Textured
First of all the biggest improvement is that the 3d model I use for the soldiers in the game is now textured.
This 3d model, for the most part, is still a placeholder for the different unit types in the game.
Units
Right now we have three unit types:
Sharpshooter
Your standard ranged unit. Can shoot far. Wields a rifle in both hands and can't do melee attacks.
Gunner (working name)
Equipped with a hand cannon (blunderbuss). Does frontal assaults and uses his hand cannon as a blunt weapon for melee attacks.
Scout
Lightly equipped soldier wielding a pistol. The scout can traverse steep terrain where others have a hard time travelling. In the future, he'll also be equipped with a grappling hook so he can help other units who cannot otherwise climb walls and buildings.
As you can see, I'm currently reusing the same 3d model for all unit types. Once the game goes further along I'll take the time to create unique characters.
Pathfinding
Another major update is the addition of a new outdoor map taking place in a hillside with a tower outpost.
With this, I needed to add pathfinding to the enemies as they were mindlessly bumbling across impassable terrain.
You can read more about the technical stuff about it here.
2012 In A Glance
This was how Tactics Ensemble looked like first, at the start of 2012:
And this is how Tactics Ensemble looks like as of the end of 2012:
Hopefully 2013 will also be a good year for Tactics Ensemble.
What's Next
Here's what I've been working on next, the Shieldsman unit.
Shieldsmen are armor-clad soldiers carrying retractable tower shields. They serve as the tank unit in the game.
I won't create the Shieldsman character yet, only his shield, and I'll reuse my soldier 3d model again for the time being.
I got carried away and made this also:
Kingdom Death and Dark Souls are a big influence to me.
Other than that, big glaring deficiencies in the game is the GUI, from the GUI in the battle screen, to the main menu, scenario selection, and everything else.
I can't depend on Unity to finish their new GUI system anytime soon, and using the current GUI system is a pain to use. I can't buy 3rd party GUI systems either like NGUI since I don't have any means of purchasing online.
Well, I'll work something out.
Looks like some good work, although I think the recoil is a little bit extreme on some of the weapons! :-)
Also, why can't the soldier with the rifle melee? Surely he could use it to stab enemies?
Haha, I'll tweak them as I go along. That map's pathways are narrow so they can actually fall from the pushback right now...
For the rifleman, its just for game balance, he's extremely useful as a ranged attacker so I need to give some sort of disadvantage somehow. Every unit needs to have their own pros and cons so the player learns to make them work as a team.
The nice thing though is that this unit classes thing is temporary. The plan is that the game will let you customize each of your unit's skills (like in FF Tactics), so yeah, maybe you can have a rifle-butting rifleman later. Perhaps bayonets too, etc.
Thanks for the swift reply! Yeah, I thought you prevented the melee for balancing reasons, but it just seemed a bit unrealistic.
Can I just say, that shield idea (last picture) is EPIC! There's a guys head in it and everything. lol