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16
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: May 22, 2020, 07:17:52 AM »
Fate Encounters
D20 Dice are back in Summoners Fate!
While I removed the dice rolls from the tactical combat in favor of more strategic control to the player, I always wanted to work them back into the game. After-all, we are "D20" Studios
This video shows an example of a "Fate encounter" within Summoners Fate. Fate Encounters are mini-RPG sequences where the player encounters a situation and makes choices. The outcome of many decisions are governed by "fate" represented by the roll of a twenty sided die. During your adventures, you'll acquire dice - which you can then use to increase your odds of a successful fate encounter outcome.
Here's what happens if the bear is angered:
And when the bear runs away:
D20 Dice are back in Summoners Fate!
While I removed the dice rolls from the tactical combat in favor of more strategic control to the player, I always wanted to work them back into the game. After-all, we are "D20" Studios
This video shows an example of a "Fate encounter" within Summoners Fate. Fate Encounters are mini-RPG sequences where the player encounters a situation and makes choices. The outcome of many decisions are governed by "fate" represented by the roll of a twenty sided die. During your adventures, you'll acquire dice - which you can then use to increase your odds of a successful fate encounter outcome.
Here's what happens if the bear is angered:
And when the bear runs away:
17
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: April 14, 2020, 11:06:27 AM »
Open World Exploration
In my Kickstarter updates, I've talked about two key elements I felt the single player needed to achieve the experience I envisioned for single player: fluidity in moment-to-moment interactions and overarching strategic planning - the sense of solving a grand puzzle. To this end, I've overhauled our game engine and transformed Summoners Fate into the first game of its kind to combine card mechanics, tactical battles, and seamless open world exploration. I passionately believe the end results will be worth the development time.
Here's a video showcasing the system in action:
How it Works:
Presently, I am working on completing our procedural world generator and finalizing the other single player systems. These updates will be included with the next build release that I aim to make available in the next several weeks.
In my Kickstarter updates, I've talked about two key elements I felt the single player needed to achieve the experience I envisioned for single player: fluidity in moment-to-moment interactions and overarching strategic planning - the sense of solving a grand puzzle. To this end, I've overhauled our game engine and transformed Summoners Fate into the first game of its kind to combine card mechanics, tactical battles, and seamless open world exploration. I passionately believe the end results will be worth the development time.
Here's a video showcasing the system in action:
How it Works:
- Worlds will be procedurally generated with hand-crafted elements, providing unique adventures every time you play.
- Worlds are persistent for the duration of your adventure(s) with your Summoner. This means any environment destroyed, shop keepers killed, etc. will be permanent until you start a new adventure.
- Adventures are designed to be episodic: rather than commit 80+ hours to the same character, the idea is that an adventure can be completed within about 1-4 hours (depending on the size of the world) and completion will unlock new characters/adventures to engage your creativity.
- Battles are played turn-based on a tactical grid that can be of variety of sizes and dynamically created from anywhere in the over world (which is a massive grid itself).
- After battle, the game switches to "explore mode" and you can roam freely throughout the world by tapping or clicking (depending on your platform) where you want your Summoner to go.
- Other characters within your party will automatically follow your Summoner while exploring.
- While exploring, you can switch to tactical mode at anytime to directly control any of your units. You can also cast spells directly from your deck. This enables strategic preparation.
- You can retreat from battles - an innovation I devised to curb the randomness of procedural and grant more control to the player. This allows you to circumvent or better prepare for difficult battles (perhaps attacking from a different side of the map or with different party members).
- Retreat and resurrection (retry after defeat) will cost resources that vary based on the level of difficulty you're playing at. This makes it approachable for casual players and very challenging for hard-core rogue-like fans.
- Worlds have exterior and interior locations and you can seamlessly travel between them. There is freedom to explore off the beaten path and find hidden dungeons and treasure.
Presently, I am working on completing our procedural world generator and finalizing the other single player systems. These updates will be included with the next build release that I aim to make available in the next several weeks.
18
Game Updates & News / Re: Dev Log
« on: March 11, 2020, 12:00:40 PM »
Dev Log 11: PAX Rising - Our Data, Experience and Gratitude
PAX East 2020 marks my indie team’s sixth major showcase of Summoners Fate, and each time, we do a write up to help ourselves and others learn how we can improve our marketing skills. This event was our most successful show to date, breaking our previous best show’s record (the SLC Game Con) in the first two days alone. In this article, we’ll explore the data, our experience and my key-takeaway for this show: gratitude.
Our Budget
For our previous two PAX shows (West 2018, East 2019), we showcased as part of the Indie MEGABooth and opted for the 2-day MiniBooth for its lower cost, ease-of-setup, and IMB network event which continues to provide benefits long after the show. We have also done full booth setups in the past (Dreamhacks, SLC Game Con) though these come with added costs and responsibility to populate the 10x10 foot space. This year, we had the honor of being showcased with PAX Rising - and I would describe the experience as the “optimal middle ground” for small teams with prior showcase experience whose goal is to build further brand awareness and get feedback from players.
To get into PAX Rising, you apply via their website about 4 months prior to your target show date. Their staff hand-picks fourteen teams that they believe have the potential to “rise above their modest beginnings, by growing as a company, establishing a fan base or pushing the industry” and provides them a kiosk-style booth setup in a highly foot-trafficked area of the expo at a prorated cost. This setup includes power and creation and installation of artwork that you can see in my setup here:
The PAX Rising booth is a half-circle pod that includes power and artwork. You can bring your own devices or pay extra to have PAX provide them.
Here’s a breakdown on what it costs for a team of two to showcase with Rising at PAX East for four days:
Our Data
Here’s what our booth looked like during expo hours.
I’ve been using telemetry to track data on our demos since our first showcase, and this has proved incredibly valuable in helping understand how players experience the game in conjunction with observation and asking them for feedback afterwards. Here’s what our session data looks like:
To count as a session, the time-stamp of the session start had to be during expo hours and had to be at least 60 seconds long (to rule out any setup tests we did on the devices). We had 719 total sessions with PAX Rising 2020, and our best record prior to this was the SLC Game Con (which was a three day show, 12 hour days) at 293 total sessions, and our previous PAX East 2019 was 149 total sessions. We were completely blown away by this number - and you can tell by the fact we gave away all of our hand-outs that we were not expecting this.
Tip: If you find that you are going to run out of hand-outs, keep 1 of them, put it in a display case and ask players to take a photo. This actually works out well and as a bonus the photo won’t get lost.
Here’s our take on factors contributing to our success:
With our new open world, exploration is seamless and players loved their herds of squirrels and other animals following them.
Here’s the new level funnel data for our demo. It’s interesting to note that the demo actually has twice as many levels as prior (14 vs 7), but takes less time to play due to the overworld system and elimination of prior friction:
Oaks End Treasure Room is an optional (non-linear) level reached only via exploration and puzzle solving.
And win/loss statistics for the levels containing battles:
Another change we made for this demo was to make it so that players cannot retry the last battle vs. the Liche King. Instead, the demo ends and goes right into registration. Anecdotally, I think this helped us - at least in the case of one particular player who told us the next day that he stayed up thinking about how to beat the Liche King, came back to the booth, beat him then bought the game right at the booth.
Our Experience, Gratitude
Standing on your feet, shouting about squirrels for four days is an intense experience that takes a heavy toll, both physically and mentally - but I was fortunate to have such an incredible support network. Let’s start with our PAX Exhibitor assistance, Emma, who gave each of the indie teams there her personal cell number the first day and a “call-anytime” offer of support. There’s the enforcers - who I continue to maintain are among the best support staff I’ve yet seen at a show of this size and caliber. I thought it was a big deal that Kevin Brady, who heads up PAX Rising organization and selected us for rising personally came by to check on us during the show. Likewise with Krista who coordinated the artboard and Devin who did the printing and who both helped arrange for us to take the art home after the show.
When the days got particularly intense, I was grateful to have the AFK lounge, sponsored by Take This, an organization dedicated to caring for mental health in the game industry. They provide a quiet room to relax and recover from the intensity and stimuli of the expo hall as well as volunteers and clinical aides to talk with.
My fellow indies - who came to realize as we did that Boston traffic can be unpredictable and costly to morning setup time - were there and willing to exchange numbers so we could cover each other’s booth should the need arise. Shout outs to our friends at DNA Studios: Tower of Babel, Knight Shift Games: Elsie, Not Dead Design: Kana Quest, and Tripe-I Games: Hindsight 20/20. It was great having a chance to connect at dinner after the show on Sunday.
Peter Jones, Joe Lieberman, and me in the Tiny Build hat that was wrestled off a giant bear.
Our friends and fans - both new and visiting us again - made the show such a memorable and meaningful experience. Loved seeing Justin, Mike and others from the Creator Crew - a community of streamers we’ve been friends with for the past year, Benjamin Glover from Stellar Jockeys, Shane from Evil Villain Games, and of course, my longtime friend and supporter Joe Lieberman from Antlion Audio who I finally got to meet in person. Even those who couldn’t be at the show expressed their support and checked up on me throughout the week - thanks to our awesome player community, and my friends Chris and Ashley who’ve been helping us out.
There’s my friend and teammate Peter, who once again took personal time off work to go on this crazy adventure with me and to teach me what a good person looks and acts like in the way he treats everyone he meets with kindness.
Finally, I thought of my family a lot - my wife, son, daughter and mom put up with a lot of craziness from me in the months leading up to the show. They were always there cheering me on. With a support network like that, it almost feels inappropriate to call myself “indie” because I was never really alone. And that’s why my big take-away from this year’s event is gratitude: a recognition of all that is right, meaningful and important about the relationships I have in my life, how truly wonderful and amazing this is, and that I appreciate everyone so much for being there for me. So, thank you, everyone! And thank you for reading this article. May you take a moment and give thanks to those that have helped you on your journey.
PAX East 2020 marks my indie team’s sixth major showcase of Summoners Fate, and each time, we do a write up to help ourselves and others learn how we can improve our marketing skills. This event was our most successful show to date, breaking our previous best show’s record (the SLC Game Con) in the first two days alone. In this article, we’ll explore the data, our experience and my key-takeaway for this show: gratitude.
Our Budget
For our previous two PAX shows (West 2018, East 2019), we showcased as part of the Indie MEGABooth and opted for the 2-day MiniBooth for its lower cost, ease-of-setup, and IMB network event which continues to provide benefits long after the show. We have also done full booth setups in the past (Dreamhacks, SLC Game Con) though these come with added costs and responsibility to populate the 10x10 foot space. This year, we had the honor of being showcased with PAX Rising - and I would describe the experience as the “optimal middle ground” for small teams with prior showcase experience whose goal is to build further brand awareness and get feedback from players.
To get into PAX Rising, you apply via their website about 4 months prior to your target show date. Their staff hand-picks fourteen teams that they believe have the potential to “rise above their modest beginnings, by growing as a company, establishing a fan base or pushing the industry” and provides them a kiosk-style booth setup in a highly foot-trafficked area of the expo at a prorated cost. This setup includes power and creation and installation of artwork that you can see in my setup here:
The PAX Rising booth is a half-circle pod that includes power and artwork. You can bring your own devices or pay extra to have PAX provide them.
Here’s a breakdown on what it costs for a team of two to showcase with Rising at PAX East for four days:
- Half-Pod Booth Cost: $1440
- Airfare SLC to Boston x2: $520
- Lyft Rides to and from Hotel: $200
- Hotel and Per Diem: $593
- Marketing Hand-Outs (x500): $66
- TOTAL: $2819.00
Our Data
Here’s what our booth looked like during expo hours.
I’ve been using telemetry to track data on our demos since our first showcase, and this has proved incredibly valuable in helping understand how players experience the game in conjunction with observation and asking them for feedback afterwards. Here’s what our session data looks like:
To count as a session, the time-stamp of the session start had to be during expo hours and had to be at least 60 seconds long (to rule out any setup tests we did on the devices). We had 719 total sessions with PAX Rising 2020, and our best record prior to this was the SLC Game Con (which was a three day show, 12 hour days) at 293 total sessions, and our previous PAX East 2019 was 149 total sessions. We were completely blown away by this number - and you can tell by the fact we gave away all of our hand-outs that we were not expecting this.
Tip: If you find that you are going to run out of hand-outs, keep 1 of them, put it in a display case and ask players to take a photo. This actually works out well and as a bonus the photo won’t get lost.
Here’s our take on factors contributing to our success:
- We had an awesome location (and we are so grateful for that). PAX Rising is right along a major walk-way and we faced that walkway directly.
- Our signage was appropriately designed thanks to my wife, Kelly, who taught me that “simple and bold is best”. To put in perspective, you can easily spot our humble indie pod from as far as the second floor sky-box thanks to the blue/gold contrast in the sky/logo and that super high-contrast red in the Battle Mage cloak. Numerous folk complimented the signage and told us straight-up that was what initially drew them in.
- Crowds act like gravity - the greater the mass, the greater the pull - and we designed our booth for maximum crowd. Some folks will argue that a super large screen is paramount, and I was initially concerned about not having one at our booth. However, since my priority was maximum plays - I opted for smaller devices and was able to comfortably fit six demo stations using two laptops and 4 iPads on camera mounts. The artboard did the job of the big TV, and the iPads did the job of ensuring there was always a spot for someone to jump in and play.
- We mastered our pitch and made players feel comfortable with our invitation to play and our sincere desire for their feedback. A number of folks told us they were hooked the minute they heard us ask someone “Would you like to hurl a squirrel at some orcs?” Others initially told us they didn’t play turn-based games - so I’d say “What games do you play?” and then I would suggest something like “Well, based on your current games, I would be really fascinated to get your feedback in particular, because then we’d know whether our game can successfully introduce this genre to a new player”. Probably one of the most validating moments was having such a player complete the demo, walk up to me afterwards, and then thank me for having the courage to invite him to play - because it turns out that he absolutely loved it and wouldn’t have discovered this otherwise.
- Shorter demo, but more unique: We reduced our previous average session length from 11-12 minutes down to 8.5 minutes. Our previous level funnel data suggested our demo was about 2 levels two long. Additionally, there was friction that inhibited players from making fluid progress through the demo. This year, we made our first major changes to the demo by changing the flow and incorporating the design feedback we discovered in Dreamhack Dallas: We doubled-down on the mechanics that make us unique and removed the mechanics that made us feel derivative. This demo was our first public unveil of our “open world” system that allows players to seamlessly walk around and explore the world between battles to find cards, treasures, etc. Likewise, we removed all of the stagnant reward models and placed everything to find in the world itself. Player reactions and testimonials reflected these changes: Instead of comparing Summoners Fate to other games they had played and saying how we were like them, players would say things like “I play XYZ, and this is NOTHING like that” or “I’ve never played a tactics game with open-world exploration before”.
With our new open world, exploration is seamless and players loved their herds of squirrels and other animals following them.
Here’s the new level funnel data for our demo. It’s interesting to note that the demo actually has twice as many levels as prior (14 vs 7), but takes less time to play due to the overworld system and elimination of prior friction:
Oaks End Treasure Room is an optional (non-linear) level reached only via exploration and puzzle solving.
And win/loss statistics for the levels containing battles:
Another change we made for this demo was to make it so that players cannot retry the last battle vs. the Liche King. Instead, the demo ends and goes right into registration. Anecdotally, I think this helped us - at least in the case of one particular player who told us the next day that he stayed up thinking about how to beat the Liche King, came back to the booth, beat him then bought the game right at the booth.
Our Experience, Gratitude
Standing on your feet, shouting about squirrels for four days is an intense experience that takes a heavy toll, both physically and mentally - but I was fortunate to have such an incredible support network. Let’s start with our PAX Exhibitor assistance, Emma, who gave each of the indie teams there her personal cell number the first day and a “call-anytime” offer of support. There’s the enforcers - who I continue to maintain are among the best support staff I’ve yet seen at a show of this size and caliber. I thought it was a big deal that Kevin Brady, who heads up PAX Rising organization and selected us for rising personally came by to check on us during the show. Likewise with Krista who coordinated the artboard and Devin who did the printing and who both helped arrange for us to take the art home after the show.
When the days got particularly intense, I was grateful to have the AFK lounge, sponsored by Take This, an organization dedicated to caring for mental health in the game industry. They provide a quiet room to relax and recover from the intensity and stimuli of the expo hall as well as volunteers and clinical aides to talk with.
My fellow indies - who came to realize as we did that Boston traffic can be unpredictable and costly to morning setup time - were there and willing to exchange numbers so we could cover each other’s booth should the need arise. Shout outs to our friends at DNA Studios: Tower of Babel, Knight Shift Games: Elsie, Not Dead Design: Kana Quest, and Tripe-I Games: Hindsight 20/20. It was great having a chance to connect at dinner after the show on Sunday.
Peter Jones, Joe Lieberman, and me in the Tiny Build hat that was wrestled off a giant bear.
Our friends and fans - both new and visiting us again - made the show such a memorable and meaningful experience. Loved seeing Justin, Mike and others from the Creator Crew - a community of streamers we’ve been friends with for the past year, Benjamin Glover from Stellar Jockeys, Shane from Evil Villain Games, and of course, my longtime friend and supporter Joe Lieberman from Antlion Audio who I finally got to meet in person. Even those who couldn’t be at the show expressed their support and checked up on me throughout the week - thanks to our awesome player community, and my friends Chris and Ashley who’ve been helping us out.
There’s my friend and teammate Peter, who once again took personal time off work to go on this crazy adventure with me and to teach me what a good person looks and acts like in the way he treats everyone he meets with kindness.
Finally, I thought of my family a lot - my wife, son, daughter and mom put up with a lot of craziness from me in the months leading up to the show. They were always there cheering me on. With a support network like that, it almost feels inappropriate to call myself “indie” because I was never really alone. And that’s why my big take-away from this year’s event is gratitude: a recognition of all that is right, meaningful and important about the relationships I have in my life, how truly wonderful and amazing this is, and that I appreciate everyone so much for being there for me. So, thank you, everyone! And thank you for reading this article. May you take a moment and give thanks to those that have helped you on your journey.
19
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: December 24, 2019, 09:54:50 AM »
Merry Christmas Eve from us at D20Studios!
We've got some exciting updates coming in the next release of Summoners Fate early next year. In the meantime, I wanted to share that our friend Tom Larkworthy just launched his indie game, Corepox for Android where you can engineer your own spaceships and engage in autonomous multiplayer battles. Check it out and chat all about it with Tom on our #gamedevchats channel on Discord.
We've got some exciting updates coming in the next release of Summoners Fate early next year. In the meantime, I wanted to share that our friend Tom Larkworthy just launched his indie game, Corepox for Android where you can engineer your own spaceships and engage in autonomous multiplayer battles. Check it out and chat all about it with Tom on our #gamedevchats channel on Discord.
20
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 18, 2019, 11:01:35 AM »
Happy Sunday everyone ! I am excited to announce that Arrustar, a welcome new player in our D20 community and a member of local StreamSLC community will be streaming Summoners Fate this afternoon from 1PM to 5PM MT. You'll be able to watch the stream from his channel here starting in just an hour from now: https://twitch.tv/arrustar
21
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: July 31, 2019, 08:12:34 AM »
Develop with Ross Episode 25: Designing Expandable Campaign Maps
With our next client release on the horizon, we are aiming to lock down a way to deliver new single player content to players via DLC updates. Enter the campaign map, your portal to exploring new levels within the world of Summoners Fate. Join as we discuss the the design challenges of creating an ever-changing world and develop this key game system together.
Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.
22
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: July 24, 2019, 08:17:28 AM »
Develop with Ross Episode 24: Level Progression System
Level progression systems define the pacing through which a player grows to acquire new skills and the escalation of difficulty such that they face challenges well-matched to their ability and timing within the game experience. Creating a properly tuned level progression is one of the most important faculties of game design. Join us today to learn how we're tackling the development.
Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.
23
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: July 17, 2019, 08:28:54 AM »
Develop with Ross Episode 23: Let's Make Gold
Today I'll be expanding on our design pillar of strategic resource management by adding gold and shop systems to our single player campaigns in Summoners Fate.
Watch on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/d20studios.
24
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 16, 2019, 11:43:07 AM »
From Outlander on Discord:
I was just catching up on chat, and regarding the deck building, I had an interesting concept that may work for it, that both gives you choices when you have 2000+ cards and also has the randomness that you want in a rouge like, but also takes synergies into account.
So imagine a branching path that whenever you chose a card it sends you down that path and determines what is offered next time. except that there are many branches and the game only offers you a random 3 from the many possible options.
So you have first pick Option 1, 2, and 3. you pick 2. Well option 2 has 14 paths that have cards that would promote good synergies. but only 3 of those 14 are offered on your next pick, then the process repeats.
my only concern with this method is that its a lot of work for the dev team to create these synergy paths in the first place.
I was just catching up on chat, and regarding the deck building, I had an interesting concept that may work for it, that both gives you choices when you have 2000+ cards and also has the randomness that you want in a rouge like, but also takes synergies into account.
So imagine a branching path that whenever you chose a card it sends you down that path and determines what is offered next time. except that there are many branches and the game only offers you a random 3 from the many possible options.
So you have first pick Option 1, 2, and 3. you pick 2. Well option 2 has 14 paths that have cards that would promote good synergies. but only 3 of those 14 are offered on your next pick, then the process repeats.
my only concern with this method is that its a lot of work for the dev team to create these synergy paths in the first place.
25
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 12, 2019, 04:09:19 PM »
From Apex:
Regarding progression within a run: A resource, like gold, can help here, but it's not great for the current setup from an RP perspective. You could set up various types of shop keepers (nature summon cards, equipment blacksmith, card upgrades or extra lives, etc) with 3 semi-random items you can buy with gold at the campsites. It adds choices and excitement for the player (What can I unlock? Should I buy this now or wait? Is that thief guardian with extra generation but weaker attack worth it?)
You have to be able to almost instant back-track to a shopkeeper to make this work, and it still doesn't solve the issue of pick-one-of-three cards on victory gameplay.
i.e. you don't want to deal with a shop keeper after every room
The good part of adding a shop is that it forces valuation of the cards (gold cost), and you can write a function for random enemy summoners that scales them to where the player should be. Downside is this doesn't deal with synergy.
Part of the challenge for the current deck building is that you only reshuffle at the camp. So you have to add new cards between camps to do anything. If you reshuffle every room, you would need to stop mana carry-over, but purging cards from the deck becomes valuable
So paying increasing amounts of gold to purge cards from the deck can be an interesting shop keeper
e.g.: first purge costs 5, second is 15, third is 50, etc.
Bad part of reshuffle and starting a 3 mana is that 5 mana cards become less valuable.
Regarding progression within a run: A resource, like gold, can help here, but it's not great for the current setup from an RP perspective. You could set up various types of shop keepers (nature summon cards, equipment blacksmith, card upgrades or extra lives, etc) with 3 semi-random items you can buy with gold at the campsites. It adds choices and excitement for the player (What can I unlock? Should I buy this now or wait? Is that thief guardian with extra generation but weaker attack worth it?)
You have to be able to almost instant back-track to a shopkeeper to make this work, and it still doesn't solve the issue of pick-one-of-three cards on victory gameplay.
i.e. you don't want to deal with a shop keeper after every room
The good part of adding a shop is that it forces valuation of the cards (gold cost), and you can write a function for random enemy summoners that scales them to where the player should be. Downside is this doesn't deal with synergy.
Part of the challenge for the current deck building is that you only reshuffle at the camp. So you have to add new cards between camps to do anything. If you reshuffle every room, you would need to stop mana carry-over, but purging cards from the deck becomes valuable
So paying increasing amounts of gold to purge cards from the deck can be an interesting shop keeper
e.g.: first purge costs 5, second is 15, third is 50, etc.
Bad part of reshuffle and starting a 3 mana is that 5 mana cards become less valuable.
26
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 12, 2019, 12:39:45 PM »
On Peter's Campaign:
Level 1 and 5 were the hardest - Perhaps too much synergy with the AI decks?
From tLark
The room design is good on Peter's campaign
I like the spatial puzzles
Level 2 troll in Castle is awkward and fun
And the random makes replaying more rewarding
Whereas rosses feels too deterministic so you are joylessly replaying rote moves on replay
The difficulty progression is weird, level 1 can be really hard sometimes
I kind of like it short and samey difficulty though
It's quicker to replay
I think it's a matter of removing some combos from ai deck
U want ai not to have synergy
As that's really volatile in attack power
Keeps the brain engaged every replay
U learn strategic weaknesses too but can't overfit the tactics
Yeah I think it is balanced ok that campaign
I liked it a lot
Random spawns is good
I kept hacking down thorns looking for treasure too
I was not really aware of much continuity between levels and did not care either
It seemed loose, like the monsters seemed to change a lot
Level 1 and 5 were the hardest - Perhaps too much synergy with the AI decks?
From tLark
The room design is good on Peter's campaign
I like the spatial puzzles
Level 2 troll in Castle is awkward and fun
And the random makes replaying more rewarding
Whereas rosses feels too deterministic so you are joylessly replaying rote moves on replay
The difficulty progression is weird, level 1 can be really hard sometimes
I kind of like it short and samey difficulty though
It's quicker to replay
I think it's a matter of removing some combos from ai deck
U want ai not to have synergy
As that's really volatile in attack power
Keeps the brain engaged every replay
U learn strategic weaknesses too but can't overfit the tactics
Yeah I think it is balanced ok that campaign
I liked it a lot
Random spawns is good
I kept hacking down thorns looking for treasure too
I was not really aware of much continuity between levels and did not care either
It seemed loose, like the monsters seemed to change a lot
27
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 12, 2019, 11:18:25 AM »
Regarding benefit/progression out of failed runs:
Presently, all of the cards in Summoners Fate are unlocked, however, we have plans to tie card unlocks into the progression of single player. Once we're ready to establish unlock/progression, most cards will be locked by default. As you explore/complete/fail runs, you'll unlock new Summoners and cards that can be used to build decks for subsequent runs.
When starting with a run with a pre-constructed deck, we'll modify the difficulty tier appropriately.
Presently, all of the cards in Summoners Fate are unlocked, however, we have plans to tie card unlocks into the progression of single player. Once we're ready to establish unlock/progression, most cards will be locked by default. As you explore/complete/fail runs, you'll unlock new Summoners and cards that can be used to build decks for subsequent runs.
When starting with a run with a pre-constructed deck, we'll modify the difficulty tier appropriately.
28
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 12, 2019, 07:39:14 AM »
From Apex
@RossD20Studios Re: Campaign save point as a resource. Solitairica has this where you can spend gold (increasingly expensive) to to buy a “celestial hourglass” to play against the last enemy again. The key to rogue-likes is to still provide a benefit or progression out of a failed run.
@RossD20Studios Re: Campaign save point as a resource. Solitairica has this where you can spend gold (increasingly expensive) to to buy a “celestial hourglass” to play against the last enemy again. The key to rogue-likes is to still provide a benefit or progression out of a failed run.
29
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 11, 2019, 02:01:01 PM »
From tLark:
Re: Peter's campaign
Phew nearly dead on first and second levels lol
Crawled to 3 for a rest
"I did enjoy that every battle was hard and short distance to camp fire."
Urgh died out of combat from 4 in a row fire traps.
Rage quit
If it stopped me after 1 hit I would not be so annoyed
Action Item: Stop movement after a trigger is initiated when in explore mode.
Re: Peter's campaign
Phew nearly dead on first and second levels lol
Crawled to 3 for a rest
"I did enjoy that every battle was hard and short distance to camp fire."
Urgh died out of combat from 4 in a row fire traps.
Rage quit
If it stopped me after 1 hit I would not be so annoyed
Action Item: Stop movement after a trigger is initiated when in explore mode.
30
Game Discussion / Re: Single Player Campaign Feedback
« on: July 11, 2019, 01:38:11 PM »
Notes from Discord
From LoginError
There are two interesting things about that screenshot
1) I have a loyal dragon, it is the best dragon and I don't want it patched out
2) I cannot walk to the exit because there are dudes in the way, maybe you should be able to move through allies in explore mode?
From tLark:
From LoginError
You Died:
1) Retry from start
2) Retry from last campfire
3) Ragequit lol
If you died of bad luck or a small mistake, retrying from the campfire gives you another chance to make it right, but if you died of gross missmanagement of resources or really poor long term planning, then...you should probably start over
Having to start over because of a misclick is no fun
Having to start again from the campfire with an unwinnable scenario is also no fun
So you can mitigate both by giving the choice
From tLark
I liked the levels a lot though. Nice progression and skill curve. And mini puzzles.
And skeleton theme vs fire was nice. Hard to generate though, it's very designed
From LoginError
There are two interesting things about that screenshot
1) I have a loyal dragon, it is the best dragon and I don't want it patched out
2) I cannot walk to the exit because there are dudes in the way, maybe you should be able to move through allies in explore mode?
From tLark:
- Confusion over loyalty and permanent control. Example: Believe Dark Temptation should grant permanent control of a character.
- So that campaign (Ross's campaign, Li's Quest). It's like a puzzle. You can't randomize that. You need multiple play through to win. I wish I could skip first levels if I am happy with card choice.
From LoginError
You Died:
1) Retry from start
2) Retry from last campfire
3) Ragequit lol
If you died of bad luck or a small mistake, retrying from the campfire gives you another chance to make it right, but if you died of gross missmanagement of resources or really poor long term planning, then...you should probably start over
Having to start over because of a misclick is no fun
Having to start again from the campfire with an unwinnable scenario is also no fun
So you can mitigate both by giving the choice
From tLark
I liked the levels a lot though. Nice progression and skill curve. And mini puzzles.
And skeleton theme vs fire was nice. Hard to generate though, it's very designed