Outwitters by One Man Left Studios [Universal]

[DaviddesJ]

Originally Posted by kamikaze28

In order for the IAP team to make any sense (i. e. there is an incentive to buy except aesthetics) there need to be differences to existing teams. These differences, no matter how you balance them will give the IAP team advantages over some teams and disadvantages over other teams.

So what? It's not like we're playing for money. The teams don't need to all be perfectly balanced, it's just not that big an issue.

[kamikaze28]

The first time I saw a screenshot of Outwitters, I thought about an old game back in the Amiga days I used to play with a friend - it was also turn based and on a hexagonal grid, but up until now I neither remembered the name nor came around to search for it.

I just found it on youtube: it's Battle Isle by Blue Byte Studios. Here's a short gameplay video.

[Dazarath]

The teams really only differ in their special unit. It's not like an RTS where you need to worry about the relationships between each and every unit. Sure, some teams are going to have better special units than others, but it's not something I would worry about too much. I'm sure if OML notices that everyone is playing a particular race because it's way too powerful, they'll do something to even it out a bit.

[OneManLeft]

Originally Posted by kamikaze28

Commencing to hang tight.

From the previous version of the GDC-preview article, I glanced the following piece:

I am very concerned about providing additional armies via IAP as this is bound to produce balance issues down the road. Seeing as this statement is nowhere to be found in the current version of the article, this may have been an unfounded point to begin with. Would you care to elaborate on this?

The goal is to have a balanced game regardless of the race you choose. If we do find balance issues we'll definitely be changing and balancing gameplay as things progress. That said, each race is designed for a different playstyle to make the matches interesting so some players may more easily wrap their head around the mechanics of one unit but not really quite understand the strengths of another special unit. That, in our minds, is OK because when you do run into an opponent who does use the other units well it becomes an interesting learning experience.

Originally Posted by Misguided

It would hardly be unique in being difficult to create an AI for. Even if a skirmish AI isn't possible, even a set of set scenarios would be better than nothing.

While AI is not impossible, the goal of our game was to create a fun competitive and cooperative multiplayer game. Outwitters is designed as a portable board game more so than a typical single player 'experience'. We could spend months on creating a compelling AI that, in the end, still won't reach a level of fidelity of another human opponent or...you play against random human opponents from around the world and engage in crazy and wild matches.

There's no obligations to chat with others, or interact with them other than playing the game so in the end one can just ignore the human component if they really wanted to.

[kamikaze28]

Having just attended a lecture on artificial intelligence, I feel obligated to tell anyone who cares, that AI is no walk in the park. Especially tuning AI can be quite daunting. In the case of Outwitters you have a few complicating factors:

• You have to act under uncertainty (fog of war).
• Unlike in chess where you have to make exactly one move every turn, in Outwitters you can make multiple moves or save them up for future turns.

These two points increase the complexity of any usable artificial intelligence severely.
I strongly agree with Onemanleft on this topic - a well implemented online ranking and league system coupled with a low barrier of entry (which is a desired goal as I understand it) is worth ten times the effort to implement an artificial intelligence to accomplish a similar goal.

One argument you could raise about singleplayer is for people who do not have a 100% internet-enabled iOS device. Without having any statistic to support my opinion, I would say that iPod Touch users with limited WiFi-capabilities are quite the minority. And there is still Tilt to Live for those situations ;-)

About balance and IAP teams. I have given this more thought and came to the following conclusion:
The concept of just having the special unit and the aesthetics of a team be the distinguishing factor is very elegant and low-maintenance concerning balance. But at the same time allows for very flexible gameplay (as far as I can tell from reading everything I could get my hands on).
Building on top of this, I can see IAP teams working very well.

In conclusion, I have a strong faith in you two. And just to close the IAP team topic from my perspective in a self-ironic way: I'll probably just end up buying every IAP there is to support One Man Left

[ArtNJ]

I am the founder of the 450 player Hero Academy League and currently the League's number 2 ranked player. If your still looking for testers, I would be willing to test. I submitted an application.

I'm sure I could also get some of the other top 10 guys interested if you want. Numbers are great, but our top guys will find things that others wont.

[OneManLeft]

Originally Posted by ArtNJ

I am the founder of the 450 player Hero Academy League and currently the League's number 2 ranked player. If your still looking for testers, I would be willing to test. I submitted an application.

I'm sure I could also get some of the other top 10 guys interested if you want. Numbers are great, but our top guys will find things that others wont.

We're always looking for a wide range of skill levels for play testing, I'll keep an eye out for your application. We'll be adding in a few more batches of testers in the coming weeks. Thanks!

[Mitsuko]

well, seems a good one!
Like the graphic very much.

[Nullroar]

Me. Beta. Now.

NAO!

[Kirenx]

Does this game, or will it once released have it's own offical forum? Also, what happened to all the updates such as videos that were said to be coming for the last couple of weeks?