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

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Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
10,294
But "Card cost: -2" might be a bit more confusing. You might consider "Cards cost -2" instead, so people won't think this particular card costs two less or something like that, but maybe that's just me.
It's not just you. I had similar thoughts when creating it but couldn't see a better option in the heat of the moment. Your suggestion is better though, so I'll use that.

You could also try adding a symbol to the circle that shows the heat cost of cards, since it looks so good with the circles at the top, and then use that icon for this card effect.
That, on the other hand, I don't think I will add for now. I don't want to clutter the background of the numbers with any more visual noise than necessary, and it's not like the cards are swimming in different numbers (unlike some card games I could name) that would confuse the player.
 
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Armin

Newbie
Dec 16, 2017
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It's not just you. I had similar thoughts when creating it but couldn't see a better option in the heat of the moment. Your suggestion is better though, so I'll use that.



That, on the other hand, I don't think I will add for now. I don't want to clutter the background of the numbers with any more visual noise than necessary, and it's not like the cards are swimming in different numbers (unlike some card games I could name) that would confuse the player.
Something to keep in mind is that players will quickly learn what cards do, so the text on the card only needs to be just enough to jog the memory, given that there's a longer version available with a couple of clicks.
 

Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
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Something to keep in mind is that players will quickly learn what cards do, so the text on the card only needs to be just enough to jog the memory, given that there's a longer version available with a couple of clicks.
Yeah, but there's a fine line between shortening text on the cards and having them be actually misleading compared to the full text. Sometimes there has to be a lot of text. Take the updated "This is Fine" card, for example:

Screenshot 2023-04-07 232643.png

It's hard to shorten this any further without making the card's effects look entirely different from what they are meant to be.
 

rb813

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2018
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It's hard to shorten this any further
Is "usable heat" something that needs to be clarified? Will it be common for cards to give heat that isn't usable? If not, you could shorten that line to just "Turn end: +2[heat symbol]." If non-usable heat is something that will be pretty common, you could try out having a separate symbol for that (possibly just an outline of a flame, or a different color if that doesn't read well). Also, the next line could maybe say "and +1[heat symbol] for every CC in play." I get your point that there will always be some cards that have a lot of text, though. Pick your battles.
 

Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
10,294
Is "usable heat" something that needs to be clarified? Will it be common for cards to give heat that isn't usable?
Uh, did you play version 1.1? Usable Heat is a central concept there, and the difference between that and regular Heat is vital.

If non-usable heat is something that will be pretty common, you could try out having a separate symbol for that
Not common enough for its own symbol, at least not yet. In the current version, only two cards and one Challenge card even mention the concept.

Also, the next line could maybe say "and +1[heat symbol] for every CC in play."
Hmm, not bad. I might try a variant of that (though I'm consistent with my use of the "gain" keyword for situations in which you earn Heat).
 
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Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
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If that's the one that's only available to the highest tier of subscribers, then no.
I don't ever lock my games behind the highest tiers. There is only one tier that unlocks the latest versions of my games, and that's the $5 tier. Anything gained at the other tiers is bonus material (progress reports at $1, long-form posts and the occasional poll at $10, and bonus 4K images at $20).
 

rb813

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2018
1,068
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I don't ever lock my games behind the highest tiers. There is only one tier that unlocks the latest versions of my games, and that's the $5 tier. Anything gained at the other tiers is bonus material (progress reports at $1, long-form posts and the occasional poll at $10, and bonus 4K images at $20).
Oh, I didn't realize the tiers went up that high. I thought it was like $1, $3, and $5 or something. My bad. I'll probably upgrade to the $5 tier when the proper Defenders of Desire game comes out, but just the card game by itself doesn't interest me enough to get that early.
 

boxedjack

Member
Apr 23, 2017
446
1,220
I finally got around to playing the Demo.
I like it quite a bit. Unique, thematic and a solid base that allows for lots of interactions. I'm looking forward to the collectible aspect, especially the idea of the Model cards being upgradable seems cool and a neat way to tie the card game to the rest of the game. I was reminded me of how the Confidants/Social Links in Persona give the Protagonist new abilities in combat when I read about the Model cards in the tutorial.

Feedback wise regarding the actual game here are my notes all based on 1.0:

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rb813

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Aug 28, 2018
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It would be nice to be able to see how many cards are left in the deck and in the discard pile and also a way to see what is already discarded. It's not super important now, but if you allow smaller decks to be playable that can draw during their turn it will be.
Yeah, this is a pretty standard feature for card games.
 

Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
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Instants that only target one category ("Sexy Pose", "Pose Freely") feel really weak. In the attack phase, they are barely above an engine dealing only 1 damage more and during the second phase they are extremely situational. You'd almost have to gamble to make them useful, keeping the instant in hand instead of using it in the attack phase and hope another challenge turns up.
They are weak in this scenario because the scenario itself is very unfocused. I'm not going to tweak their balance until we see them used in more specialized scenarios where certain types of challenges will appear more often than others. Having said that, they are not intended to be powerful in the first place. Their purpose is to help fill out holes in specialized decks, which makes them doubly pointless in this (horribly optimized) demo deck.

We can have this conversation again when there are more scenarios to play. 2.0 will give a better idea of how this will work, though I expect we won't see the full extent of their balance (or lack thereof) until we get a bunch of scenarios in the full Supermodel game.

They are also bugged. "Pose Freely" does not hit "Mishap" or "Though Pose". "Take the Shot" does not hit "Though Pose". "Sexy Pose" however does hit "Though Pose" so something is not working right.
Fixed in 1.1.

Wording on "This isn't working" should specify the table. At first I thought I'd discard from hand.
You will never target specific cards in your hand with any card in the game (only Challenge cards can do this), so this would be superfluous and waste precious space on the card. It is specified in the detailed card description that you can bring out by double-clicking the card.

It would be nice to be able to see how many cards are left in the deck and in the discard pile and also a way to see what is already discarded. It's not super important now, but if you allow smaller decks to be playable that can draw during their turn it will be.
I will add some kind of deck counter eventually. It just wasn't a priority in this first version where it would hardly make a difference.

Showing the contents of the discard pile is not something I have any immediate plans to add, however. There are situations in which I might want its contents kept obscure, so you will likely only ever get to see the last card that was discarded.

"Insecurity" has already been addressed but I feel "Confusion" could also use a tweak. Perhaps a second attribute for it and/or the copy it creates. I had some games where I simply had no answer when it showed up on turn 9 or 10. The endgame penalty is hard to overcome when you have to leave 2 or more challenges on the field turn 9.
This is another symptom of a too generic scenario. This card is meant to punish decks that focus on individual attacks with high attack values, but the demo deck is too unfocused for even that to matter. You will be better prepared for this card in the game's real scenarios.

It would be nice if the table "auto-sorted" or let me rearrange cards by type. Makes it clearer what types of upgrades I'm looking for.
Unlikely to happen. While it doesn't matter in the current version, later cards may take advantage of positioning, making the play order important. For example, an Engine card may trigger specific effects on its neighboring cards. Sorting would ruin this possibility.

The not enough heat message could be clearer. Both bigger and in the center of the screen.
It's the in-built Ren'py notification system. I intend to override it at some point, but for now, it's not a priority.
 
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Armin

Newbie
Dec 16, 2017
72
29
Yeah, but there's a fine line between shortening text on the cards and having them be actually misleading compared to the full text. Sometimes there has to be a lot of text. Take the updated "This is Fine" card, for example:

View attachment 2531589

It's hard to shorten this any further without making the card's effects look entirely different from what they are meant to be.
[Turn End symbol]: 2[Usable Heat Symbol], X[Heat Symbol] X=[CC in play symbol],
if [CC in play symbol]<2 then [Discard this card symbol].

Of course that's extremely minimalist, especially 'number of cc in play' is probably rare enough that it's better to write out, unless you go full in on "if you see a new card, open the menu to see how it actually works". Though I think the entire 'gain 2 usable heat' can definitely by shortened to a number and a single symbol.
 

Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
10,294
Though I think the entire 'gain 2 usable heat' can definitely by shortened to a number and a single symbol.
It likely will at some point, though there is no need for it in 1.1. We'll have to see how many cards reference the concept in 2.0. It's not a phrase that should be referenced particularly often, but that might change. It's mostly there to help separate regular Heat from the Heat you have remaining to spend on playing cards, which is more of an implicit than explicit thing right now.
 

Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
10,294
Phew, finally finished the deck builder today and could, at long last, start adding new cards to the game. The biggest hurdle towards version 2.0 is out of the picture with this, though there is still a lot of work to do.
 

cxx

Message Maestro
Nov 14, 2017
58,745
29,193
yay more cards!!!

*walks away while mumbling something about cards*
 

Belle

Developer of Long Live the Princess
Game Developer
Sep 25, 2017
3,093
10,294
The deck builder is functionally complete at last! Woo! This is going to be so much fun to play around with. I've also added a bunch of new cards and am not done yet, though not all of them are fully implemented yet. There used to be 24 cards. Right now, there are 60 and counting.

Deck_Builder_v2.jpg
 
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