Ploxmons DevLog #16
- Migrating New Code & Monster Animations
I am happy that I can finally give a little update on the current progress.
Migrating the new code
As described in the last devlog I am currently working on a huge task to restructure the client/server code. Before the change all decisions and all calculations while in battle were done by the client. Who attacks who, who executes an ability, who deals how much damage to whom.. Basically all the complex stuff that happens in battle. This was an easy solution to implement back then but sureley a pretty bad one. The reason why this solution is bad is that the server can easily be tricked since he just takes all information from the players (client) for real without validating them. Additionally the server can't really track battle achievements since he doesn't know whats going on. This is the reasons why I decided to rework the whole system now and not later when we plan to release.
The changes in the last 3 weeks were the biggest amount of code-changing in the history of Ploxmons. All the code had to be migrated from client to server with adaptations and improvements. On the other side a comlete new system had to be implemented on the client side to react to everything the server sends. This took about 2 weeks and was a really exhausting because the whole battle system is a big and complex menchanism. Every little typo or mistake leads to a well hidden issue that will take hours to detect.
After the migration was done I started testing and bug fixing the whole system which took 1 week and is almost completed now. Once this task is finished I will be very happy since this was on my to-do-list for many months now.
Graphic Updates
To get some distraction while doing the big changes I also did some minor visual improvements in the battle screen as well as a few new mon animations, including:
- Cowleaf
- Fowlet
- Centipete
- Fangrat
- Limpatch
The cowleaf one can be seen here:
As for all animations, we had to separate and redraw bodyparts from the old artwork. Here is a fun look of Cowleaf's bodyparts separated:
Included a pair of sad eyes for when it gets attacked ;-(
Furthermore I added a new custom mouse cursors that Michiil revealed in our Discord channel at #dev-media which was quite a big task because unfortunately I had to do alot more stuff manuall than I expected. However the new cursors are really helpful for new players to understand which UI elements are interactable.
First one is default. The two with the blue icons will be used during games (specificely during the play and tribute phase) to further indicate what players are supposed to do at that moment. The bottom two will show up when you hover over buttons or drag cards around in your decklists.
More Achievments
As always I am also fixing some issues in the achievement system while testing around and adding more new achievements. Thanks to the server change I can finally track battle achievements and added around 40 of them. In total we have around 140 achievements right now which should be solid amount for the first release! Here is a little preview on the new battle-achievements:
Next steps
Overall the progress has been really good in the last 3 weeks and I am very happy to finish the task very soon. After that I will finally do the remaining UI changes in battle screen, which were delayed due to the server changes for many weeks now. However this changes shouldn't be to bad hopefully. Lets see ;) This is it for todays devlog. Things are slowly coming to an end ;)
Where to find us
Join us on our Discord community to get even more insights about the project and to chat with us and the plox community! Our Discord members have acces to playtest the game occasionally. We also have fun mini games there with our very own "PloxBot"!
Other places:
- Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
- Support us on Patreon! ❤
- Website: Ploxmons.com
