RKL Monthly Dev Diary - July/August
All Things Arenas
In this month’s Dev Dairy we’re going HAM on arenas.
We’ve been applying feedback from the best Web3 community in the metaverse and the arenas are really starting to come to life. Arenas are not just about having a court to hoop on, they’re a pillar of the RKL gaming experience. They are the canvas on which competitors become champions.
We have 3 kinds of arenas in development currently:
Ranked Arena: for official League tournament play
Club Arena: for Club hosted tournaments and games
Casual Arena: for pick-up games among Kongs & other types of players
Here’s a bird’s eye view of the Club Arena design. You can see many places where Club branding will be customizable. In the last few months, we’ve really been concentrating on getting this particular design ready for the game.
Each arena type will have a variety of features that create a unique experience in the game. So grab a ball off the rack and let’s get into it.
Now that our team has advanced the development process to where arenas are being rendered in 3D, we can begin demoing many of the customization options such as seats, flags and amenities. Let’s start with where those Kongs will be sitting come game time!
Arena Seating Options
The bench seats for Kongs provide a unique opportunity for customization.
We are planning for a full range of options that provide for different default seating in the arenas. We are also exploring and designing upgrades for big games and those all-important tournaments
Here you can see a version of the standard fold-out seats one might envision a rookie sitting in:
This bench design taps into the theme of hovering game assets such as the hoops in the arena:
And for a different take, these seats are a hybrid of something you might see in a silicon valley tech company or a futuristic spaceship commander chair.
We’re not stopping with individual seats either. You can see here what a bench-style arrangement can look like. We love the glowing neon effects, let us know what you think!
And since the RKL will likely host competitions among IRL superstars, we wanted to create a high-end bench experience as well. Let us know your feedback on what would make it even better.
Club Logos & Flags
You can also see here behind the bench, one of our customizable banner flags hanging on the wall.
These can feature Club logos or other designs set by Club Owners that visually indicate the different team benches and align with the overall branding of the arena itself.
In this zoomed-out view, you can see all the elements coming together with separate benches, banner flags behind them, and a customizable logo in the center of the court.
Please keep in mind, that these are only a small sample of what we have planned for the full release.
Off Court Assets
When the basketball isn’t in play Kongs and fans need dope place to reside!
Here, you can see some small assets which can be placed on your arena’s court-side. Trash cans, ball racks, and neon glowing decor will keep your arena looking the part in the city of Athlos.
The potential of arena amenities is only limited by our imaginations. We expect to come up with many different expression options.
Here is a design of what a courtside gym could look like. Perhaps when rookies finish getting schooled on the court they will have hit the weights right after.
Custom Hoops
As well as being able to deck out your club’s bench area, you’ll also get to alter a few of the on-court assets.
Here, we take a look at the various designs for your club’s basketball hoops. A few options have already been created to showcase how this customizable function will work in-game.
Again, make sure to take note that this is only a handful of the designs we have planned for the full game. If you have any feedback, of course, make sure to comment on our various social media posts!
These items we mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Arena customization.
We can’t wait to bring the best ideas from the community to life!
Kongs & Court Sizing
We have also been working on some tests related to the proportions of the Kongs in the arena itself. The size of a Kong relative to the court will determine a lot of other aspects of the gameplay such as the speed with which a Kong can move around the court or the mechanics of passing the rock.
The first image below demonstrates the current court size we have for the RKL. Version 2 is a 35% increase & Version 3 is a 42% increase.
Let us know your favorite across our social media platforms!
The final update on our recent development progress is some new camera angles that are coming to life within the game.
The new camera angle allows us to simulate different perspectives of the gameplay and see how all of the aspects come together. Again this is still very much a work in progress, but something we feel will add an extra dimension to the gameplay.
It is important to also keep in mind that this is just one camera angle to view the entire court. In the game, there will be moving camera angles, various views, and more.
Backend Development
Version: client 0.4.1
As well as keeping you up to date on everything visually, we thought it was key to let you in on some of the backend development currently happening game side. A lot of the massive tasks being completed around the game happen beneath the visuals we share. This is a key point to take away in why we haven’t been showcasing as many art updates as we usually do across our various social media platforms.
Below is a list of the tasks completed and ongoing backend work we currently are undertaking:
Task Completed:
Admin panel fix: add the ability to remove the user when the player profile is removed
Email verification fixes;
Balanced configuration system in Admin Panel;
Small fix: Team window, correction transparency of empty slots;
Small fix: Team window, size correction with kong avatar in-game;
Add info message system for player moves inside the game;
Add notifications for the task of connecting your wallet;
Add content management system;
In addition, here is a list of some various backend tasks currently being worked on:
Animancer/new animation system - we completed transferring all old animations and started to implement new ones into the game. This will ensure the kongs have a variety of different styles and finishes when moving on the court
Sync wallet data at different places in the game - Task was started.
Reconnect after losing connection - started tasks for client/backend updates.
AI - standard Kong’s behavior is completed. Started works for actions for Kong’s in attack/defense.
Work in progress is also for dynamic camera. But we are currently still polishing this.
And a whole lot more..
In Conclusion
We hope this update got your imagination going as we want to hear your feedback and ideas! Send us a tweet, join a Twitter Space, or post in our community feedback forum and let us know what you think.
Have a suggestion? Leave your comments here and one of our team members will get back to you. https://community.rumblekongleague.com
In our next update, we’ll be taking a closer look at a major aspect that will enhance gameplay called “abilities”.
Until then, stay #KONGSTRONG!
Wen moon ?