Tech Tree is a list of links about developer activity in BYOND Strategy, a guild run by unpaid volunteers on a game/development portal and software engine called BYOND.
If this blog actually has readers then I could get flamed for this, but... I don't own a current generation console. I don't have anything against them. I just lack the money.
On the bright side, relatives uncomfortable with finding/buying old games gave me some Christmas cash and I found some good deals on eBay. I bought Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, The Bard's Tale, The Hobbit, Radiata Stories and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy. I'm not crazy about the platforming moments with Abe (or any platformer outside of the Tomba series), but I love Munch's Oddysee. I've only touched the others enough to note that I hate dealing with save points... That's probably something for me to keep in mind if I ever get around to creating my metroidvania in the Wrangle & Warp universe.
Vermolious and Tayoko are trying to determine their next project. Details of why we've had to wait so long for the next version of their defense game, Efencea, are presented. Frankly, I want an update to solidify its place as a featured game anyway. Forget gameplay changes. I want a functional help file!
Meanwhile, BYOND RPG's Tiberath and I fired volleys at each other in the comments. ;)
Ages ago, Kunark released the source to his turn-based fantasy, Surreal Dreams. This week, Vexonator released a new beta. Details on implemented changes are scarce, but plans have been posted in the forum. I'm assuming the game has been rewritten to take advantage of BYOND features that didn't exist when it was originally created... I'm also hoping that it will get its own hub entry because it's a pain keeping track of forks when I can't get pager alerts.
Magicbeast20's Conquest has been added to the guild. I have not played it yet, but it appears to be an empire building game. An update was released with bug fixes and the game now has a dedicated server. Try it.
Acebloke announced the top 3 players of December (and 2009) who earned medals and points in his games. Congratulations to Ganing, Kozuma3 and Mastermatthew.
Acebloke is also attempting to make his economic/military simulation, Wargames, accessible to a wider audience. He's still working on a new interface and also planning to a tutorial.
Mechanos7 updated Empire Defense. Changes include a new area, 7 new enemies, a new unit, a new building, 10 new waves, unit upgrades, and a redesigned shooting system.
DarkCampainger is running a poll to determine how to handle draws in his unreleased boardgame, Breach. The goal of the game is to reach the opposite side of one's opponent. One of the player actions is to move one's entire army forward, but this moves the target for the opponent forward as well. That means it's possible to move an ally piece into the goal while moving the opponent's goal into an opposing piece. Solutions other than those provided in the poll are welcomed in its comments.
Tsfreaks has been working on animations and AI for Mini-RTS. Meanwhile, his summary of 2009 reveals a project he's been keeping under wraps called Outpost. It's a real-time space game with resource management. Tsfreaks expressed a desire to return to the project, but its scope is a concern.
BYOND Strategy's former king, IainPeregrine, announced the release of Regressia. It's a retro-styled RPG with a demo for players to try before their purchase. The release is slightly late due to issues setting up subscription access, but check it out.
The update to my card-battling boardgame, PathWrath 2, has been taking a while. (Tech Tree readers are likely bored of that statement.) I did work on it this week though. I posted a preview of the new interface in the meantime.
I've also been distracted by a vast redesign of GrimTunnel which I think I'll turn into a separate game before selling a non-digital version on The Game Crafter.
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