Light Web Strategy Game Progress

Code and UI Design

Over the last several days I have been mocking up the layout of various web pages and designing the interfaces that the controller will utilize (Pylons makes use of the Model-View-Controller software design pattern) get game data and issue game commands. This work uncovered several flaws in the data model, one of which wasn’t missing anything or fundamentally wrong as far general data modeling, but would simply run up against one the limits imposed by GAE.

Game Design

The change to the data model also necessitated a simplification in one small area of game design. I had planned that different levels of channelers would able to channel power from the same territory and that from one to the maximum number of channelers could channel power. Now all the channelers have to be the same level and the previous maximum is now the minimum as well.

I’ve also thought of a few features I’d like to add to the, although I’m going to wait until I’m done mocking UI and nailing down interfaces before doing so. The features are:

1. Something along the lines of heroes/champions/questers as a major creature unit upgrade. This upgrade could be sent off to quest/adventure automously to gain new abilities (and/or possibly items but that would be a new feature in and of itself).
2. Modify the rankings to consolidate the territory and populous ranks into one rank and modify the loyalty sapped and units downgraded rank into two conflict ranks. One of the ranks would be provoked conflict and the other would be unprovoked conflict. When an unprovoked attack occurs the attacked player can put out a general call for aid (at a cost) that then allows anyone, who has not made an unprovoked attack on the unprovoked attacking player during the last week, to make provoked attacks on the being on whom aid has been called for the duration of the call for aid (1 day). Loyalty sapped and units downgraded values would then be put into the provoked or unprovoked category increasing the difficulty of dominating both ranks.
3. Add a retirement ability allows one to recover half the cost of an upgrade by voluntarly downgrading one’s own unit in order to save the on the increased upkeep cost.
4. Ability to give minions to other players. Minions are the least of the 4 unit kinds.