Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest DevBlog for "The Gambit Lost to Time"'! It's certainly been a while since the last one, hasn't it? We took our December breaks very well, and have started this year with aplomb - finishing many tasks one after another, including some long-term issues that have plagued our work-in-progress game thus far.
Whenever we show the game towards others, we tend to receive these comments:
The game's animations are stiff
Wanting a weapon triangle so that the game feels more intuitive to play
Questionable UI and/or UX in certain parts of the game
In addition to the three main feedback we received, we are happy to know that many of you enjoyed the character designs and are curious to know more about them. While there are plenty of things we shouldn't show just yet, we are pleased to let you know that work has already begun on the game's story!
We have finished the drafts for the earliest endings and have begun work on the cutscene artworks! What we have shown so far primarily focus on the first story, which will be with the Empire of Fleuretta along with the Empress Velika and her merry band of retainers.
Our role in this story as Mia, our time-travelling Goddess, is to break out of a cursed time loop with the game's 3 factions - and this is one of them. There's definitely a lot we can say about them, so you can look forward to a proper showcase of the game's factions in the future!
As we mentioned, the game will have 3 factions. Unfortunately, we will also announce that we are cutting the number of playable factions from 4 to 3. This is done in order to keep the game's scope manageable, and we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. In turn, this allows us to focus more on the existing 3, making sure it's of the required standard.
You asked, we delivered! The animations shown here are not accompanied by particles yet. Once they do, I'm sure it will look even better. While we hear this particular feedback many times, ultimately this is something we, the developers ourselves, feel could and should be better. Our considerations for improving the animations are as follows:
We feel the animations, particularly for the heroes, should represent their personalities better
We feel that certain features relating to them would feel better if they are animated (will be elaborated in a future devblog)
Aside from improving the animations and particles, there are other things we can do to make the animations feel better! In the devblog, we can show you a more final result of what we are working on.
For the longest time, I have maintained that the lack of a weapon triangle will define our game and become one of the game's unique aspects. However, reality will sometimes be at odds with the theory, and this is one such case.
During testing, we find that the lack of a weapon triangle makes the player pick units with higher stats and that's it in most cases. By implementing this, we aim to make more units viable at all phases of the game. If there's a concern, it's how it's added in such a late stage for the game's development. On the other hand, it's added before a period of mass-testing, so we'd be certain to take your feedback to refine it.
That's about all we can share for this devblog. Overall, things are looking good, and we can't wait to show more of what's going on for you. Conversely, it is important for us to remain grounded and humble, despite recent good progress. Always look to improving whenever possible.
Lastly, we would like to wish all of you a Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year!
And see you soon in the next devblog!