So, version 2.6.6 of Pirates and Traders has gone out, and no serious new bugs seem to have been introduced beyond the troubles with the locale settings. I’m still seeing reports of OutOfMemory errors in my dashboard though, which is disappointing – I was hoping to put a bigger dent into that problem with a small fix in 2.6.5. We’ll see if that improves over the next couple of weeks, while I prepare the next release.

Work this week has otherwise been focused entirely on Dwarf King. I built up the Fortress UI, decided I didn’t like it, and will soon tear most of the code down to rebuild it in a simpler format. The problem here is that we (Ashton and I) have a lot of ideas that we’d like to put into the resource-management game, but keeping all of the information and decisions visible in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the player is difficult. Think of the trade goods in Pirates and Traders, and imagine that you now also need to administrate the production and consumption of all those goods, as well as build the facilities to produce them, and you’ll get an idea of the difficulty of doing a good interface to this.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to hear what new developments turn up at Google I/O. Something I’ve been hoping for to happen for several years now is the release of GameCenter-like service by Google for Android; that development seems to finally be happening this year, judging from the rumors. There are also strong rumors – supported by a Google I/O session on the topic – that this new service will support multi-player gaming. That would be very good news for Small Battles, which I really consider to be more of a multi-player game than single player. It also means I might dust off some of my old multi-player designs, and see how they fit into my development schedule.

Actually, on second thought, that’s not really positive – I have way more things to do than I have time to do them in. Why does converting an idea to an actual product have to take so much work?

Whew… time passes fast when you’re busy like crazy. I’ve been sharing the past couple of weeks between completing the write-up for the “Hunt for the Treasure Fleet” story line (including testing it – and killing off an innumerable number of pirates), and working on the game framework for my next game(s).

The storyline is completed now, and the game update should be making its way to your phones/tablets. Hope you enjoy it, and may you have better luck against the fleet than I did. Having gone up against them several times, I have some thoughts on how they can be handled, but it requires a lot of luck and a perfect ship and crew. If anyone – ever – manages to take down the entire fleet, please send me an e-mail to let me know. With screenshot evidence.

On the coding front, I’ve been working on the game and user interface code for Dwarf King, as well as testing out a few things on an old design that I’ve had lying around. The latter is necessary, because it lets me see how things work in a slightly different context from the main project, and thus allows me to catch some bugs that I would otherwise not notice. Though I have to say that I am tempted to do something with that spin-off code – perhaps if I get a little free-time after the user interface code for Dwarf King is done. But then again, I have another couple of stories for Pirates and Traders to write too…

Time to get back to work.

With my attention turning towards Dwarf King (and the Small Battle system), I will – of necessity, since I’m only one person – be doing less work on Pirates and Traders in the future. Some of you who have contacted me in the past weeks may already have noticed this – as there have been one or two blips in my responsiveness (though part of that is also simply due to having a newborn in the house again… ). I won’t stop updating Pirates and Traders, but the pace of updates will slow down somewhat (as it already has, to some extent).

One of the sad things about working on Android, is how difficult it is to create modifiable apps. On a PC, it is easy because one can simply place the data files in plain text, and anyone can then modify them as they like and run the game off them. Gaining access to Android resource files, on the other hand, is quite difficult. I have some ideas that I’d like to pursue for future games (perhaps have players enter URIs to new content?), but adding to the existing game… not so easy. However, packaging and releasing new versions is not that time consuming, so in the absence of the time required to rebuild the app, I’m considering another option.

Do you have a starting character background that you would love to see in Pirates and Traders: Gold?  A short adventure idea that you’d like to write? Specific player items or ship modifications that you think would be cool (and which do not unbalance the game)? If you’re  willing to do the work involved in writing them up  and testing them, you’re welcome to pitch your idea on the Facebook page or on the forums and we can take it from there (ideally, prefix the title with [Mod Idea]). If the idea is practical to add (and doesn’t contain objectionable content), and the resulting writing can be wrapped up in story script without too much work, I’ll package it and put it into the game as optional content in whatever update comes next.

Note that I’ll require you to release any writing done in this context as Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (or similar). Any contributions (except player backgrounds), will go into both the free and Gold versions; for player backgrounds we’ll have to see. Any mods will be attributed/credited on the credits page.

So that’s basically it. TLDR; if you’re interested in doing some modding on Pirates and Traders, contact me and let’s see what happens.

So, for the past couple of weeks most of my time has been spent working on getting a playable alpha version of Small Battles ready and into the hands of the testers. It will be a while after that before the game itself is ready for release, but I want to start testing it as soon as possible, as I need to get three things right with it in addition to building something that works for historical battles: it needs to be simple, it needs to be fast, and it needs to be tough.

The Small Battles game engine is intended for use in resolving the battles that may take place in Dwarf King (and perhaps – in future – in Pirates and Traders 2). This is where the requirement for streamlined gameplay comes in – the battles have to resolve quickly enough that they don’t become the game, as is the case with e.g., Total War. At the same time, the battles have to be interesting enough to play that they don’t become a chore.

My personal favorite example of a game that manages this delicate balance is the battle engine in Conquest of the New World. With its simple 3×4 grid, it managed to boil battles down into a neat little tactical problem. Unlike most tactical battle games, where you can usually bring a third of the opponents army to the fight and still defeat them handily, Conquest’s system was simple enough that the AI could savage you if you did not bring the right force to the battle.

The thing that I felt was lacking in Conquest, was the feel of fighting a historical battle. However, there are several games that do attempt for more historical flavor within small grid form. “Conquerors and Kings” is one of the earliest I know of, though the finest example of a system that captures historical combat at this scale is without a doubt Lost Battles. If you have the slightest interest in ancient warfare, get that book.

Ironically, one of the first things I implemented back when I threw up my “indie development” site back in 2000 was a grid-based battle system (and I had an eye on Conquest even back then), so in some ways this is familiar territory. I’ve learned a lot since then, though.

Currently, the battle engine is up and running, and the game can be played either 1 v 1, 1 v AI or AI v AI (if a side receives no orders in a turn, the player takes over and issues orders). The AI is pretty simple, but it’s good enough to throw its forces at you. At the moment I’m experimenting with a 7×6 grid, though I’m strongly considering limiting it to a 5×6 grid (similar to Lost Battles).

I am currently waiting on the first batch of unit art before I post any more screenshots and let any testers at it. In the meantime, I’ll be working on making the user interface a little bit more friendly and implementing more of the combat factors. The latter is a tricky balance of adding enough to satisfy my innate urge for historical fidelity with the need for interface simplicity/transparency. Complexity is worthless if the player doesn’t understand what that complexity does.

Game development schedule for the next 1-2 weeks: implement the last pieces of Small Battles to get the alpha version running. Fix the bug in Pirates and Traders for xxhdpi devices (essentially the HTC DLX for now). And finish cleaning up the writing for the new adventure being added in Pirates and Traders.

Busy evenings ahead.

With the announcements on Small Battles and Dwarf King done, I’d better talk a little bit about what will be happening with Pirates and Traders in 2013.

Most of my development effort this year will go to working on the two announced games. However, this does not mean that I will abandon Pirates and Traders, and I still have work planned on the game to be done during the year; fixing bugs (of course), as well as adding additional content to the game. The plan for the year is to do at least the following:

• Implement “Hunt for the Treasure Fleet”; a new multi-part storyline for the game, involving – strangely enough – the hunt for the Spanish Treasure Fleet. The majority of this story is written, and is planned for inclusion in version 2.6.0.
• Implement “Freedom or Death”; another new multi-part storyline for the game involving piracy, smuggling, and treachery.
• Add three new player backgrounds for P&T:Gold! players; the native, the escaped slave, and the indentured servant. The first two are a bit tricky, as the plan is for them to have some unique traits and items to fit their backgrounds.
• Add some new personal items and ship improvements to P&T:Gold!. I’ve had a couple of these planned for some time, but failed to find the time to test them properly.

Beyond that, I still have ideas for additional small story lines that I hope to cram in as and when I get time and a few new features/improvements that I would like to implement. Time is limited, though, so I know better than to promise anything like that at this time. We’ll see what happens.