At this point in development, I’ve managed to go through a rough patch, and things have been getting better. I’m at the stage in which the game is working on a functional level, but it’s not in a state in which its presentation correctly conveys how it works. Currently, I’m facing the problem of fixing how the presentation of the game and how I will do the setup of the game. I need to find a way for me to convey the mechanics of the game properly.

The stage of the game for the second presentation was one in which most of the mechanical aspects of the game were working correctly. The game’s flow is going as intended, but I am looking into speeding things up after more testing. The more significant problems were the presentation of the game in general and some technical issues. In regards to the technical side, one of the significant changes I had to do what the shift from online to local multiplayer. I underestimated the difficulty I would find trying to make Unity Networking work for the game. That said, the game wouldn’t work on one screen since players need to be able to keep information from one another. The most straightforward solution was to use an external monitor, that way both players would be able to have their screen without worrying about any networking issues. The only problem I’ve found with external monitors is that the function used in Unity to use another monitor, so I will need to use a computer using Windows for the show.

The other big problem for my project is the game’s presentation. This is mostly about two points, the aesthetic of the game itself and conveyance to the player. To address the first point, let’s talk about the type of aesthetic I’m going for. As I have stated previously, a lot of the inspiration for this project has been from trading card games. Those games usually possess a fantasy/medieval style for their characters and presentation. I wanted to do something different, so I chose to go the opposite route. I decided to make the game take place in a world in which network technology has advanced to the point that is has become a world all of its own. This cyberspace, however, has brought chaos, as governments struggle to keep up with technological advancements.

This gives me a good opportunity to talk more specifically about the rules of the game and how they work. The idea is that players are hackers, hunting down viruses and other, more malicious, hackers to keep the network safe. To do that, players use creatures called Avatars to fight. A match of Waraira works like this:

• Players create a team composed of 10 Avatars. They can use up to 3 copies of a specific Avatar.
• Players start the match with three random Avatars from their team, which will compose their hand.
• Each turn in Waraira is divided into three stages: Setup, Assault, and Battle. Players engage in these stages at the same time, so you’ll be able to see their actions, and they will be able to see yours.
• During Setup, players bring out Avatars from their hand into the field, choosing where to position them (Left, Middle, Right), and if they’ll be in the front or back.
• During Assault, players choose from their Avatars on the field who will attack the opponent’s forces. You can only attack up to the number of avatars on your field, and you can attack your opponents left, right, or middle. If one of your opponent’s side is empty, you can attack them directly to deal damage to them.
• During Battle, the actions both players chose in Assault will play out at the same time. An Avatars is destroyed if their HP drops to 0, they. If a player’s HP is dropped to zero, they lose the match.

The Basics of this have already been built in the game, but I still have work to do on how they are presented. Attacks from cards happen without any impact, and the UI isn’t clear enough and needs a bigger font size. But the core idea of a more focused card battle game is there. The main thing I need to do is to polish the experience and to experiment ways to convey better what the player can and must do.