Shardpunk News

OK, so here's some info about another playable character - a combination of melee and heavy.



This guy - Julius - has a chainsaw attached to his heavy gun. Meaning that he is capable of using it for close combat.

Yeah, I know that he shouts the same text in both gifs. That stuff is random and is meant not to be repeated twice in a row, but these gifs come from different playthroughs.

To make this attack different from katana-based attacks of other characters, I made some changes to it. The first thing is that the chainsaw attack consumes weapon heat just like a regular shot - meaning that a weapon might need to be reloaded after such an attack.

The good thing however is that there's a 100% chance to hit your target. Period. Also, this attack can be expanded in two ways: first, by leveling up a correct skill, which gives you a chance that an attack will refund all your Action Points (that can actually be observed in the above gif). Additionally, the player can upgrade the weapon itself, which increases the damage and critical chance. Here are some combinations of upgrades for the "Shredder" gun that Julius is wielding:



I'm finishing earlier tonight, so I'm wrapping this entry up. Still lots of stuff needs my attention, but the finish line is closer than ever!

We'll see each other on the Discord channel! Take care!

I am getting there. I am slowly making my way to the end content. It is indeed true that the most difficult thing is actually finishing the game.

Obviously, alongside creating new content, some old stuff gets revamped from time to time. Recently I've reapproached how status effects are displayed on characters. By status effect I mean things like "stunned" or "poisoned".

There's now a dynamic list of icons present above HP bars of characters.





What is more, I've introduced a "marked" status that makes characters easier to hit. Some of the existing actions (support bot's "intimidate" action) are able to apply these effects. A new character - one wielding a chainsaw, which I haven't talked about yet - can taunt enemies that will mark/stun them.



Also, on higher levels taunting can apply the "ruptured" status effect, which increases the damage dealt to enemies.

Additionally, rat snipers have the ability to mark a target. This will make them even more formidable.



And as for the chainsaw-wielding character, I will write more about it next time. And right now I'm back to grinding!

Take care! And do remember about the Discord channel!

These were some crazy two weeks.

It turned out that Shardpunk has made it to Digital Dragons (a Polish gamedev conference), as one of the most promising indie games of the season.

This resulted in the game being part of an online Steam event. What is more, I was able to present my game during the physical event that took place on 16-17th of May in Krakow.

In short: it was pretty awesome.

I managed to gather lots of valuable feedback from the players. In general, people who are into strategy games - which, obviously, are my main audience - had no issues with playing and feeling the game. It was a great experience just seeing how the players react to Shardpunk.

Laptop with the latest playable build on the left, and one playing the gameplay video on the right.

Me (on the right) observing the player.

Most of the issues I got from the feedback were related to smaller usability things: lack of tooltips, and the possibility to execute a melee attack action even if the mouse cursor was not hovering over a valid tile.

Aside from all the feedback, I was able to meet fellow indie game developers! It was an awesome experience, talking to other people who are in the industry and are creating all these great games.

Less than two years ago, I was a software developer dreaming of becoming an indie game creator; currently I'm attending conferences and showcasing my own game. The feeling is great.

Tune in two weeks from now to see more updates on Shardpunk's devlog. And do remember about the Discord channel!

Take care!

Howdy!

I'm gonna keep it short this time. I am sticking to the grind and working towards making the game complete. Working on new level types, new skills and characters.

I like how the game is shaping up. I am already able to play through the first chapter, right to the end of the second one. Shardpunk is really starting to turn into a tangible product - I'm very excited!

Due to lack of time, I won't be going into details, but here's a bunch of screenshots from one of my playthroughs:


Mycroft getting happy about all the loot, then pretty angry at spotting the vermin

New visuals for the charging station for automatons

Rescuing a downed ally

Medical bot stunning the enemies

Take care!

I am aiming to have ten playable character types in Shardpunk, plus three different automaton types. I am proud to announce that another - the ninth one - has been added to the game.



This is Hector, and he is skilled in revolver shooting as well as in melee combat, using his blade.



Lore-wise, he is an Imperial political officer who has been caught in the middle of rat attack on the Capitol. Now he is helping to get the automaton to safety.



This character is the only one who has the "melee overwatch" skill, which allows him to attack enemies when they move through adjacent tiles. This might become useful when guarding narrow passes.



As you can see, the blade overwatch skill has multiple charges - so same as regular overwatch shots (which is related to the overwatch changes I wrote about in my previous entry). The more rat kills, the better the game gets, right?

Other than that, Hector can use his revolver and blade for regular attack, which makes him a pretty versatile warrior.

The fun thing about all these character classes, skills and enemy types is that I don't even know how many fun strategies/meta concepts will emerge in Shardpunk, and I love it. A game where the player tells their own story and which is replayable is something I would definitely like to play! I guess that's why I am still not bored when playing Shardpunk for a thousand time ;)

Take care!