The first sequel

The change from an expansion to a sequel happened around August 2006, although I don't remember the exact details of the change (it's been awhile). The first build to be labelled as Gladiator Trials II was build 131 on the 15th August 2006, it was also the first build to change the arena from real-time to turn-based.

I was debating whether the arena would be pure turn-based or more tactics, with the possibility of a unit defending and getting another turn before other units had their chance. Multiplayer was still under heavy consideration during this phase and was the reason I belived tactics would be better suited. There was even plans to have direct control over your units, with WASD keys for movement and space bar to bring up an action menu. This faded over time as I realized that going from a mouse-based sim portion to a keyboard controlled arena would make the two seem like seperate games.

The game was still aimed as a freeware release, expected to be done by October 2006. I don't recall the exact day I decided to turn it into a shareware game, but I do recall friends who I showed it to suggesting it was good enough to try and sell, and as the thought ran through my head over the weeks I decided why not! Little did I realize that such a move would push the game back another 11 months.

Gladiator Trials II was originally released with 800x600 graphics and a bulky interface, it wasn't until version 1.2 was released that the game began to really shine. Sporting a new interface, a 1024x768 resolution and many major gameplay changes for a faster game. I never saw the issues (limited resolution in particular) because I was in too much of a hurry to get the game released, after spending 3 years of my life thinking about gladiators I wanted a break!

After spending more of my time on marketing I went back to the game and discovered just what could be done to improve the gameplay and interface with minimal effort.While also contributing to the codebase for a possible follow up game using most of the original engine. Most of the interface changes and gameplay changes stemed from the design document of a sequel or expansion to GTII. I decided to take those benefits and place them in a patch rather than hold off for a followup, although there were plently of other ideas that I didn't include.