Placeables V2 news - Blade Ballad

VERSION: 0.2.0

This blog marks the first public release of Blade Ballad, but still just as an early access demo. I've bumped up the versioning from 0.1.x which were just prototype versions until now, signifying that considerable work has been done and that this is shaping up to be a real, fleshed out game rather than some prototype experiment.

This release added standard systems fundamental to any game, such as a save system, a settings system, to configure things like graphical fidelity or camera sensitivity, managers for items, and a console command terminal.

The combat system has been refined: Stance switching based on blade angle. Torso twisting to the swinging action, and smoother chain attacks.

NPCs also got an upgrade, moving as unit rather than a lone wanderer. An NPC unit consists of 1-5 members, where one is the leader that the rest follows.

But the biggest work from this release is the Placeables system. The Placeables system is the building system that works like Minecraft, in that it snaps to a grid, but also similar to Rust, where you can place triangles down as floors.

But there are some distinct differences with this system: One, the triangles are right triangles, not equilateral, so by placing 2 triangles in the same tile opposite to each other, you create a square floor, secondly, the size of the floor and wall is much smaller, approximately the size of a minecraft cube, so you can have more detail in builds and create cubes with different materials for each face. You also have the ability to toggle the "tilt" of the floor or the wall, to create either a slope or a ramp.

The reason why Minecraft's building system is so appealing to people is because of its simplicity: Voxel cubes could come in hundreds of different colors and textures, but all are ultimately the same shape; a cube. Sure, it's super easy to build massive structures with ease under this system, but if you want to make something with just a slight curve then it's practically impossible unless you scale up that build 100 times.

This is why I opted for a different approach to player building. The fundamental limitation in voxel games, where creating buildings at a slope or angle is an impossibility, has always been a dealbreaker for me. But with so many on the voxel game bandwagon, I decided against investing my time in that direction.

But having swordplay and basebuilding alone does not make for a good game. I would go even further and say a world entirely populated and decorated with elaborate and ornate structures, people and things, doesn't make a good game either. What truly makes a game good is progression: I've read this blog from Kenshi, perhaps one of the most successful indie titles that's not 2D, and an observation was made about the lacklustre mechanic of WoW. It's really just a clicking numbers game, but it's the sense of progression from one gear to a slightly better piece of gear then an even slightly better piece of gear, and so on and so on, is what makes it so engaging and addicting, and definitely addicting in an unhealthy way because it literally hacks your brain and supplements your sense of real life accomplishments for its own accomplishments.

Keep in mind that the release of this version is just a demo, so don't expect any of the progression that I mentioned just now. If you decide to play it in its current state, I would ask as a favor to mess with all the tools and items and settings until something breaks.

As for me, I am shifting my focus to world building. Upon starting the game, you will encounter two modes: Story and Roam. Currently, only the Roam mode is accessible, with the story mode set for release in the final version of the game. My intention is to release a proof of concept now and address the more intricate aspects of game development like world building at a later stage.