Soul Saga - Dev Diary 40 news

Summary
Today I implemented the debuff system! And man, that was a monster of a task... It forced me to go deep into some Soul Saga code I haven't looked at in the past 250 hours of coding, and I took the opportunity to start polishing it up and planning for expansion to the code when more features are added. I also implemented a blocking system with a shield that can break. I plan to go into deep detail about the game mechanics for these new additions in Update #9. This update should be out within the next 2 days.

Tomorrow
Tomorrow I plan to implement debuff icons to the HUD, officially add the chance for debuffs to be added to the skills, balance the current plethora of skills, and implement other debuff related options to skills such as removing and transferring debuffs. I also want to start implementing some passive skills, such as "Deal X damage to all nearby enemies every 4th basic attack", or "Every 6th skill cast has it's cooldown reduced by 50%".

Day 40 (2013/03/09 Sa)
13 hrs. Today ( 372.25 Total)

• Actors
  • All actors now have an active block mechanic! A more detailed explanation will be given in Update #9.
    • If active, damage is reduced from the “shield”.
    • When the “shield” reaches below 0, it breaks, which stuns the actor for 3 seconds.
• AI
  • Fixed a bug where the player would sometimes stop defending themselves automatically.
• Backend
  • Cleaned up Skill code in preparation of debuff system.
  • Code cleanup in several other places.
  • Started to implement the player chosen options for things like sound volume.
• Debuffs
  • Implemented the debuff system! A more detailed explanation will be given in Update #9.
  • The maximum stacks of Burn, Weak, and Slow is 50.
  • The default duration of Burn, Weak, and Slow is 5 seconds.
  • The default duration of Silence is 4 seconds.
  • The default duration of Stun is 2 seconds.
• Dungeons
  • The player is now completely healed whenever entering a new floor.
• GUI
  • When the player is silenced or stunned, the skill toolbar shows the duration of the silence or stun (whichever is greater) on the skills similar to a normal cooldown.
• Testing
  • Having issues with a 3rd party tool for Unity called “UniRPG”.
    • This tool allows for tiling 3D objects easily, however it will not open up my old dungeon prefabs to allow me to edit them.
    • This blocks me from today’s goal of making the dungeon scene look better.
• Project Management
  • Contacted composer (Holly) regarding rearranging the Soul Saga theme song and regarding the Kickstarter campaign.
  • Contacted video producer (Neil) regarding Kickstarter campaign.
• Public Relations
  • Replied to fans on IndieDB.
  • Wrote rough draft for Update #9.
• Skills
  • Fixed an issue with the blinking skill where actors would launch into the air when blinking directly on top of another actor.