Dev diary

The road of Parkan 3

How the game got to where it is — step by step, without a calendar. New entries will appear here.

  1. Step 1

    Rules of battle first

    I did not start with graphics but with what lies beneath them. The economy, damage to each part of a machine, the AI clans — all of it runs apart from the picture, at exactly twenty ticks a second. A battle with the same start plays out the same on any computer: the basis for future multiplayer and a way to check the game with tests. There are over a hundred test sections now.

  2. Step 2

    A playable skeleton

    Then came everything a match cannot do without: a third-person captain, the tactical view at the bunker console, squads, order queues and patrols, a test ground, factions and drives. Five stages, and the game became playable from the first minute to the last.

    The captain in a bunker corridor
    img/captain.jpgThe captain in a bunker corridor
    The captain in a bunker corridor
  3. Step 3

    Machines with weight

    Warbots stopped sliding across the map. Every drive has its own acceleration, braking and turning; heavy machines pull away slower, and the transformer first stands up on its legs and only then walks. The turret turns on its own, and a shell flies where the barrel points, not where the cursor is.

    Cockpit view of a flyer in battle
    img/cockpit.jpgCockpit view of a flyer in battle
    Cockpit view of a flyer in battle
  4. Step 4

    Five planets

    Each planet looks its own: its sky, haze, sun, fog and ground colour — from rust desert and grey basalt to scorched red, acid and ice.

  5. Step 5

    Bases from the inside

    The captain walks around the base on foot: rooms, doors, the bunker console. Buildings go up under an energy dome, grow from small to large, burn and collapse, and any light warbot or flyer can capture them.

    A builder raising a building under an energy dome
    img/base.jpgA builder raising a building under an energy dome
    A builder raising a building under an energy dome
  6. Step 6

    Factory and designer

    A machine is built from a hull, drive, turret, weapons and systems. Designs are saved, and factories queue them — endlessly if you like. The laboratory unlocks new parts: the tree holds 92 research items.

    The factory designer
    img/designer.jpgThe factory designer
    The factory designer
  7. Step 7

    The “Glass: instrument” interface

    The whole interface was redone in one style — an instrument panel behind glass. Menus and loading, pause, research, the designer, the cockpit and the tactical view now look like parts of one machine.

    Tactical view: warbot list, orders and minimap
    img/tactical.jpgTactical view: warbot list, orders and minimap
    Tactical view: warbot list, orders and minimap
  8. Step 8

    Speed

    To keep big battles smooth, the simulation learned to run on its own thread, effects and shaders are prepared at load time, and the interface is redrawn only when what it shows changes.

  9. Step 9

    Clans with character, new maps

    The AI clans got characters — from the Swarm to the Technologist — and difficulty levels. The AI studies the map at load time and bridges lava. Mountains arrived, the Pass map with passes between ridges, the small tower and the alien faction on living hulls.

    Snowy mountains on the Pass map
    img/pereval.jpgSnowy mountains on the Pass map
    Snowy mountains on the Pass map
  10. Step 10

    Own sound

    About 250 sounds of my own, synthesized in code, ambient sounds of the world and music that follows the course of the battle.

  11. Step 11

    Out of the workshop

    The game has been shown to people for the first time: the site, videos, forum pages. A request for permission has been sent to the rights holders. Meanwhile I am working on my own models — they will go into the public version whatever the answer.

    Columns of warbots on the project's own models
    img/own.jpgColumns of warbots on the project's own models
    Columns of warbots on the project's own models
Next

What lies ahead

Where the game goes next depends on the rights holders' answer. Both roads lead to Steam: with permission — as Parkan 3, without it — under its own name and on its own models.

RoadmapSupport development