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Grand Arms: March to the Demo, Part 1
There are a total of 5 playable characters available during the first three missions; this week we put some finishing touches on the final one, Hywel.
This isn't "finished" per se as we'll definitely do more UI work before release, and plan to improve things based on player feedback as well. But we added a number of quality of life improvements that should make the demo a smoother experience. For example, formation is an important part of strategy - soldiers in a unit will attack and target automatically, so having them positioned correctly can turn a bad matchup into a great one. So, we added an easy way to adjust your formation right before a battle starts, without having to navigate to a separate window. You'll get onscreen feedback immediately on who's targeting who and how much damage they're expected to deal.
Like its inspiration Ogre Battle, Grand Arms features a system of tarot cards - when you liberate a town, the liberating unit may draw a card. Holding the card grants either a bonus or a penalty, and before combat, you can choose to discard the card for a one-time powerful effect. Each card is unique. With 22 major arcana, that's a lot of abilities to implement, and there's no limit in the demo - you can randomly draw any of the 22. There are still five more that need to be implemented, and the visual effects for many of them need some iteration, but that will probably continue after the demo is live.
Of course, there's a lot of work that isn't player-facing and doesn't make for a good screenshot. We recently added crash reporting for example - if the demo does crash, you'll have the option to send anonymous details, which show up directly in our development Discord channel. There's a bit more of this plumbing and testing to be done for the demo still.
Given the set of work remaining to be done, we're aiming to have the playable demo available by the end of February. We'll give a more firm date as soon as we have one. Stay tuned!
[ 2023-01-15 00:33:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Grand Arms: March of the Red Dragon is a tactical RPG that combineds real-time troop movement with turn-based combat. Currently we're working towards a playable demo that will feature the first three missions of the game (out of 40 planned.) We have a "vertical slice" including all of the essential gameplay systems already implemented - you can choose a mission, watch story sequences, organize your army, change classes, and play through missions. Here are a few things we've finished recently, and what remains to be done:
Playable characters
There are a total of 5 playable characters available during the first three missions; this week we put some finishing touches on the final one, Hywel.
- Goronwy: the main character of the story, Goronwy is the son of the senschal of the Kingdom of Gwyneth and serves as the captain of Llewelyn's guard. Early in the story, a seemingly ordinary mission undertaken by Goronwy turns out to have unforeseen and dire consequences for the kingdom.
- Llewelyn: a prince of Gwyneth, the nephew to the current ruling prince. Llewelyn's father contested his uncle for the throne and is now, with his wife and three other sons, imprisoned for it. Llewelyn serves his uncle, but seeks a way to ensure his family's safety.
- Morfydd: a talented archer and close friend of Goronwy. As the bastard of a petty king, Morfydd was raised by her commoner mother and had to make her own way in life. She currently serves the princes of Gwyneth.
- Bleddyn: a carefree, winebibbing bard. Bleddyn keeps the old ways, rejecting Christianity, and follows great men wherever he finds them - so that he can write a great ballad about their exploits. Bleddyn was trained by a fellow bard and seer, and believes he has the prophetic gift as well - although there's no good evidence of this as of yet, and some of his predictions have most certainly failed to come true...
- Hywel: the elderly Bishop of Bangor. An unfailingly loyal friend to the princes of Gwyneth, he despises any who threaten his Brythonic, and Christian, culture.
UI Enhancements
This isn't "finished" per se as we'll definitely do more UI work before release, and plan to improve things based on player feedback as well. But we added a number of quality of life improvements that should make the demo a smoother experience. For example, formation is an important part of strategy - soldiers in a unit will attack and target automatically, so having them positioned correctly can turn a bad matchup into a great one. So, we added an easy way to adjust your formation right before a battle starts, without having to navigate to a separate window. You'll get onscreen feedback immediately on who's targeting who and how much damage they're expected to deal.
Abilities
Like its inspiration Ogre Battle, Grand Arms features a system of tarot cards - when you liberate a town, the liberating unit may draw a card. Holding the card grants either a bonus or a penalty, and before combat, you can choose to discard the card for a one-time powerful effect. Each card is unique. With 22 major arcana, that's a lot of abilities to implement, and there's no limit in the demo - you can randomly draw any of the 22. There are still five more that need to be implemented, and the visual effects for many of them need some iteration, but that will probably continue after the demo is live.
Chores
Of course, there's a lot of work that isn't player-facing and doesn't make for a good screenshot. We recently added crash reporting for example - if the demo does crash, you'll have the option to send anonymous details, which show up directly in our development Discord channel. There's a bit more of this plumbing and testing to be done for the demo still.
Goal
Given the set of work remaining to be done, we're aiming to have the playable demo available by the end of February. We'll give a more firm date as soon as we have one. Stay tuned!
[ 2023-01-15 00:33:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Grand Arms: March of the Red Dragon
Child 39 Studios
Developer
Child 39 Studios
Publisher
Summer 2023
Release
Game News Posts:
4
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🎮 Full Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
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Grand Arms: March of the Red Dragon is a unique tactical RPG, a spiritual successor to the classic Ogre Battle series. Gameplay blends real-time strategy and resource management with turn-based RPG combat. Move squads of units across the map in real time to capture towns and castles; when enemy units come in contact, a turn-based battle ensues, with the defeated side forced to retreat.
Build Your Army
Take control of dozens of individual soldiers with unique appearance, stats and classes. Choose from 40+ class options, and customize your squad's formation to maximize their effectiveness: taking advantage of which abilities are used when a unit is in the front vs. the rear, what damage types they deal and what enemies are weak to, and support abilities which can be used to help nearby squads when they enter combat.
Fight it out!
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When your squad comes in contact with an enemy squad, a turn-based battle ensues. Battles play out automatically; characters act in initiative order, and their actions are determined by their class and the squad's formation - archers will rain down destruction on enemies from the rear, but if they lose their cover, they're defenseless. The side that deals the most morale damage - by hitting hard, taking down units, or weakening the enemy commander - is the winner, with the other side losing ground on the map.
Control Your Territory
Explore dozens of unique regions depicted in lush, hand-painted graphics.
Each in-game location includes towns, churches, castles and watchtowers, all of which can be liberated to gain a tactical advantage. Destroy your opponents and capture their territories to win. Choose where to stand your ground - fighting from the right terrain can give you the advantage you need, and traversing difficult terrain can build up fatigue that will reduce your units' effectiveness.
Destiny Awaits, but Ruling isn't Easy
Navigate a rich character-driven narrative filled with intrigue, betrayal, and hard choices.
Generations ago, the scattered kingdoms of the Britons were nearly united by one of history's greatest princes, Llewelyn the Great, in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Llewelyn was the greatest ruler the land had seen since King Arthur. But when he reached the apex of his power, he died, leaving behind a messy succession crisis. And in the chaos, England invaded, leading to a loss of nearly all Llewelyn had won.
Llewelyn II was named after his famous grandfather. He too is destined for greatness and will someday be known to history. But his path to greatness is uncertain: his father and brothers are imprisoned in London, England occupies half of the territory of Gwynedd, raiders harry the coast, and the ruling prince, Llewelyn's uncle, is viewed by many as a usurper. Will he be known as the prophesied Son of Destiny who ruled over a united Kingdom of the Britons, or as the prince who lost everything when England invaded?
Play as Llewelyn's seneschal Goronwy, taking command of his armies to consolidate your power in Wales - defending against threats from England as well as closer to home.
Build Your Army
Take control of dozens of individual soldiers with unique appearance, stats and classes. Choose from 40+ class options, and customize your squad's formation to maximize their effectiveness: taking advantage of which abilities are used when a unit is in the front vs. the rear, what damage types they deal and what enemies are weak to, and support abilities which can be used to help nearby squads when they enter combat.
Fight it out!
When your squad comes in contact with an enemy squad, a turn-based battle ensues. Battles play out automatically; characters act in initiative order, and their actions are determined by their class and the squad's formation - archers will rain down destruction on enemies from the rear, but if they lose their cover, they're defenseless. The side that deals the most morale damage - by hitting hard, taking down units, or weakening the enemy commander - is the winner, with the other side losing ground on the map.
Control Your Territory
Explore dozens of unique regions depicted in lush, hand-painted graphics.
Each in-game location includes towns, churches, castles and watchtowers, all of which can be liberated to gain a tactical advantage. Destroy your opponents and capture their territories to win. Choose where to stand your ground - fighting from the right terrain can give you the advantage you need, and traversing difficult terrain can build up fatigue that will reduce your units' effectiveness.
Destiny Awaits, but Ruling isn't Easy
Navigate a rich character-driven narrative filled with intrigue, betrayal, and hard choices.
Generations ago, the scattered kingdoms of the Britons were nearly united by one of history's greatest princes, Llewelyn the Great, in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Llewelyn was the greatest ruler the land had seen since King Arthur. But when he reached the apex of his power, he died, leaving behind a messy succession crisis. And in the chaos, England invaded, leading to a loss of nearly all Llewelyn had won.
Llewelyn II was named after his famous grandfather. He too is destined for greatness and will someday be known to history. But his path to greatness is uncertain: his father and brothers are imprisoned in London, England occupies half of the territory of Gwynedd, raiders harry the coast, and the ruling prince, Llewelyn's uncle, is viewed by many as a usurper. Will he be known as the prophesied Son of Destiny who ruled over a united Kingdom of the Britons, or as the prince who lost everything when England invaded?
Play as Llewelyn's seneschal Goronwy, taking command of his armies to consolidate your power in Wales - defending against threats from England as well as closer to home.
MINIMAL SETUP
- Processor: 2 GHzMemory: 512 MB RAMStorage: 512 MB available space
- Memory: 512 MB RAMStorage: 512 MB available space
- Storage: 512 MB available space
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