Thanks Kraudi2k! No need to redownload. You can continue with your progress, but we will be resetting Fossils, Oil, and stone names (except for the contest winner's). Does anyone have any thoughts on balancing? I'm curious how difficult you guys find the bosses to be... how often you die to them (if ever), etc. Let me know what your tool boost looks like too, cause that factors in. You guys will probably all have artificially high tool power since your clan raked in the artifacts so quickly
I've never died to a boss yet, ever. I'd have to play around with no clan artifact bonus. You guys lowered the spawn rate of artifact boxes, correct? I've been seeing far less which is definitely a plus because it was easy to acquire a lot of them. Before I could find 3 in a row. Nerfing the spawn rate encourages players to excavate which is probably what your intended purpose was to begin with, which I absolutely agree with. Makes the game run a lot smoother imo. But back to bosses, currently I'm able to defeat a boss around 10 seconds. I'm at 35 depth with a solid steel hatchet at the moment. I got some rubies from conquest week before the contest started.. oops.. early promo code, sorry Would like to hear feedback from others about boss balancing as I personally believe they're too easy as you should at least struggle a little on the later levels if you haven't received bonus gems. Either buff bosses or nerf tool prices. I'm not sure. A lot of this is tedious testing. I see you guys buffed the dynamite power up if I'm correct? Also a very good change which I agree with. Can't think of anything else on the spot, but if you have any other questions I'll absolutely be able to answer if you will accept my feedback. Cheers
I too am beating all the bosses with about 10 seconds left. Right Now I'm on level 44 with a strong steel hatchet. Also, I'm still raking in the power ups like there's no tomorrow. I realize I should PROBABLY be using them, but I haven't been . I have an average of about 150 of each power up. I'm sure you guys are burning through them right as you get them, so the spawn rate might be fine. It just seems like a lot when you don't use them haha. (I plan on using them all during the last 2 days of the contest )
Thanks guys! Yes, we did decrease artifact spawns a decent amount. Haha yea, the powerups are a tough call. We do want people to be getting a good amount of them since they are fun, but like you said they rack up quickly if you aren't using them. We haven't boosted dynamite yet, that'll require an update. Wishful thinking I guess! Good to know about the bosses. I'll be able to increase the difficulty, but it won't be a great test since you guys will miss out on all the cumulative affects of the tougher bosses along the way. Maybe when the contest ends on Wednesday we'll have a second, couple-hour reset "blitz" contest with no clans and some more prizes . Fresh, how do the number of boosts feel to you? Do you use them along the way?
Sooo, I just got to thinking.... Since we won't be required to reset our games after the official release of the game, wouldn't it be extremely easy for ALL of us to name our own stones since we'll have such a huge lead on everyone else? We would just have to discover the next stone from where we are when the release hits and we'd be set, right? I'm pretty sure that's not what you guys wanted :0
If you don't want to start over we can't make you, but we will be clearing all stone names beyond the ones we're awarding. Once we've cleared the name database you won't be able to name any new ones without reinstalling. Nice try though
Wow... I don't think we've been that far. Your are a true pioneer. Curious to see a picture of what it looks like down there if you don't mind sharing!
I typically use up my power ups when I get them, like I said earlier, I try to make sure they are doubled up to do more effective damage. I never lose to bosses. I almost did two ago, got to 1.5 seconds, otherwise no issues.
Ah, I thought dynamite was changed, never mind haha. On my first account, I saved up the boosts but now I've been using them along the way. I think they're at a good spot to be honest, possibly lower it a little bit if you feel the need to, but I feel like they should be used along the way, it's what their intended purpose is. I don't feel overwhelmed with boosts nor do I feel underwhelmed while using them along the way. If people really want the boosts, they can go out of their way to mine outside of the 6 blocks to receive more, so it's pretty much the players choice if they feel its worth taking the extra time. The only problem I have is that the drill feels out of place for some reason. Its a fast paced mining game and the drill makes it feel slower but I have no suggestions on changes to it. Just personal opinion.
Thanks for letting me know about the bosses. I'll wait for the end of the contest to make the adjustment. Excellent, that's exactly what we're going for with boost frequency! The drill is definitely much harder to get a feel for than the others. The way I like to play with it (and this will come into play more after we make the balance tweaks) is to set it on a block with my first tap, leave it alone until it finishes its job, then deliberately set it on another one that's outside of my tapping sweet spot. It's maybe not quite as effective as the other boosts, but I find it to be a fun little side focus that encourages a different play style for a few moments. Have you tried any strategy with it, or are you just full tap ahead?
A key thing about this game is knowing when and how to use the boost to your advantage, and more importantly figuring out what works well together and what doesn't. The drills will end up being underappreciated, but if you know how to use them they can be one of your greatest allies. They help destroy everything that your current tool aren't capable of taking out in one hit and provide a smooth continous downward momentum. Personally, I would say my favourite part of the entire game are boosts. For those who don't know, I'm someone who endlessly complained about them during their entire existence throughout beta, so this is a massive change of heart, and one that speaks volumes about my opinion about their current balance. If anything, I cannot beg you guys to jack them up more enough, as I never seem to have enough. More boosts that play off each other and deepen the strategies in this otherwise straightforward clicker would also be appreciated.
1. Magnets, or autocollection. Collecting stones actually slows you down by one tap because you have to pick them up before you can get to the next layer of stones, and this one extra tap adds up in the long term to hundreds of thousands of extra taps that you could have spent on mining stones. Having a boost that last for a decent while that automatically sucks up all stones found and perhaps multiply their worth would seem worthwhile. Currently automine stands in as that function for me, but it does not last long and does not cover the entire screen, only mostly the Main 6 where my fingers permanently stays. If magnets were activated, automine would also be getting a small boost, providing a natural combo choice. Another problem is that we can only currently store 999k stones, getting millions does not seem unreasonable considering how many stones you can acquire in civcrafter. 2. Instead of boosting Dynamite, a separate, upgraded version that's rarer would perhaps be better. Imagine a Mega Dynamite that clears not just the Main 6 but also the entire screen. there are tons of crates hiding on the outskirt and this boost can help you gain more boosts then you normally could. Random note: Dynamites are currently the black sheep of the boost family, not drills. They provide no synergy with other boosts and thus are often used first. 3. Mega Drills: tripple the drills, tripple the thrills. having multiple drills working away while you dig would just be awesome, no explanation or justification needed, I'd say.
Magnets...that's how they work. Love it, top of the list. The 999k stone limit is a bug, I've got it fixed and waiting to go in with the first update. There are some performance limitations behind the current dynamite limits. We'll be buffing it for sure, but the mega dynamite you describe, while awesome, would cause some problems on older devices under our current system. Re: black sheep status...I kind of like it. If anything I find it boring that so many of the other boosts chain easily. That said, it does need to be stronger. I'm imagining a team of elves with drills in hand zipping all over the place. Or diamond cats with drills for tails.
