Tactics Ensemble: Victis Windows game

Tactics Ensemble: Victis

anomalous_underdog | TBD

Instant action battles set in the world of Victis. Victis is planned as a role-playing game on the PC, combining visceral action with turn-based tactics. The game is set in a dark medieval fantasy with gunpowder firearms instead of swords and bows.

This project is actually just the combat system of a larger project I’m making: Victis, a full-fledged RPG game. But I want to concentrate on the combat system first, hence, this. You may see some little glints of what the RPG game may end up to be with this combat system, but the focus right now is more on the fundamental mechanics for combat.

The end product for this small project is an “instant action” game where you choose your units, choose a map, then duke it out in battle against AI (or perhaps another human player), much like “skirmish” modes in many RTS games. So, no story yet, whatsoever. No leveling-up yet, no character inventory yet.

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2012 Year End Update

Jan 5 2013 News 3 comments

Textured

First of all the biggest improvement is that the 3d model I use for the soldiers in the game is now textured.

This 3d model, for the most part, is still a placeholder for the different unit types in the game.

Units

Right now we have three unit types:

Sharpshooter

Your standard ranged unit. Can shoot far. Wields a rifle in both hands and can't do melee attacks.

Gunner (working name)

Equipped with a hand cannon (blunderbuss). Does frontal assaults and uses his hand cannon as a blunt weapon for melee attacks.

Scout

Lightly equipped soldier wielding a pistol. The scout can traverse steep terrain where others have a hard time travelling. In the future, he'll also be equipped with a grappling hook so he can help other units who cannot otherwise climb walls and buildings.

As you can see, I'm currently reusing the same 3d model for all unit types. Once the game goes further along I'll take the time to create unique characters.

Pathfinding

Another major update is the addition of a new outdoor map taking place in a hillside with a tower outpost.
With this, I needed to add pathfinding to the enemies as they were mindlessly bumbling across impassable terrain.

You can read more about the technical stuff about it here.

2012 In A Glance

This was how Tactics Ensemble looked like first, at the start of 2012:

And this is how Tactics Ensemble looks like as of the end of 2012:

Hopefully 2013 will also be a good year for Tactics Ensemble.

What's Next

Here's what I've been working on next, the Shieldsman unit.

Shieldsmen are armor-clad soldiers carrying retractable tower shields. They serve as the tank unit in the game.

I won't create the Shieldsman character yet, only his shield, and I'll reuse my soldier 3d model again for the time being.

I got carried away and made this also:

Kingdom Death and Dark Souls are a big influence to me.

Other than that, big glaring deficiencies in the game is the GUI, from the GUI in the battle screen, to the main menu, scenario selection, and everything else.

I can't depend on Unity to finish their new GUI system anytime soon, and using the current GUI system is a pain to use. I can't buy 3rd party GUI systems either like NGUI since I don't have any means of purchasing online.

Well, I'll work something out.