Haunted Temple Studios says it's still a little while out on completing Skulls of the Shogun, an impressive turn-based strategy game due out for XBLA early next year. But the current focus, as I saw during a short demo at the company's HQ (which right now means a living room in an apartment belonging to one of the developers, just a few blocks from the beach in Venice, CA), is not only weeding the bugs out, but making the game look the way it should, so players can make the best strategic decisions possible.

For example, the game's archer is relatively powerful, with an attack value of six. When pitted against units with a low defense score, he can sometimes change the tide of a battle all by himself. Graphically, his role is clear -- he's got a bow, and you can clearly see when moving him around that he's meant to be a ranged character.

His power isn't quite as apparent, however. Haunted Temple is working on making him look just right: weak enough that he can't withstand a close-up attack, but strong enough that, at range, he's a force to be reckoned with.