Early April Update

  By Ageless | April 5, 2014 - 10:24 pm |
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Alternis LDCG is my now-current project. It is heavily based off of the Bravely Default One-shot, with a few mechanics removed (the turn-storing system amongst the forefront), and a few pocket-level mechanics added. It’s just proving a monumental design challenge due to the Locations needing to be vague enough to work with most decks (especially when your Location ISN’T chosen), but powerful enough to warrant being a choice in the first place. I want to fully reveal the game once it’s actually playable.

Otherwise, I’ve been pretty sick, and involved with some other obligations.

Early February Update

  By Ageless | February 7, 2014 - 5:57 pm |
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Bliss Stage RPCG

  • Figuring out effects. Namely, Anchors weren’t working out from previous just for the sheer amount of text they required to have three abilities. Might take a page from LoLDCG and make them scaling effects.
  • Still sorta worried about the whole relationship aspect of the game (which is on a meta level… the entire point. You aren’t supposed to be comfortable with it). I really don’t want to piss anybody off, but I’m not sure if it’s even possible to show it respectfully.

LoLDCG

  • Still stuck on effect implementation that doesn’t make burst damage incredibly too good. The actual game also has some issues with this and their balance is in systems that aren’t emulatable in card game form.
  • Some kits when they’re ONLY on paper are absurdly broken… like Yasou.

MLPCCG Review

  • Still waiting on the expansion for the required data for a full review. The initial set has its own problems but it’s the expansions that decide where the game goes from here.

One-Shot CCGs

  • Still planning to do these, likely starting with Disgaea. One-Shots are CCG images that may or may not fit to a fleshed out game, and won’t ever go past proof-of-concept prototypes.

Other Stuff

  • Adventure Time has their own LCG-format game coming out. Not only is it coming out for the correct target audience, but there’s actual player interaction! And a DIGITAL version at the same time! Granted, I’m not a fan of the fonts used but that’s an IP liberty (and somewhat of a target audience one).

MLP:CCG Review on hold for Expansion

  By Ageless | January 28, 2014 - 12:27 am |
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Honestly, I’ve been trying to get a review out for the game for two weeks, but it’s been rough. The game is still too fledgling to make a final decision on, and I feel like the first expansion will be the best indicator of how good the game will be for the future.

Not to say that I don’t have some current thoughts, though.

  • Troublemakers are in a bad spot mechanically… in that they’re binary TWO ways. Either the card is too good or too bad, and the usability is either early game or late game. It should be telling that the best troublemakers in the game are Yellow Parasprite and Purple Parasprite by FAR (and the Yellow one should be a playset in every deck you can possibly make, making it the first true “staple” card)
  • Control in general is stupidly good, and no real anti-mechanic to match it. As the resources are limited in the early game, that’s when its easiest to gain a lead and keep it. The mechanic meant to do something (Speed) about it doesn’t even work enough of the time to be a consistant balance. Then Speed even requires the elusive Ultra
  • The specific color spread behind the game will make it problematic to nerf and buff colors, as essentially every deck will be able to carry a buffed color. Meanwhile, Some colors desperately need a buff (orange) but can’t get the one they need without increasing the overall power of the game.
  • It’s nothing new. The primary mechanics are lifted nearly part-and-parcel from some of the creator’s previous games. Star Trek CCG 2nd Edition makes up for many, many of MLP:CCG’s mechanics, to the point that calling the latter Star Trek CCG 3rd Edition isn’t too far off. With a bit of Star Wars CCG in there with the faceoffDestiny mechanic for flavor.
  • I’m not a fan of fixed cards, and even less so for cards required to PLAY THE GAME being fixed. It’s exploitative of the game, and I feel as if it’s an unnecessary money grab (if the game was more obviously better, and better advertised, they would need to do it). Then you have the powerful promos (Blue may not function nearly as well without Rainbow Dash, To The Rescue, which is Promo-Only)
  • The game is going to be particularly weak to the Three Creeps: Power Creep, Rarity Creep, and Complexity Creep. Power due to how ccgs tend to sell cards lately (and expect some Magic Bullets), rarity creep for similar reasons (and the game has a MASSIVE Rarity = Power problem, all just to sell packs), and Complexity has to happen as otherwise the win condition becomes near-solvable with just one or two cards more per color. All three creeps need to be avoided and mitigated as much as possible, and I don’t see the effort yet for MLP:CCG.

Really, it feels like the game is sacrificing things just to get some of the money back when it was entirely unnecessary with proper planning and playtesting. As a player, the game is somewhat okay, but as a creator the game just bugs me.

I will be withholding judgment, though, from an advertised review until the expansion. Maybe Enterplay can actually fix the issues and go above and beyond. And maybe my cynicism will be proven right.

Bliss Stage RPCG stuff and more!

  By Ageless | January 12, 2014 - 5:54 am |
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Got something up for MLP:DCG (explaining the situation), and posted a ton of info for the Bliss Stage RPCG (which is the new primary project while LoLDCG is on hiatus to figure out issues).

Honestly, if I can get the cards formatted and the OCTGN stuff moved over from the MLPDCG plugin, it actually wouldn’t be too far off to get a working pre-alpha prototype up and running for BS:RPCG.

Stuff to bring you up to speed.

  By Ageless | December 31, 2013 - 11:57 pm |
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Enterplay’s official MLPCCG is out, so I’ve been busy with that, moving when I really shouldn’t have, and figuring out how to pay the bills. RL stuff still means I can’t take donations.

There will be a review of the game when the dust starts to settle on it. The game’s meta is rapidly changing as people with skill start breaking into it, and people without get extremely lucky and stumble onto something overpowered. Double T1 Yellow Parasprite, who knew?

At this point my MLPDCG is now unavailable to download from my site. It is still playable over OCTGN but good luck finding someone to play.

Anyway, LoLDCG has hit a bit of a snag with it’s deckbuilding requirement of seven cards (five champs, two Summoner Spells) and a 60-card deck, which isn’t going to fly at all. And as it would be such a major change, I have to figure out how skills in particular are going to work. Interestingly, Gold = Items = Level works out way better than expected.

I am also going to see if I can get the oldest fleshed-out concept, Bliss Stage RPCG, into a playable but artless state just for the portfolio. You -could- play it but the content is NOT for everyone. I just want to get the sexuality mechanic done and out of my head; I’m not even sure if it’s tasteful. It works in context but without it it’s the elephant in the room.

Seriously, if you’re offended by it,

stop reading now.

It’s after the break. Continue reading →

LoL:DCG – What’s New

  By Ageless | November 22, 2013 - 11:39 pm |
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  • Items are now your source of “levels”, so to speak. For each item (which has it’s own stats) you get total HP. Once three of them are on a champ, their Ultimate unlocks. There is no item removal in the game, though there will be a way to negate the stats an item offers temporarily (but not the HP) This represents the “earning time” of the game, with ultimates often not being available until itemization starts.
  • This creates an inherent deckbuilding dilemma: do you prioritize cheaper items with lesser effects to level faster (but risking being outgunned), or prioritize more expensive, game-changing items with monster effects? Or do you have balance between the two, risking that you don’t draw what you need?
  • A class using a non-unique ability (Alistar using a, oh say, Nautilus Tank-class skill) costs one more Speed to play. During a teamfight, champs can still act even if they aren’t active so long as they border the acting champ, and all skills they have cost one more Speed to play (and this stacks with the non-unique cost).
  • All champs regenerate Speed at the same rate, unless that champ is respawning.
  • Speed is used to buy items. Whenever you slay a champ, the champ with the last hit gains Gold, which is worth twice as much and can’t be removed unless spent. Character can use the Farm action (useful if you are at Max Speed), spending two Speed to gain one Gold. You can’t turn Gold into Speed.

Class Breakdown:

  • Tanks: Low Speed but hard-to-kill champs with high HPpI and abilities that further make them hard to kill. Front line of your Nexus defense, they prevent damage by existing.
  • Bruisers: The “Jack of all Trades” class. Middling stats in everything, and tend to be AD-based. High threat level, but their itemization to be truly effective is the worst.
  • Assassin: The quick killers, capable of high burst damage but are generally very squishy. As they are easily taken down they need to be in an early Teamfight slow, like Top or Jungle, though Mid is acceptable if there are other targets available.
  • Mage: overwhelmingly Ap-based. Tends to have an exceedingly high range of abilities, but like the Bruiser they have itemization issues while being mostly squishy.
  • Marksman: Overwhelmingly AD-based. They’re your cleanup crew: the best balance of damage output to speed cost in the game while having fair utility. However, being somewhat squishy means that they need to be protected by another champ, even before teamfights. The only class to have direct Nexus damage, though it’s still
  • Support: The best utility champs in the game, and itemize so well they often don’t need a full build. Also the sole class with healing abilities. However this makes them one of the highest priority targets in teamfights, and without the heals they are also somewhat squishy. Aside from that the class has THE lowest damage output in the game, even worse than tanks, along with low Speed.

LoL:DCG – Alistar, the Minotaur

  By Ageless | November 22, 2013 - 6:21 pm |
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Text Card: Alistar, the Minotaur

HP – 40 (+10 Per Item)
Max Speed – 4
Class – Tank
AP-based

Passive: Trample – Whenever Alistar uses a unique spell, he deals (1 + AP Item Count, Max 4) Magic Damage all enemies in the same lane after the spell resolves.

Ultimate: Unbreakable Will -SC:1  CD: 5- You may use Unbreakable Will even when stunned. Remove all CC from Alistar, and until the end of your next turn, halve the amount of damage Alistar would take (rounded down) after applying defense.

—

Pulverize
Unique: Alistar
Class: Tank
SC: 1

Deal (1 + AP Item Count) Magic Damage to up to two enemies in the same lane. Those enemies are airborne (they can’t regain speed) until their next action.

—

Headbutt
Unique: Alistar
Class: Tank
SC: 1

Deal (1 + AP Item Count) Magic damage to a single enemy in lane. That enemy loses two speed.

—

Triumphant Roar
Unique: Alistar
Class: Support
SC: 1

Heal all allies in the same lane by (1 + AP Item Count). You may not use another Triumphant Roar in the same turn unless an enemy is Respawning; if so, Triumphant Roar costs one more Speed to play.

——–

Let’s see what you can glean from that.