing differences when it comes to all the player actions. You may notice the game generally 'feels different'. Some actions may be faster, others slower, or delays between actions may have changed. I'll be tightening this up in future updates, and also adding controls for changing the game speed to your liking. Let me know if you have any specific issues.

Animation

I've added a little animation to all the character movements. Now every time a character moves to a tile they actually animate from point A to B, rather than popping there instantaneously. I've tried to keep it quick and snappy as it was before, but with a little more of a sense of motion. Being knocked back by attacks is now animated too, with a slow grind to a halt.

More player names

You may be aware that your players have a randomly-chosen name. There was a pretty small list of names in the game (30 male, 30 female) which meant you'd often see the same names pop up repeatedly if you played the game a lot. I've now added 90 more names for each gender, bringing the grand total up to 240 names.

🆕 Changes
Here's the full list of changes in this update.

• Rewrote action queue system code.
• Implemented new audio system.
• Added 90 new male names and 90 new female names.
• Character movement is now animated.

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed crash caused when you preview Shoot command when the ball would land on the same tile as another human player.
• Fixed crash caused when an enemy was knocked into another enemy's attack after it was stunned then recovered in the same turn.
• Fixed inconsistency in stun duration (it was counting down a turn too fast if an enemy was stunned before performing their action).
• Fixed Stamina gauge showing animation with orange text when you hover mouse over player info panels.

Keep your eyes peeled for new enemies entering the arena soon!

Remember to follow me on itch.io, and follow the game or add it to your wishlist for more updates.

Enjoy!

Matt