[Tower Defense][RTS] Deterrence - Video Devlog

[PiscesStudios]

New Skirmish Level
Add a new map to test out the victory point game mode and winter assets. I don't have a name for it yet, but this map looks like a classic setup with 3 victory points spanning the middle and opponents starting on opposite corners. This map will probably be a keeper for skirmish and arcade games.



New Key Art
This may be the final iteration of the key art. It takes the colors of the concept and props from the game; and combines them into a scene rendered by the Unity Engine. The title has also been redone due to popular demand. With this new title, I tried to go for a legible and memorable appearance.



Upcoming Fixes and Additions
The following are bug fixes and additions to the game that will be in the next update v1.1:
Added hold position command
Added move confirmation/indicators
Improved pathfinding



Deterrence Now Has a Steam Page
Checkout the new steam page for Deterrence and don't forget to add to your wishlist! I will be migrating the playtest to Steam and putting a hard cap on how many testers will have access. If you'd like to be a part of the playtest and get involved with the development, then join the discord for further instructions.

[PiscesStudios]

Official Website
The official website got an upgrade! Visit the site here to get more of look at the lore of Deterrence. The site will continue to get more info and lore as the game develops. You will also find a content creator sign up; If you or someone you know is a content creator with a reasonable following, then please share the site.



Playtesters Wanted
Still looking for playtesters to give feedback on Deterrence. If you'd like to volunteer to playtest Deterrence then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved.

New UI Look
I went with the night vision filter on the video to give a more futuristic look. To make all the UI buttons look more futuristic as well, I decided to go with new style and colors to match.



Upcoming Fixes and Additions
The following are bug fixes and additions to the game that will be in the next update v1.1:

• Defend and capture objectives will update minimap and billboard icons.

[PiscesStudios]

Improved User Interface
The plain gray heads-up display has been replaced with a bolted metal border and black background. Unit cards have been modified to have a border and fit up to 80 selected units at once. The select item info color will change from green to red based on hit points. And finally, the building commands have been put on a submenu to make room for more commands and spell casts.



High Ground Advantage
Units on low ground will not be able to see units on the high ground giving the high ground the advantage. If a unit on the high ground attacks, then that unit's position will be revealed allowing units on the low ground to attack back.



Upcoming Additions
The following are bug fixes and additions to the game that will be in the next update v1.1:

• Buildings under construction can now be cancelled

• Buildings can only be built on ground within vision

• Factory can now have garrisoned units

• Idle enemy groups retaliate together

• Player can now select up to 80 units

• Pathfinding improvements

Announcements and News
Deterrence is still looking for volunteer play testers. If you'd like to play test Deterrence, then join the discord to get setup. Also look forward to seeing Deterrence at the DevGAMM Game Fest November 23-25. Enjoy live streams, interviews, and awards of many great games.

[PiscesStudios]

Control Groups
Buildings and groups of units can now be assigned shortcut keys. Control groups make it possible to select an LZ from across the map and calling in more units. The player can also focus the camera view on a control group by double tapping its shortcut key.



Area Objectives
Adding to the list of different objectives that can be given to a player, a mission can now have an area objective. Area objectives are accomplished by having the player move a unit(s) to or maybe have the player call in artillery on a designated location. The designated areas are given a glowing ring to indicate their positions.



Rally Points
Landing zones now have the ability to set rally points. A rally point is the location that units are sent to when dropped off at the landing zone. Units will be sent to rally points with an attack-move command, so, if the rally point is attacked, the units will retaliate.



Optimization
Getting the direction from one vector to another is now calculated differently. Instead of using Unity's Quaternion.LookRotation and grabbing the euler angle, the function uses that Mathf.atan2 method making it four times faster. Also, where Vector3's are converted to Vector2's, the vector2's are global and manually assigned each frame instead of creating a new vector2. This way is three times faster.

[PiscesStudios]

New UI/UX Features
When chinooks drop off supplies at their landing zone, a billboard indicator will now show the amount of supplies the chinook dropped off. This is more of a feature for new players to help understand how the game works. Units and buildings will now be highlighted when the cursor is hovering over them to help the player know what is currently in the cursor's hotspot. Command menu shortcut keys are now displayed in the top-left of each button and there are plans to add custom key bindings in the future.



More Immersive Scenes
To make levels more immersive, new environment objects were added. New rock objects can be added to levels with any scale and color making the possibilities of rock formations endless. For city and town levels, cars have been made so that they don't look deserted. There are also plans to have these cars destructible and to be used in missions as an objective to defend, such as a mission to defend a civilian convoy evacuation.



Play Testers Wanted
Deterrence still needs more testers to help improve the user interface and user experience. If you'd like to volunteer to be a play tester, then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved with the development.

[PiscesStudios]

Environment Objects
To complete the environment, the game needs more buildings to create all the different scenes needed for campaign missions from rural to city maps. Each building takes approximately a day to create, so devlogs may be made biweekly from now on until they're finished.



Moving Forward
All the game needs now are the buildings, more units, and intermission briefing. Once those are done, the game core features will be complete and the game will move into production phase; meaning the campaign levels will be created.



Play Testers Wanted
Deterrence still needs more testers to help improve the user interface and user experience. If you'd like to volunteer to be a play tester, then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved with the development.

Upcoming Additions
The following are bug fixes and additions to the game that will be in the next update v1.3:

• Building highlights won't effect building color

• Map edges are now outlined

[PiscesStudios]

Building Changes
Buildings can now have blind spots. This means buildings that have walls with no windows prevent units from engaging one another until they can see each other. Also, buildings outside the play area cannot be interacted with. Buildings are placed outside the play area merely to keep the environment immersive.



New Level Preview
The past couple days have been spent putting together a new urban environment to show off all the new building and doodads assets created over the last couple weeks. This new urban level features classic city blocks divided by a river which creates four bridge choke points. The map is set during an evacuation going bad. Along the outskirts of the map, streets are cluttered with traffic jammed cars.



Play Testers Wanted
Deterrence still needs more testers to help improve the user interface and user experience. If you'd like to volunteer to be a play tester, then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved with the development.



Upcoming Additions
The following are bug fixes and additions to the game that will be in the next update v1.3:

• Fixed buildings staying highlighted when destroyed

• Fixed buildings spawning multiple death objects when destroyed

[PiscesStudios]

New Units
Two new units have been added: the heavy infantry and the rocket infantry. The heavy infantry is equipped with heavy machineguns offering considerably more firepower. The rocket infantry is equipped with bazookas and primary used to knock out heavily armored enemies.



New Quality of Life Features
Two new quality of life features focus on unit management. The player may now add to or take away from unit select using shift and ctrl keys. Also, the player may now add to unit routes using the shift key. This can be useful by added detours to your units' routes to avoid dangerous areas.



Play Testers Wanted
Deterrence still needs more testers to help improve the user interface and user experience. If you'd like to volunteer to be a play tester, then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved with the development.



Upcoming Additions
The following are bug fixes and additions to the game that will be in the next update v1.3:

• Hold Position command will also act as a stop command.

• Fixed enemy select ring flashing when targeted in the fog of war.

• Player may now add to or take away from unit select using shift and ctrl keys.

• Player may now add to unit routes using the shift key.

• Heavy Infantry (Machinegun infantry)

• Rocket Infantry

[PiscesStudios]

New Hero Units
New hero units have been made that play major roles in the story of Deterrence. With no weapon, Dr. Ravi Set is a beefed-up civilian of importance. Lieutenant Keyes is a beefed-up version of general infantry. After the top brass was eliminated by Big Birtha, Lieutenant Keyes found himself as the highest-ranking officer of his battalion.



Civilian Units
New civilian units have been made for the upcoming civilian evacuation mission and more. The civilian unit can do nothing but duck in combat, but they can still build sandbag walls and can be garrisoned in buildings for cover.



Civilian Evacuation Mission
A new mission currently in development and available to play testers is the civilian evacuation mission. Navigate city blocks and fight off invading enemy bots while getting civilians to safety.



Play Testers Wanted
Deterrence still needs more testers to help improve the user interface and user experience. If you'd like to volunteer to be a play tester, then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved with the development.

[PiscesStudios]

New Units

Tank
The primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. The tank has the speed, armor, and armor piercing shells to take down the toughest bots deployed by Big Birtha.



Rocket Launcher
A lightweight alternative to artillery, the rocket launcher is cheap and effective against Big Birtha's early model bots.



Mobile Artillery
The mobile version of an artillery emplacement. The mobile artillery shells are lighter than its stationary counterpart, but its mobility and fast cooldown times can make a difference on the battlefield.



New Barrage Ability
Any unit capable of launching artillery projectiles has the ability to barrage enemy positions. The barrage ability can be called on any position within the barrage range of the unit taking the command. The barrage range has a far and near limit and as the placement of the barrage gets further from the unit, the spread on the projectiles increases (decreasing accuracy).



Play Testers Wanted
Deterrence still needs more testers to help improve the user interface and user experience. If you'd like to volunteer to be a play tester, then please join the discord for further instructions on how to get involved with the development.



Upcoming Additions and Changes
The following additions, changes, and bug fixes for upcoming version a1.4:

• New mechanized units (Tank, Mobile Artillery, Rocket Launcher)

• New barrage ability

• New LZ user interface to accommodate vehicles

• Fixed LZ unit buttons charging the player even though the pickup que is full

• Fixed a shift select bug that allowed selectables other than units be selected

• Fixed cursor hover highlight not highlighting the correct selectable object

• Disabled buttons will now show a reason for being disabled. (e.g., not enough supplies, no que space available, etc.)