Just tried the demo...

[Marmoset]

Hi, just tried the demo, and thought it was pretty fun. One thing I agree with the original poster on is that the AI is pretty weak. I was wondering if the gold version has (or you've thought about adding) a handicap system. While making the AI a lot tougher might be hard, it might be easy to artificially make it tougher by giving its units bonuses (such as more hit points, cheaper, etc). This could go a long way towards making the AI skirmishes more fun...

[Hiro_Antagonist]

Well, we have no plans at this time to add a handicap system. This is something we've thought about a lot, but the problem is that any handicap would affect different races differently.

We might eventually relent, but I'm a bit proponent of keeping balance in my games, and adding a handicap system would reward certain races more than others. I'm holding out hope I can come up with a more balanced approach...

-Hiro_Antagonist

[Saxon]

Howdy,

I downloaded the demo onto a USB memory stick and carried it home. Trying to install from there was very slow, I eventually control-alt-deleted out. It said it was verifying the install program or some such. I then copied the file to the desktop and ran it from there. It then was very slow again and seemed to hang when I said it was ok to install some Direct X components. I started again and got involved in a discussion with my girlfriend. Eventually it installed. I am using Win XP and, like PhilD, have no problems with the more graphics intensive games. It might be my machine or my memory stick, but as a long time Shrapnel user, I thought I should bring it up.

Sorry, no comments on the game, the girlfriend noted my frustration and convinced me to spend the evening �with real people.�

Just curious, but given the graphics, how come the demo is so much bigger than something like the Popgun games? My network admin agreed let me install �small games� on the network, presuming I would not meet his 10mb standard. Similarly, what happens to give the computer such a work out? The game appears technically simple and has low demands graphically, so I thought I would be faster on the kinds of machines people are talking about.

[Hiro_Antagonist]

Well, the demo installer size is large because it includes the .NET and Managed DirectX installers. Those two components inflate the installer by about 55MB.

I too have noticed that the installer is slow to respond at first. We're not entirely sure why this is, but it's the behavior of the Nullsoft Installer, which is otherwise a very nice and usable installer.

As to why the game may run slow, the most honest answer is that this is our first game and highly efficient graphics programming isn't our forte (yet). Even though all art in the game is 2d, we use Direct3D, so we have access to alpha-blending, dynamic coloring, fluid scaling/rotation, etc. But with the sheer number of sprites we draw on the screen on every frame, that becomes enough to bog down slower machines or machines with slower 3D cards.

The other developer for the game has been looking into some graphics improvements for the last week or so, and our hope is that we can introduce some performance improvements in a patch. We cannot garauntee this, however.

For what it's worth, we're rebuilding our graphics engine from the ground up for our next game. In fact, we've learned a lot of tricks from the PopCap Framework (which is now open source), and we hope to be able to leverage some of the performance-enhancing tricks ourselves in our next game.

-Hiro_Antagonist

[Saxon]

Hiro,

Thanks for your reply. I got a chance to play over the weekend and thought I would pass along my thoughts.

First, the game itself runs at a decent speed, it seems the installer was my main problem.

Balancing, at least for the demo races I could play, seems very good.

Small scale, quick gaming it is, largely, so you have hit your target.

Concerns (and I do pity the game designers of the world, as every user out there has 1000 ways to make the game better, but no idea how hard it is to do. That said, I am still going to list my 1000 ways�)

It would be great to have an option to turn of the fight scenes. Yes, I know I can click to make it go away, but I don�t want to.

Saves. Sure, it is supposed to be a fast game, but when your girlfriend calls you for dinner, you want to save that single player game. I recognize this could be a time consuming feature to implement, but maybe if sales are good, you could consider it.

The next points are small, but they are about time. The game is supposed to be super fast, yet a couple of features are slow.

Why do I have to see each unit getting �unspent� each turn? It adds nothing and takes time. You might want to consider hiding this.

Showing me the money. With such small maps, people likely know exactly where their money is coming from. Maybe I am too PC based, but the slow pop up of 1000 over each city reminded me of Mario Brothers, didn�t tell me anything I did not know and slowed the turn down again. You might want to consider making this an option.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. The game is fun and interesting, these are not huge problems.

Thanks again,

Dave

[Hiro_Antagonist]

Saxon said:
It would be great to have an option to turn of the fight scenes.

This will probably be added into the first or second patch.

Saxon said:
Saves.

Save game functionality will be included in the first patch, due out by the time the game is released. We've already got this feature almost done.

As for your other suggestions, I'm definitely considering them, and there's a very good possibility they will be addressed in the first or second patch.

-Hiro_Antagonist

[Josquire]

I have also enjoyed playing the demo. I like the idea of playing a short and sweet turn based game that is not hideously complicated.

I agree with Saxon's comments about improving the flow of the game.

It would also be nice if there was an option for making the AI tougher in skirmish mode.

I look forward to playing the full game.

[SargusBane]

Hey PhilD,

I am no war god but I do know a little about playing these sort of games. The basic statment of cheap units to win is a little wrong. The more correct statement is the least costing units with the most bang for the buck will win.

Take for instant the low cost unit of the Undead compare to the low cost unit of the Human. The monks are far more suited to win the battle against the skeletons even though you can field far more skeletons in the field than monks. This is due to the fact that monks can auto retal and basically get an extra attack in when someone attacks them, just as long as they are not killed in the attack.

I can spend hours talking about other issues regarding tactic but I rather show them to you on the battle field. So come on and buy LOL and we can have some fun. I asure you that they few bucks we drop for this game will be small compare to the entertainment we will get from finding the perfect match!

Look for me in the lobby and we can have fun!! And if you win me I promise to buy you a beer if you ever find yourself in Seattle.

Regarding the AI. What AI?!?! The freak that made the AI has no knowledge in tactics. I think a monkey flipping a coin has a better chance to win the game!

[Sammas]

I find that the AI is actually quite good for this kind of game, considering its quick response time. Also the target market is not 100% hardcore strategy gamers.

Judging from what I've seen, I think the AI is probably searching the game tree a few ply deep, and choosing the best move based on some pre-defined valuations. That's why it isn't good at long-term strategy, and why it sometimes goes for cities/capitals when it doesn't have a chance at holding them for long enough to capture.

[PhilD]

Is the full game out? In the demo, I only saw two races, no undeads...