Arcane Battles - Puzzle RPG [Universal]

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by Afftor, Dec 24, 2013.

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  1. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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  2. ste86uk

    ste86uk Well-Known Member

    May 9, 2012
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    I love dungeon raid and this sounds interesting. I have UK, Canadian and Australlian I think but not sure I have NZ.
     
  3. _Max_

    _Max_ Well-Known Member

    Apr 19, 2012
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    Look nice, like Dungeon Raid and can't miss this one.
     
  4. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Thanks!
    We're going to release in Canada in the end of January - and maybe it's actually better to wait a little, cause we're adding features and balancing monsters right now to make it even better. ))
     
  5. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy it. )
    We've made a few changes to Dungeon Raid mechanics, so it feels familiar, but there is more flexibility in use of skills.
     
  6. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    By the way, guys, what do you think about putting guilds into this kind of game?
    We're considering either adding PvP tournaments or guild cooperative fights and are not sure what would work best. )
     
  7. Andre

    Andre Well-Known Member

    Apr 11, 2012
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    Looks great. Will try to play it.

    P/S: The idea of guild is great, but I must try to play it, then I'll take you know about the answer.
     
  8. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Cool, thank!

    Main idea behind the guilds would be fighting bosses together to earn badges.
    After that you have 2 uses for badges:
    - exchange badges for personal gain (items, monsters etc.)
    - and all badges of all guild members combined determine how much collective rewards you'll get as a guild (gold, currency etc.)
     
  9. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Help info

    Hi, guys!

    We're trying to make game more friendly to new users, so there was a discussion about having a quick help button available all the time in battle.

    What do you think about that approach - is it OK, or excessive?
     

    Attached Files:

  10. ste86uk

    ste86uk Well-Known Member

    May 9, 2012
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    Doesn't look excessive to me although the sentence for pause doesn't quite sound right to me.

    These games shouldn't even need explanation especially if you have a tutorial or with this help page you shouldn't even need one.
     
  11. Exact-Psience

    Exact-Psience Well-Known Member

    Jan 12, 2012
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    The Work-At-Home Guy
    Philippines
    Is this going to be a move anywhere type of match-3? Or a strict bejeweled formula?

    EDIT: Ah... read that this is going to be like Dungeon Raid. Very interesting.
     
  12. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Yes, we're using Dungeon Raid mechanics - it has more logical connection to combat and I hope you'll enjoy it. ))

    ste86uk
    In fact, we do have a tutorial and a help file (in player profile menu), but we've noticed that lots of people prefer to skip tutorial and those who are not very familiar with RPGs often don't get what Mana or Skills are for, so we decided to try this additional help.
    But it's good to know it doesn't seem excessive ))
     
  13. rittchard

    rittchard Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2011
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    Tried it out last night. I'm enjoying the Dungeon Raid mechanics quite a bit, and it's nice to see this type of gameplay integrated with a "collectible" type of game. I played a ton of Dungeon Raid and I love how it is very much luck based in terms of what tiles show up, but there are still subtle strategic/tactical elements as well in a "combat" situation. I'm glad to see that some of that made it into this game as well.

    The only thing disappointing to me thus far is the "energy" system. No offense to the developers but personally I am sick of games that artificially limit the amount of time you can actually play them. Honestly if I could, I would go back and time and kill whoever created that mechanic. It completely goes against the concept of "playing" - can you imagine if the person who invented chess made it so you had to pay to play each move, or else wait an hour??!??!

    Sorry for the rant, it just irks me to no end. I would gladly pay full price for a "complete" game, and from what I can tell, it seems like most gamers feel the same way.
     
  14. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Hi!

    Thank you, I'm very glad that you are enjoying the game!

    About the energy - yes, I perfectly understand why people don't like it... and we did implement it because others do that and it seems like common practice.
    We tried to give as much freedom early in the game as possible - you'll be finding energy potions a lot in the dungeons. Point of energy is not much in stopping you from playing, but rather from stopping from grinding same old dungeons for gold again and again (and spamming PvP as well). Unfortunately, we did not find a better solution yet... but maybe there are some suggestions?
     
  15. rittchard

    rittchard Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2011
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    Just because it's common practice doesn't make it a good practice :)

    This is my rule of thumb for game design - if it doesn't make the game more fun or better in some way, why put it in? In your case, it sounds like you are trying to prevent players from playing a certain way. While I understand the PvP aspect may need to be limited, I don't see why you care whether or not a player wants to grind the same levels again or not. Some players derive challenge from taking more risks in these types of games, while others prefer (and enjoy) the option to "grind" and be over-prepared/over-powered for every fight. You are effectively taking away that second style of play, which some people really like.

    Frankly I think the timer system should be removed completely for single player/PvE; you could always charge a one-time unlock fee for this if money is a concern. For PvP, maybe this makes sense, I don't know.
     
  16. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Hi!
    I'll give it a though. When I refer to "grinding" I don't mean just replaying previous levels to get more XP and level-up mobs (that is OK and we encourage that), but rather grinding the same old level for gold again and again 10-50 times, which is rather boring gameplay, but we know that if that is a good way of getting gold many players are going to do that and ruin the experience for themselves.

    And a special purchase for unlock - we don't want to limit players in that way: I believe that purchases should never be obligatory or influence the gameplay itself, but rather help players that are stuck or those who want to get ahead quickly.
     
  17. ste86uk

    ste86uk Well-Known Member

    May 9, 2012
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    Wish this was out in the UK already so I don't remember if I asked already but does this require an Internet connection to play?

    I also hate energy but still play some of those games as usually I'd only play for a while anyway but Dungeon Raid I played for hours! Dungelot 2 is going to use energy but have a IAP to remove the energy system as the game is free.

    Of course I'd like it removed from PvE also and keep it for PvP possibly? Not sure how they work so can't comment properly. Just hoping it's not one of those games where it requires Internet to do everything even without doing pvp.
     
  18. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Hi!
    I think we'll release Arcane Battles in UK at the same time as US - February-March.

    And unfortunately, you'll need internet connection to start the game.
    The reason for that is plain and simple - we have PvP, and so we have to store all player data on the server to make sure no one hacks the game. Otherwise it's going to be unfair towards honest players. ((
    It's sad, but we've seen plenty of hacked accounts in our previous game that did not require internet, and players did not want to compete with cheaters. (

    But the good thing is - you'll be able to transfer your game progress across
    any number of devices (play on iPhone, then continue on iPad).
     
  19. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Good news

    Good news!

    We've finished some features ahead of schedule, so we expect Arcane Battles to be available in Canada and Australia early in February. ))

    By the way, we've tweaked balance a bit and made first 2 areas easier - what do you guys think - is it better if game starts in "easy mode" and goes harder later, or if there is constantly a challenge?
     
  20. Afftor

    Afftor Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Arcane Battles is out!

    Hi, everyone!

    Arcane Battles is out in Canada at last - we're looking forward to see if you guys enjoy it!

    http://appstore.com/arcanebattles
     

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