Devlog#3: InterBattle Screen Implementation (Work in Progress)

Over the last sprint, I've been hard at work implementing a brand-new InterBattle Screen — a core piece of the game loop in Chains on Sand. This screen appears after each fight, allowing players to make meaningful choices before their next arena match.

 What’s Working:

• New InterBattleScene added to the loop, showing your current HP and remaining debt.

• The player can now perform up to two actions (of the 4 available) between fights:

  • Heal: Fully restores HP at the cost of gold (which increases debt).

  • Train: Grants +1 XP, increasing progression toward leveling.

  • Work: Reduces debt by doing chores for the arena owner.

  • Repair: Opens the repair panel to fix damaged gear.

• All choices directly affect your character’s survival, growth, or long-term freedom. Want to stay in top shape? It’ll cost you. Prefer to dig your way out of debt? Better hope you’re still standing in the next match.

 Fixes and Bug Hunting:

• Addressed an issue where HP was incorrectly resetting between fights — now it persists correctly unless healed.

• Fixed work action reducing debt by 20 instead of 10.

• Solved a problem where action buttons triggered multiple times due to duplicate listeners.

• Repaired logic to ensure loot is transferred properly and doesn’t vanish due to missing item data.

• Debugged repair panel not opening.

• Improved internal logging to help track bugs without overwhelming the console.

What’s Next:

• Finalize and test the Repair UI and item cost logic.

• Integrate player fame, injuries, and resting penalties into InterBattle choices.

• Display summary of fight rewards, including debt reductions and earned loot, directly on the Post-Battle Panel.

• Working on expanding the mechanic for when the player pay off his debt. 

This system is a major step toward deepening Chains on Sand’s loop: not just winning fights, but surviving the life between them.

Stay tuned — more coming soon.