v5.0

• Added usage costs to attacks and abilities.
  • Players now have 5 actions to spend per turn, each attack and ability has a cost they can spend their actions on.
    • The previous version of the game essentially had attacks and abilities that had no drawbacks, nor was there really any skill involved. It was clear that attacks and abilities needed some sort of drawback/limitation, and for now, I’m opting for a usage cost.’
    • The board is currently 11x11 tiles large, and players start in each corner of the board.
• Added movement and a board. Conjures now fight based on position on a grid.
  • Movement has a cost: 1 tile = 1 action.
    • The previous versions of the game were fundamentally flawed in their approach to vary gameplay and add strategy. Objectively correct plays were too obvious a lot of the time and, the biggest issue, was that there were too many variables added in order to shroud the previous point. I’ve opted to remove these variables entirely, in favour of movement. Players can track variables much more easily given that there is now a constant visual indication of them.
• Added area of effect mechanic
  • Attacks and abilities now have an area of effect that determines whether they can be used on enemies or on your team.
    • With enter_universim now having a movement mechanic, attack and ability areas were a necessity. This has made balancing attacks and abilities significantly easier, as it is an easy to understand means of adding variables.
  • Area of effect is currently split into 6 increments:
    • 0x0
    • 3x3
    • 5x5
    • 7x7
    • 9x9
    • Infinite
  • All Conjures now have area of effect tied to their attacks/abilities.
• Added additional classes:
  • Support, Defence, Offence.
    • Classes have been added to assist in development. Having specific Conjure archetypes helps me to establish what qualities a certain Conjure may need in terms of both gameplay and design.
• Remove Stimulants, Protocols, and Traits
  • These were far too difficult to keep track of during each point of the game, and have thus been removed while I transition the game to movement-based.
• Added Belief (Offence)
  • Added ‘Divine Intervention’
    • Single use ability that negates half of an incoming attacks damage if it deals over 35 damage.
  • Added ‘Repentance’
    • 20 damage attack that deals 20 additional damage if Belief is below half health.
• Added Destiny (Defence)
  • Added ‘Precognition’
    • Ability that allows Destiny to redirect attacks dealing 30 or more damage into itself.
  • Added ‘Deviation’
    • 15 damage attack that deals 35 damage if Precognition was activated on the last turn. If used on an ally, this heals them instead.
• Added Construct (Defence)
  • Construct focusses on causing positional disruptions and forcing opponents to consume actions to reposition around it.
    • Added ‘Beckon’
      • All Conjures within a 7x7 area are pulled 1 tile closer to Construct, costs 3 actions.
    • Added ‘Fated Snare’
      • If Construct is in line with an ally, damage is dealt to all opposing Conjures within the line. This deals 25 damage, infinite area, costs 3 actions.
• Amalgam HP decreased from 150 → 130
  • Amalgam is incredibly strong offensively, it is uncompetitive to have a Conjure with that much bulk and offensive potential simultaneously.
• Added placeholder for Sleep Paralysis Conjure (Support)
  • Sleep Paralysis focusses on stunning enemies and facilitating allies offensively by leaving enemies extremely vulnerable.
    • Added ‘Sleep Paralysis’
      • Stuns an enemy (stops them from moving) on their next turn, costs 4, infinite area.
    • Added ‘Tormentor’
      • 25 damage attack that deals double damage if the target is stunned. 3x3 area, costs 2 actions.
• Added placeholder for Dream Catcher Conjure (Offence)
  • Dream Catcher is a glass cannon that deals huge damage from distance, at a high usage cost.
    • Added ‘Dream Channel’
      • Ability that halves health on the next turn, but doubles outgoing damage for Dream Catcher. Costs 3 actions.
    • Added ‘Terror Beam’
      • 35 damage attack that pierces all enemies in a straight line, dealing 10 less damage per enemy pierced. Infinite area, costs 3 actions.
• Impervious ‘Bulk Modulus’ and ‘Retribution’ reworked
  • Bulk Modulus now doubles movement costs for enemies in a 5x5 area, 3 usage cost.
  • Retribution now deals 10 damage in a 3x3 area, dealing 10 additional damage per enemy in proximity. 3 usage cost.
    • The concept of Bulk Modulus and Retribution were interesting, but they did not feel entirely reflective of Impervious as a Conjure. These reworks are to make them feel in line with Impervious.

Reflection & Next Steps:

• Adding movement, attack costs, and area of effect mechanics was the best change I could’ve possibly made to the game, very happy I took the risk with it. Adding movement to the game completely removed the difficulty of the previously mentioned per-turn variability tracking, which has translated to variables that are constantly visible and simple to track, so much so to the point where you can actually strategise between turns, rather than having to spend so much time keeping track of all the different variables. Some Conjures are certainly a bit overpowered or too weak in this state of the game, but I’m content with that knowing the main focus of this iteration was to add movement, which has been massively successful. The game now has a much stronger foundation from which I can build off of, so now onto refining and balancing the Conjures!
• In terms of playability, I definitely need to sort out a means of conveying area of effect in an efficient way asap, as play testers definitely struggled to wrap their heads around it without a visual reference, so that is next on the agenda too.
  • Play testers suggested a ‘grid’ to be displayed on each card that conveys the area of effect, so I will experiment with this.
• I’m realising at this point that I’m going to be spending the overwhelming majority of this project doing the artwork, which could pose a problem to the overall game. Having thought a lot about this, I’m actually going to stick to it. I’m an artist assuming the role of a solo-game developer in unfamiliar territory, so I’d feel much worse knowing I sacrificed the artwork to build up the game than knowing the game wasn’t as polished as it could, but the artwork was good. My solution to this however, is to not be selective about my designs. I need to take the briefs and simply run with them as efficiently as possible, which means: no polished concept art, no turnarounds/reference sheets, just a pure, instinctive translation between brief, and final art work. Of course, I’ll make changes where necessary, but the visual direction of the game is more important than any other aspect, and takes precedent over the game itself. I would not live it down if I didn’t make visuals I’m proud of.
• I’m definitely having some difficulty spotting issues with the Conjures in terms of balancing and wording, but the only solution to this is simply getting feedback. I’m not a card game connoisseur, thus it isn’t easy to spot glaring issues. I have had a lot of success in terms of feedback however, and the play testers who have helped to shape the game have done so in massive ways, so I just need to keep up the consistency with getting said feedback, and all should be well.
  • Continue getting feedback and keep up the consistency on play testing.
  • Maybe run a survey about artwork?