MinST

I'm taking part in the Revive the dead 2 event. It is an excellent opportunity to bring MinST back to live and finish the project. Here are the progress made during the event so far.

Difficulties had and unexpected challenge
Most of the difficulties came from the improvement of the code to enable the development of new features. The code needed massive refactoring. This is a risky challenge because it could lead me to break the whole game. As it was old code, I had to rediscover its logic and this raised yet again the complexity of the task. But I managed to make the necessary improvements.

New things added
Maps are no longer limited to a single screen composed of 10 rows by 17 columns. You can scroll large maps by moving the cursor close to the screen edge.
The map editor now handle the scrollable maps. I also improved its interface to ease tile alteration and unit placement. Instead of typing command lines to alter tile and put units, you use direction keys and choose action points and health points in a simple menu.
The AI now has configurable behaviors to wait for player moves, defend/guard a location or hunt the player. The new map format allows using these behaviors but the map editor doesn't have a menu for it yet.
I also drew a cart unit for capture mission as well as a new set of walls to show who's on the defense side and benefit from the wall.

Old things removed
I removed the command line map editor where you had to open the tile set with a picture viewing software and type the tile ID to make changes.

Planning and putting together
Element I need to finish:
* build the unit logic for capture missions
* develop reinforcement to add new units while playing
* build the new wall logic to protect units behind the walls and leave units in front of the wall vulnerable
* build the campaign

Where you are now with the game
85% of the engine is completed
1% of the campaign/story is done: I just have a general storyline in mined.

Whether you think you'll finish/have a demo ready by the end
Every time I make a significant improvement to the game, I update its download. So you always have a playable demo.
I'll most likely not be able to finish the campaign but you can have fun playing the 18 maps and building some with the map editor.