Digital Game Updates
Been updating the digital version of Heart of the Mountain with all of the changes that have been made to the tabletop version over the last couple of months. It isn't quite ready to release for beta testing yet, but getting close.
The board is complete, and in my opinion looks pretty darned good. So much better than the tabletop prototype that I've been staring at for weeks. I could see the final, production version looking very much like this, if such a thing ever exists.
I've also updated all of the cards with the new, rebalanced versions. Not all of them work just yet – in particular, there are a few new item powers that I have to get functioning. But the balance is there and feels right.
While I was at it, I also did a fair bit of refactoring in the code. Some of the assumptions I made early in development haven't borne out, so I took the opportunity to split up some classes and improve how sections of code interact. I stripped away some cruft that was left behind by things I'd already removed from the game, such as visible decks and discard piles.
Speaking of which, one thing I lost when I removed those decks was any indication of what level a card is. I need to add that to the face of the card somewhere, as well as make it more obvious that that's what the big number on the card means when you're turning it in for XP. Those things should be completely obvious when you dive in to play, they shouldn't require guesswork or reading a manual. Not sure yet how to do that, but it's on the list.
On a more personal note, as much as I love working on this game and hope that it will someday be available for everyone (*ahem* paying customers *ahem*) to play, I need to eat in the meantime. I am going to be taking more time away from game development to find actual paying work. While this means that progress will slow down, I will do my absolute best not to lose momentum and have it putter to a halt completely. If you don't hear any updates in a while, PLEASE give me a nudge to see how it's going. I'll report here when there's more to say...