Hey all.

I want to start by thanking several people who have played Tears of Morganna and given their honest feedback about the game.

BigSquirrell

HuntingSwan

HeroicZephyr

achromaticcolorless

HawkZombie

You guys over the weeks and months following the release of the demo update have offered a wide variety of feedback that has helped shape the design and direction I am taking the game. This devlog is for you guys as a lot of what I have to talk about was inspired by you!

First off let’s address the biggest item of change.

OTB

The battle system has been updated to the Order Turn Battle System, OTB. This system revolves around the use of manipulating turn order to gain an advantage. AGI is now a vital component of battle success as even a single AGI down can be devastating to your battle outcome. This and skills that have longer speeds which also affects turn order and statuses which prohibit movement means a whole new level of skill can enter the mix.

It helpfully comes with a turn order display which lets you see how all of your actions and the effects of enemy skills can influence the outcome of battle. You can even use it to plan what enemies you should attack next, knowing who goes when offers a whole new element of battle.

Lurking/Stealth System 

Watch the video for  demonstrations of how these new systems work!

The biggest thing that I noticed people reacting to was something that they didn’t explicitly tell me they wanted but the overwhelming impression was ‘spy mission? Can I sneak around?’ I took notice of that and felt that I could do so much more with the tutorial. So began work on the Lurking/Alert Enemies concept. This system was made to initially just add flavor to the mission but it quickly evolved into a new way to approach the game entirely.

I then thought of the displeased outcome with the searching idea, and decided that I could make use of these new ideas to make searching more interesting. So, let’s go into the first part of all this, Alert Enemies.

Alert Enemies

Denoted by line of sight cones, these enemies will react to your presence in different ways,  from charging, chasing, and fleeing. They'll return to their home location after losing track of you, and if you attempt to flee battles, they *will* follow you as if you had just stepped into their line of sight. This means you have to have a plan to escape, and not just get out of jail free.

This is where Lurking comes into the picture.

Lurk

Lurk is a Skill that you get at level 1. Upon using it, you remain in Lurk until a certain amount of steps are made or occasionally on taking damage. When Lurking, if you walk up to an enemy that is sufficiently weaker than you  from behind them, you can Instant Kill them and gain the benefits of an encounter, minus the combat. This means Items, EXP, and Currency will all drop as normal. 

Should they be equal or greater than you in battle, you instead are given an Advantage in combat, a whole extra turn to turn the tide against them. Attacking from the side can trigger a Chance situation, meaning either party might come out on top.

Certain enemy encounters will have Advantage on you if you attempt to flee or they attack from behind, so do not be careless in engagements on the map!

In addition to this, Lurk enables you to find hidden treasure in the map, and uncover secret routes you cannot otherwise exploit. In general, this mechanic will offer a completely separate playstyle from a solely RPG approach. Think of all the ways you might be able to apply this skill, and see what tactics you discover!

Influence Lurk will Have Going Forward

Due to the existence of Lurk, it creates a new precedent that the classes should have some manner of field ability to balance the gameplay advantage Spy gains. This will require a fair amount of time to implement and test, but I think it will bring an extra element needed for Tears to feel fresh and interesting.

I do not have ideas for everything, but an example of how I might approach field abilities is the Brawler, who instead of the sneaky means of battle, might have a variant of the Spy's takedown mechanics, and be able to smash through obstacles and force new paths open.

Map design will also need to be more open ended, and plenty of routes need to be accessible for the Player to feel like their choice of style is represented fairly. The end result of all of this is a much richer and involved Player experience.

Skills, States, and Enemies - Diversity and Depth

So some of the harder critique to hear was in regards to the combat and how it was designed, but I needed to hear it.  I'll start with skills - I'm still working on the skill roster of the Spy,  but another matter to visit is well, everyone else. I need to consider the design philosophy of the characters more carefully, and the Spy Class is what they all need to be - capable of standing alone and carrying their weight in battle.

You will change POVs often, so I need to make sure your lead,  be they Wina, Gill, or Willow, all feel nuanced and fun to play.

There was critique on the overuse of Stun and I've managed to find a happy balance.  Stun is still a vital tool in general, but things will get a bit more interesting with some of the new concepts put forth. There are some new States as well, such as Bleed which will help flavor things.

As for Stun and Paralysis, they're now behavior wise, quite different. Stun prohibits actions altogether while Paralysis actually only prevents you from using Physical Specials, and severely weakens the target.

I'll be working on enemy and encounter variety as well, with the hope of appeasing the concern of sameness. 

What's Next

As mentioned, a core goal will be to bring out the special talents of each class, and make them stronger independently.  They'll also bring new stuff to the map exploration, which will be helpful for making the map more interesting. Balancing and testing is ongoing to ensure the smooth transition from ATP to OTB battle systems, and to make things more dynamic and interesting.

Lots of experiments are going to be done to examine the full potential of what I can do with Tears, look forward to other mechanics like Lurk in the future!

At some point I'd like to actually start building the full game, which hopefully after this in progress update, I can devote my energy to in full.