Swordfight success!

Hoy all!

Cannon Badge

    Been a busy time at Potential Games and Project Airbags, we have made excellent progress in not only the puzzles themselves but the backend and multiplayer system. Dabick, who is our master sword developer, has been able to work with Russ to create a functioning swordfight! We made a video showing our progress:

https://youtu.be/XoAfcauQ_gs

    Those who swordfight alot will notice the board is seven wide. This made things fit a bit better on screens and is just one of the many changes planned. You will also notice one of us is much better at swordfighting than the other. It’s Dabick, he plays much much better, but I did make the background prettier. 

Sailing Piece

    Now's the time to set some expectations. Those that have followed closely may already know this, but we are not making a YPP clone. We are inspired by and enjoyed YPP in the past, but this will be our own game. Some of our puzzles will be similar, others will be entirely our own designs. We see the squandered potential the old game had, and still has, and will be using that to guide our plans. There will be a lot of changes and I am listening carefully to what you all tell me you like and dislike so we can build a great game together.

    

    Some changes to weigh in on:

Pillages - This will be a sky-pirate’s bread and butter. If another puzzle or activity starts to become the primary way pirates earn currency we will have a hard look at it. Shops, bar games, and tournaments are fine distractions, but piracy will be the core of the game.

Sailing Piece

Game variety - Our goal is to have at least two working versions of every puzzle which will allow players with different skills and preferences to be able to do well at any given task. Everyone will have their favorite, but that shouldn't prevent them from participating in other ship tasks.

    I am also aiming to have a random element within the game itself. Every time you clear a board and a new one loads it could have a different goal or ruleset. Think of it like having a lightning round. This will not only allow players to reduce the monotony of playing the same puzzle for hours but will assist in hampering bots and hacks. Humans adapt well to change, bots not so much. 

Community involvement - I am committed to be as open and present in this game as possible. As you should all know by now I will weigh in on any questions, comments or suggestions you have had. Plans to continue this also extend to in-game, where the most dedicated players will have the ability to directly communicate with the development team. Asking questions and getting answers will be not only expected, but built in. 

Convenience - We all have many draws on our time. I would love nothing other than to spend 60 hours a week developing this. I would probably burn out in 20, but I don't have that time anyways. To help players stay active with smaller amounts of time we will have many game functions that will give them a break.

Sailing Piece

    The first is a break timer. You can at any time hit pause and take care of bathroom needs, feed the dog, go see the sunshine, take a call, drive to the next red light, and your character in game will continue playing at your current rating. This paused time is deducted from break time you accrued by playing puzzles that day. 

    Even more importantly, this will also allow you to take breaks during battles. For example, when you take a break your character will continue doing the current puzzle, when you grapple will start fighting like an NPC with your current ranking in the melee. Good reason to practice and get that ranking up!

 Solo-pirating - Not everyone likes people, I can think of a few I don’t like. Some captains just need a crew to get the ship underway, but large ships require dozens of players to even get moving, and keeping good crew aboard can be just as challenging. To alleviate this we plan to have hirable crew bots, as well as recruitable NPCs that players can use to fill ships and set sail without waiting. You don’t have to wait for bots, but they will cost a captain more, so a crew of good players will be preferable. You can also replace bots as live players become available, or hire them if players drop off before you’ve gotten your fill of piracy for the day.

    There are just too many things to fully list here, but know that they are all in our goal for the day of full publish. Beta’s will likely begin summer of next year. 

I also have a short video to give some visuals to all this I have been writing about.

https://youtu.be/0oATfC1FOvQ

    

    We are still looking for more developers, anyone with C# and/or Unity experience, game art skills, or publishing expertise. So if you or someone you know has those skills, a love for games like YPP, and time on their hands, let us know!

As always we are available on our discord;

https://discord.gg/GFqyXaKr

And our website;

https://www.potentialgamestudios.com/

And replying to my blog and Reddit posts.