Vangaro Tactics News

Hi, this is Daniel, the dev behind Vangaro Tactics.
Today I will share how I came up with the game :)


It was summer 2018 and I was finishing my final project for uni, a VR procedural maze "game" in Unity. I had already made most of the procedural maze generation earlier but couldn't make it in time for the VR part so I would be evaluated in September.

Screenshot from my VR final project

I didn't own any VR headset, but thanks to my uni I got some limited time with an Oculus headset with the Touch controllers (the latest version at that time). So I could implement the VR navigation and gameplay: shooting arrows, grabbing objects, slashing enemies, etc. The visuals would not be evaluated as it was for a Computer Engineering degree, so I made some minimal 3d models in blender but the focus was on the technical part.

Procedural maze from the air (golden rooms are locked)

A key to open those locked rooms

I couldn't take too long to make it work as I had to return the VR headset and some time later I would be travelling.



In early September I went on a family trip to Scotland, which would plant the seed for Vangaro Tactics. I was already somewhat into world war 2 before, but there it was present in bookshops, monuments and there were some cool planes in the National Museum too.

Scotland's national museum

I was so inspired I ended up getting a book about the Royal Air Force's innovations during its 100 years and a novel about British special forces that infiltrated behind enemy lines in the north of Africa (during ww2).

Trip to Stonehaven (Great War and WW2 memorial on the right)

Dunottar castle ruins in Stonehaven



Back home I read part of the novel and started sketching and thinking how I could make a game about infiltration. At one point I remembered I had played some Advance Wars when I was younger and that's when I though I could add my own spin on the idea with the Stealth Missions.

A few weeks later I presented my final project and the same afternoon started working on the pixel art prototype that would become Vangaro Tactics.

Vangaro Tactics prototype from late 2018 (notice the first design of Spitfire)


Thanks for reading!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2221530/Vangaro_Tactics/

Hi, this is the dev Daniel reporting from HQ!

These past weeks there's been updates and news I've missed to announce here so I'll do a recap.
If you've tried the demo v0.2 then you've seen almost all of this.

Also today I've just published the demo update v0.2.1 that improves the enemy AI (nothing to do with generative AI, just the code that controls enemy behaviour).



I'm happy to announce I've been working with the talented developer/artist/musician ChardiTronic for the original soundtrack. He's the solo developer of the crazy game Kinnikuneko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT, it released earlier this year, check it out!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332950/KinnikuNeko_SUPER_MUSCLE_CAT/?curator_clanid=4777282

Some of his music is already in the demo, you can listen to the new Main Theme in the menu and also Lance and Vera's songs (work in progress).


Each commander has their own Power, now each one has a custom name and I've also improved the animation when the name shows up.

You can try Lance's "Frontal Assault" in the demo, it gives a Damage Boost to all infantry units! ⚔

I've also improved the visuals and sounds of this boost (custom sound, particles, glow effect) to make them stand out from the default units.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
In the v0.2.1 there's a tutorial to introduce the powers!


The 9th of June Vangaro Tactics was featured in the frst edition of Ñ3, a showcase of upcoming indie game trailers from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

While it didn't reach the English-speaking community, it did a great job reaching the intended audience thanks to some established Spanish streamers watching it live before the Xbox conference.
Chek out the other great games in there!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]The bug[/h2]
While I was working on improving the enemy AI I was finally able to reproduce a bug that had been bothering me for a long time. I fixed it in the v0.2 but it took a toll on the udpate, I wanted to add some stuff that's work in progress for now.

The bug was happening only when the enemy attacked first, then when you attacked it would cause an error and the combat wouldn't happen (combat animaition would display wrong units too).
Turns out it tried to access your "defeated guys" during the combat animation and that was causing the problem.

[h2]More responsive control[/h2]

I forgot this, so I'm updating the post:

- There was some unintended delay after using a unit, it was waiting for the Command Power bar to fill up before letting you take control. Now it's unsynced and it feels much better.

- Also improved how the cursor works depending on if you're using controller/keyboard or mouse:

1. With controller or keyboard it returns the cursor to the last unit when cancelling an action. It also auto focuses one of your units at the start of each player turn.
   
2. When using a mouse it always moves the cursor to the mouse position; Before it wasn't so exact when clicking menus (cancel, wait, etc.). Also doesn't auto focus on any unit at the start of your turn.
   

[h2]Enemy Behaviour Update[/h2]
In the v0.2.1 the enemy AI does a better job choosing where to move to attack your units. The best example is the sniper, now it tries to do ranged attacks if it's possible.



[h2]Balance[/h2]
- Tanks don't destroy Transport Trucks with a single attack anymore

[h2]New Library Capsule [/h2]
I'm trying to get the game out there submitting to every event I can. One of these required a vertical capsule and the older one wasn't the best so I've done a new one.
Did you notice the change in your library?


That's all for today,
Thanks for your attention :)

Hi officers!
This is Daniel, the dev behind Vangaro Tactics.
I'm happy to share the changes and fixes I've added in the Demo Update v0.1.2.

[h2]Animated Battle Report[/h2]
Added a proper Win/Game Over screen with animations and sounds.
It's intended to look like a "vintage document" put together after each battle. Came up with this paper document with some tape, where there's badges attached and then each commander has a custom stamp.



[h2]Transport Trucks[/h2]
- Added a new level to introduce Mining and Transport Trucks in isolation. This is to ensure players understand those mechanics before moving forward with the Stealth Missions.

- When hovering over a Transport Truck the UI now displays the "Cargo" icon and doesn't preview the damage like it would with an enemy.



[h2]Bugs[/h2]
Fixed and issue that hopefully avoids many bugs:
The Action Menu (Attack, Wait, etc) wasn't synced properly so if the player clicked too fast it could "click" the button before it was ready. It would cause that when choosing to Attack or Transport it would end up waiting instead, losing that unit's turn.

[h2]Extra[/h2]

• New mouse icon
  
• Improved the writing and fixed some errors in the dialogs
  
• Added explosions and particle effects when Combat Animations are disabled (example in the gif above). By default it only shows the animations during the player turn, but can be changed in the Options Menu.
  
• Added a proper "Thanks for Playing" screen at the end of the demo
  

Thanks for reading!
You can try the Demo if you haven't already; Please share your feedback (there's a form inside).

Welcome back officers!

I'm happy to announce Vangaro Tactics will be participating in TurnBasedThursday Fest, an online event for turn-based games running from April 4-8th.

A public demo will be available, please try it and fill the feedback survey :)

Hi, I'm Daniel, the game's developer.

I've uploaded a new devlog about the massive UI overhaul I did to Vangaro Tactics in preparation for the Steam page and reveal trailer. You can see the design process and evolution of many elements: the animated mining and capturing, the new commander avatars, faction logos and more.

Check it out if you want see some behind the scenes and development progress:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]