BYOND Strategy Tech Tree: 162

The guild has been picking up the slack while I do research for a non-strategy project.  They fill Tech Tree with content.  I watch gameplay videos with commentary.  Somehow I don't feel like I'm getting much done.

This edited version of Along The Tech Tree comes to you from BYOND Strategy, a guild run by unpaid volunteers on a game/development portal and software engine called BYOND.  Tech Tree focuses on recent developer activity.  For play suggestions, visit the guild.

EGUY updated his featured tile-laying game, Deus Rex.  Some hotkeys have been added.  Meanwhile, a small change to the scoring system ended up wiping out a portion of the standings.  Fortunately, a full score wipe is planned for the next major update anyway.

The "Equal Deal" option, which gives all players a copy of the same hand, is going to be phased out soon.  Hopefully the cards are balanced enough that it won't be a problem.

Mechanos7 made a major update to his turn-based tactical battle, Riverside.  There were graphical improvements, interface changes and bugfixes.  In addition, two new units were added per team and players can now earn scores.

I'd shove the chat input to the right and remove the window menu.  I have not seen a game in progress, but I'm also wondering about how much spam gets sent to the chat output.  Play it and see.

D4RK3 54B3R has posted the first screenshot of FrostBurn,  his RTS entry to IainPeregrine's 2010 Get Something Done Challenge.  The interface is still a work in progress, but the game will be using BYOND's more recent isometric capabilities.  A building and a unit from one of the factions are also pictured in forms created for easy color swaps.

Closed testing should begin soon if it has not already.  Some of the endgame might be cut due to scheduling issues, but expect something playable when the challenge ends on June 1st.

I'm finding out about this just in time for the project to go on hiatus, but CodeWeasel22 seems to be working on some form of RTS with action elements.  In Law and Chaos, players can choose to become either a criminal or the head of a law enforcement/security firm.  The latter will involve managing both employees and real estate in an effort to help the police department take the criminals down.

Vermolious has announced that the Efencea team is no more.  He and Tayoko brainstormed for a while, but didn't find anything worth committing to.  The turn-based tactical RPG they were working on has been canceled.  Hopefully the avatars they were creating will find some use.

Future prospects include XNA development.  Current projects include suggesting Facebook friends that I'm too shy to confirm...  Friend me yourself, people!

I didn't host any test sessions of my mining card battle, Grim Prospects, this week.  Instead, I've been doing research for a procedurally generated action adventure.  Thank you to those who have been suggesting titles I may find inspiration in.  I'm open to more.

More recently, I've been looking into procedurally generated puzzles that can provide a break from combat.  (The Sokoban in Steve Patton's BlockRogue has been of particular interest.)  Unfortunately, there appears to be a lot more information on AI that can solve puzzles than generate them.  Algorithms are welcome.