McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
I think I agree with this statement.
After reading the guide, I believe what this game needs is a proper tutorial in game with a concrete example of how to perform the breaks and how to progress overall.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to understand how all those mechanics interact with one-another without a step-by step explanation on how to play the game.
The GOAL system is a step in the right direction but ultimately not enough because it doesn't tell you what are the requirements for getting the effects it wants you to trigger.

It honestly made me think about when I wanted to learn how to play Jack-o-Ninetails. A huge pain in the butt to comprehend the basic mechanics, which was made even more frustrating by the fact that the game didn't need to be this obtuse to begin with because the systems are complex enough to be a challenge on their own.

In both cases the fantasy being sold is excellent with great situations but burried under a confusing and opaque learning curve.
But at least when I was trying to learn Jack-o-Ninetails I could feel when I was on the right track.
Here I could be doing the "correct" thing and still feel like no progress is being made somehow, that's very weird. And since I'm not 100% confident I'm indeed doing the right thing, I start questioning myself and wondering why nothing is changing.

And reading the reviews for this game, I feel validated in this opinion because many of the 4-5 star ratings also point out all those issues as massive pains in the butt to deal with.

But... when it works, it's fantastic, and that I also agree on. There were some very special moments that happened in my short period playing it (3-4h)
I'll keep trying, but I'm losing hope.
The sad part is, making a tutorial would actually be pretty easy, the game itself already has the commentary system, so all they need to do to make a tutorial is to make a built in save-file tied to a tutorial button which is an entire game done with the commentary system active explaining all mechanics as they come up and stuff. Admittedly I've never used the commentary system so maybe it'd be a bit harder than I'd think, but the system for it is in place so all it is is a matter of the dev just playing through a single play game. Hell, I think a while back someone in this thread actually did do this themselves, it's just that the save is super outdated and no longer works.

And yeah, it really sucks that the game isn't always super clear whether you're doing the right or wrong thing, which is especially prevalent when dealing with T3 and T4 breaks. Because T3 and T4 breaks cant be done in a single battle, it's really not obvious whether or not you're building up trauma/punisher effectiveness at a good rate unless you end up having an amazing battle and immediately dealing enough trauma to T3 break all four vulnerabilities at once (then cry when you realize it was on a Chosen you were trying to distort but aren't in a position to distort right away forcing you to reload a save) or something.
 

dekeche

Member
Aug 5, 2018
140
55
The comment system may not be working.... I've actually tried making a tutorial, but couldn't figure out how to read back the comments, so was unable to verify that it was working.
 

McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
The comment system may not be working.... I've actually tried making a tutorial, but couldn't figure out how to read back the comments, so was unable to verify that it was working.
Did you have it set to Read/Write and not just Write in the options?
 

Antivash

Newbie
Aug 25, 2017
30
18
The sad part is, making a tutorial would actually be pretty easy, the game itself already has the commentary system, so all they need to do to make a tutorial is to make a built in save-file tied to a tutorial button which is an entire game done with the commentary system active explaining all mechanics as they come up and stuff. Admittedly I've never used the commentary system so maybe it'd be a bit harder than I'd think, but the system for it is in place so all it is is a matter of the dev just playing through a single play game. Hell, I think a while back someone in this thread actually did do this themselves, it's just that the save is super outdated and no longer works.
I may take a crack at figuring out how the comment thing works and attempting a tutorial out of it a bit later. I was poking around in the decompiled source code with Recaf (which isn't ideal, considering compiling in Java is lossy, so decompiling is never 100% accurate) to see if I can work out the actual triggers, but stopped a few hours ago. Arknights Contingency Contract 12 event went live and I got distracted with that. I might pick it back up after a few hours of smashing my face into this brick wall, if the concussions dont destroy my memory first.

Hurrah for trading one source of frustration for another.

And yeah, it really sucks that the game isn't always super clear whether you're doing the right or wrong thing, which is especially prevalent when dealing with T3 and T4 breaks. Because T3 and T4 breaks cant be done in a single battle, it's really not obvious whether or not you're building up trauma/punisher effectiveness at a good rate unless you end up having an amazing battle and immediately dealing enough trauma to T3 break all four vulnerabilities at once (then cry when you realize it was on a Chosen you were trying to distort but aren't in a position to distort right away forcing you to reload a save) or something.
Honestly, I think most of the T4's are fine as long as you are paying attention. They have the "+XXX% parasitism" things attached to the appropriate adaption that increases it. The only one I think might need mentioning is something like "Tier 4 effectiveness increase when a Chosen uses the corresponding adaption, with Drain's detonate adaption only triggering if a chosen is captured by a commander or forsaken.
 

McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
I may take a crack at figuring out how the comment thing works and attempting a tutorial out of it a bit later. I was poking around in the decompiled source code with Recaf (which isn't ideal, considering compiling in Java is lossy, so decompiling is never 100% accurate) to see if I can work out the actual triggers, but stopped a few hours ago. Arknights Contingency Contract 12 event went live and I got distracted with that. I might pick it back up after a few hours of smashing my face into this brick wall, if the concussions dont destroy my memory first.
Yeah, I haven't bothered going for Risk 18 on CC 12 yet, smashing my head into that brick wall doesn't seem like a fun way to spend my day right now.

Honestly, I think most of the T4's are fine as long as you are paying attention. They have the "+XXX% parasitism" things attached to the appropriate adaption that increases it. The only one I think might need mentioning is something like "Tier 4 effectiveness increase when a Chosen uses the corresponding adaption, with Drain's detonate adaption only triggering if a chosen is captured by a commander or forsaken.
Well I more so meant a good rate to build up the effectiveness per day. For example early on I thought Drain effectiveness was just suppose to build up super slow, not cause I didn't know detonate only happened when captured by a Commander, but because I just didn't realize that the Drain gain increase from INJU levels is significantly more than the other T4s with their circumstances, making it far more efficient to use all 3 commander captures on one Chosen instead of one for all three.
 

anonwk3

Newbie
Oct 25, 2021
71
88
So like many here I have tried to get into this game I download it every odd update to see if I can finally "get it" as it were I've used guides the goal system items etc all ending in failure
So here my question after lots of messing around with the custom team options is there an optimum team for a first run?
I usually try to create a Captain America type leader a Vegeta type arsehole and a Yamcha but that grouping always beats me.

So now i'm going Drill girl Tsundere, Luffy and Krillin I guess they're a little easier but still hand me my arse in the final battle any tips here?
 

McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
So like many here I have tried to get into this game I download it every odd update to see if I can finally "get it" as it were I've used guides the goal system items etc all ending in failure
So here my question after lots of messing around with the custom team options is there an optimum team for a first run?
I usually try to create a Captain America type leader a Vegeta type arsehole and a Yamcha but that grouping always beats me.

So now i'm going Drill girl Tsundere, Luffy and Krillin I guess they're a little easier but still hand me my arse in the final battle any tips here?
Honestly, strategy matters more than the specific Chosen, as while yes the Chosen may change your strategy some, the broad strokes are generally the same. I wrote a general early game guide a couple weeks ago that might help, and a couple days ago wrote this overview of some mechanics/modifiers and some more explanation for the strategy in my little guide. Though I will say a Chosen very weak to INJU damage and ensuring no Chosen are completely immune to PLEA damage (or really any damage type, but PLEA in particular) will make things a bit easier, as a Chosen very weak to INJU damage can be very quickly brought to T2 breaks while PLEA damage is helps with getting bigger subsequent surrounds.

so how do i get the choosen to join me?
In the Final Battle (Day 50 for a normal game) you have to lower a Chosen's Resolve to 0% then they'll automatically become a Forsaken.
 

Dasneaky

Member
Sep 22, 2017
103
19
Honestly, strategy matters more than the specific Chosen, as while yes the Chosen may change your strategy some, the broad strokes are generally the same. I wrote a general early game guide a couple weeks ago that might help, and a couple days ago wrote this overview of some mechanics/modifiers and some more explanation for the strategy in my little guide. Though I will say a Chosen very weak to INJU damage and ensuring no Chosen are completely immune to PLEA damage (or really any damage type, but PLEA in particular) will make things a bit easier, as a Chosen very weak to INJU damage can be very quickly brought to T2 breaks while PLEA damage is helps with getting bigger subsequent surrounds.



In the Final Battle (Day 50 for a normal game) you have to lower a Chosen's Resolve to 0% then they'll automatically become a Forsaken.
have a like good sir for some1 new to the game
 

anonwk3

Newbie
Oct 25, 2021
71
88
Honestly, strategy matters more than the specific Chosen, as while yes the Chosen may change your strategy some, the broad strokes are generally the same. I wrote a general early game guide a couple weeks ago that might help, and a couple days ago wrote this overview of some mechanics/modifiers and some more explanation for the strategy in my little guide. Though I will say a Chosen very weak to INJU damage and ensuring no Chosen are completely immune to PLEA damage (or really any damage type, but PLEA in particular) will make things a bit easier, as a Chosen very weak to INJU damage can be very quickly brought to T2 breaks while PLEA damage is helps with getting bigger subsequent surrounds.



In the Final Battle (Day 50 for a normal game) you have to lower a Chosen's Resolve to 0% then they'll automatically become a Forsaken.
So i'm guessing from what you're saying here that part of the reason i've started to find the game is easier is because i've removed pure paragon types (usually high morality high innocence) as well those have breaks built in. It also seems like I spread the damage too much I read somewhere HATE was a go to iNJU vul chosen is this still the case?
 

SuperSkippy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
229
120
The sad part is, making a tutorial would actually be pretty easy, the game itself already has the commentary system, so all they need to do to make a tutorial is to make a built in save-file tied to a tutorial button which is an entire game done with the commentary system active explaining all mechanics as they come up and stuff. Admittedly I've never used the commentary system so maybe it'd be a bit harder than I'd think, but the system for it is in place so all it is is a matter of the dev just playing through a single play game. Hell, I think a while back someone in this thread actually did do this themselves, it's just that the save is super outdated and no longer works.

And yeah, it really sucks that the game isn't always super clear whether you're doing the right or wrong thing, which is especially prevalent when dealing with T3 and T4 breaks. Because T3 and T4 breaks cant be done in a single battle, it's really not obvious whether or not you're building up trauma/punisher effectiveness at a good rate unless you end up having an amazing battle and immediately dealing enough trauma to T3 break all four vulnerabilities at once (then cry when you realize it was on a Chosen you were trying to distort but aren't in a position to distort right away forcing you to reload a save) or something.
I've considered doing this multiple times, but I'm personally of the opinion that it needs more than this actually. This game could be made a lot more accessible with a "real" tutorial that interrupts game text to point out what is actually important on the screen for the game state.

You just bought Psychic Reading? When you click that Info button, something should break the normal flow of the game to explain the parts you're seeing now.

A Chosen came in with pre-broken Mor T2? Draw attention to the moves that they're doing and how they're different from the other Chosen.

A Distortion Plan? What's that, and why should the player care?

You got some Forsaken now? Great, let's start clicking training buttons and figure out which buttons are good to click. What does it mean to "train a Forsaken"?

In the end, this is a beta, so it's not going to appeal to everyone. I can understand the appeal of not making a tutorial-based fixed campaign while game features are still very much being added.
 

Celerarity

Member
Apr 23, 2018
201
218
I've considered doing this multiple times, but I'm personally of the opinion that it needs more than this actually. This game could be made a lot more accessible with a "real" tutorial that interrupts game text to point out what is actually important on the screen for the game state.

You just bought Psychic Reading? When you click that Info button, something should break the normal flow of the game to explain the parts you're seeing now.

A Chosen came in with pre-broken Mor T2? Draw attention to the moves that they're doing and how they're different from the other Chosen.

A Distortion Plan? What's that, and why should the player care?

You got some Forsaken now? Great, let's start clicking training buttons and figure out which buttons are good to click. What does it mean to "train a Forsaken"?

In the end, this is a beta, so it's not going to appeal to everyone. I can understand the appeal of not making a tutorial-based fixed campaign while game features are still very much being added.
Honestly all of that sounds like it could be done with a youtube video, no need for custom coding.
 

McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
So i'm guessing from what you're saying here that part of the reason i've started to find the game is easier is because i've removed pure paragon types (usually high morality high innocence) as well those have breaks built in. It also seems like I spread the damage too much I read somewhere HATE was a go to iNJU vul chosen is this still the case?
If by Pure Paragon type you mean someone with 100 in a vulnerability, then yes removing those would make the game easier as with 100 in a vulnerability they'd take no base damage to that vulnerability's circumstance damage (only taking the bonus damage from ANGST), the opposite is also true, someone with 0 in a vulnerability would take no base damage in the associated trauma. Removing Chosen with pre-broken vulnerabilities also helps a little.

As for spreading damage, it is actually better to spread damage as they all provide damage boosting modifiers, and it is ideal to get both HATE and INJU leveled. It's just that a Chosen specifically weak to INJU damage is good to target early on as INJU damage has a bigger modifier than HATE but reserved for circumstances, which is better early as T1 and T2 breaks depend on circumstance damage and not trauma damage. HATE however is generally better than INJU in the mid to late game as HATE applies to all damage which lets you build up more Openings while still boosting circumstance leveling, but they're both very good to level still.

I've considered doing this multiple times, but I'm personally of the opinion that it needs more than this actually. This game could be made a lot more accessible with a "real" tutorial that interrupts game text to point out what is actually important on the screen for the game state.

You just bought Psychic Reading? When you click that Info button, something should break the normal flow of the game to explain the parts you're seeing now.

A Chosen came in with pre-broken Mor T2? Draw attention to the moves that they're doing and how they're different from the other Chosen.

A Distortion Plan? What's that, and why should the player care?

You got some Forsaken now? Great, let's start clicking training buttons and figure out which buttons are good to click. What does it mean to "train a Forsaken"?

In the end, this is a beta, so it's not going to appeal to everyone. I can understand the appeal of not making a tutorial-based fixed campaign while game features are still very much being added.
That's fair, a tutorial Single Play tutorial game would need to be basically re-made every time there is a gameplay focused update.

Honestly all of that sounds like it could be done with a youtube video, no need for custom coding.
The thing there is, a video would need to be remade with new updates, while setting up the code to do what they said is a one time set up that can then be easily modified with each update.
 

Celerarity

Member
Apr 23, 2018
201
218
The thing there is, a video would need to be remade with new updates, while setting up the code to do what they said is a one time set up that can then be easily modified with each update.
Everything from the existing comment system to chosen clothes has broken with updates; there's no "one time" feature in a game that is still having its core code developed. Also, "easily" and "modified with each update" don't belong next to each other in a sentence. The more plates you have to keep in the air every time you make a change the slower you can make them.

Additionally, videos don't have to be identical in every way to the current version at any point in time. They just have to be close enough to answer questions people might have after reading the documentation and looking at the game themselves. They're definitely the lower maintenance option.
 

McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
Everything from the existing comment system to chosen clothes has broken with updates; there's no "one time" feature in a game that is still having its core code developed. Also, "easily" and "modified with each update" don't belong next to each other in a sentence. The more plates you have to keep in the air every time you make a change the slower you can make them.

Additionally, videos don't have to be identical in every way to the current version at any point in time. They just have to be close enough to answer questions people might have after reading the documentation and looking at the game themselves. They're definitely the lower maintenance option.
When I said modified I meant modify the information itself, not the code.
 

Nemo de Nemo

Member
Jul 30, 2020
113
64
Ah rip then, to be fair though it doesn't actually matter since as annoying as it is to see her being listed as wearing shoes when she doesn't actually, I don't think that list of information is actually used anywhere aside from when editing the Chosen. During a battle the game likely draws from the actual outfit editor information in that screenshot, and not that little summary which just lists chest, crotch, underwear and footwear. So since she doesn't have shoes listed in the outfit editor it'd likely recognize her as barefoot, especially since the auto-generated transformation description explicitly says she's barefoot.

I would say just start a game with cheats and do a surround increasing her EXPO levels to see if shoes are ever mentioned, but unfortunately as far as I'm aware there is no way to force a certain Chosen into a loop and constantly restarting a game to try to get her to spawn would take forever.
While not necessarily forcing a specific chosen to appear, you can significantly increase the chances by only importing the test chosen into the pool for the campain to pull from as the game prioritizes making imported chosen appear first before auto generating complementary chosen. I know this from numerous game starts (not full playthroughs), and only found a rando chosen once, and it was in the second loop of a game I actually continued on.
 

Antivash

Newbie
Aug 25, 2017
30
18
Yeah, I haven't bothered going for Risk 18 on CC 12 yet, smashing my head into that brick wall doesn't seem like a fun way to spend my day right now.
It was definitely a brick wall... which is typically as high as I push.


Well I more so meant a good rate to build up the effectiveness per day. For example early on I thought Drain effectiveness was just suppose to build up super slow, not cause I didn't know detonate only happened when captured by a Commander, but because I just didn't realize that the Drain gain increase from INJU levels is significantly more than the other T4s with their circumstances, making it far more efficient to use all 3 commander captures on one Chosen instead of one for all three.
Yeah, thats valid. If I do go do the tutorial thing at some point, will need to sit down and experiment to figure out the ideal conditions for that stuff. I knew about the drain one, not sure on the other ones yet.
 

McHuman

Member
Nov 8, 2019
347
202
It was definitely a brick wall... which is typically as high as I push.
Yeah same, I just don't have the brain for anything beyond R18.

Yeah, thats valid. If I do go do the tutorial thing at some point, will need to sit down and experiment to figure out the ideal conditions for that stuff. I knew about the drain one, not sure on the other ones yet.
To be fair, the other ones don't really matter because they'll just use them so long as they aren't surrounded and another Chosen is surrounded (well aside from Fantasize, I think that's just used whenever). So for those it's just a matter of cycling surrounds one Chosen at a time to buy as much time as possible for them to use the adaptations.
 
3.80 star(s) 53 Votes