Everlords Windows game

Hey everyone,

A long overdue update is finally here.

A lot has changed since the last update. In short, the game is evolving and gradually turning into something exciting.

The Devoted

First of all, we've added our first Hero Unit - a powerful character with unique active abilities, significantly more health, and greater damage output than any standard military unit. The hero unit will have a big impact on your playstyle and moment-to-moment decisions. If this sounds reminiscent of Warcraft 3, you're not wrong. W3 is one of our inspirations.

In the lore, our heroes are called the Devoted - the strongest and most loyal champions of the Everlord they worship. Bestowed with unique powers, they have become key elements in the wars of men and the cosmic powers.

Thorns, Biomes, and the Fog of War

The fog of war is finally working like in any RTS and has two states: "Dark" and "Dim." The Dark, fully black fog, can be uncovered by building biomes or simply moving units around the map. Once explored, the terrain and enemies' structures become visible, but the fog of war becomes "Dim." In the Dim fog, enemy units are invisible unless you have a unit or building that reveals them.

This classic fog of war mechanic allows for expansion and reshaping of the world without needing a very strong economy. However, it leaves enough unknowns to force you to use your units actively to scout the territory and defend potential choke points.

Choke points are another significant change. Previously, the wasteland was a simple plane with no obstacles, causing enemies to beeline toward your base. This was boring and didn't create interesting scenarios. After some deliberation, we added Thorns, which procedurally generate a series of pathways, dead-ends, and pockets that the AI must navigate around. By placing new biomes, you can destroy pathways created by Thorns, sometimes widening choke points and sometimes blocking them completely, forcing the AI to find another way to your base. This adds another layer of strategy, requiring you to think about where to expand and build defenses.

Next Steps

Our main priority now is to finish a playable vertical slice that we can share with a select few who'd like to help us shape the game by providing feedback and criticism. This is a long and overarching goal, so we're splitting it into smaller, more attainable goals:

Win/Fail State: Right now, it's impossible to finish a run.

Unit Controls and AI: Currently, it's very rudimentary. Units keep losing their targets, running past them, getting stuck, and so on. AI is always difficult and complex to make, and even big companies often struggle with it, so there will be a lot of iterations here. For now, it needs to be functional and somewhat predictable.

HUD: Lots of work is needed, but one of the main parts is the unit control window.

Hero Abilities: Self-explanatory. We'll probably start with only a few.

Additional Units: Adding ranged and flying units for both players and enemies to create interesting compositions.

Initial Balance: Up until now, we've been adding features and using random numbers to make things function. While this shows that things work, it doesn't make for a fun game. Like in any strategy game, the balance will always evolve and change, but right now, we want to build something that can act as a springboard for the future.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. We don't have a Discord server, so our Steam page is the best place for communication for now.

See you in the next update!