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1
Game Discussion / Re: Am I missing something? Help [resolved]
« on: August 27, 2021, 12:44:25 AM »
The tip for retreat has been implemented with the latest build:
Latest Release: v0.47.1
Date Released: 8/26/2021
See the Release Notes: https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=123.0
Latest Release: v0.47.1
Date Released: 8/26/2021
See the Release Notes: https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=123.0
2
Game Discussion / Re: Am I missing something? Help
« on: August 01, 2021, 01:18:08 PM »
Hi Neg,
Welcome to the community!
The tutorial is not completely finished and misses one important explanation: the retreat button. It's at the very bottom-right corner of the screen, containing three little arrows pointing down. Each time you enter a battle, you get a chance to withdraw during your first turn. At the beginning of the game when your hero is still weak and your deck and team not fully built up, this is a mandatory strategy. You'll want to explore, find resources, build up strength, determine which party is the weakest to engage it first... and only then tackle tougher ones.
As you discover rooms with enemy parties, pay attention whether they contain a summoner or not, as they can play cards too and therefore be much stronger opponents. Besides the description on their card, you can spot summoners at their ornate lifebar. Also the icon on the map is different for rooms with summoners vs. rooms with regular units.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you're a discord user you'll find faster response time to your questions on the D20Studios channel: https://discord.gg/d20studios
Also, would you mind changing the title of your thread to make it easier for others in your situation to find this answer? Thanks!
Welcome to the community!
The tutorial is not completely finished and misses one important explanation: the retreat button. It's at the very bottom-right corner of the screen, containing three little arrows pointing down. Each time you enter a battle, you get a chance to withdraw during your first turn. At the beginning of the game when your hero is still weak and your deck and team not fully built up, this is a mandatory strategy. You'll want to explore, find resources, build up strength, determine which party is the weakest to engage it first... and only then tackle tougher ones.
As you discover rooms with enemy parties, pay attention whether they contain a summoner or not, as they can play cards too and therefore be much stronger opponents. Besides the description on their card, you can spot summoners at their ornate lifebar. Also the icon on the map is different for rooms with summoners vs. rooms with regular units.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you're a discord user you'll find faster response time to your questions on the D20Studios channel: https://discord.gg/d20studios
Also, would you mind changing the title of your thread to make it easier for others in your situation to find this answer? Thanks!
3
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: November 13, 2019, 02:51:15 PM »
OK, I'm waaaaaaaay late for posting an answer, but anyway... 
First I must say that I fully back the comments made previously. And probably most of all the fact that the randomness of Peter's campaign added to the replayability. I also have ideas about how to tackle the difficulty of proposing relevant cards to the player, but I'll keep this for another post as this one is already long enough (brace yourselves!).
Indeed besides these technical aspects I've been thinking about the storytelling supporting the single player campaigns. I think it's also important in making it enjoyable to the player, and contributing to a compelling experience.
Quests
I see a campaign as a quest, and each quest as a collection of locations that you can explore. Each location has several rooms, connected together, in which the encounters and adventures take place.
I envision quests being organized by summoner, for instance Sylvia's initiation quest where she gets her squirrel hurling staff to achieve her objective. After all, this game's name is "Summoners' Fate", right? So how should that become apparent during single player campaign?
My proposal is that each quest starts with an encounter with a seer. The seer uses a divination method (see the following section for details), revealing to the summoner that his/her fate is to fulfill a given mission objective.
In Sylvia's example it would be freeing the sacred forest from the orc intruders, and the seer would for instance read that fate in the shape of the shadows of a dying tree's branches. This campaign would therefore be known as "Sylvia's dying tree divination".
If we keep the notion of the campaign culminating in a big boss fight, then the divination will likely reveal that saving the forest requires killing the orc chief who launched the attack (text overlay on the divination picture, as the seer provides his interpretation). Of course the chief is not easily accessible, being remote and having lieutenants and factions guarding the area that they have already invaded, between Sylvia and his headquarters. However the ways leading to his headquarters are made plain by the seer's divination.
But divination is imperfect, and it only provides limited information: possible paths, approximate strength of the opposition, and resource spots. Paths are symbolized by lines (shadows of branches in our dying tree example). Strength of the opposition is symbolized by the size of the nodes (the larger the stronger the opposition). Resource spots are symbolized by movement (a fluttering leave at the corresponding node in the case of the dying tree).
Now this storytelling can blend with the campaign map concept, providing both an explanation and a beautiful background for each campaign. And the fact of combining summoner + divination to define a campaign provides limitless opportunities wiithin a common framework. Wikipedia alone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_divination) can provide tons of divination ideas.
Divination methods
Here are suggestions of how to implement various divination methods in the above framework. The intent would be to build an engine capable of creating the rendering of the divination based on input parameters (number of nodes, levels, etc.), just as the campaign map was working.
- "Coffee ground": The shape of coffee ground traces on a percolating cloth (movement: drops of the remaining water passing through)
- "Green sticks": Sticks dropped on the floor (movement: leaves left on sticks, fluttering in the wind)
- "Beachcomber": Sticks and stones thrown back on the beach by the sea (movement: dried algae fluttering in the wind)
- "Spider web": A spider web in a tree, illuminated by the light of dawn, whose rays are filtered by branches and therefore only light up some of the strings (movement: bugs trying to escape)
- "Could": The shape of clouds (Movement: flickering light, or circling birds)
- "Fur": The shape of spots on an animal's fur on a stretcher (movement: roaming bugs)
- "Rune dices": Dices with engraved runes thrown onto dry dirt, making traces as they roll (movement: dried leaves captured underneath some of the dices, fluttering in the wind)
- "Mercury chiromancy": Lines on a hand's palm, some getting highlighted by mercury poured onto the palm, and mercury pooling forming nodes (movement: vibration of some of the pooling spots)
- "Bonfire": The shape of charcoal and ashes after a bonfire ceased to burn (movement: remaining ambers revived by the wind)
- "Petal": petals scattered and pooled by the wind (movement: fluttering)
- "Dying tree": Shadow of the almost bare branches of a tree (movement: few remaining leaves fluttering)
- "Rodent track": Traces of rabbit steps in the snow, between bushes, seen from a high point (Movement: moving branches)
- "Crystal": Veins and inclusions inside a slice of stone crystal, revealed by placing it before a candle (movement: flickering light)
- "Stream": Sticks and stones at the bottom of a shallow mountain stream (movement: flickering light at the surface of water, or water gushing around the few stones surfacing)
- Etc
Thanks for reading to the end. Comments are welcome!
First I must say that I fully back the comments made previously. And probably most of all the fact that the randomness of Peter's campaign added to the replayability. I also have ideas about how to tackle the difficulty of proposing relevant cards to the player, but I'll keep this for another post as this one is already long enough (brace yourselves!).
Indeed besides these technical aspects I've been thinking about the storytelling supporting the single player campaigns. I think it's also important in making it enjoyable to the player, and contributing to a compelling experience.
Quests
I see a campaign as a quest, and each quest as a collection of locations that you can explore. Each location has several rooms, connected together, in which the encounters and adventures take place.
I envision quests being organized by summoner, for instance Sylvia's initiation quest where she gets her squirrel hurling staff to achieve her objective. After all, this game's name is "Summoners' Fate", right? So how should that become apparent during single player campaign?
My proposal is that each quest starts with an encounter with a seer. The seer uses a divination method (see the following section for details), revealing to the summoner that his/her fate is to fulfill a given mission objective.
In Sylvia's example it would be freeing the sacred forest from the orc intruders, and the seer would for instance read that fate in the shape of the shadows of a dying tree's branches. This campaign would therefore be known as "Sylvia's dying tree divination".
If we keep the notion of the campaign culminating in a big boss fight, then the divination will likely reveal that saving the forest requires killing the orc chief who launched the attack (text overlay on the divination picture, as the seer provides his interpretation). Of course the chief is not easily accessible, being remote and having lieutenants and factions guarding the area that they have already invaded, between Sylvia and his headquarters. However the ways leading to his headquarters are made plain by the seer's divination.
But divination is imperfect, and it only provides limited information: possible paths, approximate strength of the opposition, and resource spots. Paths are symbolized by lines (shadows of branches in our dying tree example). Strength of the opposition is symbolized by the size of the nodes (the larger the stronger the opposition). Resource spots are symbolized by movement (a fluttering leave at the corresponding node in the case of the dying tree).
Now this storytelling can blend with the campaign map concept, providing both an explanation and a beautiful background for each campaign. And the fact of combining summoner + divination to define a campaign provides limitless opportunities wiithin a common framework. Wikipedia alone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_divination) can provide tons of divination ideas.
Divination methods
Here are suggestions of how to implement various divination methods in the above framework. The intent would be to build an engine capable of creating the rendering of the divination based on input parameters (number of nodes, levels, etc.), just as the campaign map was working.
- "Coffee ground": The shape of coffee ground traces on a percolating cloth (movement: drops of the remaining water passing through)
- "Green sticks": Sticks dropped on the floor (movement: leaves left on sticks, fluttering in the wind)
- "Beachcomber": Sticks and stones thrown back on the beach by the sea (movement: dried algae fluttering in the wind)
- "Spider web": A spider web in a tree, illuminated by the light of dawn, whose rays are filtered by branches and therefore only light up some of the strings (movement: bugs trying to escape)
- "Could": The shape of clouds (Movement: flickering light, or circling birds)
- "Fur": The shape of spots on an animal's fur on a stretcher (movement: roaming bugs)
- "Rune dices": Dices with engraved runes thrown onto dry dirt, making traces as they roll (movement: dried leaves captured underneath some of the dices, fluttering in the wind)
- "Mercury chiromancy": Lines on a hand's palm, some getting highlighted by mercury poured onto the palm, and mercury pooling forming nodes (movement: vibration of some of the pooling spots)
- "Bonfire": The shape of charcoal and ashes after a bonfire ceased to burn (movement: remaining ambers revived by the wind)
- "Petal": petals scattered and pooled by the wind (movement: fluttering)
- "Dying tree": Shadow of the almost bare branches of a tree (movement: few remaining leaves fluttering)
- "Rodent track": Traces of rabbit steps in the snow, between bushes, seen from a high point (Movement: moving branches)
- "Crystal": Veins and inclusions inside a slice of stone crystal, revealed by placing it before a candle (movement: flickering light)
- "Stream": Sticks and stones at the bottom of a shallow mountain stream (movement: flickering light at the surface of water, or water gushing around the few stones surfacing)
- Etc
Thanks for reading to the end. Comments are welcome!
4
Share Your Ideas / Re: Gameplay Ideas
« on: January 24, 2019, 01:50:58 PM »
Did you mean inversely proportional to their skill?
Good catch, BlackHorse!
I edited the post to avoid any confusion.
Thanks!
5
Share Your Ideas / Deck builder ideas and comments
« on: December 25, 2018, 03:18:05 PM »
Hi all,
Since the card management feature is now out, let's have a place to share ideas and feedback to further improve it.
Here is a first suggestion:
- In the collection, each time a card references another (such as Animate Tree --> Treant, or Acheri --> Banshee), have the corresponding referenced card right next to it in the collection, so that you can easily check its characteristics.
Please add your comments and suggestions as replies.
Thanks!
Since the card management feature is now out, let's have a place to share ideas and feedback to further improve it.
Here is a first suggestion:
- In the collection, each time a card references another (such as Animate Tree --> Treant, or Acheri --> Banshee), have the corresponding referenced card right next to it in the collection, so that you can easily check its characteristics.
Please add your comments and suggestions as replies.
Thanks!
6
Share Your Ideas / Re: Gameplay Ideas
« on: December 12, 2018, 02:56:07 PM »
Hi,
I'm just capturing here an idea that MCN_Mike (Megaferret777 on Discord) voiced during a Twitch stream.
For definitions and ranking logic please refer to this post:
https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=57.0
Proposal: PvP would have an option to pitch you against one of your friends, instead of against a random player
Category: gameplay/type of user interaction
Ranking: I would propose 5. It's an additional feature, nice to have but not directly impacting the top development priorities.
Game design considerations
It has been suggested that Discord could be a place to find an opponent and directly launch a PvP from there. It could be an option to partially answer this request, maybe even fully (I don't know Discord's possibilities enough to be positive). But that would mean 1) the game becomes somewhat dependent on Discord if it's the only way to achieve this goal and 2) information passed to Discord in the process would have to be evaluated for its privacy implications.
Another approach is to use interaction with social media, but the other way around: build a bridge to your social media (Facebook, Discord, Twitch, etc) to retrieve your friends' information and hopefully match it up with Summoners Fate user IDs. The advantage is that it can be leveraged well beyond Discord only, and if no user ID match is found, it could be used to offer to send them an invite on behalf of the player.
Yet another way is to manage it completely autonomously within the game. This would work well in conjunction with a dialog box at the end of PvP game offering to add the player to your list of friends (in addition to the already requested "rematch" option).
The full-fledged version is of course all of the above, giving the player maximum flexibility, including mixing Summoners Fate-only friends with his/her other friends in a custom in-game list, that he can export to Discord to create his/her own direct message group (let's be wild!).
Comments?
I'm just capturing here an idea that MCN_Mike (Megaferret777 on Discord) voiced during a Twitch stream.
For definitions and ranking logic please refer to this post:
https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=57.0
Proposal: PvP would have an option to pitch you against one of your friends, instead of against a random player
Category: gameplay/type of user interaction
Ranking: I would propose 5. It's an additional feature, nice to have but not directly impacting the top development priorities.
Game design considerations
It has been suggested that Discord could be a place to find an opponent and directly launch a PvP from there. It could be an option to partially answer this request, maybe even fully (I don't know Discord's possibilities enough to be positive). But that would mean 1) the game becomes somewhat dependent on Discord if it's the only way to achieve this goal and 2) information passed to Discord in the process would have to be evaluated for its privacy implications.
Another approach is to use interaction with social media, but the other way around: build a bridge to your social media (Facebook, Discord, Twitch, etc) to retrieve your friends' information and hopefully match it up with Summoners Fate user IDs. The advantage is that it can be leveraged well beyond Discord only, and if no user ID match is found, it could be used to offer to send them an invite on behalf of the player.
Yet another way is to manage it completely autonomously within the game. This would work well in conjunction with a dialog box at the end of PvP game offering to add the player to your list of friends (in addition to the already requested "rematch" option).
The full-fledged version is of course all of the above, giving the player maximum flexibility, including mixing Summoners Fate-only friends with his/her other friends in a custom in-game list, that he can export to Discord to create his/her own direct message group (let's be wild!).
Comments?
7
Share Your Ideas / Re: Gameplay Ideas
« on: November 19, 2018, 02:32:00 PM »
Hi!
Any place is good, let's not be picky admins
Buzzrick had the same remarks a few weeks ago on Discord.
I agree with tlark's reply, though:
"Good day. I kind of like the limitation, if you have greater control over finishing direction, then there are less manouvering tactics. So it seems to complicate control for dubious gameplay benefit"
In my mind the current setup forces you into compromises, and that's good. You cannot get the perfect action+placement+facing. You have to make some sort of tradeoff.
One might see it as an unnecessary constraint. I see it as making the game quicker (because it's one less control to manage), and more interesting (as you leave openings that your opponent may use creatively to his avantage, thus contributing to unforseen developments).
We had debates on this during the initial design of the movement control system, and these were definitely two options on the table. I like the one Ross eventually chose.
I hope you will abound after seeing this rationale!
Take care
Any place is good, let's not be picky admins
Buzzrick had the same remarks a few weeks ago on Discord.
I agree with tlark's reply, though:
"Good day. I kind of like the limitation, if you have greater control over finishing direction, then there are less manouvering tactics. So it seems to complicate control for dubious gameplay benefit"
In my mind the current setup forces you into compromises, and that's good. You cannot get the perfect action+placement+facing. You have to make some sort of tradeoff.
One might see it as an unnecessary constraint. I see it as making the game quicker (because it's one less control to manage), and more interesting (as you leave openings that your opponent may use creatively to his avantage, thus contributing to unforseen developments).
We had debates on this during the initial design of the movement control system, and these were definitely two options on the table. I like the one Ross eventually chose.
I hope you will abound after seeing this rationale!
Take care
8
Share Your Ideas / Re: Gameplay Ideas
« on: October 18, 2018, 02:55:13 PM »
Assisted Play: AI coaching
As much as I personally like the tactical depth this game has, I also have learned that it can be a deterrent to newcomers. Initial play testing, after the tutorial, is key for them giving up or getting hooked.
Of course a first and easy mitigation is to very strongly advise players to train against the AI before trying to challenge experienced players. But even against the AI, the span of choices can get a bit daunting at first.
So here's a first feature proposal to help players who are unsure about what to do. I call it "AI coaching": Not sure how to best guide your characters' fate? Ask them!
Description
Double-tapping on one of your units would mean: "Give me your opinion on what we should be doing".
A chat bubble on the character would then reply "Let me think". Then the AI routine gets applied to the human player's team.
Another character dialog bubble then says "Here's what I would do". An indicator (like for instance a colored box around the game area) would turn on to show that this isn't the real game, but just a prospective view. In that special mode the first, say, 3 actions of the AI routine results would play out (including drag actions, to show not only the results but also the process, at least as a default setting).
Then the prospective view indicator would turn off, at the same time as everything returns to its initial state. A final message might say "Ready to decide?", with two buttons: "OK" and "Replay".
Game design considerations
- Of course all surprises would need to be temporarily turned off.
- The right number of actions to show is to be defined, probably by testing. I suggested 3 to get an opportunity to see how combinations start to play out, without going through an entire turn. Less actions could leave the player puzzled, not understanding the direction the AI is taking. Too many would take too much time, and be overloading the person trying to understand/memorize it all.
- As previously discussed for the Undo button, the number of times you can use this feature could be inversely proportional to the player's experience level. So this could be used even against a human player. The opponent would then se the actions unravel, then be canceled just as when the Undo button is played. This way the opponent would have something to watch while waiting!
Development Priority Level
My intent is to make a feature to help reach community critical mass, so that would make it a 2 on the scale.
Is it novel enough that it could contribute to wow an editor and be worth a rank of 1?
Further refinements
- In the settings you should be able to toggle displaying the process (dragging, tapping, etc.). This is the bare minimum to not get annoying very fast.
- You could imagine different classes of characters having distinct dialog styles (the Barbarian likely having a rougher attitude than the well-behaved Time Keeper Rat).
- Down the road voice-over could be added to the dialogs.
- With inexperienced players the characters could offer their help spontaneously. Not sure what the right trigger would be, though.
Thoughts? Feedback?
As much as I personally like the tactical depth this game has, I also have learned that it can be a deterrent to newcomers. Initial play testing, after the tutorial, is key for them giving up or getting hooked.
Of course a first and easy mitigation is to very strongly advise players to train against the AI before trying to challenge experienced players. But even against the AI, the span of choices can get a bit daunting at first.
So here's a first feature proposal to help players who are unsure about what to do. I call it "AI coaching": Not sure how to best guide your characters' fate? Ask them!
Description
Double-tapping on one of your units would mean: "Give me your opinion on what we should be doing".
A chat bubble on the character would then reply "Let me think". Then the AI routine gets applied to the human player's team.
Another character dialog bubble then says "Here's what I would do". An indicator (like for instance a colored box around the game area) would turn on to show that this isn't the real game, but just a prospective view. In that special mode the first, say, 3 actions of the AI routine results would play out (including drag actions, to show not only the results but also the process, at least as a default setting).
Then the prospective view indicator would turn off, at the same time as everything returns to its initial state. A final message might say "Ready to decide?", with two buttons: "OK" and "Replay".
Game design considerations
- Of course all surprises would need to be temporarily turned off.
- The right number of actions to show is to be defined, probably by testing. I suggested 3 to get an opportunity to see how combinations start to play out, without going through an entire turn. Less actions could leave the player puzzled, not understanding the direction the AI is taking. Too many would take too much time, and be overloading the person trying to understand/memorize it all.
- As previously discussed for the Undo button, the number of times you can use this feature could be inversely proportional to the player's experience level. So this could be used even against a human player. The opponent would then se the actions unravel, then be canceled just as when the Undo button is played. This way the opponent would have something to watch while waiting!
Development Priority Level
My intent is to make a feature to help reach community critical mass, so that would make it a 2 on the scale.
Is it novel enough that it could contribute to wow an editor and be worth a rank of 1?
Further refinements
- In the settings you should be able to toggle displaying the process (dragging, tapping, etc.). This is the bare minimum to not get annoying very fast.
- You could imagine different classes of characters having distinct dialog styles (the Barbarian likely having a rougher attitude than the well-behaved Time Keeper Rat).
- Down the road voice-over could be added to the dialogs.
- With inexperienced players the characters could offer their help spontaneously. Not sure what the right trigger would be, though.
Thoughts? Feedback?
9
Share Your Ideas / Ability ideas
« on: October 08, 2018, 01:46:23 PM »
Hi,
I'm opening a new thread for submitting ideas of cool abilities for our characters.
Keep in mind that these could also be used to create "grant ability X" kind of spells.
Here's my first one, to get things started.
Dodge
Description: Avoids the first attack of the turn coming from a visible enemy by a reflex move to left or right, if one of those two spaces is empty (or as a second choice occupied by something which can be collided with).
Comments: Whoever has this ability CANNOT prevent it from happening, even if detrimental. For instance this move can trigger an automatic attack from an enemy (combo), make the character collide with spikes, fall into a trap, etc. This balances a bit the tremendous advantage of the ability always being turned on.
Proposed character: a ninja, for instance?
Game design considerations: Should the direction of move be considered a surprise, therefore preventing the undo function (maybe too much of an additional advantage for the defender)? Should the character move diagonally if so oriented (which would be very unique and could cause new issues)?
Please comment, and propose your own ideas!
I'm opening a new thread for submitting ideas of cool abilities for our characters.
Keep in mind that these could also be used to create "grant ability X" kind of spells.
Here's my first one, to get things started.
Dodge
Description: Avoids the first attack of the turn coming from a visible enemy by a reflex move to left or right, if one of those two spaces is empty (or as a second choice occupied by something which can be collided with).
Comments: Whoever has this ability CANNOT prevent it from happening, even if detrimental. For instance this move can trigger an automatic attack from an enemy (combo), make the character collide with spikes, fall into a trap, etc. This balances a bit the tremendous advantage of the ability always being turned on.
Proposed character: a ninja, for instance?
Game design considerations: Should the direction of move be considered a surprise, therefore preventing the undo function (maybe too much of an additional advantage for the defender)? Should the character move diagonally if so oriented (which would be very unique and could cause new issues)?
Please comment, and propose your own ideas!
10
Game Updates & News / Re: Dev Log
« on: September 06, 2018, 10:20:12 PM »
We can feel the excitement in every sentence you wrote, Ross. Thrilling!
It also makes me want to put my hands on that demo. Will you make it available to testers? I'm eager to try it, and to show it around!
It also makes me want to put my hands on that demo. Will you make it available to testers? I'm eager to try it, and to show it around!
11
Game Discussion / Re: Replies to Daily Newsletter
« on: August 10, 2018, 01:19:10 PM »
Congratulations for getting the exposure at Pax West!
I hope you guys get maximum visibility!
I hope you guys get maximum visibility!
12
Share Your Ideas / Game Description
« on: June 30, 2018, 11:08:45 AM »
The current paragraph for touting the game is "A fast and fun turn-based adventure where you use top-down tactical combat and collectible card mechanics to master your strategy."
The purpose of this thread is to discuss whether (and how) this should be tweaked to appeal to players and build a strong community willing to support it in the long run. Indeed, this game will only live as long as its players are willing to support it financially. So how can we entice this kind of gamers in trying the game?
A short description paragraph is often one of the first things that people see about a game (after the name and icon/key image). Its importance is such that it should be well honed.
Let's start with a few facts about game descriptions:
- In the Google Play store, 5 lines of about 100 characters each are displayed. The 6th line is grayed (to show that the text continues and can be expanded), but is still readable. So that's about 600 characters that are available...on PC! On a small mobile phone in portrait mode, this figure is down to 7 times 50 = 350 characters. And on the Google Play android app, this seems to be down to 2 times 60 = only 120 characters!
- In the Apple Store on a small mobile, it's only about 115 characters that are visible.
- On Steam PC and iOS app the limit seems to be 6 times 50 = 300 characters. On a medium tablet in portait mode (both in browser or app) less space is available for the text, bringing it down to 270 characters.
So the smallest text length is dictated by the Apple store, with 115 characters, to be compared with 130 for the current short description. With the 115 limit it would cut the text short as follows:
"A fast and fun turn-based adventure where you use top-down tactical combat and collectible card mechanics to master..."
Are these the most important things to say? Please weigh in, to help the game spread around!
The purpose of this thread is to discuss whether (and how) this should be tweaked to appeal to players and build a strong community willing to support it in the long run. Indeed, this game will only live as long as its players are willing to support it financially. So how can we entice this kind of gamers in trying the game?
A short description paragraph is often one of the first things that people see about a game (after the name and icon/key image). Its importance is such that it should be well honed.
Let's start with a few facts about game descriptions:
- In the Google Play store, 5 lines of about 100 characters each are displayed. The 6th line is grayed (to show that the text continues and can be expanded), but is still readable. So that's about 600 characters that are available...on PC! On a small mobile phone in portrait mode, this figure is down to 7 times 50 = 350 characters. And on the Google Play android app, this seems to be down to 2 times 60 = only 120 characters!
- In the Apple Store on a small mobile, it's only about 115 characters that are visible.
- On Steam PC and iOS app the limit seems to be 6 times 50 = 300 characters. On a medium tablet in portait mode (both in browser or app) less space is available for the text, bringing it down to 270 characters.
So the smallest text length is dictated by the Apple store, with 115 characters, to be compared with 130 for the current short description. With the 115 limit it would cut the text short as follows:
"A fast and fun turn-based adventure where you use top-down tactical combat and collectible card mechanics to master..."
Are these the most important things to say? Please weigh in, to help the game spread around!
13
Share Your Ideas / Re: Gameplay Ideas
« on: June 30, 2018, 08:47:54 AM »
As usual, let me start with an example.
Proposed gameplay feature: Rout
The idea is that the opponent's team does not simply disappear when the opponent summoner is defeated. They instead rout. The opponent's units are then in disarray and cannot be controlled any more (if the said opponent is a player). They flee towards the nearest exit: the border of the battlefield if open (i.e. not a wall), the next door, etc. Only if someone stands between them and that exit point will they attack him, and this only until the path gets clear (enemy defeated or moved away), or until another path as short gets clear (for instance as teh result of being knocked back, or moved by a gravity spell). If the battlefield is an enclosed space, the units will flee their opponents, always moving to the farthest space from any enemy.
Proposed Development Priority: 5
There is no reason for giving this higher priority. It would only add to the fun, keeping the game interesting in the long run as it renews itself. This could also open a few interesting new situations, based on how many opponent units do manage to flee. For instance in a single-player campaign they main regroup in the next room, making it tougher if you did not properly cleanse the previous room from opponents. Or there could be player vs player challenges based on trying to let as few units flee as possible, from the same starting point.
Proposed gameplay feature: Rout
The idea is that the opponent's team does not simply disappear when the opponent summoner is defeated. They instead rout. The opponent's units are then in disarray and cannot be controlled any more (if the said opponent is a player). They flee towards the nearest exit: the border of the battlefield if open (i.e. not a wall), the next door, etc. Only if someone stands between them and that exit point will they attack him, and this only until the path gets clear (enemy defeated or moved away), or until another path as short gets clear (for instance as teh result of being knocked back, or moved by a gravity spell). If the battlefield is an enclosed space, the units will flee their opponents, always moving to the farthest space from any enemy.
Proposed Development Priority: 5
There is no reason for giving this higher priority. It would only add to the fun, keeping the game interesting in the long run as it renews itself. This could also open a few interesting new situations, based on how many opponent units do manage to flee. For instance in a single-player campaign they main regroup in the next room, making it tougher if you did not properly cleanse the previous room from opponents. Or there could be player vs player challenges based on trying to let as few units flee as possible, from the same starting point.
14
Share Your Ideas / Gameplay Ideas
« on: June 30, 2018, 08:35:44 AM »
This thread is for people to propose ideas on additional gameplay features.
As explained in https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=57.0, gameplay encompasses the following:
Looking forward to your ideas!
As explained in https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=57.0, gameplay encompasses the following:
- type of player (human, standard A.I., other A.I. levels?)
- number of players of each type per game, and whether fixed or not (reinforcements)
- type of game (cooperation, opposition, race...)
- type of player interaction (live, async, de-sync, auto-adapting...)
- starting conditions (number of characters, deck size, limitations...)
- event triggers (number of turns before reinforcements, etc.)
- victory conditions (today's defeat the other Summoner, or defeat the whole party, rout the enemy, survive a number of turns...)
- types of in-game actions possible (adding wall spike capability was the latest addition)
- etc.
Looking forward to your ideas!
15
Share Your Ideas / Re: Spell & Equipment Card Ideas
« on: June 30, 2018, 08:13:17 AM »
Flying units are great, so a few cards targeted at them would be nice for balance. Here are a few ideas:
Increase gravity (arcane spell)
All units are slowed down (movement reduced by 1 space), flying units lose their flight ability until the end of the battle or until the caster is defeated (whichever comes first), and knockback is reduced by 1.
Flying units who are above a tile with effects ignored because of their flying status (such as a spiked pit) get subjected to that effect at the time the spell is cast.
Cricket swarm (nature spell)
A buzzing sound, the playing field darkening, a few crickets flying here and there... the first effects of this spell may seem insignificant. But imagine what happens to a flying creature getting too high when overcast by a cricket swarm! Any creature using their flight ability to move over a unit or item will be attacked by the swarm, bringing a blob of crickets back down with it. Initial damage of 4, then an additional 1 damage per turn for the next 4 turns, unless it receives fire damage (killing the remaining crickets). This swarms remains in effect until the end of the battle or until the caster is defeated (whichever comes first).
Any other ideas?
Increase gravity (arcane spell)
All units are slowed down (movement reduced by 1 space), flying units lose their flight ability until the end of the battle or until the caster is defeated (whichever comes first), and knockback is reduced by 1.
Flying units who are above a tile with effects ignored because of their flying status (such as a spiked pit) get subjected to that effect at the time the spell is cast.
Cricket swarm (nature spell)
A buzzing sound, the playing field darkening, a few crickets flying here and there... the first effects of this spell may seem insignificant. But imagine what happens to a flying creature getting too high when overcast by a cricket swarm! Any creature using their flight ability to move over a unit or item will be attacked by the swarm, bringing a blob of crickets back down with it. Initial damage of 4, then an additional 1 damage per turn for the next 4 turns, unless it receives fire damage (killing the remaining crickets). This swarms remains in effect until the end of the battle or until the caster is defeated (whichever comes first).
Any other ideas?