Thumper Beacons are Up!
The thumper beacon, a primary tactical tool in Space Mercs, has been (roughly) implemented
(Note: the beacon is the silver-grey ‘:’ two squares north of the player’s ‘@’.)
The thumper beacon is now working in Space Mercs. Success at Mercs is heavily dependent upon tactical, cautious play, and players will find that use of strategic tools such as the beacon will be essential to success. In the picture above, you can see how the thumper draws wandering monsters toward its location, allowing you to plan ambushes or buy time for a strategic “advance to the rear” (retreat).
What was difficult was finding the balance of how strongly beacons like the thumper and several others would influence unit AI. I think that the effect is currently well-balanced, but it will take a bit more work before I can say that conclusively.
As a devoted fan of the original Dune your thumper post brought me to your blog
; very interesting series of posts and I love the game concept. Looking forward to a release, keep it up.
Great, thanks a lot! Things are still progressing; I’ll be sure to keep everyone in the loop!