The problem with the old model was that the archer looked more like a boy than it did of a full grown warrior. The switch of design did take some extra time I was not too fond of, but the end result seems a lot more promising.  With the addition of the new model, I decided to take some considerations made into the navigation system and have found it quite cool to play around with.

The Archer

Old Archer

New Archer

The Archer’s shoulder was broadened to give it a little more tougher look and was given a bow for obvious reasons. The Archer was recolored with red because, frankly it was hard to see in the green grass and it seems to really make the archer stand out as a foe to reckon with.

The New Navigation System

The picture above shows the navigation system and the console system working together. The new navigation system runs off of a drag-and-drop movement. Basically, press on any ground (grass) and drag it to the direction of view you prefer. Upon release, the map will memorize the end point and allow you to go on drag and dropping to further view the map.

The units you select will automatically be centered with a small ease effect. This will allow you to fully see all of their surroundings and optimize your strategy without having to drag all around.

Have fun navigating around the world with 5 characters randomly spawning. Can you find the most powerful unit?

[Updated 1.12.10] Download here.

//Note: May not work on Cowon S9

Was this post good? Help Santoki out to get a Cowon S9 for more games to be developed on.

Shadow Kai has been one of my games that have been shelved and restarted numerous times due to complications and time issues. This time I have come across 5 problems that have been haunting my progression for this game. If you have any insight or would like to contribute any ideas, feel free to give in any inputs, I’ll take a look into all comments.

1. How big should a character be?

This is actually a practical problem. The Cowon S9’s capacitive is great because you don’t have to worry about other objects touching the screen, but if you haven’t noticed already pressing buttons for some games may be a pain! The capacitive touch screen requires a button that is big enough to respond to a button press.

This requires then a serious look into a characters size. A bigger character then reveals great detail of the 3D work and a great touch response, but does take up a wide area of the screen which limits what you can see at one given time. A smaller character on the other hand makes it almost impossible to select and much less detail to identify, but allows a much more better vision of the surroundings.

2. How should the game be navigated?

Another simple, but a very crucial mechanic to the game is movement. I wanted to play with the Gsensor, but because I do not have the Cowon s9, this is near impossible to implement. Instead, I decided to try out a quad directional movement to navigate the world. This is a problem if the user slides his/her finger off of the button, as it will lock the movement of the directional key.

You can find a copy here.

3. The Stacking / Collision problem

The old collision problem has come again to haunt me. What should the character’s boundary be? What happens if two characters collide when in movement? Or worse, what happens if a character stops on top of another character? Does it push the character underneath it?

These are some questions I’m left to sort out.

4. Isometric Problems

Many games have become popular using the isometric perspective, but this game has been using an engine with a bird’s eye view to simplify things. A problem that may occur then is that a user can abuse the extension of the horizontal versus the vertical stretch. eg: moving left and right would allow more move space than up and down.

5. I still do not have an S9

But you can help by donating by paypal.

(12/30/09) EDIT: More previews of the model.

(12/30/09) EDIT: Instead of a new post, I’ll continue with updating the latest for this character model.

For a while now, I’ve been trying to get back into Shadow Kai, but one thing I needed was a model. So I decided to get back into modeling using blender 3D and the above image is what I have so far for one of the units. I’ll try to update more often as this modeling process seems to take much longer than I had hoped.

As a freebie, here’s a screen shot of pixel assassin revolution:

It’ll have a new twist to the original engine.

I am 11% away from purchasing a Cowon s9. 

There were numerous bug fixes and balancing issues that had to be addressed, but after what seems to have been forever – the final product is before us all. Several alpha testers have sent in their set of suggestions to me on a regular basis and due to their support I believe this game has become that much more greater.

You can download the game here:

Here are some of the changes and bug fixes:

• Changed Background
  • Title Page: Charcoal like drawing to 3D imagery
  • Game Page: Replaced with a gradient background with an accented menu.
• Added Awards Menu
  • Allows player to access Highscores menu and Achievements menu.
• Highscore Menu
  • Displays user’s high score
  • Reset button to reset user’s highscore.
• Achievements Menu
  • 12 unique Achievements have been added for re playability such as the following:
    • Claustrophobia: Build only of side A
    • Spartan Soul: 1st Cell 100 enemies
    • Mammonite: Never sell a tower
  • Reset button to reset user’s achievements
  • An achievement to allow access to the Editor Menu.
• Editor Menu
  • Allows user to change the stats of each tower.
  • Allows to save changes
  • Allows user to revert to default settings with reset.
• Mechanics Menu
  • Describes the mechanics of game
• Credits Menu
  • All users who have alpha tested the game have been mentioned in the credits.
• Game Fixes and Changes:
  • Wonder Tower has been added.
    • No attack
    • It increases a slight chance of playing against a legendary boss
    • Cannot be sold
    • Increases Point and Score when an enemy is killed with a 1st Cell Bonus Award.
  • Towers have been balanced.
  • Enemies have been balanced.
  • Two legendary Bosses have been added.
    • Legendary bosses are rare and have a very small chance of appearing after the game ends.
    • Legendary bosses chances of appearing can be increased by having more Wonder Towers on the field.
  • 20 Levels have been implemented.
  • Level 21 and 22: Beholds a Legendary Boss that can be accessed to by a very rare chance.
  • Blue Enemies can not be slowed
  • Red Enemies are much faster
  • Achievements can be achieved only by beating the game.
  • Slow Towers now have a smarter AI. Once a target is frozen, it will seek the next closest target.
  • Changed the upgrade time to instant due to a memory error.

As you can see the changes from version 0.9 to 1.0 was immense and huge. My hope is that you will enjoy this game as much as I have creating it during my free time.

If you would like to support me as I continue creating these games there is a PayPal donation button on the bottom and I will greatly appreciate it if you can help me out.

Thanks again, for everyone who has supported this project. Enjoy.

p.s. You can follow me also on Twitter @ 2souldesign

Greetings! Well Shadow Kai has been finally ressurected on board after a few weeks of hiatus due to issues with the computer. Well we are currently working on the archer’s art as well as a few mechanics related to the bowman. Currently the game allows the character for 4 options on the player’s turn phase: attack, defend, skill, move.

All character’s currently have a damage based attack and a special skill specific to its class.

For instance, the warrior has a basic attack, but can initiate its “berserk mode” which elevates its damage output in exchange for lowering his defenses. The archer on the other hand has a ranged attack, but can utilize it’s arrow shower ability which rains an area of effect damage on a portion of land.

With these unique skills, it will require an immense effort of balance and time. So our team is trying our best to push up a beta to test between the two character classes – let’s hope sometime in March.

—

I think I’ll be making a few tutorials in the coming weeks – what do you guys think?

The current engine I’m running for this new upcoming tactics game has been built with “flexibility” in mind. Therefore, the animation has almost no effect on the actual coding. This means that I can replace a single animation and not worry about it affecting the code. Because of this, I really want to give you, the audience, the ability to choose which setting this tactics game engine will take place in. As of now, it is set to the mythological ancient Asian era. I’ve listed a few ideas I currently have as a developer, but feel free to give your input as well!

Ancient Asian Era

In this setting, the main playable characters will be: warriors, bandits, mages, clerics, alchemists, bowmen, etc. Special skills will invoke skills such as: a shower of arrows, a bombardment of rockets, summoning an area of effect dragon, etc.

Space Battles

In this setting, the main playable characters will be: interceptors, bombers, mother ships, destroyers, cruisers, etc. Special skills will invoke skills such as: self destruct, force field, recall, reinforcements, bombard, etc.

Robotic Battlegrounds

In this setting, the main playable characters will be: technicians, reapers, scouts, enforcers, eradicators, commander, etc. Special skills will invoke skills such as: heat missiles, EMP shock waves, Ion cannons, nukes, etc.

A few things to note before voting:

I will have the final opinion so please don’t abuse the polling. I have set the polling so that anyone can vote.

[poll id="3"]

After several weeks of planing and concept sketching, I’ve started making my effort into pushing one of the biggest game I’ve ever imagined – Shadow Kai. In comparison,  Sketchlite, although not finished, has taken me several months to push itself from the drawing board into a playable game. I think Shadow Kai will end up being a similar process.

What brought Shadow Kai literally from the shadows (no pun intended) was the fact that the Cowon s9 was a touch based interface. I’ve always wanted Shadow Kai to have some sort of a coordinate based maneuver and with the Cowon s9 it seemed possible.

Currently, my plans for the battle mode will run along the lines of a complex real time strategy board game. There will be heroes, bowmen, warriors, clerics, alchemists, mages, and other gifted classes. In the current build there are four options for a selected unit: an attack, movement, wait, and special.

For instance, a warrior is able to move in a circular boundary limited to its movement range. Once moved the unit is able to redo its movement phase by click the undo button. The unit may also do one of the following action buttons: attack, special, or wait. If any of the action buttons have been pressed the undo move button no longer undoes a movement.

The special button is unique to ever class and even subclasses. In the current build, warriors will be able to use a berserk mode (special) which will allow them to increase their attack at the cost of lowering their defense which will last for 3 turns, leading to a special button cool down of 5 turns.

In terms of design, each character class will be designed in 3D and imported to flash for each cases and phases. This will be one of the many hindrances to the project due to time and perfection, but in the end will most likely be enjoyable aesthetically.

I’ve uploaded a few demonstrations and images for you all to see. Enjoy!

Pictures:

Video: