Ren'Py Supermodel Snapshot [v2.1.0] [Belle]

[BaasB]

Overview:
What can you expect from this release? First, there is a brief, non-interactive tutorial I strongly recommend you go through. After that, there is one single match of Snapshot that you can play as often as you like with a premade deck of cards against Vanguard from Supermodel: Defenders of Desire. Each such match should take you about 10 minutes from start to finish.​

Thread Updated: 2023-12-31
Release Date: 2023-07-24
Developer: Belle

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Censored: No
Version: 2.1.0
OS: Windows, Linux, Mac
Language: English
Other Games: Link
Genre:

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Installation:

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Changelog:

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Developer Notes:

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DOWNLOAD
Win/Linux:

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Mac:

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​

 

[BaasB]

Requested by, DarkDemon

i suck at the game, but it does looks nice...

Very short Demo/Prototype

 

[Crow Armbrust]

THX

 

[CoffeeSaint]

Thx

• • • • •

Godspeed with your project, Belle; thanks for the Mac version, as well.
needless to say I'm thankful for the sharing, BaasB.

cheers, all.

 

[xmilteach]

thx

 

[xapican]

finally !! let's Test it out !
wish you good luck !

 

[darlic]

The cards descriptions are super small, I can hardly read them in fullscreen mode

 

[Tyrranus]

really? I mean I know this is a yarrr site but ... a tech demo? One thats going to be updated in a week or less?

tips:
play and upgrade lands asap
empty your hand every single turn

 

[Belle]

Keep in mind that the current version seems to be too punishing towards mistakes. I'll release version 1.1 with a bunch of adjustments, fixes, and a set of selectable difficulty levels in the coming week. Most of it is ready.

The cards descriptions are super small, I can hardly read them in fullscreen mode

The bane of all card games on the computer. I've made sure they are readable but small in 1080p (I spent a lot of time getting this just right to my eyes, and I have astigmatism). Don't forget that you can doubleclick any card to see a zoomed-in version at any time. You are expected to use this to get used to the cards early on, and then you'll barely need to read their texts again. These are cards you will get intimately familiar with, especially once we get to the deckbuilding and you get to customize your own deck from scratch.

 

[DeUglyOne]

Hard pass for me. I value my eyes way too much for that.
I don't have a 75" 4K monitor to play that on. The fonts on the cards in the previews are much too tiny to even read on my 27" 1080 without putting my nose to the monitor. I can't even imagine trying to play that on a tablet.

 

[Belle]

Hard pass for me. I value my eyes way too much for that.
I don't have a 75" 4K monitor to play that on. The fonts on the cards in the previews are much too tiny to even read on my 27" 1080 without putting my nose to the monitor. I can't even imagine trying to play that on a tablet.

It sounds like you have poor eyesight, then. I don't mean that to be snippy or insulting, just to be clear here. I went for years without realizing that I had problems with my eyesight until I finally discovered my astigmatism (it's sneaky like that in that your eyes manage to compensate to a certain degree, fooling you), and it was like night and day when I got glasses. I'm on a 27" screen and playing the game in a 1080p window and have no trouble reading the cards, nor is it a problem to read them on a tablet. And as mentioned, you can double-click them to zoom in at any time.

 

[somebody28]

It feels almost impossible to hit 50 heat unless you've got 'This is Fine' in play early

 

[Tyrranus]

It feels almost impossible to hit 50 heat unless you've got 'This is Fine' in play early

I played for 3 1/2 hrs straight and won 0 this is why belle will be releasing a less punishing version soon. I streamed some of my games and it helped them see where someone who didnt invent the game would struggle.

 

[Belle]

It feels almost impossible to hit 50 heat unless you've got 'This is Fine' in play early

I practically never used that card in testing, for the record, and I win 9/10 games. Then again, I'm a poor judge of difficulty as the developer, and despite knowing this, I still messed up by not realizing the impact of small mistakes. I'm so familiar with the games that I don't really make mistakes when testing, so my impression of the difficulty was skewed by this. I tried to compensate for my familiarity by assuming that if I won 9/10 games, decent players could expect to perhaps hit 6/10 regularly, which was the magic number to me. But that turned out not to be true at all because of the effect of the aforementioned mistakes.

Version 1.1 should make things much more manageable.

In any case, a few tips from me as the dev, but feel free to ignore them and attempt to break the game balance:

• Don't save cards across multiple turns. Use them! You get a full hand every turn anyway.
• Until you have filled your play area with Engines, don't use the level 1 Engines to attack Challenge cards unless the alternative would be an instant loss. A level 1 Engine played on turn 1 will earn you 9 Heat by turn 10 without any further upgrades, while that same engine played on turn 4 will earn you 6 Heat. It adds up quickly. You want those cards out there fast!
• Don't obsess over the Challenge cards early on. You can usually afford to let many of them stay on the board at the end of the turn if this allows you to get more Engines/Upgrades out. Once you hit turn 5, prioritize dealing with Challenge cards while doing the occasional Upgrade where you can.
• Immovable isn't as bad as it looks. You can take advantage of one of the Challenge cards to get rid of it with relative ease.
• The three categories of cards are: Confidence, Trust, and Skill. Confidence focuses on earning lots of Heat fast, and if this is what you're struggling with, try to prioritize upgrading these cards. Trust focuses on playing cards cheaply (and in later versions will allow you to draw more cards to play). Skill focuses on destroying Challenge cards.

 

[somebody28]

I practically never used that card in testing, for the record, and I win 9/10 games.

*snip*

I'm surprised that this is possible; there are a couple cards that really feel like they kill my runs:

• +2 heat cost
• -4 heat per turn
• Discard engine card at end of turn

I feel like in a solid 10-15% of runs I get dealt one of these as one of the first two challenges without the attack cards to kill it before it puts me too far behind.

 

[Belle]

I'm surprised that this is possible; there are a couple cards that really feel like they kill my runs:

• +2 heat cost
• -4 heat per turn
• Discard engine card at end of turn

I feel like in a solid 10-15% of runs I get dealt one of these as one of the first two challenges without the attack cards to kill it before it puts me too far behind.

The -4 Heat card will get adjusted in version 1.1, but the other two cards you mention are fine. They are supposed to hurt and you are meant to have to adjust your tactics to deal with them. I want you to groan internally when new Challenge cards show up and to feel a sense of relief and accomplishment when you get rid of them. But they're not supposed to feel unfair, which is one of the things further testing and balancing will work on.

Actually, the Challenge cards were much less dangerous in early test versions, and that resulted in the game being dull as heck.

 

[ElizabethArtemis]

Belle, do you plan to have a NG+ (where you could keep your upgraded cards on subsequent playthoughs)?
I know this was a main feature on your first game and this may aid players who are not as good at the gameplay.

 

[dlombu]

The card game seems fun but very difficult currently. I guess it's because we're only being allowed to use bottom tier cards, but I assume in the final game it'll get easier as we progress through the main game and obtain more and better cards and can construct our own decks with actual synergies. I'm not sure it was a great idea to show off this minigame this way considering a lot of people will be turned off by the difficulty, but I suppose the reasoning for showcasing it this way was to avoid spoilers. I'm still hyped for this game. The idea of corrupting superheroes isn't new, of course, but plot seems novel and the few models and animations we see in the preview are looking good and smooth. They seem to be a huge step up from Long Live the Princess. Can't wait for the first real release. Thanks for the early preview!

 

[Belle]

Belle, do you plan to have a NG+ (where you could keep your upgraded cards on subsequent playthoughs)?
I know this was a main feature on your first game and this may aid players who are not as good at the gameplay.

Your cards will most likely be stored as persistent data, so you will never reset them unless you somehow lose your save folder entirely. In fact, the plan is for you to be able to replay any part of the game and its story at any time with no restrictions and without using saves.

 

[Belle]

I guess it's because we're only being allowed to use bottom tier cards, but I assume in the final game it'll get easier as we progress through the main game and obtain more and better cards and can construct our own decks with actual synergies.

Yes, tweaking and improving your deck with new cards and synergies will definitely trivialize difficulty levels that at first come off as impenetrable. In fact, there will be difficulty levels far more challenging than the ones in this prototype, including ones I will set up for truly masochistic players where even I can't win. I want top players to metagame the mechanics to hell and back without affecting the enjoyment of more casual players.

I'm not sure it was a great idea to show off this minigame this way considering a lot of people will be turned off by the difficulty,

The game isn't meant to be showed off to anyone but my patrons at this stage, but it's not like I can stop it from showing up here. At least I can help control the narrative somewhat by being present and helpful.

Also, as mentioned above, it's not meant to be this difficult. I completely misjudged how difficult this would be, and that's coming from someone who is well aware that game developers tend to underestimate difficulties in their games (I have even advised other devs on this very subject before). Goes to show how horrendously difficult game balance is to get right and why external testing is so valuable. The upcoming version 1.1 is a direct result of feedback from testers.