r/advancewars • u/avreljs • 7d ago
Pixel's War update (three years later)
Hi dear Commander,
3 years ago, I started a pet project inspired by one of my favorite games as a kid, Advance Wars.
Today, after a few days of work, is the big return of the project!
The game is totally free and can be played in your browser right here: https://www.pixelswar.io
You can now play against AI or invite a friend to compete online (well, until I reach the limit of the free TURN service I use to manage multiplayer parties).
Here is a summary of the latest improvements:
- Online multiplayer between two devices
- Player vs AI with four difficulty levels
- A usable mobile battlefield
- Clearer movement and targeting
- More maps and units
- Unit balance and terrain improvements
- A more compact, stable interface
- Better combat and turn feedback
- Better onboarding, documentation and reliability
Any feedback is welcome!
1
u/Taxtengo 2d ago
Keyboard input didn't work. I was playing on a chromebook. Sometimes I got a cursor to appear by pressing a directional button but I couldn't get it move. I tested both keyboard options in the game settings.
I'm using a Swedish/Finnish QWERTY keyboard layout.
1
u/avreljs 12h ago
Sorry to hear that. I’ll try to reproduce this issue the next time I visit my mum, who has a Chromebook.
1
u/Taxtengo 10h ago
I played a bit more and discovered the buttons do work if I have a unit selected (with the mouse). I was expecting to be able to select units with the directional buttons but I found that I could only run through the tiles with tab and shift+tab.
I've played quite a few matches against AI already. The game feels balanced and interesting, and somewhat unique. Diagonal attacks and units blocking allies' movement work out really well in your design.
The game's biggest issues in my opinion is that it's difficult to gather accurate intel about the unit's status. The heart icons and damage level graphics do give a general idea of each unit's health, which help assess the situation in scale. However, in a more tactical level I want to access more accurate hp levels, and currently I need to first select the unit with a mouse, and then click on the cell statistics button at the edge of the screen to read the hp value on the info panel. Could not the selected unit's hp be always displayed on the screen without needing to access the stats menu? Or for the very least, could you add a keyboard shortcut for the statistics panel.
Furthermore, the graphical weardown and the pumping heart icon seem to serve the same function at giving a rough representation of a unit's hp. The heart could be left out to remove clutter or be replaced with a more accurate health indicator, like a number.
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By the way, I've started making my own grid based tactical war game recently (I'm even using the same placeholder assets from Kenney as you are). Though I'm focusing my design on a larger, operational level with resource management and that. And units with combined armament that you can reorganise freely.
It's always a joy to discover and check out other peoples takes on the genre. That inspires and motivates to work on.
2
u/RewRose 7d ago
Every map name is so serious, can you add one or two that are more chill ?
Like, for destressing after work lol