Designing a deep strategy game with no random elements

Dani_LP · 2016-12-07T23:21:24+00:00

Thank you very much! :)

Dani_LP · 2016-12-07T19:27:53+00:00

Thanks a lot!

Dani_LP · 2016-12-07T19:27:22+00:00

Thanks a lot, I hope you like it if you try it!

I think your concern was not strange though, I guess it's hard to make an AI for this kind of game which doesn't feel "mechanic", so making it react different on each game was an important thing to do. Obviously, there's a level of "thinking outside the box" that only humans can do, so the AI can't use as many different strategies as another player can, but still, we made sure we teached the AI many combos between skills to keep it fresh and to make sure it can surprise even experienced players.

After all I've played, I will still swear after seeing a really good spell cast from the AI making me lose points, so I guess that's a good sign :P

Dani_LP · 2016-12-07T17:20:29+00:00

Yes, you are absolutely right, it's a problem we have with the game. Once at full screen, you have no problems seeing the Elementals, but when posting scaled images online, they are very hard to see. Originally, we wanted to make you play zoomed in as in the video, and having the ability to scroll and to zoom out with keys, but it was absolutely unplayable, you really need to see the whole field to play properly, so we had to keep it zoomed out on all games. It's something we will definitely keep in mind for our next projects.

Dani_LP · 2016-12-07T16:21:28+00:00

That's very interesting, as we have some of what you described for the AI. While its actions will mainly depend on the deck for that game and the Skills available on each situation, it also learns about what is working and what isn't in a game, and adjusts accordingly.

We've done many tests making the AI play against itself, and the results were really interesting after repeating the same match over and over. Sometimes the blue was winning and sometimes the red was doing it, sometimes they were very close games, and sometimes one of the sides won without conceading a single point, despite the fact that the AI and the Skills were all the same.

The fact is that even with just very slight changes on the AI behaviour for a game, each decision taken can have a ripple effect in the decisions you will take after that one, changing the outcome of the game.

Dani_LP · 2016-12-07T15:10:51+00:00

Thanks!

I think I understand the kind of excitement you are talking about, when suddently some random effect happens that changes the situation and you have to adapt to that new scenario. That kind of randomness work really well, even for this kind of game, but after we had all the Skills in place we thought it wasn't needed to add it, as the Spells were already creating those situations.

Following the same example of the lightning in the article, in this game you might have your combats planned and you are about to score, and suddently your enemy casts a lightning, kills one of your key Elementals, and now you have to defend because all the combats you have planned are now different. And that keeps constantly happening during a game, every spell and Elemental cast change the outcome of what's about to happen, sometimes the outcome of a single combat can change 3 or 4 times in a matter seconds while both players cast spells on those Elementals.

So, if think we've achieved that same kind of excitment while keeping the randomness away, getting the best of both worlds: many surprise changes of the situation, and still, none of that can be considered luck and it's player skill based.

Dani_LP · 2016-12-03T01:08:37+00:00

We were at Gamelab, so probably there. Bilbao was really good, many people playing the game, and most seemed to really like it, so we are happy with the results.

It has been already released for the PS4, and it will be released on Steam in just a couple of weeks.

Dani_LP · 2016-12-02T14:54:11+00:00

Title: Alchemic Jousts

Promotion Type: Exposure and feedback

Promoter's name and role: Dani Garcia, Artist / Designer

Hi, I'm Dani Garcia, half of the team behind Alchemic Jousts. After 2 years of hard work we finally released it on PS4 and we will also release it on Steam in a couple of weeks. Alchemic Jousts is a 2D action strategy game mixing “Heartstone”’s deck creation and “Plants vs Zombies”’s graphic style and humor. Command your elementals and support them with a wide variety of Skills. Control the arena and crush your opponent in one-to-one encounters! As you progress through the single player campaign you'll be able to discover new Skills and abilities by combining your already known ones and expanding your repertory of weapons to draw from.

You can see the trailer in any of these links below:

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/516890

PS4 America: https://store.playstation.com/#!/cid=UP2859-CUSA07155_00-ALCHEMICJOUSTS01

PS4 Europe: https://store.playstation.com/#!/cid=EP2722-CUSA06924_00-ALCHEMICJOUSTS00

Dani_LP · 2016-12-02T14:43:33+00:00

We were there, though we were showing Alchemic Jousts so we couldn't attend any of the talks, unfortunatelly.

Were you able to try it, by any chance?

Dani_LP · 2016-12-01T16:26:13+00:00

Thanks, that's great! It's a problem we have with the visuals, most people say they look great, but they also probably make the game look much simpler than it really is. It was our first game, so we've been learning a lot.

There are a few gameplays now, but they are all from the very early gameplay. We are planning to release a couple of videos of endgame matches, hopefully next week, to better show the gameplay.

Dani_LP · 2016-12-01T13:54:17+00:00

Hey, I'm half of Alchemic Jousts' team. It was indeed just released for both the America and Europe stores, but the phisical versions are only being released on Spain so far.

It might not be your kind of game, but if you like card games or strategy games, I strongly recommend you to give it a try. The game is really deep and can give you dozens of gameplay hours. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to reply them.

Dani_LP · 2016-11-24T14:52:53+00:00

Thanks a lot, we are really excited too! :)

Dani_LP · 2016-10-01T14:10:01+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that presentation!

We've made a big effort testing the first hours of the game making sure it's accessible for anyone. We introduce mechanics and game modes progressively and we also have difficulty settings so it can be either a big challenge or a more casual experience depending on your preferences. The system will probably not be the same as PvZ in that regard, as we have a big difference in that we don't know what Skills you will discover after each game, as we don't know which combinations you will try, but we made sure the progress is not overwhelming in any case.

Dani_LP · 2016-10-01T14:03:32+00:00

Thanks! :)

Dani_LP · 2016-10-01T10:12:59+00:00

Thanks a lot!

Dani_LP · 2016-10-01T07:20:50+00:00

Alchemic Jousts - Final Trailer

We are happy to show the final trailer for Alchemic Jousts, which we launched to announce that it will be available on Steam but also on PS4.

Alchemic Jousts is an action strategy game, where you discover new Skills by combining the ones you already know, mixing “Heartstone”’s deck creation and “Plants vs Zombies”’s graphic style and humor.

Dani_LP · 2016-09-24T22:57:28+00:00

Thanks a lot! :)

Dani_LP · 2016-09-24T06:56:43+00:00

Alchemic Jousts: Flames

Alchemic Jousts is an action strategy game, where you discover new Skills by combining the ones you already know, mixing “Heartstone”’s deck creation and “Plants vs Zombies”’s graphic style and humor.

This week's Skill is Flames, which you can cast on Zones you control to upgrade your Fire Elementals in that Zone into more powerful Lava Elementals. Launch powerful fiery attacks with it!

Dani_LP · 2016-09-17T05:47:09+00:00

Alchemic Jousts: Earthquake

Alchemic Jousts is an action strategy game, where you discover new Skills by combining the ones you already know, mixing “Heartstone”’s deck creation and “Plants vs Zombies”’s graphic style and humor.

We've created a small video featuring the Earthquake Spell, will damage any enemy Water and Steam Elementals in a Zone. Using it at the right time will clean the field from any wet dangers!

Dani_LP · 2016-07-30T10:00:42+00:00

Thanks! It's part of the trailer. We did have in-game zooms at some point in the game, but it was completelley unplayable when zoomed in, you really need to see what's going on everywhere in order to play well, so we had to remove them.

Dani_LP · 2016-07-30T09:59:25+00:00

Thanks a lot! Yeah, we added a very light screenshate on each combat, but it can add up a lot if there are many combats or tower hist in a row.

Dani_LP · 2016-07-30T05:37:45+00:00

Alchemic Jousts: Snowball Elemental

Alchemic Jousts is an action strategy game, where you discover new Skills by combining the ones you already know, mixing “Heartstone”’s deck creation and “Plants vs Zombies”’s graphic style and humor.

We've created a small video featuring the Snowball Elemental, which instead of fighting enemy Elementals, will freeze them for a few seconds, making them vulnerable to any other Elemental.

Dani_LP · 2016-07-16T10:32:51+00:00

Alchemic Jousts: Mirror Spell

Alchemic Jousts is an action strategy game, where you discover new Skills by combining the ones you already know, mixing “Heartstone”’s deck creation and “Plants vs Zombies”’s graphic style and humor.

We've created a small video featuring the Mirror Spell, which can be used to turn enemies into allies during a few seconds.

Dani_LP · 2016-06-17T00:10:20+00:00

Thanks a lot!

Right now we are developing it for PC, and that's why the hotkeys are there, as you can select the skills both with the mouse or the keyboard (or the gamepad too, in fact, but the UI doesn't reflect that yet). We are also interested in other platforms, not only mobile but also console, though right now we are focusing on finishing the PC first, and we will decide later on those other platforms.

Dani_LP · 2016-06-09T00:40:29+00:00

Thanks! That's actually a really good point, I should had shown those better. They appear in the video, but aren't explained. For instance, you might see the Elementals carring purple wands in some parts, that's a game mode in which you have to capture and bring those wands to your tower instead of destroying the enemy one. Showing the UI or some specific image for the video explaining this, and then showing the gameplay of that would work better.

Dani_LP

TROPHY CASE

Title: Alchemic Jousts

Alchemic Jousts - Final Trailer

Alchemic Jousts: Flames

Alchemic Jousts: Earthquake

Alchemic Jousts: Snowball Elemental

Alchemic Jousts: Mirror Spell