Welcome back to another episode of "What's new in Tic Tactic?" This update features some big changes to the core gameplay loop that are going to influence the shape of the game in coming updates.

Wya?

The biggest and most obvious change in the update is the shift from a continuous cycle of enemies to a location-based system. You will start in a new environment, the Pond Ruins, before moving back into the familiar Henfields. This change actually influences a few different things in the game.

• The enemies in each location are different. So far, the variety is low, but this will become more and more apparent as I add new content. 
• The difficulty in each area is different (and flexible).
• There are different enemy types that you can encounter. So far, we have them divided into four categories:
  • Starter enemies, which serve as an easy intro to an area.
  • Normal enemies, which are standard fodder for an environment.
  • Elite enemies, which serve as a difficulty bump.
  • Bosses, which are more difficult and appear as the final enemy in an area. There is currently a boss for the pond environment, but the Henfields boss will appear in the next version
• Finally, rewards differ in the different environments. There are area-specific tiles, and future updates will make this more obvious (and more relevant!).

Quality of Life

I had a few requests for QoL changes that I have added in the update. I'll outline them below!

• A tooltip now appears to explain what the choices for rewards are. If the choice is a tile, it simply displays the tile's description.
• Turn counter - makes it a little easier to understand how many turns you've used once you get to the end of the game.
• A bit of a tooltip rework - they will no longer appear while tiles are being moved/manipulated, and they will still appear once the tile has been added to the board.

Other stuff

Yes, yes, I added some other things, too. I'll tally them up below.

• 2 new enemies
• A dumber enemy AI (well, I wouldn't call it intelligence...)
• Fixed a couple tiles and added them back into the game
  • Jackpot is now more likely to hit
  • Shield actually returns to the deck now
  • Lightning chains in a more predictable manner
• New tiles - Rain tile and Temporary Tile
• A new music track. It's still not great, but it's better than the 8 second loop from before.
• Healthbar redraw. I'm actually not happy with it, but it's the right resolution now.

Next Steps

I'm going to be a little busy for the next few weeks (I've got a trip coming up, then I'm running a 5K right when I get back) so the updates will be smaller. I'll be focused on bug fixes for now, but I do have plans to add a few new tiles. 

One big thing that I've been trying to work out is how to make ties more interesting. I have an idea, and you might hate it, but it will make an appearance in the next update. 

There are a couple other things I want to add that I'll start working on, too. I want shops. Somewhere to buy tiles, or maybe even to sell them. I'll have to build an economy system first, but I think it's a worthwhile investment. Then, I'm going to add a map. I already know where the path is going, it's generated when you enter the area. It would be a great idea for everyone else to know, too. I mean, reward choices matter a little more if you know you're about to get decked by a rooster.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll have a new update ready soon.