Because Battles Need Monsters
Threefold Dev: Because Battles Need Monsters
Today was a pretty productive day for Threefold: The Last Stand.
We've moved beyond tweaking rules and polishing effects and actually started adding more content to the battlefields.
First up:
Obstacles.
And then, naturally...
Monsters.
Because battles need monsters.
Always.
The Board Doesn't Have to Be Empty Anymore
Threefold's battlefields can now contain multiple types of stationary blocks.
These can be used for things like statues, rocks, walls and other obstacles that physically change how pieces can move around the battlefield.
That opens up quite a few possibilities for level design.
Instead of every match taking place on a mostly open board where the only thing you have to think about is the opposing army, I can now create choke points, divide sections of the battlefield, protect certain areas or force pieces to take completely different routes.
The rules don't necessarily have to change.
The battlefield does.
And sometimes putting one annoying rock in exactly the wrong place is all it takes to ruin your carefully planned strategy.
Then We Added Monsters
Of course, stationary obstacles weren't enough.
Some battles needed something else running around causing problems.
So Threefold now has independent monsters.
These aren't part of your army.
They're not part of the AI's army.
They're just there.
Making everyone's day worse.
Exactly as monsters should.
Monsters currently fall into two broad categories:
Living and Undead.
Living Monsters Are Everybody's Problem
Living monsters are relatively straightforward.
If one gets in your way, any combat piece can take it down.
Paladin?
Kill it.
Ranger?
Kill it.
Rogue?
Also kill it.
Even the Priest can deal with them when necessary.
They're another threat on the battlefield, but at least everyone has some way of dealing with them.
The Undead are a different story.
The Undead Belong to the Holy Warriors
Undead monsters can only be defeated by Paladins and Priests.
They're the holy warriors of Threefold, so dealing with the Undead falls squarely into their territory.
That creates another strategic reason to protect those pieces.
Your Rogue might be perfectly positioned.
Your Ranger might have a clear shot.
Doesn't matter.
If an Undead monster is blocking the route or threatening your forces, you'd better have a Paladin or Priest available to deal with it.
Suddenly losing your holy pieces can create problems that have absolutely nothing to do with the opposing army.
The Monsters Have Opinions
Making monsters exist was only part of the job.
They also needed behaviors.
And this is where they're starting to become particularly interesting.
Different monsters can behave differently depending on how they're configured.
Some wander around the battlefield.
Some patrol a defined area.
Some are territorial and will defend their little corner of the map if you get too close.
Others may barely move at all and simply take pot shots at anything that wanders into range.
That means monsters aren't simply another type of piece sitting on the board waiting to be captured.
They're environmental threats.
And depending on the battlefield, they can completely change how you approach a match.
Everybody Gets a Turn
The monsters aren't secretly working for either side, either.
They exist independently of both armies and get their own opportunity to act.
Which means you can be busy worrying about what the opposing AI is planning...
...while some wandering creature decides that your carefully positioned Ranger looks delicious.
Or maybe the monster goes after your opponent instead.
In which case it is clearly a valuable and respected member of the battlefield ecosystem.
Please continue.
More Tools Behind the Scenes
I've also continued putting time into Threefold's backend tools.
The board editor keeps getting easier to work with as more battlefield features are added, and we now have better tools for configuring the monsters themselves.
That's becoming increasingly important.
I don't want every new battlefield, obstacle or monster behavior to require me to go back into the game's code and manually wire everything together.
I want to be able to open an editor, build a battlefield, place the pieces, drop in some obstacles, add a couple monsters, configure how they behave and start testing.
The more work I put into those tools now, the easier it becomes to actually build content later.
This Is Starting to Get Interesting
What I'm really liking is how much these additions change a battle without changing the basic game underneath it.
One map might be a relatively straightforward fight between two armies.
Another might have rocks creating narrow paths across the battlefield.
Another could have a territorial monster guarding an important route.
Another could have Undead roaming around, suddenly making your Paladin and Priest considerably more valuable.
Or I can combine all of it.
Because apparently I enjoy making things difficult for myself.
And the player.
Mostly the player.
It's productive.
It's fun.
And after actually seeing monsters running around interfering with the battle...
Yeah. I'm liking how this feels.
Now I just need to resist adding dragons.
For at least a day.
And I still have to work on the GUI. Sooner rather than later!
