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41

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by Light on August 11, 2016, 07:15:14 PM »

Some technological issues, and summer, got in the way for a little bit, but we are still making progress.

Chris has been hard at work on the map and unit interaction aspects of the game.  I think his words explain it best, so I'm going to quote him:

"There is a button which changes the players turns.  There are four player in this example.  Red, Yellow and Blue all own 2 horses of their color. The green player owns a yellow tank.  green is yellow because I don't have a green tank

From this example you can see movement among multiple player turns and that the spirits can see and navigate around each other. "

You can download the .exe here: http://rivstyx.com/spiritwars/sw.zip
Download and extract the file, run sw.exe.  Hit escape to exit. 

Enjoy.

42

Announcements / Re: Shall we try again? Would you be willing to help us?

« Last post by Xaxyx on June 27, 2016, 11:35:11 AM »

1) What did you enjoy most about the game?  What do you want to see remain the same as it was, no matter what?

I found the intricacies and complexities of deck building fascinating.  The wide variety of available boards / terrains was refreshing as well, as one never knew what sort of environment one would end up in -- requiring decks to be versatile.

2) What did you dislike about the game?  How can that be improved, so that it's more enjoyable to you in this version?

Losing cards as a result of losing games is beyond demoralizing; it's rage quit-inducing.  If this is to be a collectable card game, then it must not be possible for a player to lose their precious, hard-earned cards as a result of a loss.  Or, if this is a must-have feature for some portion of the population of players -- however large -- then an option must exist for there to be a league of players for whom this antiquated and punishing "ante" system does not apply.

3) How important to you were the Tournaments and League?  Did you ever participate in either or both of them?  If so, which ones and how often?  If not, why not?  How can they be improved?  What were the most and least enjoyable aspects of these features?

I did not participate in tournaments; I was a casual player.

4) If you were a member, how did you feel about migrations and events?  Did they happen too often or not enough?  Considering that they're an integral part of the game design, how can they be improved?

Migrations were rewards to players who played more often.  Thus, from the reverse perspective, they acted as a punishment to casual players: they got less cards.   As a result, casual players overall possessed weaker decks and less trade options as compared with players who played more consistently.  Migrations should occur periodically, not as a reward for having played frequently.

Migrations were also extremely easy to abuse.  I once purposely went out of my way to absolutely bury my rating by playing a trash deck over and over again versus anyone willing to play against me.  Suddenly, my migrations were absolutely fabulous.  I got all kinds of fun cards, cards I'd never previously even dreamed of owning.  Then, I slapped together a deck full of the disgustingly amazing cards that I'd acquired by this silly method, and began trouncing my way back up the ladder -- half the time sporting a rating that was absolutely no reflection whatsoever of my astounding deck packed full of godlike cards.

This is not a useful, sensible and reliable system.  This is absurdity.  Migrations should be periodic (once per day, etc) and equitable (one rare and two commons per migration, etc).  Trading should be restricted to only allow like for like -- that is, one rare for one rare; one common for one common.  This will at least somewhat prevent newer players from being ripped off for their better cards, as well as prevent collaboration that results in some abomination of a deck acquired by a single popular or influential player.

5) On what devices would you play SW?  Would you play on a a mobile device, or would you only play on a computer/laptop?  Is there any aspect of the game that can be changed to make you more likely to play on a mobile device?  Do you think the mobile version of the game should be run separately from the PC version?

I would likely only play on a PC, but I can see a mobile version being viable as well, such as for iPad.

6) Keeping in mind that the game will never be pay to win, what kind of features would make you consider signing up for a membership?

I am very happy to learn that the game will remain non-pay-to-win.  That's a very important feature.

Membership in a non-pay-to-win environment implies the granting of "frills".  What sorts of frills might be interesting in SpiritWars?  Extra deck slots comes to mind; this is more convenience than power, arguably.  Access to member-only leagues seems like a bad idea, as it will leave casual players out in the cold.  Cutesy cosmetic benefits -- your name shows up all glowy and stuff in games -- is a no-brainer, I suppose.  Perhaps spirits played by a membership player are animated on the board in some fashion, whereas non-members' spirits just sorta sit there.

43

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by Psyclone on June 19, 2016, 07:23:58 PM »

Yep, I remember you well

Yes, multiplayer maps(>2 players) would be larger and I am tossing around at least three different modes for maps...
1)  Classic Mode 
This is an homage to the original SW.  Playing in this mode will randomly choose one of the classic maps made by Randy. You would be able to gain and lose spirits and there would be fog of war.

2) Procedurally generated maps
This is the default mode. This mode creates random maps procedurally at run time.  You would be able to gain and lose spirits and there would be fog of war.

3) Player created maps.  I have reviewed Randy's old map editor and I think it would be cool for players to make their own maps as well. Players could invite other players to play on their maps however there would be no spirit gain or loss and no fog of war in this mode.  This mode could also include the ability for players to snap their maps together to create larger maps.

I have a very basic example of the procedural map generation without any rules and more tile types than the original had if you want to look at it...
http://rivstyx.com/spiritwars/sw.zip

Download the zip file to a pc and extract the contents to a folder. Then navigate to the folder and launch sw.exe.
You will be presented with the classic SW splash screen   Upon clicking it or hitting a key you will be presented with a map.
You can use the arrow keys to move around the map and the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
pressing "R" will generate a new map randomly. There are no rules in place so the tiles are completely random at this time.
pressing escape will exit the application.

Let me know what you think and I will occasionally be adding more to it as we go.

Thanks,
Chris

Sweet.  I know it's not much, but the functionality looks good.

Thanks for the updates.

44

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by cbrooks on June 19, 2016, 11:46:57 AM »

Yep, I remember you well

Yes, multiplayer maps(>2 players) would be larger and I am tossing around at least three different modes for maps...
1)  Classic Mode 
This is an homage to the original SW.  Playing in this mode will randomly choose one of the classic maps made by Randy. You would be able to gain and lose spirits and there would be fog of war.

2) Procedurally generated maps
This is the default mode. This mode creates random maps procedurally at run time.  You would be able to gain and lose spirits and there would be fog of war.

3) Player created maps.  I have reviewed Randy's old map editor and I think it would be cool for players to make their own maps as well. Players could invite other players to play on their maps however there would be no spirit gain or loss and no fog of war in this mode.  This mode could also include the ability for players to snap their maps together to create larger maps.

I have a very basic example of the procedural map generation without any rules and more tile types than the original had if you want to look at it...
http://rivstyx.com/spiritwars/sw.zip

Download the zip file to a pc and extract the contents to a folder. Then navigate to the folder and launch sw.exe.
You will be presented with the classic SW splash screen   Upon clicking it or hitting a key you will be presented with a map.
You can use the arrow keys to move around the map and the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
pressing "R" will generate a new map randomly. There are no rules in place so the tiles are completely random at this time.
pressing escape will exit the application.

Let me know what you think and I will occasionally be adding more to it as we go.

Thanks,
Chris

45

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by Psyclone on June 14, 2016, 04:25:49 PM »

This is a very good representation of the types of games we are up against.  On our part we will be modernizing SW and redesigning many of the aspects without hopefully taking away from the feel of the original. It will not be the exact same game you played in 1999 and may offer features the original never had such as procedurally generated maps and multiplayer(2+) game  modes.  We are trying to stay way from pay to win as well. 

Thanks,
Chris(rivstyx)

Hey rivstyx.  Not sure if you remember me, my SW name was "Kevin".  We've definitely played a lot of games together.

Out of curiosity, are you considering procedurally generated maps of different sizes and shapes?

The original SW maps are 86 tiles and always the same shape.  If you're considering adding multiplayer game modes, which sounds awesome, having different sizes and shapes of maps would probably be something to consider (if you haven't already).

46

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by cbrooks on June 14, 2016, 04:16:09 PM »

I've played a few games similar to SpiritWars over the years and am currently playing one (a little bit) that is similar to SpiritWars in some ways.  It's a CCG with a Hexagonal Map in which your attempting to destroy your opponents Castle (or orb in this case).

The game is called Faeria and it's currently in Early Release on Steam.  The game has some great graphics and animations that are really nice that I think are worth looking at.

Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of the game play at all for numerous reasons and think SpiritWars is superior in just about every way, but there are some nice elements to the game, particularly the graphics and animations.  I just wanted to share this with you, the developers, as it might give you some direction or ideas.  They use a similar camera angle to the teaser you posted above (maybe a little more overhead, but similar).

Here's some links to YouTube videos of Faeria...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THpoiHciAw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaZBcXsIYuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGcmdPVsPiU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoiW7aBbNEk

This is a very good representation of the types of games we are up against.  On our part we will be modernizing SW and redesigning many of the aspects without hopefully taking away from the feel of the original. It will not be the exact same game you played in 1999 and may offer features the original never had such as procedurally generated maps and multiplayer(2+) game  modes.  We are trying to stay way from pay to win as well. 

Thanks,
Chris(rivstyx)

47

Announcements / Re: Shall we try again? Would you be willing to help us?

« Last post by King Leshrac on June 14, 2016, 04:01:56 PM »

I'd like to echo tru's sentiments.  There's never been an online community like this one, closest I came was my WoW guild for a year or so but still nothing like this.  I really miss everyone and I miss Randy as I'm sure we all do.  It was his kind and generous spirit that really fostered the atmosphere.  I really would love for this to happen again, the game was as great as the community was. 

1) What did you enjoy most about the game?  What do you want to see remain the same as it was, no matter what?
I enjoyed making a deck.  Personally I think the 2nd move advantage could be tweaked a little, but there were some good decks that played better moving first as well. 

2) What did you dislike about the game?  How can that be improved, so that it's more enjoyable to you in this version?
I disliked when they got rid of trade and restricted direct damage, but thats just me haha.  I also think negative migrations could be maybe less harsh.  Positive ones could be less useless.

3) How important to you were the Tournaments and League?  Did you ever participate in either or both of them?  If so, which ones and how often?  If not, why not?  How can they be improved?  What were the most and least enjoyable aspects of these features?

Tournaments were pretty fun.  I enjoyed playing them often.  League was fun at times but could be better organized if it happens again. 

4) If you were a member, how did you feel about migrations and events?  Did they happen too often or not enough?  Considering that they're an integral part of the game design, how can they be improved?

I thought they were a cool aspect.  I'd say the starting pop should be larger, to allow people to have multiple decks easier( 1st move and 2nd move decks, for example).   I'm not sure how migrations could be changed, maybe they could be made to be more likely to be spirits of the colors of your main deck or something.
 
5) On what devices would you play SW?  Would you play on a a mobile device, or would you only play on a computer/laptop?  Is there any aspect of the game that can be changed to make you more likely to play on a mobile device?  Do you think the mobile version of the game should be run separately from the PC version?

I would play on a tablet or PC.  Don't think they should be separate though.

6) Keeping in mind that the game will never be pay to win, what kind of features would make you consider signing up for a membership?

  I really enjoyed the trading aspect of the game.  Definitely my favorite part.

48

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by Psyclone on June 14, 2016, 12:23:59 PM »

I've played a few games similar to SpiritWars over the years and am currently playing one (a little bit) that is similar to SpiritWars in some ways.  It's a CCG with a Hexagonal Map in which your attempting to destroy your opponents Castle (or orb in this case).

The game is called Faeria and it's currently in Early Release on Steam.  The game has some great graphics and animations that are really nice that I think are worth looking at.

Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of the game play at all for numerous reasons and think SpiritWars is superior in just about every way, but there are some nice elements to the game, particularly the graphics and animations.  I just wanted to share this with you, the developers, as it might give you some direction or ideas.  They use a similar camera angle to the teaser you posted above (maybe a little more overhead, but similar).

Here's some links to YouTube videos of Faeria...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THpoiHciAw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaZBcXsIYuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGcmdPVsPiU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoiW7aBbNEk

49

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« Last post by Imprimis on June 13, 2016, 04:09:21 PM »

This is the most unexpected email I have gotten in a loooong time. So stoked for this game to come back!!!

50

Announcements / Re: Shall we try again? Would you be willing to help us?

« Last post by Lotar on June 13, 2016, 06:14:08 AM »

4) If you were a member, how did you feel about migrations and events?  Did they happen too often or not enough?  Considering that they're an integral part of the game design, how can they be improved?

I never liked losing my best spirits, but who did? That was probably part of the reason I played fewer matches. But considering that the negative events happened to everyone, I can't really complain about it. The positive events often gave me stuff I didn't need or want, but I did occasionally get some cool stuff. Overall, the events were a good way to shake everything up and keep the game fresh.

yeah, I forgot about losing spirits... that kinda sucked when it was one you loved.  I agree on the positive outcomes, too... but perhaps if we are given a choice of 1 of 3, then you can kinda have input on the reward and not feel so helpless.