Devlog #2 — Multiple Arenas & Traps, Glorious Traps!

Chains on Sand now supports multiple arenas, and it’s a massive visual upgrade. Arenas are no longer just a place to fight — they now have character, style, and mood. Each battle might drop you into a dusty wooden pit, a blood-stained stone coliseum, or a red-lit ring surrounded by screaming crowds.

Here’s a sneak peek of one of the new arenas:

 Procedural Trap System (and the battle to make it work)

The second big feature this week was the trap system — and wow, this one fought back hard.

The idea was simple:

• Each arena has a chance of spawning traps.

• Traps are visual, dangerous, and based on classic arena tropes: wall spikes, tile spikes, chainsaws.

• They damage fighters (player or AI), trigger once or per turn, and apply effects like bleeding or knockdown.

Reality? Less simple.

I've had to:

• Build a tile-based overlay for traps

• Prevent traps from spawning on player/enemy spawn points

• Register damage effects dynamically based on movement

• Paint trap visuals properly on top of the arena background

• And fix a dozen invisible bugs that made enemies walk into invisible death, or traps never show up at all

It’s now working  — and when it does, it feels amazing. Stepping on a hidden spike mid-duel or luring a desperate opponent into a chainsaw tile is brutal and satisfying.