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Messages - RossD20Studios

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91
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: September 19, 2018, 08:16:16 PM »
Father vs. Son - a Tale of Two Dragons! (Skeleton dragons, that is!)

Greetings community!

I'm pleased to announce our latest pre-release build shall be launching soon. We're in the queue waiting for Apple review as I post. In celebration I'd like to take a moment to spotlight my son, Wesley, who helped out in testing and fixing bugs in preparation for the release.

Here's a replay of one of our father/son battles where Wesley managed to unleash his "master plan" of capturing my Skeleton dragon while controlling one of his own (Two dragons?!). It was a good fight, but dad didn't go easy on him and was able to use some clever maneuvering to take down the monstrous duo. It's a great example of the kind of exiting things that can happen during gameplay: the bonding between players, the outrageous and seemingly overpowered plays, and the depth of tactics that can be leveraged to overcome even the most dire situations.


92
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: September 13, 2018, 05:57:59 PM »
Behold the new and improved Sperl Squirrel!

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending our local Utah Indie Game Developer night meet-up and get some great feedback from fellow developers on the latest Summoners Fate build. The top fix that came out of this was a major improvement to the drag controls - players had discovered a bug that would prevent a seamless drag when selecting a character at the edge of its standing space with the mouse. As a result of the feedback, our controls are now a whole notch better!

I'm also pleased to share a major upgrade to our visual effects thanks to our friend Daniel Sperl, creator of the Starling framework, who just released an update to his particle extension. In situations where CPU bottlenecked and created low-frame rate, VFX would appear "staggered" instead of seamless. Several players recognized this effect in our early access (particularly with the conflagration spell). I'm happy to say, the new and improved "Sperl Squirrel" is ready to go!


93
Game Updates & News / Re: Dev Log
« on: September 07, 2018, 08:10:03 AM »
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!

You, bet, Scribe! I'll try and get a build update out as soon as possible with the new intro sequence we showed at PAX. So many of the improvements were the direct result of your feedback, so thanks again for taking time to do such a thorough assessment of our first tutorial and share your thoughts with us.

94
Game Updates & News / Re: Dev Log
« on: September 06, 2018, 05:13:03 PM »
What fantastic recap of your experiences at PAX West, Ross! Your enthusiasm can be felt in every word you're writing here. I'm super excited to hear it was such a success, and I can only imagine the boost it's given your motivation to carry on. You're living your dream, even if it means fighting through lots of unexpected hardships. A big KUDOS to the great work you're doing and the personal touch you're weaving into every fiber of the game.  :D

Cheers,
Daniel

P.S.: With these experiences, I guess you're already planning a rename of the game, right? "Squirrel Army's Fate [or how I learned to love that mutant rodent]".  ;D

Wow, thank you so much, Daniel, that's so kind of you to say! Now, we've got to do something about that missing avatar of yours *WAVES MAGIC WAND* and *POOF!* there you are!

Squirrel Army's Fate: How I Learned to Love that Mutant Rodent <- Genius! Have you considered a role in marketing? That's one the press can't look away from. I'll have to find a way to work into a future press release ;)

95
Game Updates & News / Re: Dev Log
« on: September 05, 2018, 12:26:12 PM »
Dev Log 7: My experience at PAX West with Indie MEGABOOTH and why it was totally worth it.



The Journey Begins
On my flight home from Seattle, I pondered over my time at PAX West where I had just finished showcasing my game, Summoners Fate, with Indie MEGABOOTH. The experience was so surreal it felt like a dream: chance encounters and passionate discussions that seemed to flow naturally together in a series of meaningful, interconnected events.

I was tired and uneasy the morning I left because I had been up late the night before fixing bugs I discovered in the demo. I was frantic on the plane as I worked against the clock of arrival and the battery life of my laptop. Then I arrived in Seattle and there was a driver waiting with my name on a sign. I didn’t have to worrying about where I was going, I flowed as if on a gentle current. Stress began to melt away.

This was thanks to my friend, Laura, who’d I met met several years back when we worked together at EA. She’d already anticipated the state I’d be in and had put an entire plan in motion to provide the support I would need to succeed at the show: a place to stay, time to polish the demo, introductions to her friends and rides throughout the area - including a stop for a signature Seattle hotdog. This is the delightful and heart-warming surprise of people I’ve met in the game industry: the lengths they go through to show their kindness and support. And this was just the first of many I would experience at PAX.

Making it to the MINIBOOTH
After spending the morning and early afternoon exploring the various PAX exhibits, I made my way to the Indie MEGABOOTH. Once there, I started talking with some of the other devs who were showing their games in the MINIBOOTH. I reached my hand out with excitement to Nicolás, another dev creating a game with CCG mechanics called Causa. “I’m so excited to meet another dev also working on a CCG!” I said. “I can’t wait to hear about your stories and how you’ve solved problems in your game design.” His face lit up with joy. It’s a wonderful feeling to meet someone like this. They’ve experienced and dealt with the same challenges so you can connect and understand each other in a way other people can’t.


Our kiosk in the MINIBOOTH, ready to go!

Up and early the next morning, I was anxious to meet folks exploring the expo and have them play my game. I had quite a scare when my demo wouldn’t install, but the volunteers were quick to respond. The MEGABOOTH team and Pax enforcers are among the most amazing and courteous folks I’ve ever encountered. What could have been a very uncertain and trying experience was made easy with their constant support and reassurance. “Are you doing ok? Can I get you anything? Here's some cough drops, let me refill your water…” This is a level of service and care all organizations should aspire to.

Mastering the Pitch
The showfloor was a great place to discover what gravitates people toward games. I found out it was a combination of familiarity and weirdness. “Summoners Fate is a top down fantasy adventure meets deck builder.” “Ohhh, ok” (nodding inquisitively). “And you get to hurl squirrels at your enemies and then transform them into super squirrel mutants.” Laughing. “Ok now I gotta try this…”. Being with the Indie MEGABOOTH helped: people knew going in that everyone manning the booths were the actual game developers - and that’s what makes the experience so special. It wasn’t just a chance to show the game, but also my personality: that I’m sincere about my enthusiasm with the game and my commitment to players.

The Power of Connecting
Hanging out with fellow indies was good medicine. It was reassuring to hear similar stories about the sacrifices we're making. One of the dev teams, working on a game that rivals the art of Skyrim called Eastshade told me how they were living together with their mom and grandma. Others were taking breaks while dealing with family emergencies or trying to juggle a full-time job or contract work on the side to keep things up. I could relate: My wife had to return to working full time to give us extra runway on our project. I had to take on more responsibility taking care of our two children. We had to pay for an expensive surgery out of pocket because we didn’t have corporate insurance. We’ve missed out on vacations, we never travel to see family, and we’re constantly dealing with disasters that come up. Uncertainty creates enormous pressure and there are many times it feels all-consuming and soul crushing.

Despite our common challenges, none of us deterred away from the hopeful sentiment we all believed in: You can always make more money, you can't get back the time in your life. Your moment must be seized while it can.


Meeting new people was the best!

I met so many amazing people, including some of our longtime fans and followers who made a special trip just to see me. Shout outs to Tom, Patrick, Kyle and Jeremy! I got to tell John Baez, founder of The Behemoth how Battle Block Theater’s level editor inspired my son to become a game developer. Chainsaw Games Studio, creators of my favorite Xbox party game, Knight Squad, were just across from the MINIBOOTH showing their new game, Aftercharge. An analyst from Magic the Gathering team told me he really enjoyed the onboarding in our demo. Wanderbot, a YouTuber I admire and really wanted to share my game made a surprise visit. My new friend from Tencent, YiCong, also stopped by and I got a chance to show the development tools I wrote to make the game. As the sole engineer on my team, I don’t get many opportunities to speak about the behind-the-scenes challenges of production and supporting a live service. It felt so incredibly validating to have a fellow developer take delight in the feats I’d accomplished.


YiCong plays Summoners Fate

Networking, Indie Style
On Sunday evening, Indie MEGABOOTH hosted a mixer event for the devs and their sponsors that included several publishers. The party itself was incredible: free food and drinks, arcade and pinball machines with bowls filled with complimentary quarters. There was no pressure of having to make a sales pitch, just casual conversation and engaging stories of our experience and getting to know each other. This was an opportunity to show your true self and realize how small and intimate the game industry is: Nearly everyone knows, has worked for, or has a friend who worked with someone and we're all just regular people with a desire to fulfill our potential doing creative work.

The Moment that Made the Show
The most intense moment of the show happened when I least suspected it. I had just sat down behind the booth for lunch, legs tired and back sore from three days of nonstop standing, when I overheard a group of people playing my game. It was their playful banter and obvious enjoyment of what they were experiencing that got to me. I only heard fragments, but I remember a woman saying "What are you doing to these poor animals?!" and a guy responding "You don't understand, this is WAR!". “Now watch this watch this... Mutant squirrel!! Squirrel army!!” And then just lots of laughter. I knew at that moment this was the highlight of the show. Something about just hearing their joyful commentary, not knowing I was there, made it all the more sincere and meaningful. I had made something that gave them a moment of happiness, and I was fighting hard not to cry and not to laugh at the same time.

Final Thoughts
The MEGABOOTH concluded with a group photo and hugs goodbye, then I headed for the airport. It was a successful show. I certainly had a lot of luck, and yet there was one specific choice I made that helped achieve this outcome: having a positive attitude. If I could offer one piece of advice I've validated time and time again from my experiences: When you engage with others in the community, give them your true, honest and open self. Pause and listen attentively, open yourself to feedback and the wisdom others have to share in their stories. Recognize and admire the work and talent of others.

Attitude and perception works like a mirror: when you seek out the best intent in others, it reflects back the best intent in yourself. From this, positive things unfold, like a gentle current that carries you along in a series of exciting adventures.

96
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 24, 2018, 11:18:19 AM »
Curious about what goes into preparing a game to show at a convention?

Learn how we're preparing to showcase Summoners Fate at PAX with Indie MEGABOOTH in my latest devlog: https://summonersfate.com/forums/index.php?topic=56.msg618;boardseen#new

97
Game Updates & News / Re: Dev Log
« on: August 24, 2018, 11:11:42 AM »
Dev Log 6: How I'm Preparing to Showcase at PAX West 2018 with Indie MEGABOOTH

This week, I decided to put the deck builder interface on hold and begin preparations for our upcoming trip to PAX. Having run the booth at a few conventions in the past, I know that having the right materials and setup are essential to a successful show.

The Indie MINIBOOTH Setup

We'll be showcasing Summoners Fate with the Indie MINIBOOTH. One thing I really like about this setup is that it takes a lot of pressure off the logistics and planning of a larger booth. The Indie MEGABOOTH team houses 12 teams in the MINIBOOTH on any given day (we'll be showing on Sunday and Monday) and provides everyone with the same standard setup that includes:



  • A red IKEA Kallax shelve in the background with the following dimensions:
    Width: 30 3/8 ", Depth: 15 3/8 ", Height: 57 7/8 " or Width: 77 cm, Depth: 39 cm, Height: 147 cm
  • A white standing height table - the metal construction you can see in the front
  • 27" monitor 2560x1440p resolution
  • AORUS Elite Dream Machine computer with mouse, keyboard, headset, mousepad and wired Xbox gamepad
  • Monitor topper with our game's logo
To ensure each developer in the space has adequate room, additional standing accessories not attached to the kiosk (ex: standing banners) are not allowed in the MINIBOOTH. Since I'll be running the booth solo, this setup is perfect: I don't have to worry about additional costs of renting or transporting equipment which can easily add up to anywhere in the ballpark of $2K-$10K.

All that being said, one might say my job is pretty easy: just show up! Actually, there's still a lot of room to be creative with marketing and help my game stand out to the thousands of show-goers that will be passing through the convention.

Preparing the Game for Convention Showcase

Let's start with the most important part: the game itself. The biggest eye-catcher I have is the action happening on that 27" monitor. If that monitor is stuck in a static menu screen while I'm chatting with players, it's not going to be as appealing for newcomers as action like fireballs exploding and dragons flying in. To that end, I modified the game to incorporate our game trailer (which has all that good stuff) so that during any periods where the gamer seat isn't hot, it's playing our best gameplay footage on a loop to draw interest. Also, if a player decides to get up and walk away, it'll monitor user activity and flip back to the trailer automatically so I don't have to.

Keeping the Player Engaged

Players are going to experience a game differently at a convention like PAX than they will when they're playing at home. There's so much excitement that goes on at conventions that I can't expect gamers to become as fully absorbed in Summoners Fate as I might like - especially since our game (being tactical and turn based) is relatively more complex than an action plat-former. To keep players engaged, I'm aiming for a 10-15 minute target experience. My goal is to tantalize players with the unique elements our game has to offer so they walk away feeling excited and wanting more.

My top concern is that the first impression players have will likely become their lasting impression. If I reduce the gameplay to a quick PvP battle, players might disregard the game as a tactical combat engine when there are so many more unique things it offers: creative deck building, branching levels with diverse paths, progression and story telling, etc. Plus, there's a good chance the more subtle combat elements may be missed or overlooked. To mitigate this risk, I'm doing my best to design the demo so it offers a broader scope: shorter combat sequences with more exciting finales, opportunities for players to choose cards to incorporate in their deck and power up their main character, a chance to choose a path in the campaign, and a final boss combat encounter. This is harder than it sounds because I need to create the right experience that delivers on these goals without being forcible or "hand-holdy" in the outcomes. I find players derive the most meaning when their actions come from their own planned decisions, not the ones I make for them as a game designer.

Creating a Memorable Booth

Now, let's talk about the booth itself. Having looked at some of the past designs, my eye was drawn to the booths that had a professionally printed banner depicting the game's key-art and logo, like this one:



I stopped by my local FedEx Kinkos, Office Max, and a local print-shop to explore options and pricing. Ultimately, I discovered ordering online was both cheaper, easier, and had more options that better suited my needs. I settled on a 72"x24", grommeted and hemmed Vinyl banner from signs.com that I plan to wrap around the front and sides of the kiosk using non-residue adhesive wall hooks.



Edit: Check out what came early today!


The other key item I wanted was a take-away card for guests that stopped by the booth: something with key art and information about our game they could place in their goodie bag to remind them of their experience with us. These are also perfect to attach promo codes to if I decide to do a game key give-away. I created this on signs.com as well as a 6"x4" glossy post card:



In total (with free shipping and a 15% discount code I found online) I paid $88 for the banner and 500 cards. For means of comparison, a single color sheet (which I could have used to make 2 cards) would have cost anywhere between $0.88 - $1.29 at local print shops. That would have been over $200 just for the cards, let alone the banner - so ordering online is DEFINITELY the way to go!

Finally, I felt it imperative that I, myself, standout from the crowd so gamers know exactly who the dev team of this game is. Behold my Summoner's Fate T-shirt sporting our game logo on front and company logo on back. ($28 from customizedgirl.com)


Just needs a little ironing ;)

Total Cost Breakdown:
  • Indie MINIBOOTH Booth Cost: $1200
  • Marketing Materials (Banner, 500 giveaway cards, T-shirt): $116
  • Airfare (SLC to Seattle): $390
  • Hotel: $0 (My awesome game designer friend is letting me stay with her!)
Grand Total: $1706

Add in costs for uber, food, etc. and I think I'll probably balance out just under $2K for two-days of showcasing plus an extra day to walk-around Saturday and take-in the experience. I'll be showing at PAX Sunday September 2nd and Monday September 3rd. I hope to see you there and I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes!

98
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 20, 2018, 12:22:56 PM »
Here's the video I promised showing the development progress on the deck builder interface:


What's unique about our Deck Builder interface is how we support multiple platforms in both landscape and portrait mode orientations. One of the more interesting discoveries I made while play testing on device was the need to reposition the navigation UI in portrait mode. Traditionally, navigation UI appears at the top of screen, but, when using your device with one hand, it's impossible to navigate effectively because the thumb cannot reach the top.

99
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 17, 2018, 07:24:43 PM »
IndieMEGABOOTH just launched the montage trailer for PAXWest18. We'll be showcasing Summoners Fate with a group of over 75 indie games and developers across 17 different countries.

Here's our spot in the montage, replay to see the other awesome games we'll be with!

We'll be showcasing on Sunday September 2nd and Monday September 3rd from 10AM-6PM in the MINIBOOTH. If you're in Seattle, stop by and meet with us!

100
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 16, 2018, 07:52:41 PM »
Progress on Summoners Fate deck builder continues, I should be ready to put that video demo together tomorrow.

For today, I'd like to share a fellow RPG tactics indie developer's game that just released on Steam Early Access called Fell Seal, Arbiter's Mask. Like us, 6EyesStudio is a husband and wife team, also ex-EA, and also creating a tactical RPG... crazy, right?! Their game is shaping up quite nicely and as we're all tactics fans here, you should definitely check it out!

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mask
https://store.steampowered.com/app/699170/Fell_Seal_Arbiters_Mark/



101
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 15, 2018, 07:37:42 PM »
Today's development update: Continued progress on the deck builder system. It never ceases to amaze me just how much work it takes to get these user interface components just right, especially when overloading the controls for multiple functions. For example: swiping right/left flips through your pages of cards, but there's also a gesture to drag the card to your deck. Fine tuning these things so they feel intuitive and flow with the user's intentions is a delicate art of micro tweaks, rebuilding, and testing constantly. Considerations for desktop must also be made: more precision sensitivity, additional next page/prev page controls. Finally, one very interesting observation I've made is the need to change the layout of the portrait controls. While it's intuitive to place navigation at the top (when you're on a desktop or playing in landscape), it's incredibly difficult to build decks with one hand with essential controls at the top of device. I aim to solve that tomorrow and show some screenshots and a possible video.

102
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 10, 2018, 09:29:22 AM »
We're excited to announce that Summoners Fate has been selected to showcase at Pax West 2018 in Seattle with IndieMEGABOOTH! Another chapter begins in our indie development journey:


Check out our IndieMEGABOOTH page here: https://indiemegabooth.com/project/summoners-fate/

103
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 09, 2018, 07:02:06 PM »
Hey guys - Today I got the deck editor interface hooked up in the game and had some fun making some rather interesting custom decks. New functionality includes the ability to create new custom decks, delete custom decks, and select custom deck as your playable team.

Here's a screenshot of the WIP:


104
Game Updates & News / Re: Daily Updates
« on: August 08, 2018, 06:11:10 PM »
Today, I was continuing work on the deck builder UI and realized I needed a better starting point to access the actual deck builder interface and a way to separate other card related functions. Keeping with the theme of immersing the game menu within the game engine itself, I thought it would be interesting to try a sub-menu where the map zooms in to the respective component (in this case the card tortoise) and create simple contextual buttons  to access specific items. Here's how it might look. Keep in mind that the last image is just a quick placeholder mockup I spliced in, and we'll have an appropriate art driven UI for the final as well as the tortoise continuing to animate. Let me know what you think!


105
Share Your Ideas / Re: Game Description
« on: July 27, 2018, 03:28:31 PM »
Here's another WIP idea from our animator, Peter:

An epic fantasy adventure played out in strategic close quarters battles, continually adapting and improving your deck of spells and heroes.

Feedback on these welcome!

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