Devlog #1

Devlog #1 — Shadow Realm

Shadow Realm started as a lane-based strategy prototype, but this update turned it into something much bigger.

The core of the game is still the same: three lanes, five cards in hand, tower and fort pressure, and fast card-based summoning. That base combat loop stayed intact while the rest of the game expanded around it.

This version adds a full hero system with ownership, active hero selection, leveling, shards, duplicate conversion, and upgrades. There are currently four heroes: Warden, Pyrecaller, Frostweaver, and Duskblade. Each one changes how battles play out through passives and active abilities instead of being just cosmetic picks.

The card roster has also been expanded well beyond the original base set. Collection progression, rarity tiers, deck building, and preset save/load support are all now part of the loop. The goal was to make the deck system feel like a real progression feature instead of a temporary menu.

Outside of battle, the game now includes a shop, hero purchases, card purchases, gacha pulls with pity handling, daily rewards, run history, achievements, and challenge tracking. I also added more long-term data persistence so progression carries across sessions.

On the gameplay side, I added more combat effects and mode-specific systems, including tower abilities, endless upgrades, boss waves, status effects like burn, poison, slow, shield, heal, and lifesteal, plus speed controls and better mode pacing. The goal was to deepen the strategy without breaking the original lane-pressure identity.

The game world has grown too. There are now multiple maps and a featured realm display on the home screen, along with map selection and in-match switching support. Music support was also expanded with mode-based track switching, volume control, and enable/disable settings.

One of the biggest additions is the first multiplayer prototype. It is currently a WebSocket-based room system where players can connect, create or join rooms, and start a match. Right now it is still a relay-style prototype rather than a fully authoritative online architecture, so single-player remains the main polished experience while multiplayer continues to evolve.

What still needs work is stability and polish. I have not fully verified every edge case yet, especially around battle reset flow, long-session save sync, and some endless mode timing. So this version is a big step forward, but it is not the “finished” version yet.

The big focus going forward is improving feel, balance, and reliability. The systems are here. Now the job is making them tighter, clearer, and more satisfying match to match.

Thanks to everyone checking out the project early.