Dream Engines dev update: upgrade tree, new content
Citizens,
I hope everyone is safe and healthy. I'd like to tell you about some of the stuff we've been working on lately, and invite you to sign up to our newsletter so you can be the first to hear when we start alpha testing. It's not far, I'm already happy with our latest internal build that provides many hours of fun.
A lot of our recent work is testing, tweaking, balancing, and changing stuff to make sure the game is more and more fun with every iteration. That's hard work, and not a lot to show for it. But there are other bigger things that we've been working on, that are a bit more interesting to show and tell.
[h2]Infrastructure upgrades - our version of a skill tree[/h2]
Skill trees are a great tool in RPGs that allow players to customize and optimize the game to make the most of their preferred play style. Some strategy games have it too, in the form of an upgrade tree, and we decided that Dream Engines, combining both strategy and player-controlled combat, could greatly benefit from one.
So, how do we do this? We decided not to have you grinding for XP by killing enemies or doing repetitive quests. Instead, you will need to build and optimize your city's industry, and produce components that allow you to upgrade your infrastructure. In other words, to level up, you need to build your city and choose to spend resources on infrastructure production.
Every time you upgrade your infrastructure, your level will increase, you will get a point to spend, and the cost in parts for the next upgrade increases. You can then spend those points in one of several infrastructure areas, such as resource gathering, economy, your mech's combat capabilities, and survival.
Every point you spend on infrastructure provides passive bonuses in that area. Once you've spent enough points in an area, you can then choose to unlock powerful perks that give more significant and unique advantages.
[h2]Building upgrades[/h2]
An option to upgrade buildings to higher levels was added. Upgrading is more expensive and requires more advanced resources, compared to just building more of the same. However, upgraded buildings are much more efficient, don't waste any more space in your city, and upgrading a building adds much less weight than building another one.
[h2]Fuel and weight[/h2]
We finally got to adding fuel and weight management. If things get too dangerous, you can pack up and fly away whenever you want, so there's nothing to worry about and you can't lose. Or can you?
We've added weight management, so whenever you build something in the city, it adds to the weight that you need to lift when flying away to a new location. Turrets and walls are especially heavy, so you may have to choose between building them in the city so you can take them with you when you leave, or save space and fuel by building them outside, abandoning them when you leave.
You can also build more engines to carry the extra weight, but those also increase the fuel costs of taking off. Oh yeah, we've also added fuel. Fuel can be produced from rare Acid Shards, if you manage to find some, or alternatively by spending Flux (the most basic resource, kinda like money in most city-building games). But it won't be cheap, so you can't really just fly from place to place, you'll have to stand your ground and defend your city for a while, searching for resources and allowing your economy to generate the resources you need.
[h2]New content[/h2]
While I'm working on mechanics, balancing, and game systems, our hard-working art team is constantly creating new content. We have new enemies, defensive turrets, resources, production facilities, and a brand new biome - the desert biome.
Here are a few images of the new content we've added.
New Enemy - Beeclops:
New Resource - Acid Shards:
New Building - Workshop:
New Desert Biome:
As we prepare for our alpha phase, we need to work a lot on UX and polish. Make sure that the players get all the information they need, and understand how to do what they want to do. We also need to make sure there's good balance and plenty of content for them to play with.
I'll post some more of what we've been up to in the near future, and show some more of our progress.
I hope everyone is safe and healthy. I'd like to tell you about some of the stuff we've been working on lately, and invite you to sign up to our newsletter so you can be the first to hear when we start alpha testing. It's not far, I'm already happy with our latest internal build that provides many hours of fun.
What we've been up to lately
A lot of our recent work is testing, tweaking, balancing, and changing stuff to make sure the game is more and more fun with every iteration. That's hard work, and not a lot to show for it. But there are other bigger things that we've been working on, that are a bit more interesting to show and tell.
[h2]Infrastructure upgrades - our version of a skill tree[/h2]
Skill trees are a great tool in RPGs that allow players to customize and optimize the game to make the most of their preferred play style. Some strategy games have it too, in the form of an upgrade tree, and we decided that Dream Engines, combining both strategy and player-controlled combat, could greatly benefit from one.
So, how do we do this? We decided not to have you grinding for XP by killing enemies or doing repetitive quests. Instead, you will need to build and optimize your city's industry, and produce components that allow you to upgrade your infrastructure. In other words, to level up, you need to build your city and choose to spend resources on infrastructure production.
Every time you upgrade your infrastructure, your level will increase, you will get a point to spend, and the cost in parts for the next upgrade increases. You can then spend those points in one of several infrastructure areas, such as resource gathering, economy, your mech's combat capabilities, and survival.
Every point you spend on infrastructure provides passive bonuses in that area. Once you've spent enough points in an area, you can then choose to unlock powerful perks that give more significant and unique advantages.
[h2]Building upgrades[/h2]
An option to upgrade buildings to higher levels was added. Upgrading is more expensive and requires more advanced resources, compared to just building more of the same. However, upgraded buildings are much more efficient, don't waste any more space in your city, and upgrading a building adds much less weight than building another one.
[h2]Fuel and weight[/h2]
We finally got to adding fuel and weight management. If things get too dangerous, you can pack up and fly away whenever you want, so there's nothing to worry about and you can't lose. Or can you?
We've added weight management, so whenever you build something in the city, it adds to the weight that you need to lift when flying away to a new location. Turrets and walls are especially heavy, so you may have to choose between building them in the city so you can take them with you when you leave, or save space and fuel by building them outside, abandoning them when you leave.
You can also build more engines to carry the extra weight, but those also increase the fuel costs of taking off. Oh yeah, we've also added fuel. Fuel can be produced from rare Acid Shards, if you manage to find some, or alternatively by spending Flux (the most basic resource, kinda like money in most city-building games). But it won't be cheap, so you can't really just fly from place to place, you'll have to stand your ground and defend your city for a while, searching for resources and allowing your economy to generate the resources you need.
[h2]New content[/h2]
While I'm working on mechanics, balancing, and game systems, our hard-working art team is constantly creating new content. We have new enemies, defensive turrets, resources, production facilities, and a brand new biome - the desert biome.
Here are a few images of the new content we've added.
New Enemy - Beeclops:
New Resource - Acid Shards:
New Building - Workshop:
New Desert Biome:
What's Next
As we prepare for our alpha phase, we need to work a lot on UX and polish. Make sure that the players get all the information they need, and understand how to do what they want to do. We also need to make sure there's good balance and plenty of content for them to play with.
I'll post some more of what we've been up to in the near future, and show some more of our progress.