Hey, folks! It’s that special time once again, where I fill you in on all the goings-on in the development of Telepath Tactics.
First and most importantly, Telepath Tactics now supports user-created campaigns! You may recall me mentioning last month that Telepath Tactics will have a single player campaign. Well, why limit it to just one? The game now supports an unlimited number of user-created single player campaigns, each with their own custom characters, battles, enemies, items, attacks, dialog, and even cut scenes.
All it takes to add a new campaign to your copy of the game is to download the campaign as a zipped folder, then unzip it into the Campaigns sub-folder; Telepath Tactics will automatically recognize the new campaign and add it to the list for you play. Simple as that! Creating a new campaign is simple, too: just create a new folder, copy-paste the game’s default .xml files, then start editing and creating maps using any standard text editor and the Telepath Tactics map editor program.
On the gameplay side of things, I’ve added important features unique to campaign mode such as persistent character experience and leveling, as well as persistent character inventories.
Another cool feature: you can now hand-place items on the battlefield, or stick them inside of objects or characters. Want treasure-filled barrels? Easy! Want certain enemies to spawn with bandages or focus pills in their inventories? Go for it! This particular feature works in both multiplayer and campaign modes.
Next up on the agenda, character animations are coming along nicely. There have been persistent questions about whether the static placeholder graphics currently in-game represent the final character graphics. I keep telling people that they aren’t, that the final game will feature full animation in four directions, but this answer hasn’t seemed to stick. Perhaps a little visual demonstration will help!
Drum roll, please–it’s time to strut your stuff, ladies and gentlemen:
The above image is an animated gif, and therefore it has some dithering and loss of color–the animations appearing in the finished game will not. Lorne Whiting is the remarkable fellow responsible for all of these gorgeous animations, in case you’re wondering whom to worship. I understand that he doesn’t have any official altars set up at the moment, but feel free to praise him in the comfort of your own home.
Speaking of people with ungodly amounts of talent contributing to Telepath Tactics, I have news to announce: the incredibly gifted Nick Perrin will be contributing music to the game! You can check out some of his excellent past work here (including my personal favorite, the incredible Piano Trio in C# Minor).
Things are coming along slowly but surely. More to come!
