BYOND Strategy Tech Tree: 167 & 168

Another battle with pancreatitis combined with a slow news week made me decide to take last Sunday off.  Fortunately, I'm feeling better overall.  The temporary diet restrictions have been an annoyance, but I've been wanting to make some of the changes anyway.   I'm planning to restart my exercise routine tomorrow.

Perhaps I'll make the biweekly post schedule the norm just to bulk up on the more solid news entries.  *Shrug*

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.

BYOND owner Tom has stated that DDT's Wiz-War homage, Last Robot Standing, should once again be free of graphical issues.  This probably means that the server has been updated.  Rants about nostalgia aside, I said that I wouldn't mind putting the game back in the featured list.  It's done.  Enjoy playing and speak up if it gets buggy again.

After providing some interesting interviews on his personal blog, EnigmaticGallivanter has begun the (BYOND) Journalism guild.  Chris Gayle, Fugsnarf and Theironx have joined the staff.  Others are welcome to apply for a position or submit articles.  Thus far, it's been a good source of content that you won't find anywhere else.

Expect more links in Tech Tree whenever posts vaguely related to BYOND Strategy pop up.  What caught my eye this week was EnigmaticGallivanter's interview with Witches' Chess' Devourer Of Souls and Gamemakingdude's interview with Efencea's Tayoko.  Be sure to check the guild out for more. =)

Last week, Mecha Destroyer JD created a hub entry for his RTS, Ultra Strife.  Details are still scarce, but he's placing its development alongside priorities such as scholarships and financial ventures.  He's trying to ensure that the quality will be higher than its prequel with the help of his new mindset.

This week, Mecha Destroyer JD posted multiple progress reports.  He has an interface he finds functional, the attack system is finished and the units from Ultimate Strife have been revised.  The game is expected to be playable very soon.

Acebloke is looking to release an update to his economic/military simulation, Wargames.  The alliance interface will soon be changed in the hopes that game modes using set alliances will become more popular.

Acebloke is also  seeking suggestions for an RTS.  His plan is to have two teams of two players each.  One player would focus on the economy and the other would focus on the military.  I think it sounds nifty.

Xeal has announced that eholay is essentially complete and servers will be hosted randomly.  The "Castle ++" description and screenshots reveal that it's a form of base defense game.  Subscriptions for hosting options will be offered through PayPal.

The Magic Man has released the source files of various unfinished projects.  I have not looked at any of the code myself, but one project that I spotted for Tech Tree readers was a hybrid of team action and RTS.  (R.T.S Game?)  There's also a shooter, some RPGs and more.

Last week, I released an update for my mining card battle, Grim Prospects.  The focus was on audio.  I'm not entirely happy with it as it doesn't all add to the theme.  I guess that's what I get for using an abstract setting.  Next up are the rules for the non-digital version.

I also appear to have settled on a working design for my combative space race, StarScurrier.  I've created different types of cargo and resolved both scarcity and privacy issues that would affect the version offered on The Game Crafter.

This week, I began designing a side-scrolling shooter with a set number of randomly generated levels.  Players will be able to choose the level order to affect both the mechanics and the narrative.  I'm currently designing the unlockable characters that will be the focus.  The theme is pretty abstract.  It could allow a graphical artist a lot of room to be creative, but I don't have the work-for-hire money.  I'll attempt to compensate with my own questionable sense of style.