I actually meant it the other way around, that conquering a guildhouse which serves as a base of operations is a good way to explain why upgrades work on all saveslots. But it works either way And it opened a glaring logic hole: without a base, how do the upgrades work? Where do they store them? @Marco, I'd add a base either way. Or give an ingame explanation that the smith and trainer - and most likely a small retinue of sevants, helpers, apprentices, etc. - are travelling with them. Even 20 people - with half of them (our Heroes) armed for bear - make quite an impressive - and dangerous - caravan. Plus, both with the caravan and base approach, you'd have an easy hook for expansions if you want to add some: Additional content could tell stories of bandit ambushes, resource hunting, taking over an oasis (caravan), or travelling to another town/province to hire artisans and other force to rebuild (guildhouse ruin). On another note, grind for the Barbarian was much less than I expected. I only had to drag him through two short dungeons to get him up to level 4: (names I'll add later) It helped that I bought the big gold pack a bit earlier - showing a bit of appreciation for Marco's hard work. My personal price expectation for games of this quality and size is easily 10-20€, so I'm putting my money where my mouth is. However, I need to point out that it is not necessary for game progress to buy any IAP gold. I bought him level-1 equipment to get him through the first dungeon, then gave him level-2 hand-me-downs, and bought the next bunch (level 3/4 equip) after the second dungeon. Might post an equipment guide some other time. Now he's already good enough to seriously contribute to the party, which is currently smashing its way through the sidequest "Black Hearts and Rusted Swords" (which is a good name choice, btw).
Player created maps: Can you create a multiplayer map? I'm finding the multiplayer promise made in the game description is nowhere near what I wanted or expected.
Well, there's a serious technical issue to move the guild center outside of saved slots, and it may make the game too easy for new games if you start already with all the upgrades. Logically speaking, the first quest of each slot is always the prologue, which basically resets your guild status, hence the reason to start without upgrades. I can understand the frustration of having to start over, but having multiple saved slots is basically to experiment with different heroes, rather than play the game multiple times at once. I will explore this solution, but it won't be easy Hi, that's something I can look into, playing multiplayer on custom created quests, but there are a few problems. For instance, when you start a custom quest you have to purchase some equipment for your heroes, which can take time that's not really a friend of multiplayer. Also, in custom quests (at the moment) all heroes start at level 1, which can be disappointing. I really wanted multiplayer to be something you could play with the same heroes you are using in the adventure, that makes things a lot more interesting. But to do so, I have to split the quests by level, that's why there are 3 quests at the moment, located around level 4, 8 and 12. I'm open to suggestions here: - either allow multiplayer on custom quests: I will setup a base "build" for each hero, with equipment, spells and stats, and everyone will play with that build. - create a single "arena" level with multiple quests, within the main adventure. Here I must first find a solution to make players of different levels play together. - any other option? I'm open to suggestions.. Please understand that having a huge single player game, multiplayer, custom created quests all in one and all managed by one person on his free time is not very easy.. But would be happy to make any improvement I can Cheers Marco
@Marco: Got another question: What does the weapon special effect "dice result is cancelled" do exactly? E.g. does it just do a re-roll, or does "canceled" mean I lose my attack?
You lose your attack, that's why the weapon is quite cheap compared to its power, you got 33% chances of missing
Thanks. And ouch, that's a harsh downside. Even with the lower price, it makes the weapon pretty much useless.
After some play time I would like to give my opinion on the Hardcore mode. The option to "Exit without Saving" as part of hardcore difficulty is really not a good decision. If I save at the start of a mission and then a character dies, let's say in the second room, it is hardly a hardcore penalty to exit without saving and restart that mission back at my save with the character alive. It would be much better if the only options I had in hardcore were "Save and Exit" and "Abandon Quest". I then have to make a much harder decision on whether to continue the whole quest or abandon it and start over. Also by having "only" five saves available in a quest does not help make the game hardcore at all. It is simply just restrictive and especially annoying on a mobile device. It doesn't add anything to the difficulty, just adds an element of frustration. The other conditions you have in hardcore i.e. - not being able to get a character back till after the quest is finished and the +10% to gold and XP earned are good. But in fact by still having the "exit without saving" option in hardcore almost negates the penalty of not having a character back as you can simply restart the mission as I explained. (just to clarify that in my comments a "quest" is made up of a number of "missions") #
Hi, as always I'm open to suggestions. The hardcore mode has been inherited from the first Arcane Quest, where actually it made more sense because quests were made of 8-10 levels each, so losing a hero was a big thing. I actually planned replacing it with 3 difficulty modes (easy-normal-hard), but there was just no time, needed to go live. Please consider that even removing "exit without saving" option, the player has always the possibility to minimize and kill the app, achieving the same effect. So I'm not sure it would really make a difference.. Cheers Marco
Thanks for clarifying Marco. It is probably the term "Hardcore" that threw me off. But please consider removing the five save per quest. It doesn't add anything to the difficulty of the game, but adds a lot to frustration (though now that you tell me that the game will just save its state if I simply kill it mid mission then it is probably a moot point anyway). Perhaps tougher (or more) enemies could be considered instead? #
On the contrary, kill the game and you lose your progress (much like most videogames) Yes, but tougher enemies would already drop more XP and Gold, so perhaps the bonus wouldn't be needed anymore. Need to think about
most.... except for roguelike games, which usually have just one constant save# Hey, now theres a thought. What about implementing that? Instead of having five save opportunities during each quest just have the one constant save in hardcore. That would mean that even if you kill the game it will still put you back to the spot just before you killed it. You would then be forced to either continue with say a weakened party or whatever or just start the quest all over. Or at least have that option? That would make each quest really exciting...well for some of us perhaps. #
Well that was the system used in Arcane Quest Adventures, and I never really liked it. Mobile platforms are always subject to problems, dead batteries, crashes etc. Losing 1-2 hours of progress would not be taken lightly. Perhaps an automatic save feature every X minutes? Could be an "Extreme" mode, additional to the hardcore one. Sounds good to me. Or, another solution, create a specific location (or area) on the map with 5-10 sequential quests that use this save mode. This way I could also integrate leaderboards (which I want to, but don't know yet how to manage them), and integrate also 10 new golem bosses that I haven't used yet. Option 1 or option 2?
I go for option 1. Two reasons; One it sounds a lot easier to implement from a developers point of view and Two...who can resist anything called "Extreme"! # But I don't quite get why an autosave every X minutes is preferable to a one off constant save though. Example; In the case of the X minute option- If you are playing and your battery goes flat or the game crashes you will start the game back up at a point that might be 2 minutes ago or 2 seconds ago, depending how soon it shutdown after the last auto save. However having a constant save in that case will simply take you back to the point immediately before the shutdown. Which I think is pretty much preferable. I don't know where you are getting the loss of 1-2 hours from? I must not be explaining my suggestion properly. # EDIT: Okay, And let me try one more time to explain why I think the 5 save restriction is bad. Atm in normal difficulty I am able to save the game at anytime I like. This is brilliant and how I think most games, especially turn based strategy rpg's on mobile devices should be. It does not make the game any easier, just more convenient. However by implementing a 5 save restriction for each quest in hardcore means I simply wont play hardcore if I think there is any chance I have to end my game session early. Or maybe I want to just play for five quick minutes. I wont do that with a 5 save restriction. So you see, the game is not made any more difficult with that restriction, just more inaccessible.
Oh I see, but still I will think about option 2, perhaps experimenting with it and see if can implement both.. let's see.. Forgive my ignorance, but I've never seen such thing as continuous save. Where have you seen it? It could be automated every X minutes, and triggered when you minimize the app. Having continuous saves would kill the battery and subject to file corruption. Perhaps you are confusing it with an automatic save when the app is minimized (which is pretty easy to implement).
My use of the word "constant" is probably at fault. I mean that some games (especially roguelike) will return you back to the exact same position in a game with the exact same items and experience that you had when you turned the game off. No need to manually save. One such rpg that I am currently playing that does it is The Quest. It has the option to manually create saves but if I just kill the game, and even shut my device off, it will still continue where I left off when I turn it back on. It doesn't hurt battery life at all. So if that is what an automatic save that you are referring to is, then we are finally on the same page. # Oh I added an edit to my above post that you probably missed before posting.
Yes, from a technical point of view I think they save the game when it's minimized (you click the home button on your phone), and this is easy. I'd add the auto save every X minutes just to be even safer, let's say your battery dies you would lose only a few minutes of gameplay. I don't know if they do this, unfortunately the only way to try is to pull off the battery or to wait until it dies Anyway yeah, I think we're going on the right direction. So you figure that if your team dies in a dungeon: - You restart at the last save (this could make the game pretty easy, just minimize the app before a big fight) - Restart the current level - Restart the whole quest - Restart the whole game (a bit too extreme!!)
Equipment Guide - Weapons for Heavies The Heavies are: Barbarian, Berserker, Paladin, Amazon, Dwarf. Barb & Bers can use everything, Paladin Hammers and Swords, Amazon Swords only, Dwarf Axes only. Amazon I give the lowest priority, as her transforms (especially the Lizard) add a good chunk of damage already. For the Paladin it depends on if you use her mainly as Healer or for Damage: Healer is better off with a Hammer (restores MP on special), Damage a Sword is slightly better. Barb and Bers, Swords all the way, *maybe* Massacre Axe as endgame weapon. I'll call "character level x" requirement for a weapon "tier x", simply because the t is easier to distinguish than an l (compare: t1 - l1). Also, I will not take skill distribution into account. Plan ahead. E.g. if you want to use a Hammer as endgame weapon, dump your points into that skill. UPDATE: Totally forgot to include a line or two about my Mage. With his damage coming almost completely from casting spells, his weapon doesn't matter much. I started with the cheap base staff. Later, I found a t2 Tormented Pole and still use it at level 8. @Marco: Correct me if I'm wrong. But as far as I can figure out, weapon damage does not add to spell damage for casters. If that's true, would it be possible to change that so it does? Starting out: - Get the t0 Vengeful Blade Sword, and the t0 Pride Axe; both 450 gold only. They should last you quite a while. - t0 Singed Broadsword is optional, due to its price of 4.1k gold. - t3 Ambassador: 6.1k gold, and can last at least till level 8. Midgame: Skip as many weapon tiers as possible. If you need more damage, and/or feel like spending, go with the cheapest tier 4/5 weapons: t4 Guardian Sabre for 13k, Evil Doomblade 19k. t5 Twilight Greatsword is 3k cheaper than the t5 Doomblade, but has worse stats: better to spend the 3k extra, at that point in game it shouldn't matter much. I think I found a t6 Armageddon and repaired it (but could have been a store buy too), but it wasn't really needed. Jumping straight to t8 or higher is entirely possible. I have 3 Sword users (Barb, Bers, Amazon) , and after some analysis I concluded that my lowest tier weapon for endgame will be a t8 (Requiem Sword); and bought it when my Berserker was the first to reach level 8. Plus, at that point I needed a bit more damage, as some monsters - especially Champions/Captains - took 2 hits to kill. However, in hindsight it would have been an option to skip tier 8 and wait for level 9 or even higher. Late/Endgame: Unfortunately, tier 9+ is a bit disappointing in terms of shiny new violent toys. I don't know what the maximum character level is. But Hammers currently max out at level 10, and Spear even at level 9. While Swords and Axes go up to level 12. The Dragonlance Spear is good by itself, but pretty useless as neither the Barb nor Bers have a skill for it (@Marco: hint, hint ) The best weapons are t12: - Chained Rapier (sword) with 7-15dam, +3Str +2Con, +5 result special (highest damage weapon in game) - Massacre Axe for 5-13dam, +2Str +1Con, +4 result special - Knightfall Sword is t10 but just as good as the Massacre Axe: 5-13dam, +2Str +2Dex, +4 result special. If the extra Dex pushes you to another Defense and/or Crit point, take the Sword. If not, it doesn't matter much. - The t10 Godslayer Hammer has a slightly lower damage at 4-11, but gives +3Str +1Con and 15% Stun chance on hit. Special: get 2 Mana back. Good for the Paladin, especially when she needs to heal a lot. For pure fighters, I'd prefer the Knightfall - +4 to die result is a better special than regaining Mana that they don't use in the first place. - t9 Windsword comes with +2Str +1Con, 4-12 damage: Pretty equal to the Hammer, but its special increases dice result by 3 instead. So between it and the Godslayer it comes down to personal preference and playstyle. I think I should be able to skip everything else now, and go straight for the t12 weapons. Armours and Trinkets I'll do another day
Save game mechanism Hey, as you two folks are talking about The Quest and its saving mechanism: You can just ask Catacomber, she's a really nice person. Tell her I say hi She's on TA under the same name, but I don't know how often she reads here. Or email her, the address is right on their homepage http://www.catacomber.com/ .
It's more a philosophy question, but I think we got it. Just waiting for the final answer on what are the consequences of a death, and I guess we're good to go I will delay the next update to include some major change like this one, but many things have already been implemented: lighter rooms, static enemy camera etc. Side note: I had to change some stuff for technical reasons, but as a result the splash screen is now standard fade in/fade out and not blinking anymore
@Marco, I just added a Mage section to my equipment post. Question for you: Correct me if I'm wrong. But as far as I can figure out, weapon damage does not add to spell damage for casters. If that's true, would it be possible to change that so it does?
