Messages

1

Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« 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.

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Announcements / Re: Official updates and teasers

« on: June 11, 2016, 06:49:08 AM »

Teaser #1:

Here's a screen shot of a very early rough draft of the new map. The graphics are simply placeholders, and will be changed in the future.  The purpose of this picture is to display the different camera angle and depth aspect. 

Most map tiles are "flat", while highlands are high and lowlands are low.  While this changes the entire look and feel of the SW map, it brings things more in line with the graphics of today. 

Comments, ideas, adn other other feedback is both welcomed and appreciated!

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Announcements / Official updates and teasers

« on: June 11, 2016, 06:33:47 AM »

Welcome to the official update and teaser thread.  My purpose for this thread to create a single place to provide all updates (along with some teasers!).  I'm excited to share our progress with the community and welcome any feedback anyone has on the direction we're currently going in. 

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Announcements / Re: Cautious optimism

« on: May 28, 2016, 05:28:22 AM »

As promised, here is the latest report on our last meeting.  I'm afraid that none of this is terribly exciting, as the meeting was just a mundane follow up, meant to ensure that we're all on the same page and have our tasks in mind going forward.  That said, I want to ensure that we regularly update the committed playerbase on a weekly basis, even if the updates aren't earth-shattering. 

At the moment, we're still working on very general concepts, such as general layout and overall game design, rather than in-game specifics.  Future meetings should definitely be more productive and allow us to provide more interesting updates, so please stay tuned!

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Announcements / Re: Cautious optimism

« on: May 20, 2016, 10:50:23 PM »

Hello everyone!  I'm one of the former players Lyn made reference to.  I'm excited to be part of the team working on this project, and will be working mostly on the infrastructure/hardware side of things. 

We will be providing weekly updates on our progress, so please make sure to check back here for the latest news.  If you have any thoughts, ideas, or concerns to share, please do so.  The more feedback we can get from the playerbase, especially at this early stage, the more consideration we can give to all of it. 

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

« on: May 08, 2016, 08:19:31 AM »

Hello dilli!  I'm not sure if you remember me, but I certainly remember summer and you! (:

At the moment, we're still in the very early stages of figuring things out.  While I think there are a lot of questions that need to answered regarding cost, subscriptions, and so on, the truth is that we have many more pressing issues.

As Lyn hinted at, we're looking at redesigning the game and making it look more modern.  But, I want to stress that we absolutely do not want to change the core values of what SW was about, which is also a massive part of what made it so great: no pay to win, family-friendly community, and a game that is easy to play for people of all skill levels.

With that being said, many things do need to be brought into 2016, like the graphics/art and the game interfaces.  I'm unsure of changing gameplay rules too drastically, but I think arguments could be made for some changes.

At the moment, any and all ideas on how we can update the game or improvement it are incredibly valuable.  This the first chance that players will have to get their ideas into the hands of the people developing the game, but it will not be the last.  However, sooner is better than later, since we're still at the very beginning of this project, which makes it easier to incorporate multiple ideas and make changes.

Below are a few questions that I'd love to see answered by anyone who reads this, but especially former players.  Feel free to answer some or all (or none!) of them, in as much or as little detail as you see fit.  If there is anything I've left out, or anything additional you would like to add (a question, a comment, or anything else), let us hear it.

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

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

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?

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?

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?

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? 

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SpiritWars Discussion / Re: So, hello (and thoughts on how to proceed with making Spirit Wars a reality).

« on: April 15, 2016, 07:53:40 PM »

I do live in the US, NJ specifically.  While I don't believe I have a facebook account, I do tend to try to be flexible, and if that's your preferred method of communication, I could always make an account.  I don't know if facebook does offline messages though, so I would imagine that relaying messages either here (on the forum itself or via PM) or through email would be best, given the time difference we'll be dealing with, along with differing schedules.  Just let me know exactly how you would like to communicate and I'll find a way to make it work.

Developing a game from scratch is a much bigger project than most people realize.  It goes much deeper than just writing some code.  Fortunately, it appears that a lot of the ground work is already done.  As I mentioned, I read a pretty large portion of the posts on this forum.  While I understand that many of them are quite dated, a couple of common themes seem to hold true; people found their way here, often on their own, the game fostered a community that was enjoyable to be around, and so many are willing to help, in whatever way they can.  That says a lot of the game and the community, but also the players.  It certainly seems like all of the ingredients are present to make this undertaking successful. 

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SpiritWars Discussion / So, hello (and thoughts on how to proceed with making Spirit Wars a reality).

« on: April 05, 2016, 08:01:00 PM »

I just kind of happened upon this site last night, and I have to admit to being fairly shocked.  It's quite amazing, though not totally unsurprising, that such a dedicated group of players all managed to find their way here.  I played this game for many nights and I met countless people I considered to be friends here.  I have never come across a similar community, and it seems like I'm not the only one. 

I spent more time than I should have going through various posts here, then thinking about...stuff.  I see the there have been numerous starts and stops, and I'm not entirely sure where things stand at the moment.  They seem to have settled down a bit, but perhaps it's time to change that.

Unfortunately, I have no experience in programming.  I do, however, have some experience in project management.  I wasn't able to find many details about the various projects which were attempted, so I don't know what has and has not been done.  With that in mind, I'd like to offer a different perspective on how to tackle this project and bring the game that we all know and love back to its rightful place.

I'll try to keep this relatively brief, but will happily provide more details, should there be interest.

The ideal way of looking at this project is as a series of smaller goals, which will be combined to produce a larger end result.  Developing an entire game is a huge undertaking, which can easily and quickly lead to becoming overwhelmed, especially when setbacks arise.  Breaking the process down helps to address some of that, while also providing a small amount of insulation against having to constantly restart the project from the beginning.

1. Game Design: This includes many things which are probably already in place, for the most part, although I think it's still worth mentioning for the sake of being thorough.  Anything related to how the game works belongs in this category.  Some examples include game rules, spirits, events/migrations, and storylines.  It also includes other aspects of the game, like artwork (for both spirits and maps), the welcome screen, and the layout of the game (both the chat interface and the gameplay interface).

While many of these things already exist, some may require updating, specifically the game and chat interfaces.  Before even considering actual development, basic aspects, like the layout, need to be hashed out.  Each of these categories should have their own subsection, so they can be addressed in detail.  After the layouts have been decided upon, the next phase(s) can begin.

2. Front End Development: Front end development includes the actual coding of everything that players will see.  The chat interface.  The map interface.  The icons for spirits and castles. 

3. Back End Development: This includes the coding of everything that will make the game run; everything that isn't included in front end development.  The database of spirits and code that makes interaction of spirits work.

4. Talent Acquisition: While a developer is needed to write the code, I think more than that is needed.  What about updating artwork?  Creating storylines for events?  Designing new spirits?  Obviously, a developer is the most important piece, but in order for the game to truly be experienced the way it was designed, other aspects need to be considered.
4.1. Use your current playerbase: While I don't want to speak for anyone else, I saw many people offering to help, in whatever way they can.  I know I am.  Allow the current playerbase to use their skill sets to help move the game forward.  Are there players who are artistic?  Good with sound/music?  Web design/development?  Find out and include them in the revitalization of the game.  Many games have been funded by players, but I'm unaware of any that had players make major contributions to the actual development.  This can further set the game apart from everything else that's out there and serve as proof of exactly how loved it is by those who were lucky enough to find it years ago.
4.2. As previously mentioned, a developer is the most important piece of the puzzle.  I would certainly suggest having a professional take care of this.  I know that freelancer.com has been mentioned before, and I really do think that's the way to go.  Maybe not freelancer.com, specifically, but a site similar to that (and there are many).  Getting the right developer is the most important thing, and with enough patience, I don't see why it can't be accomplished.

5. Funding: Funds are always an issue.  Hiring a development is going to be a significant cost.  I won't even begin to guess at what the cost will be, because it depends on a number of factors, including exactly what needs to be done.  Just coming up with a ballpark figure will require a good amount of research, but will be worth the effort.
5.1. Kickstarter: I know this has been mentioned before, and I fully understand why.  Kickstarter is an amazing platform and has allowed so many great projects to get off the ground.  The best thing about Kickstarter is that you can provide incentives to donors.  These incentives can be anything from special maps or spirits named after a donor to being allowed to select which Tournament set is played to being granted an additional population reset.  Find out what your playerbasee would like, and offer it to them (within reason).  I'm sure the ideas for potential incentives will come pouring in.

6. Communication: Communication always seems to be incredibly difficult.  Providing a balance between information and tempering excitement.  People generally try to avoid giving out bad news, but there are going to be setbacks, and keeping your playerbase informed of what's going on, good or bad, is an integral part of ensuring that they remain invested in the progression of the project.  At the same time, it's also important to be realistic and not get hopes up, too high, based on small goals being met.  Just finding a developer is a great reason to get excited, but it isn't a reason to declare the game to be back.  It's a long road, filled with many steps and obstacles, which is all the more reason to communicate, fully, every step of the way.