Shardpunk News

Hey everyone!

We've got some news for you today!

First of all, our demo has been updated, and here's a brief list of the most notable features:

• Improved visuals and animations
  
• New character type: Medic
  
• New character type: Support Automaton
  
• New enemy type: Poison Mortar Rat
  

We've also prepared a brand new trailer. Check it out!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


We can't wait for you to play the new demo! Make sure to share any concerns and feedback on the forums, or our official Discord.

Man, things really started to suck in this part of world. Yet again, my piece of advice regarding indie game development I gave on Reddit the other day ("there's never a good time to start - just go") has proven to be true.

There's war at the other side of the border; more than 1 million migrants from Ukraine have come to Poland so far, and basically everyone is involved in helping them, in one way or the other.

As if the pandemic was not enough. Damn.

In the midst of all that, I am working on preparing a new demo of Shardpunk. I can't say too much about the release date, but the fact is that the QA process has already started.

Besides that, I'm working on adding the third automaton type to the game - a combat unit. I'm gonna write more about it after it's done, and for now grab these gifs.

Take care everyone.

Join Slawek on Tuesday, 8 March, at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST / 6 PM GMT / 7 PM CET to see him work on Shardpunk: Verminfall and share his design approach when it comes to making a turn-based tactical RPG.

The live stream will be available on Twitch, YouTube, and our Steam card.

The general gameplay goal in Shardpunk is to escape the sieged Capitol along with an experimental automaton unit, which is equipped with a powerful energy source. Depending on the type of automaton the player will choose at the beginning of a game, the combat tactics might be completely different.

The first automaton that I already wrote about in one of my previous entries was the support one.



It had some skills that were increasing the aim of characters, doing some weapon auto-reload stuff and it had some means of crowd control.



Now, the second automaton that I want to write about today is a medical unit.



It won't be a surprise for you if I mention that this unit has a healing ability. What is more, this healing effect affects multiple tiles and does not generate Stress for your characters. Also, this action does not require a stimpak, but it does have a cooldown timer.



Additionally, the automaton can be upgraded so that it can buff units in its area, increasing their movement range (and replenishing their Action Points, if the skill is fully upgraded).



Also, this is the only mechanical unit that can revive characters who are bleeding out.



As with any other automaton unit, this one also can spend Action Points to increase its movement range in the next turn. You can upgrade it so that it can self-heal itself, although this skill has a limited number of usages in combat - otherwise, it would be too powerful.





Now, there's a lot of playtesting and balancing that will need to be done now that such a powerful healer unit type is present in the game. I played a number of test runs with the new medical bot and I can see that its presence - and the availability of free mass healing actions - pushed me to a different approach in combat. I was able to become more aggressive and take more risks due to the fact that I knew I'd be able to heal my units more.

That being said, one must remember that Hit Points that become lost during combat need to be manually healed in the shelter phase anyway - so the "healing" done during combat is temporary (that's why I am rendering such "healed" HPs in a different color). This means that I cannot go full suicidal with my units.

That's it for this entry. I hope that you are all staying safe. Take care!

Hi again!

Let's take a bigger look at these blue-ish caves that represent a new level type in the game.



As you progress through the map, certain events get unlocked that can make your life more miserable. For instance, enemies might become armored, or your squad could become more vulnerable to stress:



The player is able to counter some of these events by completing a special mission type, indicated by a rat head on the map:



This mission is optional; however, completing it removes one of the negative events for good.

Now, this mission type is about visiting a mine. Rats have dug underground tunnels (that's how they managed to attack the Capitol) and reached the surface through the mines.



Right now, the vermin are busy stealing crystal shards. They store them in big piles inside the mines. As you might know, these shards are carrying quite a punch, so they can be used to sabotage enemy progress.



The player can use a Fusion Core to light up the pile.



And again, if there's no Fusion Core available, an automaton has a skill that can be used for the same purpose. Still, the player will have to wait for a number of turns for the skill to work.



After that, the player has a limited number of turns to escape. The pile is getting more and more unstable.



If all goes well, the character ends up in the shelter, and one negative event gets removed.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend! And do join the Discord server!