Galdred, in viewing the video above, it seems that the dungeon environments might get pretty complex and I notice that there’s no mini-map. Is that something you plan to add? Or will there be an overall map you can call up to see where you are?
You can zoom out to see the whole dungeon. I’m still hesitant about the mini map because it would take some more screen space.
That’s fine as long as you can zoom out that far. Thanks.
How about loot/equipment? Is that handed out at the end of a dungeon run? Does that include armor and weapons?
This looks fantastic!
I like the “alarm” mechanic in concept though I may not enjoy it as much in practice as I’m more of a methodical player and as I understand the mechanic it would hurry a player like me along. Though I am eager to give it a try.
The varied mission goals are welcomed news.
That video takes pains to let us know that losses are to be expected. Can’t say you didn’t warn us.
And fireballs!? Seriously high damage output. I assume the other side gets them, too. “Light ‘em up!”
Equipment will work a bit like in X(-)COM: as you use a totally different magic system than your opponents, you cannot reuse their magic items, but you can use them as “components” in your forge to improve yours.
But unlike X-COM, you will also control “primary” sources of magic material to use in weapon crafting.
Apart from what you will forge, some of the equipment will come from mission rewards (for ruins/vault exploration missions).
Thank you!
Sorry, we might have gone a bit too far in the “unforgiving” direction :D
I’ll try to teach the other side how to use abilities and to destroy terrain “soon”. Currently, they need to rely on simple attack, but they can already use active items and open doors to flank.
Do you want to try an indie turn-based tactics game? You know you do!
Thank you!
I am about to add a few things to the demo, for end september (as Zodiac Legion will be part of the Tacticon and Games made in France events), like traps and secret doors.
I wanted to add campaign elements, but it would not be a good fit for these events (as they have short streaming slots), so they’ll get into the demo later.
That’s great to hear. Good luck!
Someone has uploaded another video:
Thank you for linking it. We made it to showcase the new AI enhancements for Gamescom.
The alarm is not only reinforcements. These arrive later. Early on, it represent AI groups getting “clearance” to go to some locations, or finishing to assemble and leaving their starting area: as the alarm level rises: more areas and AI groups get activated.
As for fireball, they are a bit overpowered, but we will probably make the higher tiers spells require a prolonged skill check to cast (ie, you channel until you manage to get over the channeling threshold), and make casting a full action for them.
Btw, I have an interview and a LP for Tacticon, starting in 34 minutes:
And here is the Steam Event page with the details:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/812910/announcements/detail/3293843537961395387
I mostly updated the demo with the addition of traps and secret doors. I didn’t have enough time to make the AI aware of them, and I’ll add a few other elements in the future, like traps/mechanisms that take several turns to operate.
Greeting commanders,
We are thrilled to showcase you the new elements we added in our demo build for Tacticon and Games made in France.
Traps and pressure plates can now be hidden on the ground.
And if you missed it, since the Gamescom build in late August, the AI can no pro-actively open doors to engage your party or reinforce an area.
As with every major update, this one probably broke a few things, so please excuse us in advance for the inconvenience.
I only had time to modify the prison (jailbreak) and cathedral (iconoclasm) level to add traps and secrets to them.
For Tacticon, I will have an interview with kormakrtv followed by a LP on Twitch tomorrow (8PM CEST)
twitch.tv/kormakrtv, or here on the TactiCon Steam page.
and with Games made in France on Saturday (11h30 PM CEST).
Thank you for your support, and may the stars shine on you.
Hey there, KormakrTv and BumpMcSquigums have uploaded the videos they made about Zodiac Legion on youtube:
KormakrTv dev interview and LP.
Bumpy McSquigums LP
I have been working on level randomization and optimization lately. I also added a few traits to weapons:
- reach weapons now also support from range 2, but not from range 1
- flails have the best statline of all 1 handed weapons, but don’t allow supporting an adjacent ally.
Also, the game now works on Steam deck and Proton.
Hey, thanks for the update. Do you have an idea yet on when it will go into EA?
It should be out in november, as I would have to reimburse my grant after that time (unless I pass my very hard supplication check).
Ah, still plenty of time yet, then. I will look forward to it next year.
Splattercat covered this today, which will put a lot of eyeballs on it.
Thank you for posting the video! I am very lucky he made a second LP of the game. I still have a lot to implement, but I got a few family issues to take care of. I hope to be finished with the random levels next week, then I’ll be able to dedicate some time to fix the issues (HP bar giving incorrect information, walking through walls, sluggish cursor), before revamping the combat system and moving to the geoscape.
Regarding the planned change for combat, we planned to go for a bit more realism and authenticity when it comes to medieval skirmishes:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/812910?emclan=103582791462118559&emgid=3674421801100823211
I have a couple more good news to share with you:
Our regional grant request has been accepted by the Provence/South region in France, so we should have a bit more budget, mostly for the music and art department.
We promised to add monsters from the local folklore with part of these funds:
The game has been featured in Gamerzakh’s Most anticipated Turn-Based Tactical RPG of 2024
And we added a tutorial to the Steam demo. I am still ironing a few usability issues, then I’ll move back to geoscape integration (most of the systems work, but there is literally 0 content in terms of castle upgrades, research or events, and I still need to add artifact crafting and character progression and customization).
Three things:
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Congratulations! That’s great news and I couldn’t be happier for you.
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As an American, your words are almost like a unicorn to me. It boggles my mind how often I see government grant credits in the movies, TV shows, and videogames I enjoy so much, yet never from my own government. I wish the US loved the arts as much as the rest of the world. : (
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And again, congrats! That’s got to be a wonderful feeling knowing your country has your back like that.
Whoa, that’s very cool about the grant, congratulations! France has some pretty unique folklore creatures, it’ll be interesting to see what you all bring into the game.
I put Zodiac Legion on my Steam wishlist quite some time ago thanks to this thread, but I didn’t realize a demo had been released. Looks like I have something new to check out this weekend, thanks! The game looks great in the videos above. Good luck with the rest of the development this year and best wishes for a successful launch in Q4.