Elementyle

Elementyle has been updated on itch.io for both Windows and the Web embedded client. This update is one of the final updates ahead of the release of the Steam version. The most recent entry in the changelog goes over a few of the key aspects and focuses currently and can be found below.

TL;DR

• Match termination logic is more consistent and should no longer desynchronize.
• Computer matches are completed at a much better tempo.
• Computer matches now have stat calculations.
• Replay system incoming.
• New blog to come: Monetization and the Goal of Elementyle
• Elementyle will be free on all platforms at this time with no plans to change.
• Support for additional authentication methods and account linking to come.

• v1.0.99-240628-1
  • Fixed match termination logic.
    • Added a ‘Forfeit’ button in the game menu.
    • This should resolve an issue causing clients to become desynchronized when one runs into an error that isn’t correctly captured by the server.
  • Computer max iterations reduced by 50%.
    • The computer matches were way to slow to be enjoyable. Reducing max iterations to 10,000 should make the flow of games feel better until the new move engine is pushed to production.
  • Enabled computer match stat calculations.
    • This is a low-impact change, but there is no real reason this isn’t enabled at this time.
    • *Note* Once the new engine is rolled out along with the updates to the queue process, stats and metrics will be reset. Elementyle is still in Alpha so while its preferred to avoid resets, it is sometimes unavoidable.
  • Preliminary work for Replays is nearing completion.
    • A prototype replay client has been created and replay testing is currently underway.  Expect the replay system to roll out either alongside or slightly behind the release on Steam (suck on that, Riot Games).
  • Developer Comments
    • This is going to be one of if not the final update prior to the Steam release. While I was initially planning on stopping Itch.io support for Elementyle, I may simply migrate a few portions (the changelog for one)  to the website and retain support as well as finish implementation for itch.io validation. 
    • The reason for this change in approach is the long considered question of how Elementyle is to be priced. The initial idea was to have a low entry price of $10-15 (price-adjusted by region) or less. However, with more thought put on what Elementyle is truly aiming to be, the better answer is for Elementyle to be a game that is free forever with low-impact RMT. A blog post will likely be posted on this topic alone and what the goals are but to emphasize the core tenet of the monetization strategy for Elementyle:
      • Anything that can be bought can be earned, but not everything that can be earned can be bought.
    • The release of the Steam page is imminent. There are two core requirements I have left to finish and I want to make sure everything is working and ready to go. I will be continuing to modify the client and unify the authentication process so that players can easily link and unlink various authentication methods from itch.io to Steam to (potentially) Google via OAuth2. More to come.