Development Update 6

Hi! Back a little quicker this time with updates. Delver is coming along really well, got some very visual updates to share of work that’s come together in the last few weeks. And I actually started taking much clearer notes on what I’ve actually gotten done recently. So, what’s new?

The main feature this time is Trainers. I’ve hummed and hawed over having a leveling mechanic in the game and eventually decided to split the difference and go with trainers. These are NPCs in towns who will slap some big stat increases on your party members, for a price. There’s also buckets of treasure in the dungeons in order to pay them. Doing test playthroughs myself I found it pretty satisfying to find a pile of cash and pump my party up enough to plough through enemies.

On top of that, I’ve swapped out the placeholder goblins for other monster graphics (all from the Fat Cat Games' lovely asset packs), and made more battle backgrounds for the different biomes (like the rest of my map tiles, from Seliel the Shaper’s asset packs), so the fights are much more visually different.

I’d hit a bit of a rut before where there just weren’t that many horde encounters in the game, but now between boss fights and guards over treasure there are plenty to give the player a real run for their money.

And as usual I’ve fixed a dozen bugs.

The game’s feeling more and more like a complete piece, and I’m very pleased with it. I’m hoping to post a completed version (or at least complete for this iteration) early next year. But before that, I’d like to take a bash at some big improvements to the combat UI. I’ve had that at the bottom of my to-do list for a long time and I think it’s finally bubbled up to the top.