Trudy's Mechanicals, Steampunk Tactics New Trailer

Radek Koncewicz · 2015-12-16T17:23:44

Making your own 3D engine is a somewhat daunting and time consuming endeavour, but being technically inquisitive we decided to take the plunge with Trudy's Mechanicals. Trudy's Mechanicals is a turn-based strategy game that takes place on a giant floating Steampunk dirigible. The tactics genre is having something of a resurgence -- and Steampunk is no longer a niche aesthetic -- so here's what we're hoping will make our game stand out:Unit Variety - Many SRPGs have long relied on a combination of melee fighter, archer, mage, and priest serving as the pillars of all unit types. We'd like to break away from this format and make each class very unique in both appearance and function. The approach is closer to designing characters in fighting games than in tactics ones, and it encourages each one to have a unique play-style.For example, our Supplier unit serves a support role early in battle; his attacks are feeble, but he's capable of activating machinery from afar and pulling in enemies using a large suction fan. Towards the end of the fight, however, he can suck in and process corpses littering the battlefield (of both allies and enemies!) and use them to launch devastating attacks. Offbeat Steampunk - While we like the industrial machinery and intricate mechanisms common to Steampunk, we wanted to create an aesthetic that stood out a bit. The world of Trudy is a grimier, more grotesque place than the gentlemanly courts of Victoriana: coal burning furnaces have polluted the skies and the poor sell their bodies in order to become half-man/half-machine labourers.We also shifted the cultural heritage East taking some cues from Slavic and Greek fashions and nomenclature. Gone are bowler hats and fine brandies, replaced by fur caps and vegetable alcohols.Interactive Environments - While individual tile types occasionally provide passive bonuses, maps in tactics games tend to be entirely static. We wanted to breathe more life into them, and also go beyond simple destructible props.In Trudy it's possible to extend out bridges to form new paths, flood areas (and then electrocute the drenched units), redirect exhausts to provide smokey cover, etc.Streamlined UI - Battles in tactics games tend to take a long time to play out. While this isn't bad in and of itself, a big reason for the extended durations is the interface. It often takes a very long time to figure out the movement and attack ranges of all of the player's troops and those of the enemy. Once that information is gathered and processed, and a decision is reached, even more time is spent inputting an action, previewing its results, confirming its execution, and finally watching it play out.Since these are common issues, we're focusing on presenting as much information as possible while minimizing input logistics. One way we're streamlining input is filling-in movement range tiles for only those locations from which the current unit can use an ability. Mouse-overing these tiles also shows exactly which abilities can be used on which units allowing a quicker way to parse viable options.Voluntary Content - While we think we've created an imaginative world and have an interesting story to tell, some might not dig that aspect as much. We've certainly played our share of games with seemingly endless streams of dialogue, so we sympathize. To limit this problem, we're not only making all cutscene-like content fully skipable, but also providing a lot of it via optional content.And here's a little teaser trailer we put together:Eventually we'll post more in-depth articles on our website (and create one for Trudy itself), but in the meantime we thought it'd be a good idea to post about our trials and tribulation on Twitter/Tumblr and, of course here, as a devlog. Let us know what you think!

Indie Showcase Community

Started by Skall December 16, 2014 09:41 PM

41 comments, last by Skall 8 years, 4 months ago

Skall

247

Author

June 04, 2015 03:52 PM

Since we have multiple layers for the textures, lets start by adding some basic fringes to our house:

The above image has vertically-fringed corners, but we quickly ran into an issue with horizontal fringing. Since our heights are done in half-blocks (64 "pixels", which are half of the 128 minimum texture height) and the fringe textures occupy only a small portion of a tile, it was possible for the textures to be applied with no visual alteration. The animation below shows the same fringe being applied to different elevations, with some of the textures not appearing until they're "nudged".

This nudging alters the anchor of the texture so that the fringe part starts 64 pixels lower and properly aligns with the tile. This nudging was required in numerous places, so we also implemented it for horizontal orientation. This allows us to quickly fine-tune other decorations such as vines:

And here's our house with some grass fringes, extra vines, and a few windows:

Will do a quick update on lighting next time!

@JustRadek | Incubator Games | Significant Bits | indieDB

Skall

247

Author

June 23, 2015 03:26 PM

Just a quick update showing some lighting variation via different skyboxes/light point samples.

The lighting intensity and skybox saturations are purposefully overintensified to show off the contrast between them. It's still all fairly subtle to ensure that coloured lights don't completely distort the painterly style. We hope this approach gives us some options for "tinting" each biome and giving them all a unique atmosphere.

@JustRadek | Incubator Games | Significant Bits | indieDB

thatguyfromthething

-801

June 25, 2015 07:34 PM

Looks nice, I hope this does well.

This is my thread. There are many threads like it, but this one is mine.

Skall

247

Author

July 08, 2015 04:03 PM

Thank you! I didn't see the original response right away -- gotta recheck those thread-subscription notifications.

Anyway, one more update on textural decorations: decals.

Unlike regular textures that are placed on top of each other, decals don't have to conform to a specific tile size and can be smoothly moved around. They can also scale easily and wrap around objects as shown below:

However, since decals are projected down, they tend to unintentionally overlap multiple objects. In the case of the house, any prop standing next to it would "absorb" a part of the crack decal, which didn't really work out. In the end, we used them somewhat sparingly and in more desolate areas.

Next up, we finally decorate the scene with some objects!

@JustRadek | Incubator Games | Significant Bits | indieDB

Skall

247

Author

July 13, 2015 04:47 PM

Finally, it's time to add some decorations. These make a big difference.

Objects by default snap to the ground tile beneath the cursor, and like textures can be rotated around. Since objects contain collisions and can be of any size, rotating ones that have a large base uses the top-left corner as the anchor.

With objects, we generally didn't need to worry as much about snapping to corners or rotating by 90 degrees as with textures, especially for aesthetic ones. We also added the ability to rotate around any axis, not just the y, and "nudge" each object by a small fraction of a tile.

With those capabilities in hand, we went ahead and added object sets. Like with textures, these allow us to "paint" with a randomly selected object from a list, and rotate/nudge it up to a maximum amount based on given parameters. Here's how it looks in action:

Once the trees and tree trunks were put in, we manually adjust them so that clipping is not a visible issue, and add various other decorations such as brambles, miscellaneous plants, benches, lamp posts, fallen leaf clumps, etc.

A few dirt patches later, and we get this:

Of course it's still not done yet, but it's beginning to look more and more like an actual place, don't you think?

@JustRadek | Incubator Games | Significant Bits | indieDB

wodinoneeye

1,691

July 13, 2015 11:23 PM

Very impressive....

Comment on the 'trains of the sprawl' for when you start doing the models : roller bearings and coil springs are far too modern, leaf springs and journal boxes are the 'old style' (and also are less complicated to model). Also if you are edging towards european/mediterranean styles then they should look less american style also.

Thinking about it, I forget what Ive seen for games of this type where you have mountable 'vehicles' (all the complications with secondary coordinate systems -- at least trains go in straight lines)

--------------------------------------------[size="1"]Ratings are Opinion, not Fact

Skall

247

Author

July 14, 2015 02:31 PM

Huh, I grew up around some fairly old trains, but never noticed leaf springs. It's actually a very cool visual design, but unfortunately I believe we've already modeled the train cars.

It's always tricky with to stay accurate to a fictional and anachronistic genre (basic flintlock pistols alongside electrical contraptions and technology that never existed/would have never worked). Still, we are aiming to go for a slightly more European vibe with a distinct look, so I'd love to touch up some of these pieces to make them more cohesive. Thanks for the suggestions!

As for vehicles, yeah, they're a pain, but they seemed like such a natural fit for a Steampunk-ish environment. Plus, TBS games tend to shy away from these so we figured it could be a feather in our cap if we included 'em. As you said they complicate movement and collisions, especially in our 3D grid, so we're limiting trains, elevators, etc., to movement only along straight lines.

@JustRadek | Incubator Games | Significant Bits | indieDB

ravengangrel

406

July 16, 2015 05:37 PM

Wow, this looks promising!

Unit Variety - Many SRPGs have long relied on a combination of melee fighter, archer, mage, and priest serving as the pillars of all unit types. We'd like to break away from this format and make each class very unique in both appearance and function. The approach is closer to designing characters in fighting games than in tactics ones, and it encourages each one to have a unique play-style.

This is a bit old so maybe my comment doesn't apply anymore.

Sorry for the offtopic but this reminded of a very funny Dork Tower comic.

A fantasy gamer is invited by a friend to a tabletop historical wargame. The rest of the players seem themselves as superior, because "this is not like your elvish and flowery games, this was a real battle and you need real strategy to win, unlike fantasy games".

Then the fantasy gamer starts finding analogies ("Oh, light cavalry. Fast and weak, like... like elven fighters!. Then we have heavy infantry. Slow but sturdy, bad against cavalry, just like dwarves! And there's a piece of artillery which does massive area damage, but they have limited ammo, like a mage casting fireballs!!!" and so on. Well, I don't have the comic at hand so the analogies are inexact) and he and his friend are kicked out of the building to never return again.

Bottom line being, really original unit roles are very hard to find. Are you sure you are offering more than a new setting?

The described "Supplier" sounds a bit like some kind of mage, for example.

If you really managed to do that, kudos.

Skall

247

Author

July 16, 2015 06:29 PM

I think there's lots to offer in terms of combat that tactics games haven't explored all that much. While the mage/archer/melee archetypes are all well and good, there are other variables and nuances to consider as well.

For example, in fighting games, there are often multiple hard-hitting or fast characters, but how they close distances, the priorities of their attacks, how vulnerable their attacks leave them, etc. all contribute to a different feel for each one. With MOBAs, there's a greater focus on area-denial and short-term counters, and the environment plays a slightly different role to that of typical tactics games (ambushes, using towers for protection).

Based on the Dork Tower idea of a mage, I think the Supplier is actually a very different type of unit. First, he himself doesn't have any area-of-effect attacks, and his role is chiefly to provide ammo for others. In addition, he can activate some environmental objects from afar, so in that sense his utility is very map specific. The same goes for his pull-in mechanic which doesn't cause damage itself, but it can extract enemies from hiding spots and make it easier for the damage-burst units to do their thing.

Actually, the pull-in can also cause enemies to be dropped into bottomless pits, but those don't damage so much as instantly kill a unit.

Anyway, being a giant, armoured box he's quite sturdy, unlike a typical mage, and he becomes more of a direct threat if the battle is prolonged. Where as the mage might have ammo for his fireballs that evaporates with use, the Supplier can use the bodies that the rest of the team dispatches to launch damaging attacks. The bodies can't be stored as the attacks are used automatically after consuming one, and they're also limited by range considerations, i.e., where the body fell, but the potential for damage increases with use rather than the other way around. Oh, and when the Supplier dies he reverts to a box-shape that others can use to get to higher areas!

We've yet to implement all these units and abilities, though, let alone balance them, but I think we have enough ideas that should at least provide a different vibe to each unit type. However, it's the balancing itself -- while trying to keep the units distinct -- that I suspect will be the tricky part.

@JustRadek | Incubator Games | Significant Bits | indieDB

ravengangrel

406

July 16, 2015 11:32 PM

Thanks for the detailed answer.

I wasn't comparing your Supplier to the Dork Tower idea of a mage, but to some kind of generic mage. I.e. it's weak, has some special abilities to attack from large distance, etc. Of course, the details vary from game to game, and even in some games, one mage can have far different abilities than other, like Diablo II and its ability tree.

Thinking of it, I can relate my concerns to Diablo II. Two characters, even of the same class, could have very different powers, and you needed to be very careful with your tactics, and take into account your long-term ability-developing strategy to get the most out of your character, but at the end it always became a clickfeast no matter what I did . And that with just one character, if I had to manage more of them...

Maybe I'm not a hardcore enough gamer to truly take advantage of all those tiny details.

Anyway, this looks really great, the art is amazing and the setting seems quite original, at the very least. Nice work!

Trudy's Mechanicals, Steampunk Tactics New Trailer

This topic is closed to new replies.

Popular Topics

Recommended Tutorials

Trudy's Mechanicals, Steampunk Tactics *New Trailer*

This topic is closed to new replies.

Popular Topics

Recommended Tutorials

Reticulating splines

Trudy's Mechanicals, Steampunk Tactics New Trailer