2017-12-11 Plan for the Next Release Of DRTS

After last weeks release of the Distilled RTS web app, I am now figuring out what to implement next.

So far, the web app only contains the tutorial, and even that is not complete yet. When looking at that release, many things to improve stand out to me immediately. Examples are adding UI for camera control, edge scrolling, sound effects and a control scheme for touchscreens.

But I want to get a better idea of the big picture first and work on parts which are more likely to hold surprises. Eventually, the web app will replace the windows app and therefore contain all the game modes. This also means the user can create maps, play against AI, or compete with other players for ranks on the leaderboard in server-based multiplayer.

Implementing a simplified version of the multiplayer mode in the web app seems easy enough for a next release. But to obtain useful feedback on a multiplayer mode, we need to find people willing to spend time on meeting online for tests. I am wary of betting we could gather enough people for these tests at the moment. This leaves me with adding singleplayer content to the web app as the objective for the next release.

The minimum viable singleplayer mode could be offering 1 vs 1 against a basic AI. The player also should be able to start a new game or switch back to the tutorial anytime using in-app controls, that is, without having to resort to browser controls like reloading the page. Therefore some UI for navigation is needed too. My impression now is that this scope is enough to warrant an individual release, so that is the plan for the next release.