Okay, this is the biggest patch so far. It might not appear like that because all the effect changes are expressed in one line and all the changes are logic based.
The battle system should feel different now as we are getting closer to the final version (thinking about adding a tutorial soon).
Since I introduced so many new effects (Normal effects, Overdrive, Mazai, etc...) in such a short period of time I probably broke the game with some of the effects. I know some of the Mazai effects might be broken because I am in the middle of changing them.
I don't do a lot of testing for now to keep patches dynamic. I will work on quick hotfixes whenever needed and the next patch will be in the next 2-3 days anyway (to add the features that I couldn't add in time).
Positioning
Even though I am creating a sort of "Yu-Gi-Oh for casuals" game, I still want the game to have a sort of unique mechanic. This is why I am doubling down on positioning. I recommend checking all the new effects in the card collection UI. For now only 74/100 Planos have new effects and only 27 of them (mainly Venus) have an overdrive effect. Keep in mind that Planos from the same line usually have the same effect but the effect gets stronger with each new stage. The strongest Planos will be unlocked in the next patch.
- All Plano effects that impact an enemy Plano are changed to mono target. To be more specific, the effects only impact the opposing/facing Plano. This means that you need to position yourself in front of an enemy Plano if you want to affect it. So it's not just about triggering effects but also about positioning yourself.
- Overdrive effects only work on Planos in your own field. They usually impact the right or left Plano. This also contributes into thinking more about positioning. It also makes a lot of useless/weak cards more viable.
- Another reason why I don't add Plano effects that you can activate later. You have to think about where to place the Plano. Place it in the wrong slot and you lose the effect. If you can activate it later there is no punishment. I am also not sure "continuous" effects are necessary because you always draw new cards each turn so you don't run out of actions to do.
- I think many Yu-Gi-Oh like effects might not be convenient in the game. For example returning a card to the hand (since hand cards are discarded and re-shuffled) or switching slots (hard to balance). Making other slots overdrive too can be too OP. I will definitely need more testing/feedback for this.
Streamlining
Another thing I am focusing on is making the battles streamlined. Let me explain.
- Since effects only affect the opposing Plano there is no more selection to do. This will make the battles flow better. Only non-Plano cards will have a selection possible (Saiments/Spells).
- This is already done but it's the same thing with attacks. Each Plano automatically attacks the one facing him that way there is no selection needed.
- Plano effects can't target multiple Planos at once anymore. Multi target is only for Mazai effects now. The only exception is some very strong Planos.
- Making the game play a bit like chess. Chess by itself is boring so it's about getting the good parts out of it. If you are a casual you can just steamroll through the game and just have fun. And for people who are more comfortable they can have more depth and think about different strategies they can implement.
- I am trying to get battles into the 5-10 mins mark. That way it's dynamic enough and it doesn't drag on for too long.
- Having a secondary effect (overdrive) might feel a bit clunky at first but it only triggers if a Plano is summoned in the middle and I think overall the pros outweigh the cons.
- The goal is to have the least amount of steps possible to do for each action. I only played a couple of battles in "Marvel Snap" but I liked how the emphasis was on positioning. For this reason "revive" like effects might be reworked in the future.
- Thinking about keeping the stats after a Plavolution, I am not sure keeping the status effect is good idea. I think keeping the same status effects will slow the pace down a lot. The main advantage of the Plavolution is not having a timeout effect. Unless I make it so that you keep the status effect until it's a timeout. Timeout is made as a status effect to be countered by other effects.
Content
- I unlocked some cards in the booster packs and everything will be available when I add crafting (next patch). All the cards in the game will be playable (even if some effects can change in the future). This way people have something to do while I focus on adding progression to the game.
- One last feature that can be worth adding later is "Elemental skills". Something like Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links' skills where you can choose a special effect that gets triggered at the start of the battle. I will only add this when all the battle mechanics are implemented.
- I also have 5 dark and 5 celestial Mazai concept arts. I am still not sure if I should add them because I don't know if their effects can be balanced.
Comebacks
One important thing I want to have in battles is the ability to comeback from a losing position. There is nothing worse than knowing you already lost and just stalling the game. This is one of the reasons I added the "drawing 5 new cards" each turn. Drawing one cards each turn isn't enough for that. Therefore, all Plano effects that involve the black hole affect both the player and the enemy Planos. This means you can revive the enemy's Plano even if you don't have it. This should make it easier to comeback.
Playstyles
To remind everyone of the goal with elements/playstyle. Dark and Celestial aren't playstyles, they just add on top of the existing elements.
- Venus needs to be the tanky playstyle that's hard to kill.
- Mercury is the obnoxious playstyle that spams status effects.
- Jupiter is an "agile" playstyle that allows you to do a lot of unique/cool things.
- Mars is the high damage playstyle that piercies through everything.
Status effects
It's worth talking about status effects. Some effects aren't applied directly but via status effects. This way they can be countered as well.
I don't know where exactly I should specify their explanations but for now you can find the explanation on the status Saiments themselves.
If a Plano already has a status effect nothing happens. In the future I might make it so that the new status effect overwrites the existing one. This not only adds more strategy but it fixes the problem of your effect being nullified because the opposing Plano already has a timeout.
Next Effects
I won't mention balancing because that's a given but having unique effects for Dark Planos is something that will be added too. Dark Planos having "opposite" effects to the normal Planos. You can already Plavolve in both ways (from normal to dark and vice versa). All of this should add more variety/possibilities once deck rules are added (for example being mono element instead of mixing elements).
Keep in mind that Final Stardust's quote is "Choose your element". So the final goal is to make people excited about choosing a specific element. That being said, you will be able to craft different decks of different elements once I add deck slots. I am also of thinking of adding "element" levels (getting xp for using a specific deck). Dark and Celestial Planos can be used in any deck as they are "secondary" elements.
Next patch
- Update Mazai effects.
- Keep Plano after Plavolution.
- Add card preview info.
- Exhaust Mechanic.
- Change AI to summon the weakest Plano instead to favor Plavolutions.
- Change AI to target the strongest enemy Plano with spells/saiments when possible.
- Card Crafting.
- Card duplication removal in deckbuilding (bug).
- Add deckbuilding space counter sorting in deck cards.
- Unlock the remaining non-playable Planos.
- Add a new card/Plano death animation.
Changes
- CONTENT: Added 2 status effect cards + elemental Fenroar forms to booster packs.
- CONTENT: Added new effect names to all playable Planos (74).
- BALANCING: Planos summoned with the "Doppelganger" effect now receive a timeout.
- BALANCING: Attack and defense type Mazai effects now trigger at the beginning of the battle phase instead of each time a Plano attacks.
- BALANCING: Gold given in battle is now reverted to 300.
- GAMEPLAY: Added unique effect to all playable Planos (74).
- GAMEPLAY: Added unique overdrive effects to Planos (27).
- GAMEPLAY: Only the first attack of a Plano can be direct now. All extra attacks are lost.
- GAMEPLAY: The revive Plano effect "Resurgence" can now revive enemy Planos too.
- GAMEPLAY: Changed the "Stymie" Saiment to a "Phaseout" status effect.
- GAMEPLAY: Added a "Phaseout" status effect that allows you to ignore the opposing Plano and attack directly.
- GAMEPLAY: Added a "Devour" status effect that makes the Plano receive double the damage.
- GAMEPLAY: Added a "Shockwave" status effect that allows you to deal the difference in EP as MG damage.
- GAMEPLAY: Changed Ikuma Mazai effect to make Planos attack twice if their initial EP is below 1500.
- GAMEPLAY: Removed "MahgiKura" effects.
- GAMEPLAY: Removed the damage reduction mechanic.
- GAMEPLAY: Changed the order of "On Summon" effects (Mazai > Plano > Overdrive).
- GAMEPLAY: AI now prioritizes the middle slot if it's empty to trigger more overdrive effects.
- VISUAL: Added a "Final sentence" when the enemy is about to lose (below 1500 MG).
- VISUAL: Removed black hole animation when a card is destroyed.
- VISUAL: Removed preview button in card selection UI (battle system).
- LOGIC: Reworked the Mazai effect system.
- LOGIC: Reworked the Plano death logic.
- LOGIC: Changed Plano naming logic for all Planos (100).
- INPUT: Changed card preview to right click in the battle's card selection UI.
- AUDIO: Fixed an issue where the residual space counter SFX didn't work.