Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #11 (TileMaps & Overworld Setup)

     Unity 5! Sure, it'll cost me $4500 eventually, but I'll gladly pay for the engine's immense help if I ever reach $100,000. Those are the terms of use and accepting them means I can make Battle Gem Ponies even better! Unity 5's audio tools open up a lot of possibilities for pony sounds and various effects. The particle effect upgrades should allow me to do some fancy stuff too.

Get some dirty details on what went down in BGP's development this week.

Oatmeal Mode: Post-Game Challenge

     I know that there are hardcore thrill seekers out there who want a serious challenge or NewGame+ content that's harder rather than easier. To satisfy that itch Battle Gem Ponies will have a built-in Nuzlocke challenge feature dubbed Oatmeal Mode. A challenge that will reduce you to mush. This is basically a permadeath mode where knocked-out ponies stay down and it's harder to add ponies to your team.

Find out what Oatmeal Mode is all about below.

Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #10 (Shaping Up Well)

     Development is going great! I'm on track to get the basics of the overworld roaming finished by the end of Spring Break. That means I'll have a little island to roam and get into battles on. Battles that actually calculate things based on my party's data, thanks to all the coding done this week. Once this demo island is playable I'll get started on adding a few more moves and polishing the battle scene.

You can find the usual status report information below the break.

BGP Achievement Plans

     A minor thing I'm keeping on my mind is what I plan to do for achievements. Having achievements increases visibility and the lifespan of the game by putting it in a database of optimized compatible products and giving players challenges to take on. Achievements are available in some form on every platform I plan to be on so it'll be good for me to plan ahead and make them universally compatible and evenly divisible by the various reward scores.

     Unlike with my other game DragCore's Achievements I plan on having things that increase replay value and really challenge players to hunt each one down. If you're already being rewarded for doing things like quests, there's no point in tacking on an achievement too. Achievements are meta by nature so they should embrace meta gameplay.

     Chances are you'll be getting high level achievements for doing things like winning stadium matches with bizarre teams, triggering hidden events in the overworld, completing the super hard NewGame+, catching a legendary with the weakest capture gem money can buy, or interacting with secret field objects. I want to make achievements people want to brag about. That's what they're for.