In Chimera, players control a total of eight cards divided into 1 Avatar Card and 7 Skill Cards.
CARD TYPES
AVATAR
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/264580_466806666731774_1711681972_n.jpg)
Name: The name of the card
Race: An avatar may only use ability cards that share their race symbol
Vitality ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/943467_466820380063736_437503572_n.jpg)): When your avatar?s vitality is reduced to 0, you lose
Endurance ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/942085_466820373397070_661212749_n.jpg)): Damage is first subtracted from endurance before being subtracted from vitality
Dexterity ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/923207_466820370063737_1159896646_n.jpg)): An avatar ignores endurance if their dexterity is double (or more) than an opponent?s evasion
Evasion ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/942742_466818153397292_1174295398_n.jpg)):An avatar ignores damage if their evasion is (double or more) than an opponent?s dexterity
SKILL
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/943296_466810546731386_2099380348_n.jpg)
Race: An avatar may only use ability cards that share their race symbol
Speed: Speed determines which ability card activates first, it is dictated by a game of Rock Paper Scissors, one of which is listed on the card.
Cooling: Cooling is the number of turns a player has to wait before using the same card again. When the "Cool Down Diamond" is in the top-right corner after a round (except the round it was played in) it is returned to the owner's hand.
Skill: The effect of the card. Skill cards can have up to three separate skills.
GAME PLAY
Each player starts the game with their Avatar face up on the table and their seven ability cards concealed from their opponent in their hand. The game is played in rounds where players perform actions simultaneously. There are three phases in a round.
COMBAT
1. Each Player selects one card from their hand and places it face-down
2. Both cards are flipped face-up
3. Speed is compared, the card who wins RPS activates first. If it is a draw, the abilities activate simultaneously*
4. The first effect of the faster card activates and resolves
5. The first effect of the slower card activates and resolves
6. The second effect (if any) of the faster card activates and resolves
7. The second effect (if any) of the slower card activates and resolves
8. The third effect (if any) of the faster card activates and resolves
9. The third effect (if any) of the slower card activates and resolves
10. Players proceed to the ?Cooling Phase?
*Rock is faster than scissors, scissors is faster than paper and paper is faster than rock.
Combat Phase Sub-Step: Damage Calculation
When an ability deals damage, it is first reduced by the defending avatar?s endurance before the result being subtracted from the defending avatar?s vitality.
If the offending avatar?s dexterity is at least double the defending avatar?s evasion, the defending avatar?s endurance is ignored.
If the defending avatar?s evasion is at least double the offending avatar?s dexterity, it ignores all damage dealt.
Melee ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/428449_466817386730702_1330322819_n.jpg)), Ranged ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/972230_466820376730403_939589591_n.jpg)) and Magical ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/934106_466818156730625_531003615_n.jpg)) are the three different types of damage in Chimera. Some cards may refer to specific types of damage such as ?Cancel all Melee Damage? which stops all damage dealt by Melee effects but does not stop any damage dealt by Ranged or Magical abilities
Cooling Phase
(1) All cards with a blue star in their top right corner are added back to their respective player?s hand
(2) Each Player rotates all cards that are still in the Cool Down zone ninety degrees clockwise
(3) Add the card you just played this round to the Cool Down Zone (positioned upright)
(4) Players proceed to the ?Regeneration Phase?
Regeneration Phase
(1) The vitality of each avatar is restored by one
(2) Players proceed to the combat phase
READING CARD SKILLS
Chimera is created with the intent of having the cards to be language-independent. What this means is that skills are represented by icons rather than text. However people still need to learn what the Icons mean.
Skills are lined up in a column of three on the left-side of a skill card. The top skill is the first skill, the bottom skill is the last. Skills either affect the Player's Avatar ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/182592_466834896728951_735761853_n.jpg)) or the Enemy's Avatar ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/486894_466834886728952_1103537795_n.jpg)). Skills fall into three seperate categories
Attack - This is represented by one of the 3 Damage Types listed earlier. If you use this skill, you deal the same number of damage to your Opponent of that type equal to the number on top of the Icon. (Example: (https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/181235_466836890062085_486408711_n.jpg) is the number "4" on top of the "Ranged Damage" Icon which means "Deal 4 Ranged Damage").
(De)Buff - This skill affects one of the four main Avatar attributes (Vitality, Endurance, Dexterity, Evasion). Buffs to any attribute other than Vitality last until the end of the next round. If a skill is buffing (increasing) an attribute,the icon of the attribute it is buffing is colored red., If a skill is debuffing (decreasing) an attribute, the icon of the attribute it is debuffing is colored red.
(Example 1: (https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/970984_466838030061971_415335340_n.jpg) is the number "1" on top of the "Dexterity" icon which is "Blue" and is on the "Square Back" which means "Increase Your Avatar's Dexterity by 1".)
(Example: 2 (https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/249043_466838036728637_92681018_n.jpg) is the number "1" on top of the "Endurance" icon which is "Red" and is on the "Circle Back" which means "Decrease Enemy Avatar's Endurance by 1")
Cancel - Cancel Skills have a cancel icon ((https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/941381_466840783395029_453593986_n.jpg)) on top of the attribute it is cancelling.
Hey, you have a nice little game here! Especially like the mini aspect and the fact that a deck is made of only 9 cards.
About the theme I think high fantasy/MMORPG parody with cute arts would fit very well :)
Here is how I would go with the refresh rate:
-No HP refresh rate
-Gain 1 AP per turn, but start with zero AP. This can makes interesting decision at the level of deckbuilding and play.
Wow this sounds really interesting. I'd probably pick up a game like that. ^_^
Thanks.
I was thinking about adding in a front and backrow position. In the back row position, any melee attacks done by or to the character is reduced by 1.
I should note I also started creating this game with other attributes the character has with Race (Human & Spirit) and Type, which was defined by Race & Attack Type, examples below:
Warrior - Human/Melee
Archer - Human/Ranged
Shapeshifter - Spirit/Melee
Mage - Spirit/Ranged
Due to the nature of this game, restriction is fairly necessary. Otherwise nothing much to stop players from using nothing but the best cards.
I'm thinking Ability Cards should be fixed to work like this
They have the same three attributes Race - Attack Type - Class and if the three of them match your Character's three attributes then they can be used HOWEVER not all abilities have all three types defined, say Race/Class might be just blank circles and anyone with a ranged attack type may use a "Throw Pebble" ability.
Though that might just be over-complicating it.
Another advantage of the proposed AP system is that it prevents from playing certain cards too early. This is a nice way to balance the game.
About deck-building restriction I think the way you want to do it is correct. However I would have gone with Race and Class because for me it makes more sense, but that's just flavor :) The important thing is to have two traits that restricts which cards can be played.
I'm not that much for the front/back position, I would prefer to use cards like 'Magical Shield', 'Leather Jacket', 'Improved Ranged Attack' and so on to modify the attack values.
By the way, what about permanents? will they exists and how will they work? I think there should be two public zones: The Cooldown zone and the Play zone. Permanents go in the Play zone so they are kept separated from cards in cooldown. There can even be permanents with limited duration (so you just rotate them like cards on cooldown).
Thing with front/back row, is without it, Ranged Attacks have no real benefit.
This game does indeed require restriction, otherwise people will just use the best cards and stick with them over anything else.
Permanent could exist, for example if I created say an Elf or Gnome Race that focus on gathering plants to create bigger items via Cauldron (a Full or Semi-permanent) or a Magic based raced that can cast Enchantments or Charms. However, as said, they'd only be for certain races.
Some Templates (http://s1089.photobucket.com/albums/i342/3XXXDDD/Macro%20-%20Templates/), Tell me what you think!
Quote from: 3XXXDDD on May 01, 2012, 07:03:48 AM
Thing with front/back row, is without it, Ranged Attacks have no real benefit.
Make sense. But here is how I would go about implementing the whole thing. There are 3 attack types: Melee, Ranged and Magical. And there are cards like:
Step Back
Ability - no restriction, CD 2
If your character would be dealt Melee damage prevent them.
Mana Shield
Ability - Mage, CD 3, AP 2
Duration 3 (this card stays 3 turns in play and has no effect this turn)
If your Character would be dealt Magical damage prevent them and put Mana Shield in cooldown.
Enrage
Ability - Warrior, CD 3, AP 2
Duration 2
If your Character would deal Melee damage, it deals that much +1 instead.
Focus
Ability - Hunter, CD 2, AP 2
Duration 2
If your Character would deal Ranged damage it deals that much +2 instead then put Focus in cooldown.
Quote from: 3XXXDDD on May 01, 2012, 07:03:48 AM
Some Templates (http://s1089.photobucket.com/albums/i342/3XXXDDD/Macro%20-%20Templates/), Tell me what you think!
ItemThey do not have trait restriction?
Idea: Why not remove Item's cooldown and say that once used they are destroyed? That would make sense. Abilities can be played many times but Items can be played only once. If you have an Healing Potion and you drink it, you cannot drink it again later. If you have a Mighty Sword and your opponent destroys it you cannot use again. Unless you find a way to repair it using another card of course ;)
AbilityI'm worried about the 3 values in the right corner. Having 3 numbers at the same place can be very confusing no?
AvatarLike the health/ability bar :) Really nice design idea.
Avatars don't have special powers? That would make deckbuilding even more interesting!
One last thing about Charge. I think it complicates a bit the gameplay but doesn't give much. It removes all bluff/reading (which is the most important aspect of the game imho) and makes planning headaches.
Quote
Step Back
Mana Shield
Enrage
To be fair, these cards are much too specific to actually be any way playable. Deck a Mana Shield and you could face a warrior making the card useless, if anything there would be a defensive card that blocks any one of these three for certain Races/Class.
QuoteItems
They don't and they shouldn't have a trait restriction. Items will be sparse anyway outside of Potion/Ability Potion/Status Healers. As for a one-time use, it would be interesting and give a risk to such a loose and easy resource.
QuoteAbility
This was rushed and still fairly undecided, I could put Charge into the left corner instead and the AP cost closer down to the effect text. Maybe have another Hexagon beside the Race/Attack Type.
Avatars don't have any special powers, it's hard to incorporate it with the Battle Mechanic.
Charge is basically an earlier version of your beginning with no AP suggestion, They essentially do the same thing but Charge passes a few turns in order for a big effect.
I could likely take out the Charge Idea and work with your basic AP Recovery/No Starting AP with slightly weaker effects. It would make the Ability Card design much easier to handle at least.
Quote from: 3XXXDDD on May 01, 2012, 10:15:38 AM
Quote
Step Back
Mana Shield
Enrage
To be fair, these cards are much too specific to actually be any way playable. Deck a Mana Shield and you could face a warrior making the card useless, if anything there would be a defensive card that blocks any one of these three for certain Races/Class.
I disagree, most likely because my vision of the game is slightly different than yours :P Here is my point of view: The fact that, for example, Mana Shield is useless against warrior makes the game more interesting. At least from the metagame point of view because it pushes players to make decision while building their decks. Do I pack Mana Shield to have better matchup against magical dealing decks? Will there be so many Warrior that I should not pack it? It also favor having decks with more than one attack type which is good for diversity. On a last note if you have useless cards in a matchup, you can still use them to bluff ;)
Have you read about the concept of Yomi? If not you should really check Sirlin.net because your game seems to revolve a lot around it. My point in the previous paragraph is a bit about that, having different answers to different threats open the door for mind games between players. A catch-all defense cards simplify this to 'will he attack or not?'. Not saying this is good or bad, far from that. I'm pretty sure you already have plenty of other ideas about how to diversify the threats and answers in your game. It is just not visible yet because you didn't posted them. Or maybe you are simply not looking for such feature.
This forum is terrible, never shows me new replies.
Anyway, I understand that the Catch-All defence would be a bit too much but the point I'm making is I rather the cards be effective in a generic way but certain types have better strengths in some areas (Warriors are heavy on physical combat, say expending HP to power up whereas Archers are much more strategical using Poison or Flame-tip arrows to slowly seep away at your opponent.) Essentially due to that, Archers have an edge over Warriors but lack their brute strength.
If I were to include this game to have a match as the best of 3 and add in something like a sideboard, then the cards you suggested would be great additions. However as is now, due to the games expansion-able quality, those sort of very specific cards will get left behind in the dust. Although only a few cards have been created so time will tell.
Damn, now that I've typed all that, I think I see what you mean, a Player could play all three of those cards making it a heavily-defence focus deck by ultimately negating two (or more) of it's options every match add that in with two item cards and now you only have 4 spaces left for item/ability. I think I've seen what you mean.
Also I am familler with Sirlin's Yomi (Rock-Paper-Scissors) styled card game, While I can see the similarity between the games, I'm not aiming to make this just a simple game of Rock-Paper-Scissors represented by cards with some extra effects, I want it to be a bit more than that, Attack Types/Races and Classes will evolve as this game grows like a Psychic or maybe more Elemental based attack types. The Melee/Ranged/Magical is all just for the beginning of this game.
You've also made me really unsure about the Item Cards now too, being discarded does tend to balance them considering their resourceless cards unlike Abilities which require AP and therefore are allowed to cool down.
Also here is a Character Template done by Professional (I still need to get the unmarked version from him)
(http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i342/3XXXDDD/Macro%20-%20Templates/card2.jpg)
Quote from: 3XXXDDD on May 02, 2012, 04:29:10 AM
a Player could play all three of those cards making it a heavily-defence focus deck by ultimately negating two (or more) of it's options every match add that in with two item cards and now you only have 4 spaces left for item/ability.
Yes! I think this is what I meant too :) Sometime it is hard to communicate idea about a game that doesn't exists yet. But at the end this all boil down to the fact that cards must have an advantage/disadvantage (a bit similar to the concept of risk/reward). Now thinking back about this proper balancing makes any kind of defense interesting.
1) cheap efficient magic protection
(+) best way to prevent magical damage (gain tempo)
(-) dead card in some matchup (loose a slot)
2) expensive catch-all protection
(+) ineffective way to prevent damage (loose tempo)
(-) useful in all matchup (gain a slot)
About the Yomi stuff I was not speaking about the game but about the theory (I think he explains it in his 'Playing to Win' book). It is much deeper that RPS even if this game is used to demonstrate the theory.
Nice to see a card template! But what about having a visual design that mimic an MMORPG user interface? This would be visually appealing and emphasize the theme so much.
Beginning to think 9 cards might be a bit too much. 5/6 might give it a bit more restriction while not creating a completely liner game.
Quote from: Dir3kt on May 03, 2012, 03:46:09 AM
Quote from: 3XXXDDD on May 02, 2012, 04:29:10 AM
a Player could play all three of those cards making it a heavily-defence focus deck by ultimately negating two (or more) of it's options every match add that in with two item cards and now you only have 4 spaces left for item/ability.
Yes! I think this is what I meant too :) Sometime it is hard to communicate idea about a game that doesn't exists yet. But at the end this all boil down to the fact that cards must have an advantage/disadvantage (a bit similar to the concept of risk/reward). Now thinking back about this proper balancing makes any kind of defense interesting.
1) cheap efficient magic protection
(+) best way to prevent magical damage (gain tempo)
(-) dead card in some matchup (loose a slot)
2) expensive catch-all protection
(+) ineffective way to prevent damage (loose tempo)
(-) useful in all matchup (gain a slot)
About the Yomi stuff I was not speaking about the game but about the theory (I think he explains it in his 'Playing to Win' book). It is much deeper that RPS even if this game is used to demonstrate the theory.
Nice to see a card template! But what about having a visual design that mimic an MMORPG user interface? This would be visually appealing and emphasize the theme so much.
I think a better example (than my earlier one) to go in align with the above theory would be
Glass Shield/Item
No Damage is dealt.
(+) Deals with all damage.
(-) Discarded after use.
Pressured Arrow/Ability
No Melee damage is dealt
(+) Stops Melee Damage/Re-usable
(-) Costs AP. Dead in some match ups.
Hello, just wanted to offer my thoughts on this game you're making.
QuoteThinking the RPS style should go as
Ranged defeats Melee (Ranged can hit before Melee gets close enough to strike)
Melee defeats Magic (Magic requires charge, Melee can strike fast and disrupt it)
Magic defeats Ranged (Magic can charge enough during the time Range is shot, is inherently more powerful and has a much longer range)
I'm not sure about the whole rock/scissors/paper relationship you are trying to construct between melee/ranged/magic. It seems to me like you are trying to force it just because. How can magic be faster than ranged, ranged be faster than melee, and yet melee be faster than magic? This doesn't make logical sense to me.
Because a R/P/S system makes some move types better or weaker than others, you force each character to have a mix of attack types or else suffer a potentially huge disadvantage. This seems to go against the flavour of MMO characters, who are usually highly specialised at either melee, ranged, or magical damage.
Maybe you would be better off discarding the R/P/S system and just give each move its own speed rating?
Then you could make moves balanced around damage, cooldown and speed. So you might have a strong fast attack with a long cooldown, or maybe a medium slow attack on a short cooldown.
QuoteCOOLING
Every Ability has a minium Cooling of 2 and a max of 4. When a Card is cooling, it is turned 90 degrees to the right. After a Card has turned 90 degrees right a number of times equal to the number denoted on the Ability card it is returned to the owner's hand.
This next feedback might be pretty late and I might be misunderstanding your system but I'll give it a try.
The cooldown mechanic seems cool. However, because turning the card limits you to cooldowns between 2 and 4 turns I guess you could just use dice as counters if you wanted a greater range.
Or you could have all cooldowns tick at the end of the turn and only refresh and become usable if they don't need to tick anymore.
Edit: I think this might work best if you shift the Cooling Phase to the end of the turn. So you play an ability, then you turn it at the end of the turn. Next turn it stays on cooldown until you get to the Cooling Phase, when it refreshes at the end of the turn, so you can use it the following turn.
So for an ability with a cooldown of 1
Turn 1: you use that ability this turn in the Combat Phase, then in the Cooling Phase you first
(a) refresh all cards that have already been turned enough times and add them to your hand, then
(b) turn all cards that are still in the cooldown zone 90 degrees to the right.
Turn 2: in the Combat Phase you still can't use the ability because its on cooldown so you have to use a different move, then in the Cooling Phase you check step (a) and see the ability has been turned equal to its cooldown, so it is refreshed and you add it to your hand. Then in step (b) you turn all remaining cards in your cooldown zone.
Turn 3: you are once again able to use the ability you used in Turn 1.
This means an ability with a cooldown of X can't be used for X turns, which seems easier to understand and I think it stretches the card turning mechanic to include cooldowns of 0-4 instead of just 2-4. Sorry if this is already how the mechanic works and I just misunderstood.
Quote
Because a R/P/S system makes some move types better or weaker than others, you force each character to have a mix of attack types or else suffer a potentially huge disadvantage. This seems to go against the flavour of MMO characters, who are usually highly specialised at either melee, ranged, or magical damage.
This is most likely true and I'd probably be better off with discarding the entire RPS idea. At least, in such a direct manner. It also gives a bigger meaning to the tie-breaker and Anti-Enemy cards above.
As for the Cool-Down, Although I'm not exactly sure what I read, I can understand the point about forming it in such a way so cool-down can work from 0-4 meaning what they mean (whereas 1 in my current system would actually be 0 in your system).
Basically, it's just these two changes:
1) Shifting the Cooling Phase to the end of the turn
2) Refreshing cards that have finished cooldown and then turning the remaining cards, instead of turning cards then refreshing.
This allows you to have cooldown = number of turns a card can't be used. It's not a big deal, but it would give you an additional position for turning. In this system, cards with cooldown of 0 would be sent to the cooling zone after use in the Combat Phase, but then would be immediately refreshed in the Cooling Phase afterwards.
"Magical Break
Magical/Cooling 2
If your Opponent played a Magical Type Ability (except "Magical Break") this card deals 1 Damage to your Opponent's Avatar."
Seems to do 1 magical damage sometimes with a cooldown of 2. Whereas
"Focus Spark
Magical/Cooling 1
Deal 1 Damage"
does 1 guaranteed magical damage with cooldown of 1. Maybe Magical Break needs a buff.
You misunderstand somewhat. Magical Break is a "Tie-Breaker" card so when both players usually play Magical Attacks neither attack gets through. However when both players a Magical Attack and one of them is "Magical Break" it is sure to hit bypassing the usual "Ties" that ability match up would have.
At least that is how it works under one set of rules.
A question as well then;
Should there not be an X > Y > Z > X (RockPaperScissors) Mechanic at work here or not?
I, personally, think that all of the Avatars should have their own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the melee could be the balanced one, where the damage it dishes out and the damage it can receive should be fairly equal, but it could be weaker towards the effect range. That meaning that some effects can stop a melee user in its tracks. A magic user could be the one that dishes out a bunch of damage, but could have a low HP. Also, ranged could have a great range of good effects, but can't really use a good amount of good ones (a low max AP) within the time that another could use some effects, and therefore may require more strategy. Feel free to adapt this with your own strengths and weaknesses, it's just an example.
Planning to introduce a Grid into the game. Something like 3x3 or 3x4 or 5x5. Enough to allow range to matter but not so big that it turns into a board version of Tag. It would allow me to introduce terrain such as moutains to hide behind or have the range increase of certain characters.
I don't know how you could do a grid, but I can mention one idea about movement for you to consider that might work if all you care about is whether you can use melee or ranged moves.
The flash game Kongai is a turn based game similar to the pokemon video games except it has streetfighter style characters that specialise in different types of combat. Melee moves can only be used if the distance between fighters is "close" and ranged moves can only be used if the distance is "far". Some moves can be used at both "close" and "far".
Both players simultaneously choose either to stay or to move by paying energy and selecting "close" or "far" at the start of each turn.
- If one player chooses to stay and the other pays to move, then the distance between them is set to whichever the moving player chose, "close" or "far".
- If both players choose "close" or both choose "far" then the distance becomes that range.
- If both players choose to stay then the distance doesn't change this turn.
Sounds similar to the City of Heros CCG. It might have some play.
I might discard the Grid idea. It is too ehh. However I feel because the game has such a simple base already it could easily add a few more statistics to characters such as Speed & Dexterity which can have buffs to focus on them, like maybe one strategy would be quick little hits or another could be buffing up your Dexterity so much that you can eventually K.O. your opponent in a critical hit.
Health Points
Ability Points
Dexterity - Certain cards could hit for extra damage depending on your current dex
Speed - Faster speed gets to act first
So with that, any other attributes that are commonly found in MMO's that I could add?
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma? :P
Strength, Perceptional, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck? :P :P
But yea, strength adding to melee damage perhaps? With intelligence and agility/dexterity doing similar for magic and ranged respectively.
Well Agility would be who gets to activate first.
Dexterity would be like taking double damage or something and may involve a dice roll. If there was an Endurance stat (Defence?) Dexterity would let the attack go straight through to the Enemy's HP ignoring the Defence Stat. Basically Dexterity = Critical Hits.
There could be Strength variations for Melee/Range/Magic (I believe many use Magic as a stat like that already.) Wouldn't know what to write for Range Base. Maybe just the symbol with a number.
Also what do Constitution, Wisdom & Intelligence do?
I had no ideas for what those stats do, they are just probably very common stats to see in games; or at least stats that many players are immediately familiar with.
Note: Realized that Mermaids have no way to deal damage to each other, should be rectified with some simple & basic ability cards anyway.
Yea, a bit of an oversight to have no direct damage attacks that are mermaid specific. Basic attacks could fix this but still... the basic attacks would still be auto-countered with the only potentially damaging mermaid abilities, Psychic Empathy and Jellyfish Sting. So the mermaid would deal equal damage to that it receives in one case and would effectively deal 3 damage in the other. Perhaps not so much an issue when a mermaid fights against a different race, but yea Mermaid vs Mermaid could be a very long/slow match.
Updated with revised stats and making sure trump abilities can't just hit for damage every 4-5 turns with no consequence while still keeping them relatively powerful.
Some Mermaid Art to tease you with.
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g113/Onsen_2006/Mermaid_edited-1-1.png)
Note: This is the Style the Mermaid cards are going to be in, Harpy & Minotaur should have their own defined style which should not be assumed to have a similar style as above.
Which Ability template do you prefer?
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh123/razgrizace/IMG-20120803-00189.jpg)
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh123/razgrizace/IMG-20120803-00188.jpg)
Please use screenshots the next time. Second version is better. (I prefer normal numbers)
Quote from: Dragoon on August 05, 2012, 07:34:35 AM
Please use screenshots the next time. Second version is better. (I prefer normal numbers)
Apologies about lack of screen shots, this was from the designers PC. I'll suggest that to him the next time.
Also yeah, I'm sticking with those now. Just function better anyway.
Bumpy! So recently I got some work on my Templates done (by Matildadad). Here's the general looks so far.
Picking up slight speed, got some templates.
Ability Templates (In 3 different colors) below
(http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/734050_410759032336538_791426194_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/538633_410759069003201_656802509_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/603184_410759079003200_684887830_n.jpg)
The two circles on the left are RACE (Top) and COOL DOWN (Bottom). To refresh on mechanics
1. If a card in Cool Down has their "Blue" Circle in the top Right, you add that card back to your hand
2. You turn every card currently in Cool Down 90 degrees to the right
3. You place the card you played this turn into cool down, with the (1) in the top Right Corner
E.g,
1. You play "Dive"
2. You place "Dive" into Cool-Down
3. Next turn, after you've collected all of your currently Cool-Downed cards, you turn "Dive" 90 degrees to the Right. (The 2 is now in Cool-Down position but you've already passed the collection phase)
4. Turn after, after you've played a Card, you collect the Cool Downed "Dive"
5. Therefore 2 Turns wait excluding the turn you played it.
Now, I know there are a couple of problems with the design. I for one forgot to add in the Ability Speed Circle. I won't be changing this design for a long while to come until I'm entirely sure what the improved version will look like. I simply posted them here to receive any constructive criticism (e.g. Use "Arial" instead of "Impact" text) as opposed to just criticism (Don't do X. Nothing else to say). So with that in mind fire away!
Onto the Character Template
(http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/75360_410767639002344_1306748595_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/544003_410767665669008_382714559_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/227699_410767689002339_1843356683_n.jpg)
The Icon in the corner is the RACE icon. Going clockwise from the top, the 4 icons represent the Avatar's Dexterity (Bullseye), Vitality (Heart), Evasion (Winged Sandal), Endurance (Shield)
The Designer suggested the idea of having Avatar borders be different for each Avatar as stated above, it is currently Blue for Mermaid, Grey for Harpy, Red for Minotaur).
Lastly but not least Icons in general
(http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/12571_410776985668076_1515667272_n.jpg)
Icons (from left to right) Minotaur, Harpy, Mermaid, Mele?, Magic, Ranged, Endurance, Vitality, Evasion, Dexterity.
So yeah, criticism would be much appreciated. I'd really like to know what people's favorite color for the Ability template is.
Also here is bit of a teaser for the refined Harpy Art.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2817b7p.jpg)
This is starting to look quite nice!
The only suggestion I have is that the card template could make the cooldown concept even easier to understand if all of the 4 cooldown numbers on the card were connected in some way.
Also, a bit irrelevant now but I just thought of another way you could have implemented the cooldown system:
- Each ability card would have a single cooldown number on it, say from 1 to 5.
- The cooldown zone would be a column or row of card spaces numbered 0 to 5.
- After using an ability, you would place that card in the cooldown zone in the space with the same number as the ability's cooldown number.
- At the end of your turn, you would slide all cards in the cooldown zone down one space.
Cards that had finished sliding down the cooldown zone would then return to your hand.[/li]
[/list]
Try designing a template with the dimesions shrunken to 200 pixels wide. People have a tendency to design at a large scale, and this makes the ratios skewed when you shrink them to actual card sizes.
Sorry to bring this up again, but I was doing some more thinking about the cooldown system and it might be relevant for future games, too. The way you have it set up now might make it difficult for players to quickly check how long their cards, and their opponent's cards, will stay on cooldown.
Currently, a player has to go through the following steps every time they want to find out when an ability may be used again:
Check for the relevant ability card in the cooldown zone;
Check for the blue numbered corner on that ability card;
Count the number of turns it will take for the blue corner to reach cooldown.
Here is a representation of the alternative cooldown zone I mentioned.
(http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1495/cooldownzone.jpg)
Under this model, players would be able to easily check when all of their abilities finish cooling down without having to count numbers on each individual card. It lets players quickly see which abilities will be ready before any others that are on cooldown. Also, cards that will complete cooling down at the same time could be stacked in the same slot and slide down the zone together.
Hopefully someone will find this useful.
I don't think there is anyway to follow that without the use of some outside instruments, which I loathe because it kind of goes against the grain of the game.
That being said, stacking is an interesting idea.
Well I guess you could get most of the advantages without using a playmat by simply having players arrange their cooling-down cards from left to right in order of turns remaining. It wouldn't be as precise but it would still give a general idea to make it easier to plan your future turns.
Introducing two new concepts into the game, the first is the simple "Regeneration phase" at the end of every round which each card restores 1 point of vitality.
The second is a bit more intricate
|Combat Phase Sub-Step: Card Effect Turn Structure|
Each ability has at least one effect and may have up to a total of three. Each effect has a period after it to note when it is finished.
During combat, the ability who wins in the speed gets to activates its first effect first, once it is resolved, priority is passed over to the opponent (Player who gets to activate his first effect, before passing priority back to his opponent (Player A). This process is repeated until all effects are resolved.
If an ability has no additional effects, priority is still passed. (E.g. Player A may play and resolve an ability with three effects fully regardless of Player B playing an ability with less than three effects)
In short, a card with the abilities
+1 Endurance. Deal 2 Damage.
Is a different card than
Deal 2 Damage. +1 Endurance.
E.g
Player A plays "Deal 2 Damage. No Effect. No Effect."
Player B Plays "+1 Endurance. Deal 2 Damage. No Effect"
(Player B's card activates first)
In this case, Player B gets +1 Endurance before Player A deals 2 Damage, therefore resulting in Player A dealing 1 less damage.
Player A plays "Deal 2 Damage. No Effect. No Effect."
Player B plays "Deal 2 Damage. +1 Endurance. No Effect"
(Player B's card activates first)
B: Deals 2 Damage
A: Deals 2 Damage
B: +1 Endurance (after already being dealt damage from A's card so this has no effect on that battle).
Same effects but different order resulting in a different play.
This is incredibly close to the final template. (Also the game is now language independent using symbols instead of text).
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/935181_464576486954792_419189188_n.jpg)
sorry, i saw this just now!
Artwork is cool, did you do that? The layout is okay - is it supposed to be square? the border is a bit big, but i see its required for your concept.
Did you check aut "Shift - the single card CCG", they also use cards with information on all edges. maybe this inspires you a bit:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laboratory/shift-the-single-card-ccg
(the link to ks is the first one that appeared in google search)
I'm well aware of shift (I made a plugin for it as well as backing its Kickstarter).
The art is a paid piece from dA. I'm not sure if I have the means to invest in more.