This week, other than fixing some bugs, I also added a new turn order system. The original system was never meant to be final - every unit's turn order was randomized at the start and it just never changes for that battle.

For the new system, I decided to use something similar to the one used in Tactics Ogre, which utilizes the concept of Recovery Time ("RT").

  • Every unit has a base RT they start off with.
  • Turn order goes from lowest to highest RT.
  • When a unit gets their turn, their RT is reduced to 0. Every other unit's RT is reduced by that unit's RT.
  • After taking their turn, their new RT is determined by their base RT plus the RT cost for actions they take.

This felt the easiest to grasp, and also makes it possible for me to play around with mechanics such as abilities that can delay unit's turns (increasing their current RT).

The new system also allowed me to create spawners (the cone-looking objects at the base of the enemies in the screenshot above). They can be set to spawn a certain unit whenever their turn comes up. This is something I might end up using for the first level design, since I don't want to overwhelm the player with too many enemy units all at once.

Next week: There wasn't much work done this week visually, so next I'd like to start working on the initial models and textures for the first level: a ruined cathedral.