Archmage Rises News

[p]Last week I identified what I think went wrong with the new resource system and how that resulted in diminished Agency. I purposed two ideas: A to have a search action to reveal points of interest, and B that resources should be permanently placed in the world and extracted through tools/spells/effort. I asked for feedback and feedback I got![/p][p]The majority of feedback was positive, basically saying “Yes to A and B”. Now we have a design direction that seems good to a variety of tastes.[/p][p]This is the best part of Early Access.[/p][p]Right now, I’m working a side gig on a RPG match 3 game. The designer is revising features and adding new ones. A few days ago, he requested we copy a feature from a similar match 3 game and put it into ours.[/p][p]I pushed back and told him it isn’t going to work. The reason is that while that feature might be great in that game. It won’t be good in ours. But why not? Isn’t that the very essence of design or creativity, to take what works well in other places, and bring it together into a new whole?[/p][p]No, not really.[/p][p]The thing about copying features is they have tendrils. They don’t live in isolation, they have roots and tendrils under the surface connecting them to a greater context. When we try to carve it out and transplant it in isolation, the connective tissue is lost. It doesn’t take root like it did in the source. We are left wondering what went wrong.[/p][p]This is the mistake I made with Resources. Something that worked well for exploring in other games doesn’t work here. It didn’t connect well.[/p][p]Oops.[/p]

[p]“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal — T.S. Eliot[/p]

[p][/p][p]This is what T.S. Eliot (or Picasso if you prefer “Great artists steal”) was talking about. We need to take inspiration and internalize it so deeply it changes possession. It belongs to us now.[/p][p]This is easy to say and hard to do. The designer I’m working with is a smart guy and simply didn’t realize he was copying instead of stealing.[/p][p]How’d he miss it? Because there are a lot of voices in our heads, a lot of motivations all pulling at us, and it’s hard to find signal from the noise.[/p][p]Ever wonder why it is easier to see exactly what your friend, spouse, relative should change in their life, versus being able to see it clearly in our own?[/p][p]Why is that?[/p][p]I’m fascinated by the ability for outsiders to see ‘clearly’ into other people’s circumstances. It is what drives a variety of professions: consulting, psychotherapy, editors, and coaches.[/p][p]While it is true the external party “doesn’t fully understand”, that is precisely the point: Because they don’t have all the voices and motivations in their head, they are more objective and able to see what is. Without being somewhat disconnected, the editor can’t clarify what the author intended to say.[/p][p]I have a lot of voices and motivations in my head about Archmage Rises. That closeness sometimes is a detriment. This is why I value your feedback as editors, helping me deliver more the fantasy more clearly! Thank you![/p][p]Now, onto what we’re actually going to do![/p][h2]1. Resources come from Permanent Sources[/h2][p]A source can be a plant, in which case it gets depleted and must grow back.[/p][p]Mineral resources like iron or jade has layers. You can get easy surface level stuff without too much trouble. But each layer deeper requires significantly more investment/magic power.[/p][h2]2. Detection of Resources[/h2][p]You have a small chance of detecting resources walking next to them. But casting is the most efficient way to search an area. I’m thinking these four spells:[/p][p]Detect Heat – Fire, detects living body warmth.[/p][p]Earthsense – Earth, detects metals, stone, minerals.[/p][p]Harmonic Burst – Arcane, detects gems, jade.[/p][p]Scent of Bloom – Storm, detects plants, trees, organics.[/p][p]I’m thinking you can pay someone to be a guide to a resource. Kind of like buying a treasure map in Sid’s Pirates![/p][h2]3. Collection of Resources[/h2][p]Some resources you can just collect, like Roses and Dye. I think I still like requiring a tool to get some kinds of resources – axe for wood, pickaxe for metal. Especially if these can be enchanted for greater yields.[/p][p]But magic needs to be a part of the equation from the beginning.[/p][p]Magehand increases yield. Haste makes berries grow back faster. Earth grasp lets you rip resources from the ground without a tool.[/p][h2]4. Long Term[/h2][p]The goal is to go from a poor novice finding a few easy scraps, to an investment with constant production where you can pickup resources, to a fully automated stream of resources back to your Tower. I like the empire building aspect of it.[/p][p]I like how producers become more important than Resources.[/p][p]But it also goes further. I like how people pointed out how it could connect in with the rest of the game:[/p]

1. [p]Hire NPCs from town to work your mine. Make a friend, convince him to work your mines for a pittance![/p]
2. [p]Level up your producers by bringing them enchanted tools – tools you enchant, ties into the enchanting system.[/p]
3. [p]I like the little story opportunities that could come up to support the roleplay – events like a cave in or uncovering something deep and untouched. If only we had an event system… oh wait, we do![/p]
4. [p]I like needing to protect your mine. Do nothing, and maybe it is attacked and wrecked by goblins. Put an alarm spell or wards on it to alert you when there is a problem, maybe you can teleport back and save it. I like how it could interface with the simulator and it creates more spots in the world the player cares about.[/p]
5. [p]Fulfill a quest or convert a noble to a friend by turning over ownership of a mine or lumber camp. That’s a big deal compared to just turning in some resources. I like the “interesting choice” that creates. It better be worth it![/p]

[p] [/p][h2]Moving Forward[/h2][p]Maybe my mess up is a good thing - I think we're getting to a better place.[/p][p]It’s taken me most of the day to read the feedback and formulate it into something I think everyone can be happy with. [/p][p]It’s easy to write bullet points, now to making it.[/p][p]The first goal is to fix it enough that I can get the Hex branch released to the main branch. Some kind of Minimum Viable Product (MVP).[/p][p]I’ll get started next week![/p]

[p]First - I just pushed out a build to the Beta Branch that fixes some bugs, especially Wolf battles always being just 1 wolf pup.[/p][p]As relayed last week, the Events feature update is stuck in beta because some of the changes aren’t well received.[/p][p][/p][p]I want to understand what’s wrong, so I collected feedback from a variety of sources. This Steam Thread is a good focal point: https://steamcommunity.com/app/506480/discussions/0/591775773438818323/[/p][p][/p][p]To participate you’ll want to check out the Beta branch of the game.[/p][h2]The Problem[/h2][p]Players are reporting a loss of agency in the new way tracks and resource searching is done. Two quotes will summarize what I’ve collected:[/p][p]“entering a tile and finding if it has resources and rolling for tracks was one of my favourite parts of this game”[/p][p]“not being able to explore the tiles and just grind resource hunting/harvesting is a deal breaker.“[/p][p]Sorry, the Hex view isn't coming back. This needed to go away to allow for new features that are coming. The Hex view was actually getting in the way. I have a lot of reasons I can’t type out just now because I have to hurry off to a wedding![/p][p]There will be a menu pop-up for taking actions at a hex. A scalable menu popup is part of the new UI.[/p][p]If loss of agency in collecting resources and following tracks is the problem, how to solve it?[/p][h3]A. What if you did an Action or cast a spell to Search Area within X hexes, sort of like a sonar ping?[/h3]

1. [p]- You will see Points of Interest (POI)[/p]
2. [p]- Based on factors (dice roll, skill, buffs) you can tell details on none, some, or all of them.[/p]
3. [p]- They stay on screen until you get a certain distance from them (vs timing out)[/p]
4. [p]- You move, say, 8 hexes, then do it again and it reveals POI within X hexes again[/p]

[p]This is an idea we had but ultimately didn't follow up on.[/p][p]Does this introduce Agency back in?[/p][p][/p][h3]B. It seems you want resource producers not pickups?[/h3][p]Another question I'm wrestling with the resources.[/p][p]I remember a discussion a while back where it was said they'd rather pick a spot, build a mine/quarry/lumber camp, and Invest in it through magic and money (and workers, etc.)[/p][p]So you aren't getting wood or stone or roses all over the place, but from specific places over and over.[/p][p]The old system was permanent producers.[/p][p]If you found a strawberry field, you could pick it. Then wait until the next growth season and it would be back again.[/p][p]This created a balance between returning to old spots and need to find new ones when those were exhausted.[/p][p]So if a quest wants blacksand - finding a spot rich in it is really hard. But once you find it, you can keep going back to it. Blacksand doesn't renew like vegetables, but maybe it is like gold in 1840’s california - it was just lying on the surface. But once that easy stuff is gone, you needed to go to the 'next level' and dig a shaft, and you got more gold again. But that middle tier stuff would run out, and now you need to go even deeper/wider to get the next batch.[/p][p]I previously mentioned a player saying “I want to be a mage not a lumberjack!” but another player responded “What makes this game great is I can be a lumberjack if I want to!”[/p][p]The new UI menu pop-up could allow you to build a mine, grab resources from a mine, or expand production further.[/p][h2]Does this address the resource issue?[/h2][p]Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or the original thread .[/p][p]I will be checking both frequently as I try to solve this problem and get Events out to the main branch![/p][p]Thanks for your help and participation.[/p]

[p]It’s been 2 months since my last update, when we pushed some hotfixes to the beta branch. A lot has happened, let me catch you up to speed. This update will be more personal and corporate update than specifically about Archmage game features.[/p][p]People are asking if I’m OK. Which I appreciate![/p][p]Yes I’m OK![/p][p]We were humming along on the Events update, reached our feature and content goals, and were days away from releasing.[/p][p]In order to stay ahead of the dev cycle, I had already moved on to planning out Regions and Core Game Loop revisions. I was half way through the new project’s goals and features when everything came to a screetching halt:[/p][p]The update on the Beta branch got a lot of negative responses. It changed the game in ways they didn’t like.[/p][p]I thought it was pretty good and achieved what I set out to achieve – streamline things I didn’t like and adding more gameplay and interesting choices to the map.[/p][p]I think the problem is how the changes integrate in with the rest of the game – which didn’t change. So the problem isn’t just a few bugs, it is a question of expanding scope to change the overlapping areas or rolling back some of the changes.[/p][p]This is hard stuff that requires some deep digging, nothing insurmountable, and as a game developer I don’t expect I’ll always ‘get it right’ first time. That’s why we have early access and beta branches. It’s fine, just I need some dedicated focused time to the hard thinking work to fix it. It matters it isn’t easy/normal work because of the next thing…[/p][p]July was a busy month: It started with a trip to San Franciso with my friend and game designer Mark. It was the first time the families met and fortunately everyone got along great. The kids played well together and let the adults talk! The best part of the trip (besides the fellowship) was taking a Waymo to the new Nintendo store. I read a book on the history of autonomous driving so it was a thrill to see the tech come to life. And to put my life on the line with it![/p][p]After that I went to an annual game conference, which was amazing. There were some 30+ friends there I haven’t seen in person in years, it was so great and encouraging! And I needed it because…[/p][p]I’ve been working a programming contract, less than full time, to pay the bills, keep the lights on. As I was driving to the conference I got a call from my client suddenly terminating the contract. There is a very long complicated story packed into that moment I won’t go into here, but should I ever write a book, it will be quite the dramatic chapter. On one hand it was a total surprise, and on the other I knew there we problems with the project above me.[/p][p]When I started driving to the conference life was good: new update on Archmage about to go out, bills covered, regular work/life routine.[/p][p]By the time I arrived: I was unemployed and whatever was in my account was all I had for the foreseeable future.[/p][p]Michel was at the conference too, so I had to share with him the bad news and that I couldn’t afford to keep him working on Archmage until I get back on my feet.[/p][p]My goal, my dream, is for Archmage to support at least me and my family, but right now it doesn’t. Fortunately, while at the conference I got three project leads.[/p][p]I met a company looking to revive a DOS game in the 90’s to todays market. So when contrasting “figure out what is wrong with Archmage Events Update” vs “Pitch a game dev contract for me and the team” the latter took precedence. We had multiple meetings, presentations, and a 20+ page written proposal which was a significant time investment. Direct porting a game design from 30 years ago won’t work, so how do you change it enough modern audiences will enjoy it, but not too much that they reject it. In a way, it is the same design challenge as Events! This took up a lot of my August. They liked the design (they said it exceeded their expectations), they want to work with us, but the cost is too high. I agree, the cost is mid six digits, but games are NOT cheap to make when you bring in illustrators, animators, writers, and VFX. We’re still on friendly terms as they figure out what they want to do next.[/p][p]Someone at the conference gave a presentation on his game dev history and lessons learned making a match-3 RPG similar to Puzzle & Dragon or Empires and Puzzle. I enjoyed his talk, I thought he had some real wisdom he shared well. And that, I thought, was that.[/p][p]5 days later ,he contacted me about needing programming on the game and if I was available. I am! But the challenge is his game is made in C++ Cocos2Dx. I have a love/hate relationship with Unity, but I really love C#. Many years ago, I used to be a professional C++ programmer. The first two games I released (mobile) were built in a game engine I wrote in C++. I even built an editor for my game engine, including a 2D WYSIWYG layered layout, and a real-time Particle System editor. I intended to use that game engine for more titles going forward… but when I looked hard at Unity and saw everything they had, AND the asset store of ready-built components, AND I could program in my favorite language C#, I saw I couldn’t compete and so joined the Unity bandwagon.[/p][p]I’m rusty, but technically able to do the work.[/p][p]I took the job.[/p][p]Three days in, still ramping up on the codebase, I went to him and laid out what I saw: I could do what he asked, but it is going to take 4x longer than it should. Long term he’s going to have serious issues:[/p]

1. [p]Recruiting: the world simply moved on from Cocos2dx. No one works in it anymore.[/p]
2. [p]His game needs juice (visual effects to enhance the game feel) and a lot of it! This is tedious and difficult to do in Cocos2dx which has no visual editor of any kind. Heck, you have to go to a website to do particle editing, save it as a plist, to then load it in the game at runtime. It’s just so so so hard![/p]

[p]I took the issue to Mark, just to check if I was being a whiney baby about working in C++ again. But he confirmed it was at least my professional responsibility to offer what I think the best strategy is.[/p][p]So I met with the client and laid it out: Instead of investing more in this codebase, invest that money in remaking it into Unity and gaining all the advantages.[/p][p]Remaking a game isn’t easy – that contract I had up until mid July? It was a port of a Cocos2dx project to Unity C#! I knew firsthand the challenges, but I really felt this is the best path for him.[/p][p]He immediately said, “Let’s do it.”[/p][p]I respect his openness and, frankly, his balls, in making such a serious decision so quickly. It actually made me a little concerned he was making it so quickly. Turns out, he always regretted choosing Cocos over Unity and I guess he just needed someone experienced enough in both to clearly lay out the pros and cons.[/p][p]So now I’m making a Match-3 RPG style game similar to Empires and Puzzles in Unity, and it’s great work, highly enjoyable. In 7 workdays I’ve recreated the core combat functionality, so feeling good about how this goes.[/p][p]Again, it’s super complicated, but the project I got terminated from has a new project they would like done and are interested in what I can do for them. So I’ve been busy putting together a pitch for them which is going out today.[/p][p]While all this has been going on, there are two other game projects my team has been working on in the background. One is a point & click adventure that that teaches music theory, and another is a digital card game like Magic/Hearthstone. I’m involved in these projects at a high level, we have wonderful people managing and building them, but it involves me at certain development gates and making sure we are hitting our marks.[/p][p]The music game shipped. The client is adding more content to it, which is great, because we tried to make it easy for them to do that.[/p][p]The card game is a digital demo of a new physical TCG, coming to kickstarter in October. If the kickstarter is successful, Defiance will build out the full game as our first multiplayer title. Good experience to have long term.[/p][p]While I was unemployed, I jumped onto the card game to help get it done.[/p][p]The last 2 months have been so busy! Time has flown by.[/p][p]Things are settling down now: I’m gainfully employed again, all the pitching is done, the card game demo is a week away from being done, and the kids are back in school.[/p][p]Unless something catastrophic flares up, I’ll be back on Archmage and tackling what I got wrong with Events next Friday.[/p]

[p]Thanks to all those trying out the beta branch of Map Events, your bug reports have been invaluable to find and fix some more bugs before other players happen to stumble across them.[/p][h2]New:[/h2][p]1. You can now actually get relationship bonuses when giving a giftable item to an NPC[/p][p]2. You can now control the volume of your heartbeat from the settings panel[/p][h2]Fixed:[/h2][p]1. Fixed black screen bug after fleeing a combat in the dungeons[/p][p]2. Fixed some issues with resources being culled too early after inquiring with an NPC[/p][p]3. Cleaned up some of the resource text issues[/p]

[p]We've been monitoring the bug reports coming in from the Beta for Events. [/p][p]Today's hotfix addresses these issues:[/p]

1. [p]Problem creating a new game from a previous world file[/p]
2. [p]Problem with old save files, saved in a dungeon[/p]
3. [p]Problem entering mage tower from the Mabren mage tower quest[/p]

[p]You should be good to play now![/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for trying and reporting![/p]