The last time I dropped a post was to make an announcement of our latest flash game project, Epos. I'm back now to discuss some aspects about the game itself. This week, the Battle Mechanics.

While Epos plays like many turn-based RPGs of your youth (probably depending on how old you are), we've done some things of our own and tossed them into the mix to make this a much deeper experience than you might have come to expect. This annotated screenshot below will help illustrate this point:

Annotations Screenshot

1) One feature of our combat is the use of Signet Coins. These coins can be purchased, found, or awarded throughout the game. When equipped, they appear below your character as glowing seals and grant them special abilities, which range from experience bonuses, to damage reflection, to receiving the first turn in battle. There are 21 unique Signet Coins to be found in Epos, and it's going to be a challenge to collect them all.

2) Skill orbs are the method in which characters can afford to perform their skills. These orbs are earned for attacking or defending in battle. The cost of your skills depends upon its level; the higher the level, the more orbs you'll need. Accruing skill orbs can be affected by the Signet Coins you may have equipped, or by the skills another character may have access to.

3) Spell leveling is another important function to Epos' battle system. While it is not uncommon for RPGs to include varying stages of a particular spell, we've removed the notion of purchasing them and instead designed a leveling system. As you use the spell, its star gauge slowly fills. Each time a new star is filled, the spell is automatically upgraded and its affect becomes significantly more powerful. This system should encourage players to be diverse in their play-style.

4) As mentioned under skill orbs, characters can be directed the defend during their turn. Defending will significantly decrease damage directed at this player, and will earn them twice as many skill orbs as attacking. Defending is a great way to quickly earn orbs for your advanced skills, but at the cost of a chance to make another dent on your enemy's health.

Another aspect of battle worth mentioning is the dynamic Battle Cam. It doesn't really have anything to do with the gameplay mechanics, but it's just a touch of flare we added to give the battles a more intense feel to them. If you don't like it, or if it causes performance issues on older computers, we do have the option available to toggle the Battle Cam off at any point in time. Here are some screens of the game in action:

Healing spell
Attacking slide
Elemental spell
Advanced elemental spell

We're still making changes and adjustments every day, so expect the final product to have even more polish and more optimized visuals and features.

I think that's it for this update. Thanks for reading this far! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or objections, feel free to leave them below.