Yesterday, I officially put The Matrix Unplugged into public pre-alpha. Despite handling all of the hosting/domain issues which sprang up, I have managed to get some coding work done since then. Some of the new updates I've been working on include:
- The selection interface for the Mission Centre has been given a makeover. I'm still not completely satisfied with how it turned out, but it's much nicer than it used to be:
- The main menu sidebar on the left of every page is the key way in which the user interfaces with the game and navigates through various different mods and features which make up the Matrix Unplugged. I felt that the sidebar was sort of crowded with links, and it was difficult to determine what everything did, and how to get from one part of the game to another. I've reorganized it quite a bit, and I've also highlighted many of the core features in colour. Additionally, whenever the player receives a new event, message or announcement, the link is made bold and highlighted in red to show that attention is needed:
- Finally, the biggest thing I've been working on is the Training Programs system. While the user can do basic training to instantly train their core stats (provided they have enough Focus to do so), they can now run Training Programs which not only raise their stats, but also give them important abilities (such as the ability to fight in a particular style, or the ability to hyperjump). The downside to these training programs is that they cost money, and they take a while before the user finishes them (usually a matter of days). Here's a quick snapshot of the UI:
Some of the slightly less interesting updates which I've been working on include some scalability changes, a minor alteration to the way that the game handles database tables, and I also started on developing a Help Tutorial page to act as an FAQ/User Guide, as well as a Game Rules page, and I may put them on the site later today.
Click here to try out the pre-alpha of the Matrix Unplugged for free.
Thanks for reading! Expect many more updates and code changes to be coming in the near future.
