Battle Dungeon (by Hunted Cow Studios)

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by JaysUsernam

I fit that description exactly, which is why my money has gone to Hero Academy, Summoner Wars, Ascension etc. Kills me that Spectromancer and Magic 2013 have neglected asynch! Either way, asynch is pretty much Instabuy for me!

How would Asynch work in Magic unless the traditional card game itself under went some major modifications?

Spectromancer, enh, I guess I could see a point to asynch in this one. It was in that other game based off of Spectromancer, right?

[Hunted Cow Studios]

Originally Posted by JaysUsernam

I fit that description exactly, which is why my money has gone to Hero Academy, Summoner Wars, Ascension etc. Kills me that Spectromancer and Magic 2013 have neglected asynch! Either way, asynch is pretty much Instabuy for me!

We think async makes more sense for mobile games

Have any of you downloaded it yet? What's your first impressions?

[JaysUsernam]

Originally Posted by LordGek

How would Asynch work in Magic unless the traditional card game itself under went some major modifications?

Spectromancer, enh, I guess I could see a point to asynch in this one. It was in that other game based off of Spectromancer, right?

I agree it would be tricky to switch magic to asynch but I'd still like to see it-even if it's some kind of simplified side game that plays like Shadow Era.

@Hunted Cow Does that mean this game DOES have asynch?

[Hunted Cow Studios]

Originally Posted by JaysUsernam

@Hunted Cow Does that mean this game DOES have asynch?

It does indeed

It will also send you a push notification when it's your turn (if you allow it)

[boodro82]

@hunted cow

I'm new to this type of game. Once the battle is over do your characters keep all xp and items or does it reset once you start a new game?

Or is this a dumb question in general?

[Hunted Cow Studios]

Originally Posted by boodro82

@hunted cow

I'm new to this type of game. Once the battle is over do your characters keep all xp and items or does it reset once you start a new game?

Or is this a dumb question in general?

Your characters gain xp in the battle which you can use to upgrade them after the battle is over.

You can also use the gold and gems you gain from the battle to buy new equipment.

Each game has a point limit (1200, 4000 and Unlimited) and each soldier starts at 200 points. As you spend the xp to improve your characters attributes and equip better gear, the point value of your soldier will increase.

[MrSpud]

Interesting, I thought there was a typo in your screenshot (customise) but I'm learning that it's the British way of spelling it! Anyway, the game looks pretty neat, going to try it.

[boodro82]

Originally Posted by Hunted Cow Studios

Your characters gain xp in the battle which you can use to upgrade them after the battle is over.

You can also use the gold and gems you gain from the battle to buy new equipment.

Each game has a point limit (1200, 4000 and Unlimited) and each soldier starts at 200 points. As you spend the xp to improve your characters attributes and equip better gear, the point value of your soldier will increase.

I see...so I can upgrade a soldier to 1100 points and he would be elligable to participate in the 1200 point limit games, correct?
Is there a point limit on the characters? Like a cap?

[Hunted Cow Studios]

Originally Posted by MrSpud

Interesting, I thought there was a typo in your screenshot (customise) but I'm learning that it's the British way of spelling it! Anyway, the game looks pretty neat, going to try it.

Hehe

Please let us know what you think once you've had a chance to play it.

[Ayjona]

Originally Posted by Beelsebob

Hi All,

I'm beelsebob, the lead developer on Battle Dungeon at Hunted Cow Studios. I can confirm that asynchronous play is indeed the primary method of play in Battle Dungeon. You can choose turn time limits of 10 minutes (if you want a quick game), 30 minutes (so that you can bounce back and forth with another player all day) or 25 hours (so that you've got a day, and then time to play your turn). You can play in up to 20 games at one time, so you shouldn't be short of things to do!

You can indeed play the AI in a ranked game (the AI even has its own position in the leader board, and we'll be introducing more AIs that play by different strategies, and seeing how you all fare against them). We do indeed use the ELO system for our rankings.

Not only async, but ELO ratings, AIs in ranked, and everything mentioned in the original description? It was already looking like and expensive night, what with Flashout and Jet Set Radio making waves in the forums and making threatening passes at my budget, but Battle Dungeon just stomped all over my expenditure plans Buying as soon as it hits my App Store. Is this finally the async online Final Fantasy Tactics of my nerdiest dreams?

Originally Posted by Hunted Cow Studios

We think async makes more sense for mobile games

It's great when developers realize this from the outset, instead of after months of badgering from players

Originally Posted by JaysUsernam

I fit that description exactly, which is why my money has gone to Hero Academy, Summoner Wars, Ascension etc. Kills me that Spectromancer and Magic 2013 have neglected asynch! Either way, asynch is pretty much Instabuy for me!

Don't forget about Carcassonne and Starbase Orion (probably the most sophisticated and intricate async experience), and even old and weathered UniWar

But yeah, perhaps the message from players such as you and I is finally getting across. I can't hardly remember the last time I had to battle the stubborness and traditional mindset of a developer of a turn-based multiplayer game in these forums to bring async to the masses. (Ross of D20 Studios really listened to our cries for async in Hero Mages, and the BattleCon devs never showed.)

Originally Posted by Greyskull

Why not just bring back PBEM? (play by email-for the youngsters here)

Brilliant idea! Alas for the entertainment of man, such pleasures are so very stationary...

Now, if we just had computers that could fit in our pockets, so that we could resond to our PBEM turns at any point and place.

We do, say you? Wonderful!

Now, if we could just find an alternative way to notify players of their turns, one that does not spam our mailboxes with turn mails. You know, something that shows up across the screen of our portable computers (or a banner along the top if we are using the device, perhaps), perhaps with a notification sound, one that brings us directly into the match in question, and that can be accessed and reviewed in a screen that gathers all such notifications in one place...

T'would be like living in the future.

Originally Posted by LordGek

How would Asynch work in Magic unless the traditional card game itself under went some major modifications?

It would actually work without ANY modifications whatsoever (there are already some rather extensive design docs for async implementations of M:tG), but instead with many pauses, as the active players waits for the other player to respond. Essentially, async in M:tG would mean that the game either had to shift turns to the inactive player whenever a spell is cast that can be responded to by any cards or effects (instants) in the opponent's hand (effectively revealing part of their strategy and hinting at available cards), or pause and shift the turn order upon ANY cast spell (to aviod the previous repercussion). This is how Nightfall currently does it, but it has blessedly few effects that require a response from the player without an active turn (at least when compared to M:tG), and no hidden cards that could be hinted at by this mechanism.

Clearly, this would make matches long and cumbersome. However, for those of us who would love to play M:tG asynchronically, it would be a very small price to pay. (Especially if Wizards were to give us a FULL Magic client, all rules and cards, with an in-game economy for purchasing boosters, along the lines of Assassin's Creed: Recollection, Urban Rivals and Shadow Era.)