[h2]Welcome to the third installment of the monthly dev blog of Hordes of Hunger[/h2] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/games/2157710/announcements/detail/3660917978172132776?snr=2_9_100000_]Last time[/url] we talked about the process behind designing player’s combat options and how they are interwoven with the design of the enemies. Today, we will continue this train of thought as we share with you our newest developments regarding gameplay and player actions. As you know from our previous dev blogs, in Hordes of Hungers players will have to deal with enemies that fall into two categories: Specialists and the Horde. In this section we would highlight our design process behind design combat vs multiple entities. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43718100/cbce7f1d43118a0e56ae05ff2d53e620bba17bdf.jpg[/img] [i]The promises of safety within the city's wall now ring hollow and impotent. [/i] [h2]Culling the hordes[/h2] In Hordes of Hunger you have to constantly think on your feet and be in the combat flow in order not to get overwhelmed by the horde. Therefore, we wanted to give the players a wide range of tools to deal with it in their preferred way. Locking area of effect damage behind certain skills was out of the question as it would disrupt the tempo of the game, so we have settled on imbuing basic attacks with a different degree of area of effect damage. During playtests this solution quickly became a clear winner, as it yielded the result that we have desired - players finally had the fluidity to express themselves through glorious carnage! Players who prefer to stay mobile gravitated towards Dash Attacks, that dealt small amounts of AoE damage to in their path, and utilized Jump attacks to nuke clumps of enemies. More defensive oriented players preferred to utilize the parry system to unleash powerful sweeping counter-strikes that dealt a high amount of damage over a wide range. Once we have nailed this system, we began developing skills, upgrades that would augment these emerging gameplay styles. Such as: [list] [*] The ability to pull enemies towards you and clump them. [*] Making a lighting bolt strike your landing zone after each Jump Attack. [*] Devastating flame attack that charges each time you finish a sword combo. [*] Defensive shield that allows the player to take a breather between parrying strikes. [/list] To sell this power fantasy and the plethora of changes we of course need a lot of new VFX and animations. But rest assured, they are already underway. [h2]The Cauldron[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43718100/01ef84cb6001cf949f9f33f041475173d02f572c.gif[/img] [i]Whether it made the cauldron its home or it grew inside it matters not. What matters is avoiding whatever comes outside of it. [/i] Cauldrons are skittish creatures that avoid direct confrontation by tucking their bodies inside the pot and rolling away. However, this does not mean that they are harmless, it just means that they prefer to kill from afar by spewing toxic bile. They never stay in one place, so hunting them down might be a challenge, but if the alternative is getting melted by their projectiles - then the choice is simple. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43718100/4389dc9a723082a119d67ccb58ed1a11686eb8e6.gif[/img] [h2]Realms Deep[/h2] Hordes of Hunger is taking part in [url=https://store.steampowered.com/sale/RealmsDeep2023]Realms Deep[/url] this year, make sure to check their website and don’t miss the [url=https://www.realmsdeep.game/]transmission[/url] as we have more Hordes of Hunger queued right up for you. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43718100/ca92b692e0d1930f56dbc2668773469259b5f229.png[/img] [h2]Have fun during the event![/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43718100/837feb3f28a9199565f25131081dd9a6a06b4fa0.png[/img]