Tales of Akash 10 devlog [some programming stuff]

The game development is nearing completion. I must say I'm impressed the game works as well as it now does as I got some bugs fixed and whatnot. I also revamped the graphics a bit for a darker feel.

What I really wanted was a shader or at least a vignette in the dungeon graphics. Unfortunately due to the nature of the graphics "engine" it's not possible and cropping the thing with GIMP without "Crop to HTML" grid is very difficult.

So last night the bands kept playing until 1am or something.. I was dead tired and trying to sleep but couldn't so I pulled out my laptop and started programming. During the day I had done the game music with my DIY kantele (a box zither of sort I read) and some VSTs and DAWs. It turned out very good for my skill level I think.

The recording setup for the game soundtrack

I started out by simply plucking the zither for some simple melodies. I later edited and transposed them a bit to a percussive, plucky loop that is used throughout the main theme. But that's not all..

The renewed graphics of the world map with an added side quest field (auto-resolve on the right)

Upon entering a certain location in the game the engine performs an enemy raid which must be repelled. There's a so-called Auto-Resolve feature that does the math behind it and announces the winner. I copied this from Jagged Alliance 2 but there's no tactical screen because it's way too difficult to program at this point (keep in mind I've been using Python for less than 2 years I think).

But yeah, the most challenges I'm facing is with the chakra system. For those who do not know it is an Indian concept of the human "celestial" body and path to enlightenment. It consists of :

• Root chakra which is located near the tailbone

• Sacral chakra, located above it near the sacrum

• Solar Plexus which is located in the stomach

• Anahata, the heart

• Vishuddha, the throat chakra

• Ajna, the "third eye" in the forehead

• Sahasrara, the crown chakra at the top of the head

So I made it so that the Root chakra that deals with personal strength and rooting adds additional PvE damage. Then the Sacral chakra that deals with sexuality adds to PvP damage. Chakras that govern personal power and/or communication such as Solar Plexus and Vishuddha add to troop recruitment, and chakras of love, clairvoyance and enlightenment like Anahata, Ajna and Sahasrara add to healing.

Quite the game mechanic I must admit. Very simple but at the same time complex to implement as there are numerous bugs and errors due to my experience with Python and Tcl/Tk. Maybe I get it working one day, who knows. The problem is the power chakra grants additional troops whether it's the correct one or not, there is an if-condition that does this and I'm not sure how to solve it.

The game is about 95% done (I think) as I'm writing this, and I must admit there have been very tough calls with the auto-resolve and lots of dungeon crawling and troop management as well as strategic pondering with the test account. Also lots of troubleshooting but I think I've made it to the point I can write down a module and test it, with only a few mistakes here and there.. looking back there have been occasions when the whole module had to be rewritten.

One thing I'm concerned about is the commercial version and pricing.. if the game ends up being released as is, I can't ask that much for it as it's got so many bugs to the point of being almost unplayable to the fullest.

Anyway, this concludes my half-rant and half-win blog post. Have a nice Monday everyone, and feel free to comment (as my knowledge of chakras might be somewhat limited as I've only scrolled through a few esoteric web pages).

-ef