150 Monsters. Apparently They All Need a Rehearsal.

A small follow-up to the monster roster in Swordoku: Grid & Glory: we're now at 150 monsters, and I've worked through all of them to assign animations to their abilities.

Attacks, casting, buffs—the appropriate movements are set.

Which sounds like the hard part is done.

Adorable.

The arrow needs to leave with the archer

Now comes the slower work: going through the ranged and spellcasting animations to mark the exact moment each projectile or effect should appear, and where it should spawn.

An arrow shouldn't materialise while the monster is still pulling back its bow. A fireball shouldn't turn up three seconds after the caster has finished, either.

That's less “powerful sorcerer” and more “delivery delayed.”

Each animation needs its release timing and spawn point checked so the attack actually connects with what the monster is doing. Having the right animation assigned gets you part of the way there. Getting the projectile to leave the right place at the right moment is another job entirely.

A little help, a lot of checking

AI can help narrow down some of those moments by looking at hand and arm positions, but most still need manual editing.

It's useful assistance, not a button labelled “please finish my 150 monsters.”

Apparently I have to supply that button myself. One animation at a time.

This is the sort of work that's easy to overlook when you're excitedly adding another creature to the roster. A new archer! Another caster! More abilities!

And then you remember that every one of them needs to throw, shoot, or summon its unpleasant surprise on cue.

So that's where things slow down for a bit. The animations are assigned; now I'm making sure the attacks arrive when they're supposed to.

Fun times ahead!