Man... It's been a minute.

This post is going to be part game update, part life update, so bear with me. Let's start with the game.

END OF THE LINE & FRAMEWORK RELIANCE

Let's talk about Fusion.

Working on this version of End of the Line was the first time I had ever used a UI framework. The thing is, Fusion isn't just a UI framework, it's also an animation system, a state manager, and more. At first, that was SUPER convenient, but over months of development, Fusion began to make up about 80% of my codebase.

And that's where the problem started.

Because I built SO much of the game around Fusion, I've unintentionally trapped myself. Every time I try to add a new feature or expand on something, I end up fighting the framework rather than working with it. This has pretty much stalled development and I literally can't move forward without tearing the game apart.

So, what am I doing?

TEARING. IT. DOWN.

Note: Though Fusion and Knit makes up a large part of my codebase, the core parts are coded within modules that I've built over time that do not rely on these frameworks at all. Meaning that the "rebuild" won't take long at all. Especially since the Fusion reliance is just state management and it's pretty easy to build my own state manager. So please don't worry about the game being put on a damn near indefinite hiatus, it's not.

So what is my solution?

React.

Yeah I know, ANOTHER FRAMEWORK.

JUST HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT OKAY? STOP BOOING ME! 🍅🍅🍅

The difference is, React is SOLELY UI. No bloat, no baggage.

I'm also ditching Knit since the maintainer literally said to stop using it. Instead, I'm building everything myself to make sure EVERYTHING can stand on its own and run INDEPENDENTLY.

To give you an idea of just how bad things were: Fusion and Knit were so deeply integrated (mostly Fusion, but Knit can catch a stray ngl) that even the GUN ENGINE couldn't function without them.

So here's the gameplan:

• No more heavy frameworks
• Just my OWN systems
• Only lightweight utilities where they make sense (like Promise)

Clean. Simple. Maintainable.

I've already begun the switch and my god is it wonderful, I'm unsure why I didn't just start with React.

Now onto some upcoming changes (outside of the rebuild). Apologies in advance...

One of the biggest questions I've had as of late is: how do I keep adding new Agents, while also keeping the game balanced?

After a lot of thought, I've decided to ditch ultimate abilities all together.

Instead, each Agent will have:

• 1 strong rechargable ability (earned through gameplay)
• 1-2 passives

This will make balancing A LOT easier in the long run. The core game will be a shooter with abilities acting as more as tie-breakers if anything.

Something else I've been considering is tweaking the health pools and base movement speeds per Faction. For example:

• Guardians -> 80 HP
• Rogues -> 90 HP
• Controllers -> 100 HP
• Enforcers -> 120 HP

Not too sure though. We'll see how it pans out in testing.

Progression has been on my mind A LOT lately. Unlocking weapons is fine, but that gets boring PRETTY quickly.

So here are some of the ideas I've had for making grinding a bit more interesting:

Weapons

• Skins are unlocked based on weapon rank, giving you more reason to continuously play with a specific gun.

• After max rank (whatever that may be), you can unlock additional skins through challenges (kind of an "endgame" grind).

• New weapons are unlocked through player levels (not forced weapon leveling)

  • Initially I was toying around with the "unlock X gun by leveling up Y gun" idea, but it felt restrictive and grindy for all the wrong reasons. (*cough* *cough* playtime padding)

Factions

• Internal agent/faction ranking system (Bronze -> Silver -> Gold -> Platinum -> Diamond -> Ethereal).
• This pretty much incentivizes long-term investment in your favorite Agent/Faction.
• Exclusive mastery skins for reaching the max rank of an Agent/Faction.

And finally... the life update.

So my previous life update, I mentioned realizing that I was super unhealthy and needed to make lifestyle changes. Well... I have.

Per that post I have lost 17 lbs and that post was roughly 3 months ago. I'm proud of myself and I'm still working toward making healthier lifestyle changes. I want to live to see this game complete and with how I was previously, I was not going to LOL.

That's all I have for now. Thanks for sticking with me both through the game updates and the personal ones. It means a lot.

With love.
~Soupy