Devlog #0: Game Design of Causa Project

Welcome to the first devlog for Causa Project, a guerrilla warfare strategy game. In this devlog, I will be going over game design plans for the game, and give the first insights into what the game will look like.

The Overworld Map

Maps in Causa Project will be split into provinces. Each province will have a terrain type, and will have a few different locations, most notably a provincial capital. For example, a jungle province might have two small villages and a provincial capital. Players will gain support by completing missions within the province (outside of locations) or completing missions inside of named locations in the province. The terrain of a province will play a large part in determining the amount of force that the junta will be able to apply to counter your operations. For example, performing a food distribution mission within a village in the jungle will be considerably easier than less risky to pull off than trying to perform an assassination mission in an urban provincial capital, or attempting an ambush mission in a plains province.

I plan on developing for two maps at launch. The first map will be a small map (just two or three provinces) that players will be encouraged to play for their first game so that it is shorter and easier to learn without jumping straight into a long game. The game mechanics will all be put into place for the first map so that they are working properly for ease of testing, and then the second map will be made and balanced around. The game is being made so that maps will be easy to add in future updates.

Game Length

I am aiming for each campaign of the game to take between 5 and 10 hours to complete. The game will have a high replayability factor due to the emergent gameplay from randomized elements and events, as well as different difficulty levels and starting locations offering different challenges.

Turn-based, mission-based format

Similar to sending your squad on missions in XCOM, the player will have the ability to send out guerrillas on missions every turn. These named guerrillas will gain experience as they complete missions, and can die permanently at any time. The maximum number for these will be 16 (starting at 4 and upgradable over time), so that the game is not too micro-heavy, and so that the game is not too easy. Your manpower (a separate stat that guerrillas can be generated from) can be used for garrisons and for taking locations only.

I decided upon this system because I really like the way that the player becomes attached to their squad in XCOM, and seeing one of your squad members level up is just as satisfying as it is heartbreaking to see one of them fall in combat.

That's all for this development update. Note that screenshots are just from the first day of development, and the graphics are guaranteed to change (especially the UI). These are just to give an example of what the game screen might eventually look like.

If you are interested in following the progress of Causa Project, feel free to join the discord at https://discord.gg/eZYACzUxtS