INCOMING TRANSMISSION
Welcome to the We Will Be Kings devlog, hacked into the megastructure’s comms. We’re crafting a pirate roguelike where you steal crates, bankrupt corps, and claim a shipping license in ~2.5 hours. Updates on fuel grappling, *F-14* missile chaos, and the economy driving it all. Keep your ship patched—this signal’s live.
DEVLOG FEED
Balancing the 2.5-Hour Run
Tuned corp budgets to 500,000 credits, with bankruptcy at <50,000. Stealing ~2–3 crates/day from one corp (say, Corp A) starves their deliveries, tanking them in ~7 days. Player earnings hit ~70,000 credits by then, covering fees (250/day), bribes (100/crate), and the 5,000-credit license. Enemy pirates snatch 1–2 crates/day, keeping pressure up.
Next: tweak portal collapse visuals for bankruptcies.
Fractal Art Pipeline
Got the megastructure’s fractal surfaces rendering in Unreal—recursive jagged panels that eat GPU but look alien as hell. Crates pop with neon reds and blues (*Risk of Rain* vibes). Working on portal glow effects to signal corp health (dimmer when funds drop).
Might share a GIF soon if the shader behaves.
Sweeper AI Randomization
Sweepers now spawn with random traits tied to corp budgets—high funds mean jetpacks, EMP pulses, cloaking; low funds get basic rifles and grapple hooks. Squads of 2–5 coordinate (snipers pin, brawlers rush). Testing bounty thresholds so high-bounty players get hunted hard.
Feels tense but fair so far.
Fuel-Based Movement Tuning
Grapple (20 fuel), dash (10), double jump (15), slide (5) are now snappy but punishing if you over-chain. A full tank (100 fuel) lets you swing across a freighter, nab a crate, and dash back—if you plan it. Botched a combo? You’re stranded, and sweepers don’t wait.
Testing fuel refill stations on fractal spires.
ABOUT THE GAME
We Will Be Kings is a third-person action-strategy roguelike. You’re a pirate in a *Blame!*-style megastructure, stealing crates with fuel-based moves (grapple, dash, slide) and *F-14*-inspired weapons. Bankrupt a corp by starving their 500,000-credit budget, buy a 5,000-credit license, and name their ruins (e.g., “Jace Corp”). One run: ~2.5 hours. One mistake: ship’s gone, you’re done.
SIGNAL INTERCEPTS
[Corp B Transmission, 03:17] Freighter Delta-9 lost 3 crates to a rookie pirate. Budget’s bleeding—490,000 credits left. Sweepers redeployed to Portal 2. If they hit <50,000, we’re done.
[Pirate Comms, 22:40] Saw Corp C’s portal flicker—low funds? Grappled aboard their freighter, nabbed a value-6 crate. Sold to Corp A for 1500 credits, but my bounty’s spiking. Worth it.
[Corp D Alert, 09:05] Unauthorized ship detected near Portal 4. Sweepers dispatched. Bounty raised to 60. Lock it down!