It’s a good time for 2020 middle of the year recapitulation for Hexfray. Let’s see the plans, progress made towards them and where will the focus go in the rest of 2020.
We have choice of maps in the invite system & random pick in matchmaking, the editor and map creation process have been improved (see above), players have contributed their maps. This mostly concludes map editing changes for some time as the utility from further additions wouldn’t be big enough at the moment. I hope we can see 8-10 playable maps to choose from by the end of the year.
- Fine-tune gameplay. Importantly, this means publicly documenting how the game works to lay ground for discussion. Also likely includes new game mechanics (like units defending themselves).
We have a game parameters page and new game mechanics, I would say the game now has a basic but solid set of features which make it enjoyable. The aim is to implement a few more enhancements during the rest of the year, likely focusing on easy to grasp mechanics for casual players.
- Fix serious bugs and smooth out some rough edges of the current UI. A few corners were cut short at first and I want to fix some of those to prevent some frustrating experiences (two examples: how the game works on slow connection, navigation around the website).
This category has seen improvements too (most notably in the Lobby UI) but is also the one that still needs the most work. A bigger project to add here would be a playable game tutorial.
Overall, the game has been on a good track in the first half of 2020 and should continue on it during the second half as outlined above. With this foundation, the plans will slowly shift to increased focus on finding new players who would enjoy the game and build a fun community together.
Let me also say: thank you everyone playing and contributing, either publicly or in personal communication!