Small Steps

Previously on Sands of Chaos

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve started working on the Sands of Chaos prototype. I want to use this space to document the progress on the game. I don’t think I’ll be able to do daily updates, but I’m going to try for at least two posts a week.

So… what’s been going on, you ask? The turn-based combat system is well on its way! I’ve been designing some characters, which Michael (our concept artist) is bringing to life! There’s more pixel art! I’m playing Golden Sun again, for research, obviously 🤣!

The Back Story

For my "Into the Dungeons” world building I’ve been working on setting up the back story for the world of Xyg, a fantasy/magic world which is influenced by the advanced technology of the “other-worlders” from the planet Cynn. Technically, I guess that is the first story to tell, but Sands of Chaos is based entirely on the continent of Aiere, much after the “other-worlders” crash landed on Xyg.

I’ve posted the concept art for the lead character, Azrae in my first post, Begin Again, followed by the pixel art version that will be used in-game, in my second post, Sands of Chaos.

The Prototype

Sands of Chaos was born from the Arenas of Ryst game prototyping and early development work. The character for Azrae and her ability to manipulate time was an interesting mechanic to hone in on and create something entirely around that.

When I started the prototype for a single player game, I wasn’t quite sure whether to create a turn-based tactical game or a turn-based RPG. The major difference between the two being (at least in my head) the presence or absence of a tiled combat area where movement becomes a factor. Think Final Fantasy Tactics, Gears of War Tactics, Into the Breach etc. vs Pokemon, Golden Sun, Final Fantasy X.

The Problem with Turn-based Tactics

We began by creating a 10 x 10 board, placed Azrae on there, and a few placeholder enemies that I had gotten from Patreon or the Unity Asset Store. Put in a basic turn based combat system. Select unit, move unit, attack, end turn. So far so good. Nothing unique though.

Putting Azrae on the placeholder board with a placeholder monster

Right away I found the first issue I had with an isometric board. To get the game to look how I wanted it to look, would take A LOT of time. Each character sprite and animation would need to be made from, at least, 4 directions.

Into the Breach had the player’s mechs and the enemy bugs face in just one direction

I could choose to go in the direction of Into the Breach and keep models fixed in one direction. Personally, I thought it would look awkward, especially since Sands of Chaos would have characters as opposed to mechs and bugs. Having them be fixed in one direction would make them look less “alive”.

The second issue I had was the increased complexity as it related to positioning. Should we have an advantage for a side-on or attack from behind? That would mean choosing a direction to face at the end of each turn (ala Final Fantasy Tactics). What about the rotation ability that Final Fantasy Tactics had?

Finally, the two mechanics that I saw working in tandem to make this game unique were the time hopping and a celestial system (different turns would take place in different celestial phases, more details to come). The positional aspect added more complexity to the time hopping and I felt like it would detract from the main highlight of the game.

Join us on the journey…

If you’re a turn-based strategy/RPG player, I’d love to hear from you! What would you like to see in a new turn-based game? What do you think about this concept? What games do you miss and feel nostalgic about?

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