Features Overview

WHEN I BEGAN WORKING ON SERF WARS, THE CORE LOOP WAS NOT CLEAR. PLAYERS COULD BUILD A CITY, TRAIN UNITS AND CHALLENGE OTHER PLAYERS TO COMBAT. THERE WAS NO CLEAR REASON TO FIGHT OTHER PLAYERS, AND THE OUTCOME OF THE FIGHT WAS CALCULATED IMMEDIATELY WITH NO INTERACTION. THE FEATURES I DESIGNED WERE INTENDED TO CLOSE THE GAME LOOP AND ADD SOME EXCITEMENT TO THE COMBAT.

(I did not do the final art or programming for these features. I designed, documented and wireframed the features, then supervised the development and implementation.)

Customization

To spice up the city building I designed a system that allowed players to purchase or earn a themed castle. Owning the castle unlocked the ability to purchase basic structures (farms, decorations, etc) that match the castle's theme. This allowed players to customize and show off their city and have it look different from other players' cities.

Unit Levels & Equipment

To encourage more participation in combat I designed a level system for the individual units. Units would gain XP when sent on missions, and as they leveled up their stats improved (allowing for a difficulty progression in the quests). 

combat

We created a battle system that allowed players to watch the battle unfold. Along with this I designed a quest system, which allowed players to fight computer-controlled enemies to complete quests and experience stories. We later gave hero units a special ability that players could manually activate, allowing for strategic interaction in the battles.

crafting

I wanted quests to drop loot, giving players an exciting reward and something to work towards. So to allow for a lot of loot, I designed a crafting system to turn that loot into useful equipment. Players would play quests to earn items that could then be turned into weapons and armor to make combat units stronger. Players would need to build the right buildings to be able to craft certain items, and improving those buildings allowed for better items to be crafted. 

magic bean merchant

At random times each day the Magic Bean Merchant would show up in a player's village and trade hard currency for unique items. Many of the items offered by the MBM could not be earned or purchased anywhere else in the game, so players were encouraged to log in often and keep an eye out for him.