Wildwood v4: Enemy Waves, Refactoring the Potion Store, and… PermaBuffs?

March 15, 2023

Good news everyone! The next version of Wildwood is starting to shape up.

I’m excited to share some of the new features and improvements I’ve been working on. The primary focus of this update is enhancing the gameplay experience by introducing a new enemy wave system, refactoring the potion store, and… adding permabuffs? More on that last part later.

Setting Up the Wave Manager

First up, the new enemy wave system. In the current version, enemies are generated randomly without any set waves, which can be entertaining, but I think there’s room for improvement. I’m working on a system where enemies will come in waves, offering more variety and hopefully, more engaging gameplay.

I’ve got a basic system working for this, and plan to expand on it to get the game feel juuuuust right.

This change should not only challenge players but also encourage them to strategize and adapt to the different enemy types and combinations they’ll face.

Refactoring the Potion System

Next, James has been helping me refactor the code for the potion store. Together we’ve been working on a new backend system that will make the potion store more manageable and efficient.

This cleans up a ton of the messy code and will pave the way for future updates and additions. It’s amazing what a few organized classes, some arrays and for loops can do!

…Permabuffs?

Finally, I’m considering adding permabuffs to Wildwood. The current idea is that players will spend their Ecto on upgrades for their character that won’t reset each round like how potions do. This new feature should help provide a sense of progression, while also hopefully giving players more agency in developing their playstyle to better suit their preferences.

Balancing this with the current gameplay is really important – I don’t want to make it too hard for new players or too easy for experienced players.

I’m excited about these changes coming to Wildwood and can’t wait to see how they will impact the game experience. As always, I’ll be listening to feedback and making adjustments to keep Wildwood fun at its core. That’s the point, right? 😅

Stay tuned for more updates!