Unity Completed Love of Magic [B1 v1.6.7d + B2 v1.0.12] [Droid Productions]

[UnDeaD_CyBorG]

Still learning AE I'm a programmer by trade, so art and animation was something I only really picked up for this project.

I can see that; We all improve through experience. Really, it's mostly the walks - they are all rather feminine, especially on, say, Keith. Who, btw, seems to always just bug out after story events, like freeing Katie. Couldn't he at least say goodbye? Shy fella.

There's likely some space in the UI for it; I'd need to make that an opt-in thing, though.

Yeh, I can see that. Actually, I rather do not want hints, it's downright irritating when I'm trying to ponder my choices and then I get transparent blinking - which also stays (the suggestion images) if I do something else, like discarding my hand - but sometimes, I'm tired, or unfocused, and I want a hint, and going to the options to activate it and then wait 10 seconds seems like the second best option. It would be nice, though, if I'm about to place the second card, to see the expected effect. With theshuffling the cards based on enemies, and getting something new every second run in Elsewhere, I end up checking my card deck multiple times a fight to make sure I remember them correctly.

Clear the board fast A Rage/Cluster build will do pretty obscene amounts of damage quickly, especially if you've got Molly and Akane on your team. You can change your Gem layout before the first round of combat starts

Never did much with Akane - her abilities honestly need a tutorial. Yeah, I think I got it by now, but that's mostly due to fighting a bunch of easier enemies to figure it out. I thought at first it would order within the lines. And having to either bring Kitsune, which is just lacking in utility, or not have a shield or heal, which is suicide/unproductive, puts her very far down the list. Though granted, besides poison, a rage/shield build looks able to clear most opponents.
... and while I'm at things that need a tutorial: What does Intelligence actually do? Did I just miss the explanation? I Assume it's related to the power of effects.

Everyone's uncertain about the future; getting new publishing contracts is a pain, though there has been an uptick in actual revenue from games.

Ah, right, the publishers. Makes sense. I worked in F2P, whole other set of problems. Like lack of respect for your customers. Good luck, man.

Also, while I ponder the female fantasy armour:
Her family's all powerful Enchanters, are they not? Could drop an offhand line about shielding; I mean, that's what she does in combat, anyways, right?
... I should really write an of them 5 star reviews - not on this laptop keyboard, though.

 

[SpikyHair]

In contrast the Bronze Guardians were easy , at this point you have Kitsune who just chops them up as long as you keep their damage under control . I wonder whether they should be switched with the Arachnids in the order things appear in.

I didn't have any problems with the Golems I ran into whatsoever. The fights just dragged out a bit because they effectively halve Bella's potential damage output, and are pretty beefy HP-wise.

As for Hellions .... Help . They are a long fight and I do not concentrate enough and slip up .

I found them much easier than Arachnids. Could handle anything short of a Jack with just barrier/poison stacking (Emily/Bella) or nuking and poison (Molly/Bella), with Dylan's regen and occasional direct heal carrying through.

The poker game is constantly evolving and it just needs a bit more rebalancing in the light of experience , New opponents keep the game fresh , but there are always going to be balance issues .

At the risk of unnecessary repetition, I'd still like to see either Chloe or Akane getting debuff removal ability, if only to give them something to match the utility of the usual suspects. And Katie definitely needs some love, she just doesn't scale, even assuming you can pop her ultimate with frequent rests (something that's pretty damn random).

Alternatively, maybe give those two some manner of variation of ensuring at least treasure/rest/shrine card in a single three-card draw or something, so you can drop Bella with her movement bonus without sacrificing potential gain from a single run.

What does Intelligence actually do? Did I just miss the explanation? I Assume it's related to the power of effects.

Extra experience after fights, and magnifying power of secondary effects... though not sure how this relates to, say, lightning.

Also, while I ponder the female fantasy armour:

Personally, I like to pretend that Emily is wearing honest-to-MC armor with expected coverage, and ignore the evidence of my eyes.

Not a fan of "armor" that fails at its basic purpose, either

 

[Droid Productions]

Is it possible to have the hints on a button press?

I thought about it, but ended up with an alternative approach. I'm not 100% certain what it will do on Android, but apart from that it's quite clean.


Basically tied it to a mouse-over on the auto. It's got the side benefit that you now get a visualization of what the computer wants to do, so you can evaluate that and decide if it's a good idea or not.

 

[Droid Productions]

I decided to re-render that minotaur; it's been in the game since the very first version, and it was time to fix it. Doing so got me thinking on how the game's changed, and since I had a v0.0.2 alpha version sitting around, I thought i'd do a quick comparison between them.

 

[SpikyHair]

Basically tied it to a mouse-over on the auto.

Speaking of "auto," any chance of adding "default skill use" you can set for party members to be fired off every time it comes off cooldown while the combat is in auto mode?

I'll freely admit I only used it once (for two rounds, just because I didn't cancel the second one fast enough XD), but it seems companions aren't used. I realize adding "intelligent" ability choice might be going way overboard in terms of effort required, so allowing the player to select "use this" as default action would at least bridge the difference in effectiveness.

 

[Droid Productions]

Auto just does the same move the AI would have done in your place; it doesn't know / use the allies. While it makes sense for some of the early abilities to just auto-fire, others have tradeoffs (like Molly and Chloe), or require more thought (like Akane). This is especially true as the various characters get more abilities. Probably not going to do anything about auto-using allies; it's a big huge pit full of bugs waiting to crawl out.

 

[Deleted member 507366]

I never thought that you were being critical for one minute , the quote is a variation of something in the game you should recognise .

I do wish that more people new to the game would contribute , I am concerned about how easy it is to understand at the start , but having played so much I am not really the best to comment .

Sometimes people have problems putting things into words , when there is an issue . I try to help when I can ( Hence the posts on Arachnids earlier ) . Looking through this particular thread , the people here are good people .

One mark of a good game is one that doesn't require a walkthrough to figure out. I was able to play the game from start to finish without using a walkthrough (I think most people fit into this category for this game). My favorite games have been those that were intuitive enough to not require one. I agree, there are a lot of helpful and friendly players on this site.

 

[Deleted member 507366]

Auto just does the same move the AI would have done in your place; it doesn't know / use the allies. While it makes sense for some of the early abilities to just auto-fire, others have tradeoffs (like Molly and Chloe), or require more thought (like Akane). This is especially true as the various characters get more abilities. Probably not going to do anything about auto-using allies; it's a big huge pit full of bugs waiting to crawl out.

I was hoping for hotkeys for companion abilities in Elsewhere. It is kind of tiring to point and click and same abilities all the time. It isn't that big of an issue for me though and probably low priority. One option that would be nice for companions in Elsewhere would be to ignore/bypass the "Thank you" forced point and click options with some of the companions. For example, you ask a companion to heal you and then you also have to click "Thank you" after the heal has been cast in order to continue. An option like "You don't have to thank companions" would be welcomed (to save time and constant point and click movements).

 

[sillyrobot]

One mark of a good game is one that doesn't require a walkthrough to figure out. I was able to play the game from start to finish without using a walkthrough (I think most people fit into this category for this game). My favorite games have been those that were intuitive enough to not require one. I agree, there are a lot of helpful and friendly players on this site.

There are a few unintuitive /counter-intuitive sections wrt some secondary activities. The black rose arc, for example. It's easy enough to stumble into starting it, but triggering later roses (especially the 3rd) becomes a matter of luck. Unlocking secondary character abilities (like regen) are also hit or miss since you (a) have to have the right mix of companions and (b) try talking to the correct companion in an area which probably already has a known limited-value purpose.

 

[crabsinthekitchen]

I was hoping for hotkeys for companion abilities in Elsewhere. It is kind of tiring to point and click and same abilities all the time. It isn't that big of an issue for me though and probably low priority. One option that would be nice for companions in Elsewhere would be to ignore/bypass the "Thank you" forced point and click options with some of the companions. For example, you ask a companion to heal you and then you also have to click "Thank you" after the heal has been cast in order to continue. An option like "You don't have to thank companions" would be welcomed (to save time and constant point and click movements).

You can press 1 instead of clicking "Thank you". But yeah, hotkeys for companions would be nice

 

[Deleted member 507366]

There are a few unintuitive /counter-intuitive sections wrt some secondary activities. The black rose arc, for example. It's easy enough to stumble into starting it, but triggering later roses (especially the 3rd) becomes a matter of luck. Unlocking secondary character abilities (like regen) are also hit or miss since you (a) have to have the right mix of companions and (b) try talking to the correct companion in an area which probably already has a known limited-value purpose.

I did have trouble with the black rose story arc. I never got more than one black rose so I wasn't able to do anything with that side quest. I tried a lot of different things with all the characters so unlocking Dylan's regen wasn't a problem for me. I spent a great deal of time in Elsewhere which helped unlock it. It did take me way too long to unlock Katie's special fire attack. So yea, I agree with you that certain aspects of the game can be difficult to unlock.

 

[pstear]

One mark of a good game is one that doesn't require a walkthrough to figure out. I was able to play the game from start to finish without using a walkthrough (I think most people fit into this category for this game). My favorite games have been those that were intuitive enough to not require one. I agree, there are a lot of helpful and friendly players on this site.

Glad your back , got the impression that you have had bad experiences elsewhere . People here like their anonymity but I get the impression that there are a lot of experienced gamers and IT professionals around so you wont have the same problems here .

Someone new can be a breath of fresh air .

I made a few screw ups the first time through , most notably with the gems screen , and if Droid wants to sell this then it needs to be as accessible as possible .

 

[Deleted member 507366]

Glad your back , got the impression that you have had bad experiences elsewhere . People here like their anonymity but I get the impression that there are a lot of experienced gamers and IT professionals around so you wont have the same problems here .

Someone new can be a breath of fresh air .

I made a few screw ups the first time through , most notably with the gems screen , and if Droid wants to sell this then it needs to be as accessible as possible .

My main complaints with Elsewhere were:

#1 - A lack of diversity with creature encounters. I thought there should be a few more creature varieties. I would have also liked to battle the occasional rogue or evil battlemage in Elsewhere.

#2 - For some reason I never encountered a single elite creature in Elsewhere. My game was on the hardest difficulty and I battled in Elsewhere a ton. I had an Elsewhere level over 50 by the end of Act V.

 

[pstear]

My main complaints with Elsewhere were:

#1 - A lack of diversity with creature encounters. I thought there should be a few more creature varieties. I would have also liked to battle the occasional rogue or evil battlemage in Elsewhere.

#2 - For some reason I never encountered a single elite creature in Elsewhere. My game was on the hardest difficulty and I battled in Elsewhere a ton. I had an Elsewhere level over 50 by the end of Act V.

The only unique encounter I can think of in Elsewhere is the Fairy

Problem is there is so much potential in this game for encounters everywhere and Droid has a limited amount of time . The one you have mentioned previously and I agree with is bouncer content . The grassmarket at night is also a natural and I am surprised there is not an Olivia encounter in the bookshop .

I worry that Droid is rushing to much to get this book finished . Hopefully that sort of pressure is off at the moment as regards work . Strange thing is that so many games just milk their Patreon without providing much extra , whereas Droid is constantly adding new stuff far faster .

 

[Deleted member 507366]

The only unique encounter I can think of in Elsewhere is the Fairy

Problem is there is so much potential in this game for encounters everywhere and Droid has a limited amount of time . The one you have mentioned previously and I agree with is bouncer content . The grassmarket at night is also a natural and I am surprised there is not an Olivia encounter in the bookshop .

I worry that Droid is rushing to much to get this book finished . Hopefully that sort of pressure is off at the moment as regards work . Strange thing is that so many games just milk their Patreon without providing much extra , whereas Droid is constantly adding new stuff far faster .

There are elite encounters is Elsewhere but they only have a 1% chance of spawning. This is what I am referring to.

 

[Droid Productions]

All dialog options are key-bound, so you can always press 1 for the first option, 2 for the second, etc. I can extend that to triggering the allies easily enough. I guess subsequent entries can be optimized to cut down the number of presses.

I'm actually adding some more bouncer content now, though it's part of Act VI's main timeline. As always, it's a matter of balancing time spent on systems (improving combat, for example), expanding content (more elsewhere events, more bouncer events, more slice of life events, etc), improving the early content (as you see from the video, there's been a few changes over the last 9 months) and driving the main story forward.

Ask me for anything but time

 

[Droid Productions]

There are elite encounters is Elsewhere but they only have a 1% chance of spawning. This is what I am referring to.

All elsewhere events together with probabilities and ranges are listed here: (it's auto-generated, so a big fugly).

You must be registered to see the links

You can also find stuff like loot-tables, weapons loadouts, etc there.

 

[pstear]

All elsewhere events together with probabilities and ranges are listed here: (it's auto-generated, so a big fugly).

You must be registered to see the links

You can also find stuff like loot-tables, weapons loadouts, etc there.

Interesting , when I play I just go with the flow and have not looked at any of the walkthroughs . This explains my problems with Hellions , I keep getting the elite ones , the random number generator on this laptop hates me .

My main complaints with Elsewhere were:

#1 - A lack of diversity with creature encounters. I thought there should be a few more creature varieties. I would have also liked to battle the occasional rogue or evil battlemage in Elsewhere.

#2 - For some reason I never encountered a single elite creature in Elsewhere. My game was on the hardest difficulty and I battled in Elsewhere a ton. I had an Elsewhere level over 50 by the end of Act V.

With the way the creatures are parameterized , they can all look vaguely the same . I agree that there needs to be some that are unique and this may need a lot of coding work . You need to occasionally run into something that completely throws you .

A few suggestions based in part on Akane

1) Something that occasionally randomly shuffles the 9 cards in the middle and plays a card
2) More extreme version that randomly shuffles the outside rows and plays a card
3) Something that occasionally incapacitates a companion for a period so you cant use them .

I am sure that other people will have better ideas .

While I am at it , on the ever popular topic of rebalancing the companions . Katie definitely needs to be more use . Dylan makes me uneasy as he is almost must have , I do not think that any of them should be that , but I cannot think of a better alternative .

On new abilities , the one I can think off is someone you can use occasionally to see the 3 path cards face up and make your choice . Akane as a seer seems obvious for this , but it reminds me of Chloe when rescuing Katie and she is maybe underused .

Sorry for the long post .

 

[Sleeping In Pieces]

An option like "You don't have to thank companions" would be welcomed (to save time and constant point and click movements).

Frankly, I'd just cut it out entirely. It doesn't actually do anything.
A bigger problem here is that companions' abilities in Elsewhere aren't all accessed the same way. Some like Dylan and Chloe open up a menu box while some like Katie still go through the narration/dialogue window. It's inconsistent.

 

[kameohawk]

I'm actually adding some more bouncer content now, though it's part of Act VI's main timeline. As always, it's a matter of balancing time spent on systems (improving combat, for example), expanding content (more elsewhere events, more bouncer events, more slice of life events, etc), improving the early content (as you see from the video, there's been a few changes over the last 9 months) and driving the main story forward.

In regards to "improving combat" what do you mean? Are you referring to simply expanding what is there, such as giving the companions more abilities or is it more behind the scenes thing to make battles flow differently?