PFC Progress Report 1

It's been about two weeks since I announced the recreation of Project Fight Club so I'd like to share what has been done and what's being done differently as well as proving I'm actually working on the game. The progress may not seem like much since I'm also working on Testing Playground still. I try to do what I can for each game so I can make sure that stuff is still being made for both. 

One thing I would like to discuss with the new PFC is its balance changes; I've learned a lot since the first iteration of the game so I'm adjusting the game accordingly. For example, the damage a weapon does is now consistent instead of a random range. This way, you'll know how much damage you'll be doing instead of estimating it. Following the pattern of consistency, swords now play their animations in a set pattern instead of being random. With this change, you'll be able to know where your sword will be when you attack, allowing you to adjust your character's direction accordingly.

Gotta hate when swords make your torso fly off in real

At the moment, 3 tools have been completed: Mr. Slice, Blink Dagger, and Kunai. All three of these tools have been revamped mechanically and visually.

Mr. Slice

The classic, well-rounded, infamous Mr. Slice. This tool has seen both sides of the balance spectrum from its original 60 damage crit to its abysmal crit chance and damage. Hopefully, we will be able to find a good spot for this wicked blade. 

Mr. Slice hasn't changed too much aside from the global changes listed above; it deals a constant 34 damage unless it deals a crit, which it'll then do 47.6 damage instead. One visual difference of Mr. Slice is that its red glow will occur even if the crit didn't land, as opposed to the original only turning red when a crit landed. In addition to the sword glowing red, the trail on the sword will turn red as well.

Yeah that's cool I guess

Blink Dagger

The Blink Dagger: one of the first tools created and one of the few that are straight up from Dota 2. For what it's worth, it was a tool created for fun and never really for the game, especially because it wasn't created by me, but my friend GearTitan. If you don't know yet, he handed me Mr. Stabs (which he named), Mask of Madness, and Blink Dagger; that's why there's a statue of him in my version of Raven Rock. This tool was notorious for being a staple in everyone's loadouts: it had a huge range, allowed you to teleport instantly, and had a pretty solid cooldown time. Clearly, all that had to change.

In the new iteration of the game, Blink Dagger's range drops from a staggering 150 down to 40. The reason for its drastic drop was how universally good the dang thing was. This tool was so good, it made it nearly impossible to make any new mobility tools without instantly being invalidated. I even made a post about it here. Aside from the large distance nerf, everything else about the tool remains the same, including its cooldowns and hit-cooldown mechanic. 

With the change to its range, I found testing the dagger to be difficult since I'd always try to blink using the old dagger's range. To help make it easier to visualize what a 40-stud radius looks like, when you click out of range, a feint bubble will show where you'll be able to teleport to. 

While we're on the topic of visual changes, the Blink Dagger has a new, very pleasing effect when you successfully teleport. Replacing the old Blink Dagger's block petals are a wonderful black petal particle that gently falls when you teleport, drawn by my wonderful partner. 

Elegant, yet, somber

Kunai

The Kunai: a staple disabling tool that everyone has used at least one. The Kunai has always had a nice design. It was straight forward and that's good for something essential such as disabling another player from moving. Back when the only ranged weapon was the Hookshot and the only stun was from using the Lava Staff, the Kunai filled a necessary role by creating a quick, low cooldown stun that requires a bit of practice to land. 

The Kunai's return to the revamped version of the game is no surprise, however, it does come with a few changes. The speed the Kunai travels is a bit slower than its original version which means it'll take a bit of predicting to land the throw and further throws are more predictable. That being said, an upside is that now the Kunai can be thrown while moving, allowing you to manipulate the starting position at which the Kunai starts its travel. Other than those two changes, its values are identical to its original incarnation.

Visually, however, the Kunai looks much more appealing. Instead of the Kunai just being thrown forward, the Kunai now has a ribbon attached to the end of it to make it easier to see in darker areas, as well as a trail following it. When the Kunai lands on a surface instead of an enemy, the Kunai will stick to the surface accompanied by a loud thunk. These visual and auditory additions should make it more clear as to what happened: you'll know when you've thrown the Kunai, you can see where it's going, and you can tell when it has ended and what the result was.

Goodbye edited superball

Working on the game is a lot of fun. I'm excited to see how this will all turn out in the end as we have some great ideas for PFC. I'm hoping it will all come together for an enjoyable and visually pleasing game. The idea of the game looking updated and fluid is my motivation to keep working, so I hope to be posting more soon.