Ballland: World!
Halting Game Events to Develop More? #devupdate
As stated in our Discord, we cancelled the event online yesterday and the release of the new custom stage in order to get a head start on today's dev day. People may have seen me popping online earlier in the day today, however the new features that we're adding onto the test server quickly make interacting less compatible as we evolve. I was thinking that with the limited exposure, even in the face of being on multiple platforms, some more focus should be on adding features that the game needs. I also said in the Discord that we'll be posting about development prior to this next update, and these updates will span across here on our forum, Itch.io, and any other places that accept devlogs.
Today and last night were spent working on a lot of cool ideas and ironing out bugs. Here are the major features 
Upgrading the online experienceWe've changed the layout of the player's online room screen. Those battle settings can be tucked into the left sidebar, leaving ample space for a chatroom, another social feature coming in the next update. These messages are selectable from the chat message button at the bottom, with over 30 preset messages. You're also able to revisit the room's lobby after the room is started.
The reason why we chose preset messages over full chat is for the safety of the players. We don't need children being exposed to bad language or any other icky stuff. The options also make it easy to quickly communicate, no keyboard mashing required. Player roles are displayed, and names are colored as appropriate.
We're experimenting with the ability to see the players in the match while selecting a character and a stage, and allowing players to see each other vote. Many of these features were actually in Ballland Battles: Deluxe and Ballland Battles: Legacy, so it's nice to have a refresher. You're able to feel more connected to others when in a room, as it should be.
Unlocking new characters
We've added in more base characters, filling the roster with the full rainbow and then some. Players are able to unlock and choose the golden Goldini, the reddish Scarlett, the purple-ish Perriwink, Whitz, Bruno, Rose, and more. Every player is going to have a special weapon. These special weapons are iconic to the Ballland Battles name, and so having nearly two dozen specials will require a lot of discussion. Bluey's Meteor is solid, however Pinky's invisibility, Yelly's Dark Bomb, Greeny's Smart Bomb, and the others haven't yet been placed in. We want to have a conversation on the back-end, possibly with our VIP Members and Supporters, to discuss everyone's special item.Note, that above I said "unlock." We're building a basic economy in Ballland: World, so players can invest in their characters and earn from playing. We're experimenting so far with 8 different currencies, themed after metals and gems. Players can earn these gems and metals from playing and logging on, engaging with others, and participating in the higher-level systems within the game. For instance, while it costs to create a clan on the server, players are rewarded by remaining active in a clan, and when one member wins in a match, the rest of the clan benefits. The economics are to be discussed in a future cast as well.
The level editor upgrades
In the level editor, we've given a whole new dimension to how flexible levels can be made. In the current version, we're able to generate multi-layered tilemaps, up to four layers. In this level editor is a tile layer for the background behind the main layer, to be used mainly for flooring, the main layer which all current stages default to, an elevated layer for small depth perception and added detail, and a foreground layer that's above the players and other field elements, which can be used for ceilings, hidden areas, etc.
We've darkened the grid tiles such that looks like this can be done:
We also added pipe collision objects, allowing for proper colliding with skinny tiles such as BBD Neon Walls's neon. Player spawns have been consolidated into one object. We're also experimenting with up to 16 player spawns, exponentially increasing the variety of gameplay. The performance of the level editor has been boosted by multiples.
And all of the levels out there under previous game versions can still be loaded without error, both for editing and for play, thanks to our version-compatibility we've established somewhere back in x.3100.
Thanks for reading.
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