Concealed Intent News

Hello? It has been a while. Is there anyone still around here? It is probably time for an update. Back in April I stopped working at the startup where I have been the last 3 years. Now back home in Australia, I'm working on gamedev again!

I hope to be able to make roughly 2 games per year. These new games will be much smaller than CI, but still in the strategy/tactics genre, as that is what I enjoy. The first doesn't have a name yet, and is taking longer than expected as I slowly relearn forgotten skills. It is a quick tile-placement battler. It still needs some work, especially to make it prettier, but hopefully it will be finished by the end of the year.



Now some notes on Concealed Intent. Since the 1.3 update in April 2018, the code has not been touched, other than to keep the online server running. If there is a bug I will try to fix it and I will keep the online servers running, otherwise I do not plan on any significant work on CI.

However...

The next game I plan to make is... Concealed Intent 2D (or at least that is the working name). It has the
same stealth/identification mechanics, but played on a 2D hex grid. This should make controlling the game much simpler, hopefully removing the original's most common complaint.

I will post the occasional update here. Otherwise follow me on twitter @JarrahTech or signup for my newsletter here. Note, Mailchimp shutdown my previous maillist due to inactivity, so if you had previously signed up, sorry, but you will need to do so again.

The Concealed Intent 1.3 release is out now! It is a few months late, but finally here.



The main change in this release is the most requested feature from the discussion boards: it is now possible to rewatch old online games and to always see the last turn of an online game.

If an online game finishes while you are not actively playing, then it will still be in your list of online games when you next start Concealed Intent. If selected it will display the end screen with the game's outcome. If you want to see the last turn just click the "Replay Last" button and it will be displayed. On the second time you start Concealed Intent after the game has finished it will be moved to the Old Games list - but you can still rewatch the whole game, read on!

At the end of an online game there is now a "Rewatch" button. Click this and the entire game will be loaded and you can watch it from the start either continuously (with the "Play All" button on the turn control part of the GUI) or turn-by-turn ("Play Turn" button").

It is also possible to rewatch any of your online games that have finished in the last 90 days. Just go to the Old Games screen (available via the Online screen) and click the "Rewatch" link next to the game you wish to rewatch.

I had hoped to add rewatch to campaign and skirmish scenarios as well, but that caused problems. 90% would play just fine, but some would badly break due to the scripting system used to play out the turns. Fixing it for all scenarios would require rewriting the scripting system and that would take too long - so sadly you can only rewatch online games (which do not have any complex scripting in them).

There are a few other minor changes and bugfixes - the details are below.



If there is a bad bug I will work to fix it. I can't imagine not doing that. Otherwise there are no plans to add more features.

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Current Version: 1.3.0 (20th April 2018)

Known Issues:
* See Forum thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/374150/discussions/0/490125103634714520/

Immediate Roadmap:
* Bugfixes

1.2.0 (6th April 2017) -> 1.3.0 (20th April 2018)
* Ability to rewatch online games finished in last 90 days
* Fix rare numeric error causing crash when AI calculating flanking circle
* Be able to replay last turn of unseen finished online scenarios
* Fix bug with online refresh button, by having it reset itself 5 seconds after use
* Can now drag mission list even if mouse is over locked missions
* Only check the player is visible at the start of a mission in skirmishes and online games (so not to move camera if it has been purposely positioned in campaign missions)
* Make cargo ships in Factory mission a little slower and initial lock a little better
* Fix bug preventing email addresses being entered on the feedback screen
* Hide random internet matchmaking (not enough players for this to work)
* Update Unity engine to fix potential security issue

I have stated on a few occasions that I hoped to have a 1.3 Update complete and released by the end of this year. My apologies, I will fail to reach that goal.

The plan is still to create another content update, and it will still be version 1.3, but it will not be complete by the end of this year. I now hope to have it finished and ready by March 2018. However, that depends on whether the situation preventing me finishing this year continue. The main issue is my “day job” for a London startup, which has also become a “most evenings and some weekends too” job. This job is taking so much of my time, there is almost none for the prolonged periods of game coding that is how I best produce. I believe it is likely that the effort the startup job requires will begin to drop to more manageable levels in the new year (fingers crossed).

Again, my apologies. I have not forgotten Concealed Intent – it is just that the 1.3 Update will be delayed a little.

I have stated on a few occasions that I hoped to have a 1.3 Update complete and released by the end of this year. My apologies, I will fail to reach that goal.

The plan is still to create another content update, and it will still be version 1.3, but it will not be complete by the end of this year. I now hope to have it finished and ready by March 2018. However, that depends on whether the situation preventing me finishing this year continue. The main issue is my “day job” for a London startup, which has also become a “most evenings and some weekends too” job. This job is taking so much of my time, there is almost none for the prolonged periods of game coding that is how I best produce. I believe it is likely that the effort the startup job requires will begin to drop to more manageable levels in the new year (fingers crossed).

Again, my apologies. I have not forgotten Concealed Intent – it is just that the 1.3 Update will be delayed a little.

TLDR; moved country and got a day job, so gamedev work will slow; but still aiming for a small Concealed Intent 1.3 update before end of the year.

It has been a while since my last update on the happenings and plans for Concealed Intent and Jarrah Technology – time to rectify that.

As some of you may be aware, just this week I moved from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to London, UK for my partner’s work (as was the original move to Malaysia). I am writing this while looking out on a surprisingly pleasant English summer day. Preparing for the move has meant I have not managed any significant time for gamedev work on Concealed Intent or my next game over the last couple of months.

Now I’m set up in London, it’s time for gamedev, right? Unfortunately not. London is an extremely expensive city, and indie gamedev will not pay the bills, so I will need a day job. In fact I already have one (not in games) and start tomorrow. This means my available time for my own projects will greatly diminish. However, I do not intend to completely stop, instead dropping down to probably just a few hours per week on average.

I am now a hobbyist gamedev rather than a professional indie gamedev.

The plan is still to release a 1.3 update to Concealed Intent by the end of the year. The aim is to have this include about 2 weeks of development work (plus testing). Only now that work will be spread out over several months rather than in a single block. This means that there probably will not be time to work on another game until at least next year. The first task on the 1.3 list is to update the game to the latest Unity 5 release to help ensure future compatibility and performance. Then work will focus on the items left out of the 1.2 release – mainly small UX improvements. After that I’ll reassess the time available and the scope of previously suggested “nice to have” features to see what can be realistically achieved.

My next update will give more information on the Concealed Intent 1.3 plan and features.