Hello everyone! October has been a busy month for us and I wanted to take some time to go over everything we’ve added to the game. First, however, we’d like to thank everyone who has supported us through our PayPal fund. These donations go a long way to bringing the world of Wizard Cats Tank Battle to life and we really appreciate your support.
If you haven’t already, please consider donating to our development fund by clicking here.
Now, on to the fun updates!
New Game Mode – Capture The Spoon!
Probably the most exciting update of this month was the addition of a new game mode – Capture The Spoon! Capture The Spoon is our twist on Capture The Flag. One or more spoons are placed around the map, and players are rewarded for bringing it back to their base.
We’ve added both single-spoon and two-spoon modes depending on the map. So, in Scratchy Castle, which has a clearly defined center of the map, a single spoon is fought over by four teams. In Battle Cove, each team has a spoon near their base.
This game mode has given our class system a chance to shine, including the three new classes we added in September!
Players carrying the spoon move at a reduced speed. A friendly Furricane can mitigate that speed reduction with their “Zoomies” buff. The Hydro-Dancer and Pawadin have healing capabilities, giving them the power to keep the spoon-carrier alive until they reach their base.
See Capture The Spoon in action by watching our Twitch stream! We stream playtests every Wednesday at 9 PM EST. Playtests are available to be re-watched for one week after the test.
Graphics Improvements
One of the biggest revelations of our Kickstarter campaign was how badly our players wanted Wizard Cats Tank Battle on PC. Not only did we begin playtesting on PC last month, we changed our target platform from mobile to PC!
So, that means we have to re-think some graphical decisions we made. Most of the game’s textures have been replaced with higher-resolution versions for the PC version of the game. Lightmaps have been re-baked at a much higher quality. And, while we were at it, we started to re-envision how our maps could look.
A few weeks ago we transformed Battle Cove from a sunny beach map into a ominous island at sunset. We are also working behind the scenes to transform the theme of the map into something much more exciting! Keep your eyes open for some previews in the coming weeks.
UI and QoL Changes
We’ve added several new UI panels to the game, including a proper matchmaking/match creation screen, a panel on the HUD that shows what class your allies are playing, and pointers around the edge of the screen to help direct you to your allies and map objectives! The result has been greatly improved team coordination.
Dragonsteel 2023
Later this month we’ll be heading to Salt Lake City for Dragonsteel 2023! This will be our second convention and we are very excited to see how audiences react to the changes we’ve made.
Conventions are one of the best opportunities we have to learn from players. At conventions, we spend all day watching strangers pick up the game for the first time. We notice patterns in what frustrates them, what confuses them, and what excites them! Observations are then used to inform design changes and revisions.
If you happen to be at Dragonsteel 2023, come by our booth and say hi! And please let us know if there is a convention near you that you think would be a good fit for Wizard Cats Tank Battle!
Closing Thoughts
Thanks for keeping up with us! We are grateful for everyone who reached out to us after the Kickstarter failed to be funded. If you’re interested in joining the playtest, or just hanging out with the Wizard Cats community, join our Discord!
We’ll be back in a month-ish with some updates. Here is a cat photo to close off the month! Yesterday, Macedonia was jealous that Paintbrush was on the window bed, so she asserted her dominance by snuggling up against him. Paintbrush was not pleased.
