Default difficulty is too high. What happens is that you end up gaining glory fast enough that soon you're only playing for draws because it's rare you win before time runs out or you go aggressive to win and lose instead. So you end up on more difficult enemies you're not ready for and eventually you'll lose on RNG. In my case I was doing well, until an enemy came up that was tier 3 and had bonuses against shield and unarmored, both of which I used.
- Thread starter acac
- Start date
Thank you for taking the time to give me the detailed feedback! That's what I needed to hear.
- Jun 28, 2017
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I have the same impressions. Once tier 3 opponents show it's a game over sooner rather than later. even if I spent the whole time visiting the trainer exclusively to get double training sessions. Perhaps my strategy was wrong but the jump in difficulty between a bandit and a mercenary is too big imo.
Yeah, that makes sense. Behind the code, you and tier 3 enemies have the same base stats. The tier 1 and 2 have less, and tier 4 and 5 have more. So, I definitely think it becomes a challenge then. When I play the game, for tier 3 enemies I always visit the Arena Master the first night, so I know what stats and counters the tier 3 enemies have.
Then, I try to make a call on if I want to beat the enemy or just survive. Then, I have until the fight to buy items that might help, or buy replacements if they counter my current gear. Actually, for the first 2 or 3 tier 3 matches, I visit the Arena Master every night. Every night after the first one, he gives you a 6% bonus to accuracy and evasion. That bonus multiplies against all other bonuses. It's really that evasion bonus that I want in the beginning, to survive those initial tier 3 fights.
Going back to something Kinjiru mentioned, for each fight, I try to make a call early on, on whether I want to win or if I want to tie. I don't want to make it possible to win every battle, but I do want to make 95% of battles survivable. I think it's easier to survive if you just want to tie. But if you can risk trying to beat the enemy, then you get extra reward, which helps later. Because of this, I try to beat all the Slaves I come across. Initially, I try to just survive Bandits. But by the time I get to Mercenaries, I try to beat Bandits, and just tie the Mercenaries.
Lastly, I try to buy leather and warrior gear as early as I can. Some tier 2 and above enemies will counter unarmoured characters, and they're real bastards if you haven't diversified your gear, yet. Also weapons are broken into 3 sizes, small medium and large. I try to get a medium weapon as soon as possible. They make me a lot more confident about defeating Slaves and bandits. Lastly, keep the start spear. If you spec into say axes, and you face a counter-axe enemy, you can swap back to the spear and just try to tie the match.
In summary, I guess I would suggest doing the following:
- Try to make a call early on, on whether you want to beat an enemy or just tie with them. You can beat the game without defeating anyone.
- For Tier 3 enemies, visit the Arena Master early on to see the enemy's stats. If you don't think you can beat that opponent, visit the Arena Master every night to get a large evasion buff.
- Try to diversify your gear as early as possible, to avoid being abused by opponents who counter your weapon or outfit. Don't be afraid to go into battle with a weapon you didn't train in or without a shield, if it means the enemy doesn't get to use their bonus.
After day before yesterday's update, I don't think there will be any more big gameplay updates. I do want to finish the stories for the NPCs. There will be 30 more H-scenes. I also want to add more endings and flesh them out a bit more. Lastly, a common response I've seen here and on NewGrounds is that tier 3 enemies are a pretty big and sudden wall. I'll have a think about how to better balance them.
Edit: I'm also thinking about couple of new game ideas. I think the next game will be a lot smaller in scope, and reflect a lot of the stuff I learned making this game.
- Jun 28, 2017
- 306
- 487
It's a fun little game but once you reach a certain threshold, it doesn't really matter what you do as you win vs legendary opponents as well even when fighting naked (mind you, I switched to easy difficulty so the training progression was faster). A few ideas / remarks:
1) Once you are bold enough to fight naked, increase coins gained from fights if you fight with boobs on display or see-through lingerie. Increase the bonus even further if there are no/crotchless panties on and nothing else. After all, if you fight with no armor, you decrease your chances of winning.
2) Make dimnishing returns on visitng NPCs, e.g. when you reach stage 3 with the arena master, PC (based on RNG) can get so hangover she gets a penalty to fighting or with the merchant or after the steamy night with the trainer her body is too tired and gets a penalty as well -> might be a good strategy to plan those visits to NPCs once the next oponent is weaker (e.g. bandit or slave)
3) Arena master: don't disclose information about the enemy immediately, just say something vague like: it's very unlikely he can become better than most mercenary opponents and only after the 1st visit at arena master diclose the next enemy level in detail. That way you can never know if the next enemy is a pushover or someone you need to prepare for.
4) Introduce interactivity in h-scenes and some traits for the PC - right now it's just a scene descirption that apart from reaching a next level which allows or forbids wearing some items does nothing for the gameplay. E.g. after enough sessions with the merchant a PC can get a submissive streak and wear armor of the "bondage" class (leather straps etc.). What I mean is
to make some unique equipment / enchantments / training available if you reach a high enough experience level with the NPC and agree to some long-lasting gameplay effects, e.g. the trainer wants to see your pussy on display during training and fighting so from now on you are forbidden to wear armor pieces that cover your private parts. In return you can still get training sessions with her and/or get some unique training like "double strike", "critical hit", "critical evasion" etc.. With the merchant it could be fighting in bondage gear only which somehow restricts your movement but on the plus side fate stones provide stronger enchantments from now on. With the arena master he could provide some unique insight to the next enemy you are facing so that the bonus to evade etc. you get is replaced by somehting different like critical hit chance etc. but he would require you to be his exclusivbe sexual slave for a few days.
5) Rethink the IU - it's quite difficult to play the game one-handed ;-) (keyboard shortcuts)
1) Once you are bold enough to fight naked, increase coins gained from fights if you fight with boobs on display or see-through lingerie. Increase the bonus even further if there are no/crotchless panties on and nothing else. After all, if you fight with no armor, you decrease your chances of winning.
2) Make dimnishing returns on visitng NPCs, e.g. when you reach stage 3 with the arena master, PC (based on RNG) can get so hangover she gets a penalty to fighting or with the merchant or after the steamy night with the trainer her body is too tired and gets a penalty as well -> might be a good strategy to plan those visits to NPCs once the next oponent is weaker (e.g. bandit or slave)
3) Arena master: don't disclose information about the enemy immediately, just say something vague like: it's very unlikely he can become better than most mercenary opponents and only after the 1st visit at arena master diclose the next enemy level in detail. That way you can never know if the next enemy is a pushover or someone you need to prepare for.
4) Introduce interactivity in h-scenes and some traits for the PC - right now it's just a scene descirption that apart from reaching a next level which allows or forbids wearing some items does nothing for the gameplay. E.g. after enough sessions with the merchant a PC can get a submissive streak and wear armor of the "bondage" class (leather straps etc.). What I mean is
to make some unique equipment / enchantments / training available if you reach a high enough experience level with the NPC and agree to some long-lasting gameplay effects, e.g. the trainer wants to see your pussy on display during training and fighting so from now on you are forbidden to wear armor pieces that cover your private parts. In return you can still get training sessions with her and/or get some unique training like "double strike", "critical hit", "critical evasion" etc.. With the merchant it could be fighting in bondage gear only which somehow restricts your movement but on the plus side fate stones provide stronger enchantments from now on. With the arena master he could provide some unique insight to the next enemy you are facing so that the bonus to evade etc. you get is replaced by somehting different like critical hit chance etc. but he would require you to be his exclusivbe sexual slave for a few days.
5) Rethink the IU - it's quite difficult to play the game one-handed ;-) (keyboard shortcuts)
I feel like a lot of the issues with this game could be fixed by changing the game over deaths to losses of gold + fame instead. That way you could adjust if you've not taken the optimum route or been clobbered by the RNG god.
i have a few recommendations:
Arena
1.- enemies should be locked by tier (glory based); this refers that as you gain more fame you begging to fight stronger enemies. Example: tier 1 = 0 -10 glory, tier 2 = 11-30, and so on.
2.- weight of enemies should be even (unlocked tiers); this refers that at the beginning you will fight only tier 1, after unlocking tier 2, the chances are 50-50, and so on.
Example: tier 1 =100%, tier 1-2 =50%, tier 1-3 =33%, tier 1-4 =25%, tier 1-5 =20%
3.-glory gain based on enemy tier.
Example: tier 1=1, tier 2=2, tier 3=3 tier 4=4, tier 5=5
4.-rarity of enemy should be based on a glory table (enemy color); like equipment, enemies have a color which determines the power of their equipment and if they have abilities.
Example: at "max" glory, gray color 25%, blue 35%, pink 40%
Trader
5.- Fae stones used only to increase equipment potential
Example: "trivial" to next level, and so on.
6.-weight of equipment with enhancements and without should be even.
Example: 50-50% chance for them to appear in the store (half of the items in the store unenhanced, the other enhanced).
7.-enhancement power should be equal at all levels of potential.
8.-a description of the weight of the enhancements of the equipment.
Example: arrow up green next to encumbrance; this will refer that the item has an increased chance for that type of enhancement to appear. arrow down red next to encumbrance; this will refer that the item has a decreased chance for that type of enhancement to appear. etc.
9.- enhancement only cost gold
Trainer
10.- make the level of skills tier based (points required); as you improve skills more training points are required based on the skill level, which dampens progression.
Example: skill level 1-3 requires 1 point, 4-6 requires 2 point, 7-9 requires 3 points. etc.
Arena
1.- enemies should be locked by tier (glory based); this refers that as you gain more fame you begging to fight stronger enemies. Example: tier 1 = 0 -10 glory, tier 2 = 11-30, and so on.
2.- weight of enemies should be even (unlocked tiers); this refers that at the beginning you will fight only tier 1, after unlocking tier 2, the chances are 50-50, and so on.
Example: tier 1 =100%, tier 1-2 =50%, tier 1-3 =33%, tier 1-4 =25%, tier 1-5 =20%
3.-glory gain based on enemy tier.
Example: tier 1=1, tier 2=2, tier 3=3 tier 4=4, tier 5=5
4.-rarity of enemy should be based on a glory table (enemy color); like equipment, enemies have a color which determines the power of their equipment and if they have abilities.
Example: at "max" glory, gray color 25%, blue 35%, pink 40%
Trader
5.- Fae stones used only to increase equipment potential
Example: "trivial" to next level, and so on.
6.-weight of equipment with enhancements and without should be even.
Example: 50-50% chance for them to appear in the store (half of the items in the store unenhanced, the other enhanced).
7.-enhancement power should be equal at all levels of potential.
8.-a description of the weight of the enhancements of the equipment.
Example: arrow up green next to encumbrance; this will refer that the item has an increased chance for that type of enhancement to appear. arrow down red next to encumbrance; this will refer that the item has a decreased chance for that type of enhancement to appear. etc.
9.- enhancement only cost gold
Trainer
10.- make the level of skills tier based (points required); as you improve skills more training points are required based on the skill level, which dampens progression.
Example: skill level 1-3 requires 1 point, 4-6 requires 2 point, 7-9 requires 3 points. etc.
So, it's a paper doll with RNG attached? You know, there's an awful lot of clicking through the same things over and over again.
And no, it does not provide me with any sense of agency. The outcome of each encounter is up to RNG alone, I can only slightly nudge the odds - and who knows, maybe they will tip over eventually. But I'm not patient enough to find out.
And no, it does not provide me with any sense of agency. The outcome of each encounter is up to RNG alone, I can only slightly nudge the odds - and who knows, maybe they will tip over eventually. But I'm not patient enough to find out.
Thank you for letting me know. If it was posted on another h-game site, it was not with my permission. I only posted it on Newgrounds, and I might on Itch, later.
I don't have plans to update this game anytime soon. My efforts are right now focused on "Delivery Pilot: Dreams and Debts", another game I'm working on. But, I do think about Darkmorrow Arena a lot.
If I did update Darkmorrow Arena, what would you like to see in it?
I want a game where the loser gets fucked after a match... rough and rape style... I would prefer Female on Female but straight can work too... I don't like Futa at all though so if that crowd shows interest at the very least make it optional
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