Posted June 23, 2019 by rubenpieters
Welcome to the first devlog of Codex Aetherium (or CA for short). In CA the player uncovers the mysteries of an ancient codex by solving various strategy puzzles. These puzzles are in the form of minimalistic turn-based battles, where the player is free to approach them in various ways. In general, I like to imagine it as a more puzzley and card gamey version of Into The Breach, coupled with some of the puzzle mystery found in The Witness. Of course this prototype still has a long road ahead to even hope to be compared to the likes of those games. In the next couple of posts I would like to talk about some of the current core mechanics of the game.
Be aware that the game is still a prototype: pretty much all visuals are subject to change in the future.
In this first post we'll take a look at some of the iconography present in CA. The iconography serves two main purposes: it creates a layer of mystery as first-time players uncover what the symbols mean, and it serves as a concise description of ability effects. This first purpose might be somewhat unconventional, since we would expect the iconography to aid players rather than hinder them. However, I thought it was fitting to the theme that players will discover what the symbols mean by experimenting in the first tutorial battles. I still have to experiment and see to what extent this is an enjoyable mechanic. But, I find the iconography still thematic and useful as a description of abilities.
Hopefully, this post is able to help you deciper what is going on in the sneak peek below!