Battle Charge News

We’ve been working on making the character animations and transitions smoother, improving overall movement. But the big news this month is the addition of archer troops! No more running straight into the enemy—now you can command your archers with precision.

What's New:

Archer Troops

• Archer Commands: Move, Steady, Loose
  
• Character Animation Upgrade: We've improved character movement with new animations for a more fluid and realistic feel.
  

Coming Next:

• Archer Hero Character
  
• Archer Companion
  
• Animation upgrades for troops and companions
  

Stay tuned for more updates!
As always you can Wishlist the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1973420/Battle_Charge/

Yes you guessed it . Archers are coming in hot. We have yet to fix their shooting, but will start making sneak peak soon. Some game design decisions are yet to come but for now there will be archer units/troops with the following commands
Archer specific commands :

• Shoot at will (by default) - they aim and shoot (Autoshoot) at the enemy, (better the aim better chances to hit the target).
  
• Focus Aim and shoot (more powerful shots to the area shown by the hero)
  

General info:
when enemy comes close, every archer will start moving away while shooting (this will make them spread and be effective. They will come back to formation after we make any moving command )
arrows stick to the ground, people and shields

Development Update

• - Implement Archer Character for Vikings
  
• - Implement Archer Unit.
  
• - Implement Bow weapon.
  
• - Implement Arrow logic.
  
• - Implement Archers commands.
  
• - Implement universal switch between formations and army types.
  
• - Refactor Units abstraction.
  
• - Refactor Formations abstraction.
  
• - Refctore Barrle engine.
  
• - Add Archers simple states.
  
• - Archers attack [in progress]
  
• - Archers shoot IK [In Progress]
  
• - Voice Commands implemented for Forward and ShieldWall with random options.
  

Game Dev Update:

Shieldwall Updates: We've introduced new animations for both defense and attack modes in the shieldwall feature, enhancing realism and responsiveness.

Targeting Improvements: Soldier targeting has been refined, improving combat accuracy and interaction. Now when they are running against a shieldwall the 2 front lines will face each other evenly and the back lines will push and wait their turn , instead of just randomly targeting shieldwall soldiers. This gives us more realistic shieldwall experience

Performance Boost: Adjustments to Level of Detail (LOD) settings have been made, enhancing overall game performance, We will be testing the visuals for this to make sure that is the optimal level.

Gameplay Trailer: We have changed our trailer and setup in progress gameplay trailer. this will be changed as we go forward and add new features. We wanted to share our ongoing available features you can enjoy it here

https://youtu.be/06QLxqJNXQg

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to improve gameplay!

We are excited to share recent enhancements and fixes that have been implemented in our game development. Here’s what’s new:

[h3]Gameplay Mechanics[/h3]
Formation Dynamics: Introduced more flexible formations with random targeting for an enhanced strategic depth.
Troop Management: Post-battle troop counts are now recalculated for each formation command, improving accuracy and gameplay continuity.
Enhanced Combat Logic: Added enemy captains and companions into the battle algorithms to enrich combat.
Animation and Interaction:

• Refined attack animation sequences to support in-place movements, one-step actions, and long-range attacks more fluidly.
  
• Increased block collider size in defense mode and adjusted capsule sizing for improved dodge mechanics.
  
• Accelerated attack iteration processes for a more responsive combat experience.
  

[h3]Visual and Audio Improvements[/h3]
Effects and Animations:

• Updated sword swing effects for a more realistic visual impact.
  
• Enhanced main menu with new animations for a more dynamic user interface.
  
• Improved the logic for camera aim targeting, ensuring smoother transitions and targeting.
  
• Expanded combo attack animations to enrich the combat visuals.
  

Environmental Interactions:
Addressed issues with rocks and other obstacles to reduce collision-related gameplay interruptions.
Sound Design:
Extended the range of sound effects, including hits and blocks, though further enhancements are planned.
[h3]Technical Enhancements[/h3]
Tech Stack Updates:

• Upgraded R3 and related dependencies to stabilize and optimize our game engine.
  
• Integrated the AraTrail plugin to enhance particle effects.
  
• Updated the TextMeshPro (TMP) for better text rendering.
  
• Enhanced the BattleEngine with a new Matches mechanism to support robust battle scenarios.
  

Bug Fixes:
Resolved a bug where the last few soldiers could get stuck, streamlining troop movements and interactions.

Here is a small snippet of the latest updates
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Looking Ahead[/h3]
While significant progress has been made, we are continually working to refine and expand our game's features. Stay tuned for further updates as we enhance our systems and introduce more sophisticated gameplay mechanics.

As always if you didn't wishlist the game now is the time.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1973420/Battle_Charge/


Thank you for sticking with us.
The Battle Charge Team

AI combat system
The AI combat system is working now and it looks EPIC. There still couple of nuances that need to be done and adjusted for a proper battle but the core system and battle brain for the AI is implemented finally


Attack Animations
We will have to find the best suited attack animations for the LMB combo , We made it better but still did not find the best fit YET. Only after continuous testing .


Viking shields
Had to design ourselves and recreate all viking shields to have unique ones after seeing repeating designs in multiple games. We plan to apply this approach to all assets in future builds to make everything uniquely identifiable with Battle Charge


Battlefield Zone
Battlefield Zone Implemented: We've added a battlefield boundary to the game. If you stray from the combat area, you'll receive a 10-second warning to return or face execution for cowardice


UI screens
Started adding UI screens. the hard part is that the screens have evolved during years of development and concept creation. We have to make sure it is consistent and user friendly before we refactor for the full game.


HUD
In game UI elements are shaping up and we will need to make these data driven when the first game loop is done


Capsule Art
Evolving our logo and Capsule art . after working with different artists A/B testings still brought us back to our own design. We will evolve this.