Howdy,

So this week I started on the special attacks and rage rewrite. So let's talk about that for a bit, since most of it is done already.

So, let's start with Rage. Rage is what is consumed to make use of special attacks. Previously it increased when taking or receiving damage, but with this rework, it's much simpler.

Rage is now increased when you defeat enemies, and the amount gained is proportional to how difficult they were. This means that Rage is going to increase at quite a decent rate, so the player will have a lot of time to use special attacks.

There's a gauge at the bottom for measuring how much rage you have, but as part of this rewrite, I've made it appear more visually as well.

The more rage we have, the more fire-y the character becomes.

Now, let's talk about the special attacks themselves. Previously there was a rather complicated system of making your own special attacks by mixing and matching components earned from defeating certain specific enemies.

Whilst I really liked that system, in reality it was too complicated for a game intended to be more casual. So that's getting simplified as well.

Now the special attacks are "fixed" (although there are going to bits which are customised lightly in the near future - more on that next week), and there are 9 of them - 5 attacks, and 4 "boosts".

In terms of costs - you might notice all of them appear to cost 1 rage point. This is on purpose. Each special attack comes in at most 3 levels, and the level used will change automatically based on how much rage the character has.

Now, what do they actually do? Let's see.

Starting with boosts - these replace the previous "stance" concept. Instead of locking an amount of rage for an effect which gives you both pros and cons - these boosts instead give you a moodlet with some specific bonuses, for some time.

Way of Fire, as seen above, will give you a boost to strength, whilst way of Earth will give you a boost to damage reduction.

They also come with their own snazzy animation and particle effect when you choose them

The other type is the special attack itself, which modifies the attack somehow.

Using them is as simple as clicking on the attack, and they'll highlight. The next attack made will apply that special attack instead.

I'm still working on the special attacks, so I'll talk in more detail about them next time. Next week I plan on finishing the special attacks, that will lead to the customisation portion and the interface changes.

Til then.