Nice, looking forward to this

Hello folks!

I decided to take some time to present on this forum the project I'm currently working on.

Don't be too hasty in judging the title of this post and the little banners below: this is all for fun. Anyone who has ever tried to develop a game knows all too well that the main risk is to end up with a never-finished broken draft. So here is an attempt to move forward with a road map which I hope will help me finalize something tangible.

This being said, let's jump into it!

This is a "trilogy", because I keep maintaining three different variants to be played on the same map (a 'polar azimuthal equidistant projection' derivative of the AA anniversary map that I already presented to the AA forum).

Herkules - April '42

Herkules is the lightest version. It is basically AA50 rules on a modified map, with (optional) additional players:

The Commonwealth - UK's little helper, first in the turn order. France - starting as a Vichy Axis-oriented buffer zone, that can be liberated and join (back) the Allies. Neutral Powers - that can be invaded or join either side upon certain conditions.

The plan is to keep this variant simple and AI friendly - for players who would be interested in the graphics and modified experience of the game - but not keen to learn alternative rules.

It also maintains the link with the (real life) boardgame and my inital project of having an alternative printed map for it.

Ironclad - May '42

Ironclad goes a step further in modifying the units (cost and abilities - adding the tactical bomber and mechanized infantry) and some additional features.

The cut line is not yet fully decided, but the plan is to put into it the most stable and reasonable stuff developped in the third variant. With the aim of keeping it playable and balanced.

Yes, in short, the ultimate variant

Fall Blau - June '42

Fall Blau is and will probably always be mostly experimental. It deeply changes the core game in using mechanics like an alternative economic system, additional and modified phases and alike. It went a bit too far - as it is playing with the limits of the engine. It is also quite heavy and slow (under 2.5) because of the length of the code, and definitely discards the AI.

It is nevertheless a good example of what is possible to code in TripleA and it explores some new game mechanics that might interest other players/developpers.

Release date
Well, I don't know

Nor do I know if I should release it.

But it's good to keep having an objective, right?

Good advice from both of you. I agree, it will be much better with transparency, so i am willing to go for that for my final version.
As for my version 0.2, half of the models with background are finished so i will just finish the rest too. Even without transparency the map will be much more fun to play that way.

I will probably look into greenfish already while workig on 0.2, to see if i get a hook on it.

@edit:
Oh one more thing:
I found that i can make the background the same color as the map territories, belonging to the respective race. So the Empire background is the same grey as the empire territory, so it looks like tranparency as long as you do not go on allied territory.

Cheers

@tannenbernie It does not have to be transparent, though a non transparent square is unlikely to look good unless it is something abstract.

For non abstract units, I think that the best alternative to a transparent background is a circular background, which anyway requires transparency given that image files are rectangular (or square).

For example, you could have an 80 pixels per axis background like this one,

over which you could draw the units you want (like these ones).

If you don't want to learn how to handle transparency just yet, you can use this image, being careful to keep your drawing within the monotone gray zone,

as it will be very easy to then turn the black outside the circle to transparency.

However, having a transparent background is preferable because it is neutral and is much easier to add a background than to remove it so giving you the option to decide about the background thereafter with ease, comprising opting for keeping it purely transparent.